February 15, 2011
Jefferson, on debt
“We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.
We must make our selection between economy and liberty or profusion and
servitude. If we run into such debts as that we must be taxed in our
meat in our drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labors and in
our amusements, for our callings and our creeds…our people.. must come
to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give earnings of fifteen of
these to the government for their debts and daily expenses; and the
sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live.. We have
not time to think, no means of calling the mis-managers to account, but
be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains
on the necks of our fellow suffers. Our landholders, too…retaining
indeed the title and stewardship of estates called theirs, but held
really in trust for the treasury, must…be contented with penury,
obscurity and exile.. private fortunes are destroyed by public as well
as by private extravagance.
This is the tendency of all human governments. A departure from
principle becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and
so on, till the bulk of society is reduced to mere automatons of
misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering…
And the fore horse of this frightful team is public debt
And
the fore horse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows
that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression.â€
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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...and to forestall the first comment some smart-arse will leave, yes, that applies to "compassionate conservatives" as well. President G.W.Bush set the precedent, and President Obama is running away with it in grand fashion, this reckless, destructive spending well beyond our means. This isn't a party-line issue, it's a common-sense issue; stop writing checks we can't back up.
If I tried to pay my mortgage this way, I'd be looking for a new place to live.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at February 15, 2011 04:01 PM (sdWdc)
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I kinda feel like the first change needing to be made is to figure out a way to stop people in government, of all branches, from so easily being able to shift the blame for their own bad actions onto others. We have such crazy debt because we have a system that is built for abuse without consequence. Sure people get caught every so often, but what do you imagine is the realistic percentage of people who face justice for their abuses?
I still think that government should be revamped with an eye towards holding corruption in check, instead of an assumption that elected officials are beyond reproach and the surprise and shock when we discover otherwise.
You're damn skippy you'd be looking for a new house if you conducted your affairs the way the government does, if you hadn't already found a nice, cozy cell. That is bad policy, and bad intention. And you're also right that the issue is systemic, not ideological or even political.
Posted by: Kevin Pettway at February 16, 2011 07:51 AM (80DX0)
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The only reason that you can't run your finances the way the government does is that you don't have the same options. What private individuals might refer to as things such as "armed robbery" and "counterfeiting" are referred to by the government as "taxation" and "monetary policy".
But I think the major focus needs to be on constructing government systems such that the most rewarding path for our representatives is the best path for the country as a whole. I think the real horror we face is the specter of cooperation (though conspiracy or collusion are similar terms that should probably be used as replacements whenever a politician uses "cooperation" or "bipartisanship"). Any time a representative makes an agreement (explicit or otherwise) of the general form of "I'll let you hurt my constituents just a little bit in order to help yours a lot, if in exchange you hurt your constituents a little bit to help mine a lot" we need to make sure we understand that everyone is getting hurt. The purpose of my congressional representatives *should* be to protect me from the predation of the other 532 congresspeople. Preying upon those other 532 *shouldn't* exist, but when it does, it should be secondary to the primary goal, and more importantly should fail spectacularly when attempted.
Posted by: lazlo at February 16, 2011 01:56 PM (rcSfN)
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February 11, 2011
Who knew?
Sarah Palin and I share a birthday. Small world, eh? Happy birthday, ma'am, and keep spreading the smaller-government message!
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: Looking Ahead
August 16, 2010
July 03, 2010
Appropriate brag for the holiday...
I took my 11-year-old daughter to the range last month for the first time. Once she got over her fear of the noise and flash, she demonstrated a knack for hitting the paper at about 5-7 yards.
Her only remaining fear? The ejecting shells from the semi-auto .22 she was using would bounce off the wall of the stall and back at her. She wants to try a revolver next time. And wants that 'next time' to be sooner rather than later.
That's my girl!
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Not a gun guy myself, but I can understand the attraction. Father/daughter bonding is always the bomb tho.
Posted by: Kevin Pettway at July 04, 2010 05:35 AM (80DX0)
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I must remember to dust myself more often...
...so, I haven't been writing anything. Not that a lot of things haven't been happening, of course. I think we're all
quite aware of just how swimmingly the Second Great Depression is going so far.
The original point I was making with this blog...or at least intended to make...was to demonstrate how it was possible to disagree with someone without demonizing them. A trait the outspoken Left was singularly incapable of during 8 years of "Bushitler" jokes and crying-wolf "Facism!" It was suddenly "
trendy" to make jokes about assassinating the President.
These days, I'm not feeling so civil. The inaction of the President and his office during several crises--the
Deepwater Horizon spill being but the latest--has been, at best, negligent. The mass populist uprising of the Tea Parties seems poised to make their point at the ballot box in a few short months.
Unless, of course, the Black Panthers and SEIU get to control the ballots. I, personally, have no fear of that. King County here is all-mail voting. Yep, even if I don't trust it, the ONLY way I have to vote is to put it in the mail...and hope it doesn't get misplaced in a warehouse somewhere.
Soapbox, ballot box, jury box. These are the orderly means of addressing wrongs in our society. I need to practice my soapbox more.
Soapbox, ballot box, jury box. These are the orderly means of addressing wrongs in our society. I need to practice my soapbox more.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: Looking Ahead
1
and there's a bug with the pullquote. I'm leaving it up that way until Pixy sees it.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at July 03, 2010 09:16 PM (mNd5t)
2
I think this is my favorite thing about the internet… even more so than porn… is that we can actually publicly express ourselves with the possibility of receiving a wide audience. Sure anyone can do it and there are plenty of whack-a-doos out there, but the stronger your message, the more reception you get.
I'm glad you're back in the saddle here Doug. The more folks we have speaking their mind, the better chance we all have of genuinely representational government. (Even if that light is all but invisible today.)
Posted by: Kevin Pettway at July 04, 2010 05:33 AM (80DX0)
3
While I've got to say that I'm pretty disgusted with the administration on many levels and for many reasons, I can't say that I'd call inaction on the government's part with respect to Deepwater Horizon to be particularly negligent. Hypocritical, certainly, when coming from the same people who so maligned Bush for the government's Katrina response, and interfering with private efforts is downright evil, but shouldn't this rightly be a mostly private matter?
Posted by: lazlo at July 11, 2010 09:37 PM (ZBAaV)
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Lazlo, I know exactly where you're coming from, but the simple fact is that BP hasn't been able--and never had the resources--to clean this up on their own. The entire Gulf basin, and apparently working around the E coast of Florida, is getting oiled...and that kicks things into the level of "jobs government actually should do." In my book, anyway.
BP *will* be forced out of business before this is through--and long before any significant cleanup happens.
Then what? The scapegoat is gone, leaving only economic and environmental devastation. I doubt they had an open policy with Lloyds of London to cover this sort of thing.
(Hint: the next rig to set up shop--it will be Chinese-flagged--in "Cuban waters" in that area won't carry any either, and will be spectacularly unconcerned if any accidents occur.)
The negligence, BTW, comes from refusing to back down from various union-driven protectionist Federal rules, like foreign-flagged cleanup vessels operating in US waters (not allowed!), or returning "insufficiently pure" water to the Gulf (two 9s ain't enough, better to let it stay totally contaminated).
Leadership would have been to mobilize all-hands-on-deck activity from anything that could float and skim
something out of the water--especially after the first several cap attempts failed. Instead...we get more empty rhetoric.
Oh, and the Governor of LA gets told "no, you can't take action to protect your inland waterways either." Kinda like Arizona--don't you dare DO anything while we do nothing ourselves.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at July 12, 2010 08:02 PM (mNd5t)
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June 28, 2010
5-4, SCOTUS parses English and Constitution correctly.
The 2nd amendment--the one that guarantees the others--has been found to be an
INDIVIDUAL right, and one that the states and cities of the United States cannot infringe upon.
After all, when seconds count, the police are just minutes away!
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: Second Amendment
March 05, 2009
A picture is worth a thousand words, or a trillion dollars...
I don't have anything useful to add, so just go visit
this excellent visual representation of what the U.S. Government is doing to its citizens.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: Creeping Socialism
1
Isn't that funny. It actually looks like a lot less than I thought it would.
I hope that guy doesn't get hauled off to jail for making his display. It's
highly illegal to scan currency, and the moiré pattern on the bill shows that was definitely a scan.
Posted by: Kevin Pettway at March 01, 2010 03:45 AM (80DX0)
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February 17, 2009
Bipartisanship then and now
Genuine bipartisanship, assumes an honest process of
give-and-take, and that the quality of the compromise is measured by
how well it serves some agreed-upon goal, whether better schools or
lower deficits. This in turn assumes that the majority will be
constrained — by an exacting press corps and ultimately an informed
electorate — to negotiate in good faith.
If these conditions do not hold — if nobody outside Washington is
really paying attention to the substance of the bill, if the true costs
. . . are buried in phony accounting and understated by a trillion
dollars or so — the majority party can begin every negotiation by
asking for 100% of what it wants, go on to concede 10%, and then accuse
any member of the minority party who fails to support this 'compromise'
of being 'obstructionist.'
President Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, 2006
Oddly enough, Congress didn't seem to get this memo. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid railroaded through a wish-list of social welfare programs [including rolling back the Clinton-era welfare reforms] in a hastily-drafted, pork-laden monstrosity calling itself "stimulus." House Republicans were not invited in the drafting, nor were they permitted to amend it in any significant way. Senate Republicans were similary frozen out once three votes could be bought to prevent a filibuster.
This is not bipartisanship. This is the reality of single-party rule. President Obama will sign this atrocity today in Denver, and our grandchildren will still be trying to pay for it.
This is not bipartisanship. This is the reality of single-party rule. President Obama will sign this atrocity today in Denver, and our grandchildren will still be trying to pay for it.
"But it's an emergency!" we have been told. Whenever I hear a salesman start telling me I have to act now, this special won't last--that's called high-pressure. He's lying to me. This is such a big emergency that as soon as the "compromise" bill went through on the same party-line vote as the original pieces, the President promptly took a long weekend off before today's signing ceremony/photo-op.
This bill isn't about "stimulus" or "the economy." It's about pork, political payoffs, and increasing the control of the State over businesses. Especially health--but that's a topic for another post.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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I'd heard three Republicans voted in favor of the legislation, but I didn't hear how they were courted (or bought). I'd like to read more about that, if you have a link.
Posted by: Ben Ostrowsky at February 17, 2009 02:13 PM (m2neM)
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I believe that's correct, Ben. Though all three griped about it not being a very good bill, they seemed to think it was better than doing nothing. I believe at least one (and maybe two) Democrats voted against it as well.
Posted by: Kevin Pettway at February 28, 2010 07:34 PM (80DX0)
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February 09, 2009
Stimu-Pork!
Congratulations, Democrats. You got your 20-year wish list voted through, with a big helping of hysteria and fear-mongering publicity from the White House. Our kids--and theirs yet unborn--will be paying for your pork for years to come!
Here's a hint: irresponsible deficit spending
caused the current crisis, how can anybody think the cure for it is MORE of the same?
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: Creeping Socialism
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If you believe that those in Washington are foolish, then they probably believe that the current crisis was caused because there wasn't enough deficit spending (or, more likely, that it was caused by the "bad" deficit spending of the
other party, not the "good" deficit spending that they'd do).
If you believe that they are actively malicious, then the current situation, in which a crisis entirely of someone else's making is forcing them against their will to usurp unprecedented power unto themselves may not privately be considered a problem at all. In which case, heaping on another helping of the underlying cause makes perfect sense.
Generally, I tend to suspect stupidity over malice in most human affairs. I may, however, make an exception to that rule of thumb where congress is concerned.
The frustrating thing here is that there's no good outcome. If the current plan utterly fails, then us saying "I told you so" will come as little consolation. (and will undoubtedly be met by claims that this stimulus bill just wasn't big enough). But I doubt that will happen. The economy will recover. Probably some of this stimulus bill will help that happen. Most of it will probably hamper it. The very existence of it will help some (the current situation is as much psychological as it is financial, so the perception that something is being done, along with President Obama's undoubted charisma, will have a positive effect, although probably not enough to offset the damage done by either). Unfortunately, that will certainly lead to the perception that this response was the right response.
Here's an idea, maybe we should take a page from the environmentalist playbook and start selling "pork offsets". I smell an opportunity... or maybe that's just bacon.
Posted by: Lazlo at February 09, 2009 08:43 AM (yHdD+)
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January 20, 2009
Sounds great, but how will it work?
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual
interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek
to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that
your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the
silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history;
but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
--President Barack Obama, Inaugural Speech
The problem being, IMAO, that there are many enemies out there who seek not co-existence, but annihilation of all that they disagree with--things like free speech, any religious belief different than theirs, women driving, voting or showing their faces in public.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Yeah. I've always felt like one of the big problems in, for instance, the middle east is a complete lack of mutual interest and mutual respect on which to build anything. It's like going to someone in a swamp and saying "now there's your problem, you need to build your house on granite bedrock. How come you never thought of that?"
Posted by: Lazlo at January 20, 2009 05:39 PM (yHdD+)
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December 29, 2008
I'm not dead yet!
Yeah, no posts lately. Recent...conversations...on twitter have led me to the conclusion that a post on "Man-caused Climate Change" is called for, but I want to get my ducks in a row first. Meanwhile, the press is (almost literally) salivating at pictures of the President-Elect wandering around Hawaii shirtless.
Uhm, cult of personality much?
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: System
November 25, 2008
Bailouts, Banks, and Bull****
Someone better at high finance than I am has
run the numbers and the current bailout-a-looza is the single largest bill the US has paid.
Ever.It beats the total cost of fighting World War II--including the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe. It beats the lifetime cost of NASA. It absolutely overwhelms the total cost of Iraq, Vietnam and Korea
together.
The
root cause? Well-meaning but utterly idiotic legislation forcing lenders to assume higher risk to loan to people who couldn't otherwise afford a home. Because, after all, home ownership is a Right. The other factors all piled up on top of that single (Carter-era) premise.
And if the banks can't do it, the government will just have to buy them out and make it happen. Responsibilty? Bah, that's so nineteenth-century!
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Posted to category: Creeping Socialism
November 19, 2008
November 18, 2008
Let's see how bad the spam is
Comments have been opened to 'everybody,' as apparently mee.nu
really really wants you to make a website even if you're only going to register to make comments. Hopefully I won't regret this...
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: System
Posted by: Ed at November 18, 2008 11:54 AM (w+wot)
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at November 18, 2008 12:44 PM (mNd5t)
3
Pointless and obvious observation only tangentally related to anything.
Posted by: Wonderduck at November 22, 2008 08:57 AM (hplPV)
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November 17, 2008
A Modern Presidency?
In
Gulliver's Travels, one of the places the hero visits is Laputa, a land where all those in power are accompanied by "Flappers." These functionaries block the ears and mouths of the important and powerful with their flaps, permitting the powerful to fully occupy themselves with their thoughts. When
the Flapper thinks their person needs to hear something, they remove the ear block.
This, of course, is a satire on courtiers, bureaucrats, pages, messengers, lackeys, yes-men and sycophants that inevitably surround leaders. It is every bit as true today as when Swift wrote about it. Our President is incredibly busy and important, and cannot be bothered by such petty things as the actual unfiltered opinions of the people.
This leads me to the current hoo-rah about President-Elect Obama and his electronic leash. Err, I mean Crackberry. As with many of our executives in business and politics, he is extremely fond of his, using it throughout his day to keep on top of his schedule, contacts, and things that Must Be Remembered. Entire working styles have evolved around rapid access, fast emails and text-messaging, synched calendars, and so on.
Of course, It Must Go. Security risk, you know. Oh, and those pesky legal discovery laws. Would hate to have to explain the "missing 18 emails" some independant counsel wants to dig up. Besides, the REAL risk here is that he might accidentally be exposed to non-filtered, un-agenda-approved EXTERNAL INPUT. Not to go off into conspiracy-land, here, but if I'm a career
apparatchik, that's the last thing I want to have happen!
Welcome to the Twenty-First century and the first of many disruptive technologies that will greatly alter How Things Get Done.
Welcome to the Twenty-First century and the first of many disruptive technologies that will greatly alter How Things Get Done. There will be more, and the more "in-touch" the officeholder, the more
dependant they will be on them to function "normally." It does
all of us a disservice to immediately cripple a decision-maker by removing their tools.
It is time for a quick review of how our laws work and interact in the face of technology not even dreamt of when those laws were first written. A web-cam & microphone in every elected officials office? Insta-mail with 'smart' summarizers to 'poll' the public far better than Gallup can ever hope for? Automatic electric shock administration to the next Congresscritter using the word "bailout" ?
One thing is for sure, the future sure doesn't look like it used to.
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Posted to category: Looking Ahead
November 11, 2008
Veterans Day 2008
We sleep peaceably in our beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do
violence on our behalf.
-- attributed to George Orwell
Thank you, to all those who fight for our country.
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: Quotes
November 08, 2008
It's the History Eraser button!
Back in the days of the Soviet Union, they would frequently edit photos by erasing people that had fallen from favor. A lineup of generals viewing a parade would suddenly have a gap in it. And that gap had
always been there, according to them. George Orwell referenced this in
1984 in the main character's job at the Ministry of Truth. Usually, these erasures were clumsy, and many people had the original publications to compare to.
These days, Photoshop makes it easier to erase, but it's still not perfect.
For every skilled pixel-pusher trying to edit history, there are ten more ready to analyze every artifact, jaggy, and color blend. But on a website?
For every skilled pixel-pusher trying to edit history, there are ten more ready to analyze every artifact, jaggy, and color blend. But on a website?
I direct your attention, Gentle Reader, to
change.gov, a fast rename of the original Obama campaign site. Now it appears to be an official statement on the process of transition, and the plans of the incoming administration. Let us not quibble over the use of the .gov domain for what is not an "official government agency," nor over the "Office of the President-Elect." Instead, let's visit the
"America Serves" section.
Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free.
Sounds quite laudable, doesn't it? "encourage community service." Thing is, that's the second draft. Here's the original wording, emphasis is mine.
Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year.
Now, drafting kids out of middle school and putting them to work is a separate topic unto itself, but suffice it to say, is
not a good idea. Striking it out and saying "ok, that one isn't a good idea. How about volunteer instead?" would be a good approach.
Instead, President-elect Obama (or, rather, his team) erases it completely from the record.
We never said any such thing! This is
not a good way to build trust with the people you are supposed to lead.
It's the Same Old Thing we've seen before, not "Change."
It's the Same Old Thing we've seen before, not "Change." What else will get swept down the memory hole over time?
Remember this proclivity to whitewash mistakes, and when your memory disagrees with "official history"...well, you'll have to decide who you trust more, won't you?
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at
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Posted to category: Disgrace
1
What do you expect? He's the candidate of "change"
Maybe he should be called the candidate of "quick change"
Posted by: thecomputerguy at November 18, 2008 05:47 PM (IzwS+)
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Hmmm... I tried to post this before but it wouldn't let me because I had no account. I'm feeling off today, so this will probably come out far less eloquent than the last attempt but please don't take it as an argument. It's a serious question...
First of all, where does he talk about drafting kids out of middle school to put them to work? Do you refer to the statement about students doing community service? I don't actually think that's a horrible idea -- kids these days? so totally wrapped up in themselves it's frightening. Seriously. They don't get that there are other people out there in the world who may need help. My school requires students to do 40 hours of community service in order to graduate. I don't think instituting a mandatory service in middle school is such a bad idea. It doesn't have to be working at a soup kitchen or entertaining nursing home residents....
As for the fact that he changed his statement. Um. I'm a little confused. Was it some official policy that he mandated into law and then changed? He's refining his platforms. I would think you'd PREFER to have someone willing to revise based on careful thought and advice rather than someone who sticks hard-line to his policies, regardless of how well they may or may not work. There was nothing set in stone at all. I just don't see why this is a problem for you. He's not revising history, to my mind. He's merely revising his ideas. Now again, it's possible I'm missing something. If I am, I'd love to hear. You know I'm a huge Obama supporter but I hope you also know that I'm always open to hearing what people have to say.
Posted by: B at November 19, 2008 05:22 AM (BmSw7)
3
The differences are between 'encouragement' and 'requirement', and 'local' and 'national.'
Your local school has 40 hours of Community Service as a requirement to graduate. That's a local decision to make it part of the curriculum, and if you don't like it you have the choice of lobbying your School Board or enrolling your children in a different school. Service which will satisfy the requirement is determined by the local school, based on what is relevant to the local community.
A National Program which encourages community service is a slight contradiction of scale and therefore a bad precedent, but still it's just a Media Campaign. It's like "Just Say No" or "Only You Can Prevent Forsest Fires" or "Don't Drink and Drive." Maybe it's a good idea, or maybe it's bunk, but ultimately they're just suggestions, and implementation is left to the Individual's choice to self-regulate their behavior.
A National Program which Requires... is called 'a draft.' Call the Rose by any other name you want, and discuss all manner of irrelevancies about what the program will be used for, it doesn't change the basic fact: draft one of this proposal was no less than an attempt to grab hold of a large, available easily impressed and impressionable pool of labour who are already Required to serve twelve years of Public School Indoctrination, and make it a further Condition of Servitude that they Do The Bidding of The Federal Government's Office Of National Community Service. Services which satisfy the requirement are set, by definition, at the National level, to serve the National agenda, and are therefore going to be just as "locally relevant" as any other National Government Program, which is to say not at all. Or, from another perspective, they'll be just as "locally relevant" as Welfare -- which is exactly what this becomes when FedGov Resources (your tax dollars) are used to pay for the college tuition (Benefits Payout) of a People's Community Service Worker (Serf.) You also get all the complete beaurocracy of the Federal Governement (all authority, no individual accountability) emplaced between you, your community, and the "local community service" your children are required to perform. That beaurocracy is composed of many workers in their new entrenched Government jobs, whose paychecks must be funded by your tax dollars.
That was 'draft one', at any rate. Draft two is a compromise, in that it doens't have the initial 'requirement' at either level, but it still spends Federal Dollars at the college level, which will be enough to get the beaurocratic departments set up and thus the camel's nose is under the tent.
My (admittedly rambling) point here is that a local program for community service is a fantastic idea which gets the job done. A National Campaign to popularize local programs of community service is a fantastic idea which helps motivate more people locally, and gets the job done. As soon as it becomes a Federal Program (which is HAS to be if there will be Federal Benefits and/or Requirements) you lose all your 'local' benefit, and gain only Federal Waste.
Posted by: LWO at November 19, 2008 09:47 AM (h26op)
4
"B", I pretty clearly stated my gripe with the revision was that it was done with the broad PaintShop "neverthere" tool, instead of saying something like "ok, that won't fly, how about..."
It's important to remember the FIRST things that get said...because those will track most closely with actual internalized beliefs. Much like when the teleprompter breaks or isn't there, and we get a gem about "redistribution of wealth."
Posted by: Douglas Oosting at November 19, 2008 10:29 AM (04Ay+)
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November 07, 2008
Rep. Flake's Way Out of the Wilderness
Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has some ideas on "what do Republicans do now?"
I suggest that we return to first principles. At the top of that list has to be a recommitment to limited government. After eight years of profligate spending and soaring deficits, voters can be forgiven for not knowing that limited government has long been the first article of faith for Republicans.
This appeals to me!
(H/T:
The Volokh Conspiracy)
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Posted to category: Looking Ahead
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