tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post9065322706883340794..comments2024-03-28T15:39:28.239-04:00Comments on Vital Remnants: The Big Budget Lie: How a bigger budget deficit is being sold as a "cut"Martin Cothranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16452612266051351726noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-37274486399388488302011-04-22T22:25:12.265-04:002011-04-22T22:25:12.265-04:00> This is actually quite incorrect when it come...> This is actually quite incorrect when it comes to the American legal system. There's a principle of non-delegation that the judicial system enforces: the legislature may not give an agency carte blanche to issue regulations. <br /><br />That may be true in theory, but it is not true in practice. Someone who has the money to take it to court may win. Many do not. One example that I Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-31066299374777495092011-04-22T22:02:09.839-04:002011-04-22T22:02:09.839-04:00> a Christian cannot support both a system that...> a Christian cannot support both a system that values excess wealth and rewards greed, and at the same believe Christ's teachings on wealth. "You cannot serve both God and money."<br /><br />But wait. I thought that if, as a Christian, I were to support *any* type of government system -- be it capitalism or socialism or communism -- that would be somehow wrong, since I'm Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-73153948628631166612011-04-18T13:23:43.576-04:002011-04-18T13:23:43.576-04:00Thomas,
a Christian cannot support both a system...Thomas,<br /><br /> a Christian cannot support both a system that values excess wealth and rewards greed, and at the same believe Christ's teachings on wealth. "You cannot serve both God and money."<br /><br />And yet that is exactly the position many on the Religious Right take, explicitly teaching that progressive taxation, inheritance taxes, and the minimum wage are unbiblical.KyCobbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-6576287147478955262011-04-18T10:33:58.738-04:002011-04-18T10:33:58.738-04:00"In this sense, regulation comes very close t..."In this sense, regulation comes very close to the rule of man, as opposed to the rule of law. It is arcane. It is arbitrary. It can be tyrannical"<br /><br />This is actually quite incorrect when it comes to the American legal system. There's a principle of non-delegation that the judicial system enforces: the legislature may not give an agency carte blanche to issue regulations. Thomas M. Cothranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07824873424225826685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-68556616424764028332011-04-18T08:56:42.049-04:002011-04-18T08:56:42.049-04:00I should clarify: the distinction I am drawing bet...I should clarify: the distinction I am drawing between law and regulation is that law is passed by Congress and signed into law by the President (or overriding a veto), whereas a regulation is anything from a law to what bureaucrat makes up on a given day.<br /><br />In this sense, regulation comes very close to the rule of man, as opposed to the rule of law. It is arcane. It is arbitrary. It canLeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-36977445012042552912011-04-18T08:52:35.324-04:002011-04-18T08:52:35.324-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-4554263010289259102011-04-17T21:06:31.340-04:002011-04-17T21:06:31.340-04:00> With health care costs in the US spiraling up...> With health care costs in the US spiraling upwards, why would you want to give more control to those who profit from higher health care costs? At least insurance companies have an incentive to keep costs down (they're just really bad at it).<br /><br />Are we supposed to ignore the role that federal entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid have already played in driving up the cost ofLeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-44638110821979016522011-04-17T20:48:23.042-04:002011-04-17T20:48:23.042-04:00> The overwhelming majority of economists agree...> The overwhelming majority of economists agree that the stimulus spending saved millions of jobs; <br /><br />You mean, the overwhelming majority of liberal economists.<br /><br />> we would be in a great Depression right now without it.<br /><br />I think we would have been fine if they had left things alone. But of course they didn't, and they can't. No matter how much harm Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-60743809863717880662011-04-17T15:29:15.929-04:002011-04-17T15:29:15.929-04:00I don't believe in the fantasy of a "free...I don't believe in the fantasy of a "free market" or any other political abstraction. Negotiation is of the essence of political life. What I'm saying is that every regulation has a cost that needs to be carefully considered. Now the costs are hidden and the people who pay them are far removed from the people who set them.Themhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06848061787616725778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-18546158693532572252011-04-17T13:55:20.257-04:002011-04-17T13:55:20.257-04:00"What we need is to give responsibility back ..."What we need is to give responsibility back to doctors and to take it away from insurance companies."<br /><br />With health care costs in the US spiraling upwards, why would you want to give more control to those who profit from higher health care costs? At least insurance companies have an incentive to keep costs down (they're just really bad at it).<br /><br />And, to the more Thomas M. Cothranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07824873424225826685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-64227545840762612382011-04-17T09:04:51.759-04:002011-04-17T09:04:51.759-04:00Lee,
The overwhelming majority of economists agre...Lee,<br /><br />The overwhelming majority of economists agree that the stimulus spending saved millions of jobs; we would be in a great Depression right now without it. The tax rate is at its lowest in decades; there is plenty of money to create private jobs, but companies have been sitting on their cash because of the low level of demand, though now job creation is finally beginning to pick up.KyCobbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-71160575583964558462011-04-16T19:49:03.859-04:002011-04-16T19:49:03.859-04:002. My head spins when I think of the number of dol...2. My head spins when I think of the number of dollars it takes the government to create a job. If you want the government is going to tax us to create employment, then this is the comparison to reflect on:<br /><br />If I need an employee, I recruit and hire that person based on my needs. I am hiring him because my business has been productive enough to benefit so many people that they want moreThemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06848061787616725778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-56034631933511335082011-04-16T19:48:43.115-04:002011-04-16T19:48:43.115-04:00I run a small business, an education consultancy. ...I run a small business, an education consultancy. I can tell you, there is no administrator in my city, much less Washington, that knows what I need to do to solve my problems and make me prosper. <br /><br />But when they tell me I have to add an elevator or file more forms, what they are telling me is that it's OK with them if my business and all those I employ cease functioning because Themhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06848061787616725778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-1639126028759173402011-04-16T19:46:02.092-04:002011-04-16T19:46:02.092-04:00The same thing has been happening to our schools f...The same thing has been happening to our schools for 80 + years. The decision makers are not the teachers or even the principles, but the higher paid and more important administrators. Only, they don't have to live as directly with the consequences of their decisions. So they continually make stupid ones, always hiding behind cries for equal justice and other noble themes that they ought not Themhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06848061787616725778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-90977159667053108902011-04-16T19:44:54.760-04:002011-04-16T19:44:54.760-04:00KyCobb,
On this matter, I'm not as confident ...KyCobb,<br /><br />On this matter, I'm not as confident as you are either. I have two serious concerns about what you are proposing: <br /><br />1. The amount of government regulation it would require<br />2. The amount of money it would take out of the productive economy and put in the hands of the government<br /><br />Each of these has multiple sub-points, but let me focus on the main onesThemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06848061787616725778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-27413544964219451942011-04-16T19:06:22.000-04:002011-04-16T19:06:22.000-04:00I'm sorry to do this, but I can't get my c...I'm sorry to do this, but I can't get my computer to allow me to post a reply under the Christopher Hitchens thread. So I'm going to address Singring here, hoping he sees it.<br /><br />First, I'd like to request that we remove the hypothetical situation you raised from the discussion because of your recent reply to my question, namely that certainty is too high a standard to Themhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06848061787616725778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-63898635116860892392011-04-16T18:19:04.187-04:002011-04-16T18:19:04.187-04:00Lee,
I think KyCobb is under the impression that ...Lee,<br /><br />I think KyCobb is under the impression that this money actually grows on trees. He emphasizes what the money spent on jobs programs (I assume that's what he's talking about) will do. But, apparently, the private jobs that would have come into existence but now never will because the money will not be available for them (it will now got to future taxes to pay off the debt Martin Cothranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16452612266051351726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-42531976090765141472011-04-16T17:41:51.491-04:002011-04-16T17:41:51.491-04:00KyCobb, you're delusional. If deficit spendin...KyCobb, you're delusional. If deficit spending reduced unemployment, at the rate we're spending, unemployment should be half what it was under Bush; instead, it's twice.<br /><br />The deficit is already up to our national GDP for a year. That's about a fourth of our national net worth. A better indication of whether we're going to default is to watch the current Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-67994380958682164932011-04-16T08:50:01.198-04:002011-04-16T08:50:01.198-04:00Lee,
The US is not going to default on its debt p...Lee,<br /><br />The US is not going to default on its debt payments. Getting millions of unemployed Americans back to work is vastly more important than slashing the debt right now; just getting people back to work will help reduce expenditures and raise revenue. And as I pointed out, Congress can solve the deficit "crisis" simply by doing nothing.KyCobbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-55825973478202059292011-04-15T20:27:38.689-04:002011-04-15T20:27:38.689-04:00When will be a good time to worry? When we'v...When will be a good time to worry? When we've defaulted on our debt payments? That ought to do the unemployed folks a lot of good when that happens.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12974887002402743628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11542449.post-52190231775505608222011-04-15T12:46:16.684-04:002011-04-15T12:46:16.684-04:00This is a stupid time to be worrying about the def...This is a stupid time to be worrying about the deficit anyway, when we still have massive unemployment. If Congress did nothing, and simply let the Bush tax cuts expire and the health care law take effect, the deficit would virtually disappear in a few years.KyCobbnoreply@blogger.com