Give me the job.... I could do some serious trimming. On Jun 13, 4:02 pm, plainolamerican <[email protected]> wrote: > welcome to the ills of socialism and it's destructive nature > > On Jun 13, 2:44 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > > > Government “Waste” Is the Least of Our ProblemsByAnthony Gregory| Monday > > June 13, 2011 at 10:41 AM PDT > > Sometimes I swear we are living in a dystopian novel whose author is > > courteous enough to provide us mere extras in his story with plenty of > > comedic relief to make the days tolerable.The USA Today headline > > reads:“Obama, Biden again target government waste.”Yes. That’s in fact what > > it says. The administration that has given us a $3.7 trillion budget is so > > concerned about wasting money, you see, that its Vice President is heading > > up a “Campaign to Cut Waste.” The White House brags of having trimmed $33 > > billion of waste in the last year. That amounts to less than 1% of the > > budgeta budget that is, in nominal dollar terms, approximatelydoublewhat it > > was a decade ago. Back in 2001 I remember thinking about how small our > > government was, and how if only we doubled its size, and were careful to > > cut back about a percent of that sum that happens to be “waste,” we’d be in > > great shape. Oh wait a second. That’s not what I thought at all. > > Yet all this talk of waste misses the point. Perhaps there are better uses > > of our tax dollars than “waste,” but I must say, I prefer so-called waste > > to most of what the government spends money on. Government is destructive. > > Most of what it does is harmful. Being an agency of violence and the threat > > of violence, the institution of government runs counter to economic > > progress as a general principle. Even worse, its coercive grip strangles > > the freedom out of people as a matter of course, and, far more often than > > Americans seem accustomed to recognizing, it kills people. > > If only the regulatory state’s budget were a matter of “waste.” If the > > federal government did not spend billions to hire and empower regulators > > who each spend hours a day sending out edicts to business, telling > > employers who to hire and not to hire, commanding state governments and > > industry on the parameters of infrastructure and architecture, imposing > > rules on pharmaceutical companies concerning which drugs they can produce > > and sell, strong-arming commercial enterprises into the advertising > > guidelines chosen by politicians, telling banks what interest rates ought > > to be, instructing telecommunications businesses on the rules of speech and > > the distribution of information, threatening farmers and corporations with > > invasive environmental regulations, imposing speech codes on workplaces, > > dictating what furniture and employment standards companies can utilize, > > forcing national standards on food manufactures, controlling the business > > practices of bars and restaurants, deciding which immigrants were free to > > enter the county to work and which ones were not, setting tariff rates for > > international trade, determining which education policies passed federal > > muster, overriding the decisions of doctors, medical professionals and > > patients, imposing billions of hours of ridiculous paperwork onto the > > private sector, spying on our communications, diverting resources from > > economical purposes to counterproductive ones, threatening peaceful > > entrepreneurs with fines and imprisonment for their consensual business > > activities, and otherwise obstructing the economic growth made possible by > > the free market, we would be so much better off it should make any thinking > > person angry to contemplate it. Indeed, if the government simply took the > > same tax dollars it spends on regulation, used it to buy up as many > > products as that money could buy, and dumped all those products into the > > ocean, the economy would rebound almost instantly and we would likely > > witness the greatest genuine boom in American productivity in three > > generations, as the money being wasted would be so much healthier for > > growth than the money being spent as it is nowon destroying wealth on an > > atrocious scale through the crippling burden of regulations. The > > pharmaceutical regulations alone, once unenforced, would translate into > > thousands of lives saved, as the FDA notoriously kills Americans in large > > quantities by depriving them of life-saving drugs. This would be a great > > and moral end in itself, but it would also be a boon for the economy. > > Or what if the warfare state money were simply wasted? Pentagon waste has > > got to be the best thing coming from that department. When Obama decided to > > stop spending so much on Cold War weaponry that would never be used and > > divert the funds to 21st century killing machines to deploy against > > insurgents in Pakistan and other such places, many cheered but I did not. > > For a weapon that gathers dust is the best kind the military buys. One > > could correctly argue that the thousands of nuclear weapons, by their mere > > existence, pose an existential threat to humanity and should be eliminated, > > but the point stands that so long as they have the potential to be used, > > better that they not be. Nevertheless, the U.S. military establishment, at > > nearly a trillion dollars a year when all is carefully accounted for, makes > > us less safe, hinders our freedom, and, most important, actively and > > energetically pesters, harasses, oppresses, tortures and murders foreigners > > in numerous countries. Millions have been slaughtered, directly and by > > stealth means, by the U.S. warfare state, only in the last couple decades. > > If Obama wants to cut down the budget by more than $33 billion a year, he > > should look first to this monstrosity, probably the greatest threat to > > world peace currently existing, and slash away. But short of that, he > > should convert the entire military machine to one of “waste” as opposed to > > engagement and activity. A trillion dollars spent yearly on waste, or to > > pay personnel to sit around and play blackjack all day, would be far better > > for American freedom, American wealth, and global affairs, than allowing > > the status quo of murderous war to continue. > > Then there is the U.S. police state. If only its budget was wasted! > > Instead, billions are spent tracking down, trying, and locking people into > > cages. Many of these peopleabout half at the federal levelare nothing but > > offenders with no victim. Drug offenders, tax offenders, gun offenders and > > other violators of laws that don’t belong in a free society. If this money > > were spent on building huge modern art projects and launching them into the > > sun, society would prosper significantly relative to where it is thanks to > > how the money is actually spent. Surely, building prisons and not filling > > them with peaceful people is infinitely morally preferable to building > > prisons and housing harmless souls inside their cages. These cages, which > > have in many cases become torture chambers and rape rooms, are the great > > domestic atrocity of our time, so putting an end to them is a moral mandate > > in itself, even putting aside the billions that could be saved by ridding > > of them. And with each innocent man caged, we lose the chance of that > > person being out there in the private sector actually producing wealth, > > which we desperately need in this time of recession. And this doesn’t even > > account for how much federal criminal justice programs, by their very > > nature, foment social conflict, subsidize gang warfare through drug and gun > > prohibitions, and generally make us less safe, less free and less wealthy. > > Then there is all the welfarecorporate and individualwhich distorts the > > economy and poisons the social fabric. In the long term this, too, is more > > destructive than mere government waste, as the opportunity cost of > > businesses catering to politicians rather than customers is unspeakably > > immense, and the encouragement of people to rely on the federal government > > rather than on each other for support is a rot at the core of the culture’s > > character and the key method by which the empire and police state maintain > > the trust and love of the oppressed masses. > > I do not want to understate the evil of government waste. A billion dollars > > stolen from taxpayers and sent down the drain is an injustice and a moral > > disgrace of national importance. But government is an organ of plunder, > > economic dislocation, mass imprisonment, social destruction, persecution > > and mass murder. Given that it steals our moneycertainly a great evil in > > itselfwe’re generally much better off the larger portion of its budget goes > > purely to > > waste.http://blog.independent.org/2011/06/13/government-waste-is-the-least-...
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