Entries tagged with “Politics”.
Sun 26 Jul 2009
Citizens Against Government Waste: Don’t Let Congress Shoot Down 53 Joint Strike Fighters for the Price of One Engine!
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Government, Politics, The Good Fight
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Mon 23 Mar 2009
Concentrated Power is not Rendered Harmless …
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Economics, Government, Politics, The Good Fight
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Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.— Milton Friedman I think all too often we forget that people in power are ambitious and the person who reins in power to do some good now also reins in power for so many others to do so much bad tomorrow.
Fri 20 Mar 2009
Fixing the Economy
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Economics, Government, Politics, The Good Fight
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There is more to fear than fear itself. There’s government and its dim-witted attempts to fix the economy.The article articulates a pet peeve of mine. Lawyers, like President Obama, do not have the training needed to make economic decisions about a whole country. Heck, economists do not have the training to make economics decisions for a whole nation. IMO, we need a system of government which strips government of the power to affect the economy. Swearing a person into office does not magically imbue that person with a means to predict the future or to understand an economy. Relying on any government official to “fix” the economy reveals at least one major flaw in our system of governance. As long as we rely on a flawed system of government we do ourselves and our descendants a huge disservice.
Sun 15 Mar 2009
The Exodus
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Government, Politics, The Good Fight
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Sun 22 Feb 2009
Peanuts or Ecstasy: You Choose
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Government, Politics, Science
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IMAGINE you are seated at a table with two bowls in front of you. One contains peanuts, the other tablets of the illegal recreational drug MDMA (ecstasy). A stranger joins you, and you have to decide whether to give them a peanut or a pill. Which is safest?Answer. It is common to hold one’s own beliefs to a different test than the beliefs we are confronting. I have been guilty of that. I will be guilty of it again. I only hope that I’m not guilty of it now. Where do your beliefs fit? Can they withstand the scrutiny you apply to new beliefs? THink about it.
Sun 8 Feb 2009
Global Wamring: Was it Ever Really a Crisis?
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Economics, Government, Science, The Good Fight
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Thu 5 Feb 2009
Criminalized Drug Discussions
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Economics, Erath County, Government, Politics, Texas, The Good Fight
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If we treat drug addiction as a disease, yet legalize drugs, are we not offering up the disease to even more weak-willed persons?Yes. But protecting weak-willed persons from their own self-destructive behaviors is not a legitimate use of government. I’m addicted to those Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. I know I shouldn’t eat them. They’re little rolls of sugary goodness, but they are detrimental to my health. I don’t think anyone would seriously make the case that making them illegal is a legitimate use of government. BTW, I just ate a whole box of HEB Swiss Rolls while I was writing this reply. [Don't say it. Don't say it.] (more…)
Wed 4 Feb 2009
Oxymoron: Leader of the Free World
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Government, Politics, The Good Fight
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Tue 3 Feb 2009
The Rangel Rule
Posted by Charles Clarkson under Government, Politics, Rants
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Thu 22 Jan 2009
Open and Accessible Government: Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Posted by Charles Clarkson under The Good Fight
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President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history. To send questions, comments, concerns, or well-wishes to the President or his staff, please use the form below:Wow. That sounds great, but actions are louder than words. Try using Google AutoFill to fill in the form. It’s completely screwed up because the form designers used form field names with a prefix of ctl05$txt. So, the last name field is named ctl05$txtLastName which fools the Google Autofill feature. So I have to fill the form in by hand. Next I get down to the box to add my comment.
Message Please limit your entry to 500 characters.500 Characters! Holy Crap, I’d better be succinct. So much for “creating the most open and accessible administration” blah blah blah. Don’t listen to politicians. Watch them. Actions always speak louder than words. Here’s what I sent:
I just received an email from Townhall Spotlight about saving the F-22 Raptor project. It seems it is up to the President to fund the project. Apparently the project employs 95,000 and costs at least $12 billion dollars. That’s a pretty steep price for jobs. Before you spend taxpayer money please do what taxpayers do. Think about whether there is any better use for that money. Can I pay the rent? Can I pay down some debt? Do I have enough money for groceries? Can I buy a jet fighter?For those wishing not to do the math, taxes generally cost about 20% in compliance cost and 8% in collection costs. So, a dollar in government spending required somebody to spend $1.30 ( ( $1 + $0.20 ) / ( $1 – $0.08 ) ). A $12 biilion project requires people in the private sector to spend more than $15.6 billion dollars on taxes. $15.6 billion divided by 95,000 jobs equals $164,211 per job. That’s a pretty steep price for jobs.