The More Things Change

Damn, all this talk of "change" this year and politics looks like the same old thing, more interesting by the brawl between Hillary and Obama. Did Hilly drop a grain of truth into the melee when she said Obama can't win?

I was thinking the very same thing. But then I started thinking about Clinton versus Bush in 92. There was no way Clinton was going to win that election. The dirt on him was coming out - there were pictures of Bush 41 being pulled out of the sea circa WWII, etc.

You can blame it on Bush, on "read my lips," or Mary Matalin - bottom line is, Bill Clinton won. I try to remember that when I start getting smug with any prediction.

Comments

[Bandit]

What Hill means is he can't win if she can do anything about it.

[Eric Blair]

Dude, how old are you?

Don't you remember Ross Perot?

[Scrapiron]

Bush one made a classic mistake. He assumed that the American people weren't stupid enough to put two known criminals in the white house. They were and they did, twice. Now the same people are calling the Clintons low life criminals. Go figure. America has became one big comedy. Too bad Holy-wood doesn't have anyone 'left' capable of making a movie about it, or a movie that sells at all.

[shunha7878]

I remember Ross Perot and I will always blame him for the Clintons.

[IslamoLlama]

Just out of interest, if Obama can't win, why are the right-wing noisebags cheerleading for Hillary? Would Rush be egging conservatives on in Ohio and Texas and Pennsylvania to vote Clinton if he thought Obama was going to be easy meat in November? For that matter, doesn't it make you wonder why a pundit who has gone out of his way for some twenty years to extol the absolute, unmitigated horror that is the Clinton family to turn around and ask his listeners to vote Clinton for political expediency?

Not to invoke too much Godwin here, but it feels like I'm watching a bunch of conservatives shouting "Vote Stalin! Vote Stalin! That way, he and Trotsky will have to fight it out all the way to the convention!" Should you... you know... spend your time campaigning for your own candidate rather than trying to egg on the opposition party? It's almost as though McCain is such a disappointment that even the wingnuttiest of the wingnuts don't want to touch him if they can avoid it.

[chris]

Holy-wood made a movie about you and your kind. It was called Joe Dirt. Now back to work for you so that you can afford gas.

[Fred Beloit]

Moe, a small reminder, the GOP primary is over. More campaigning than McC is now doing isn't required. Your two gutter fighters are still running against Bush and are planning how to stab each other in the back. McC doesn't have to do much except make speeches and let his supporters and other fair-minded people defend him against the 100 years charge.

[Scrapiron]

Sorry Chris. Worked all my life, now draw three retirement checks and have no need for employment, unemployment of welfare. I'll just keep paying taxes so the sorry asses that vote democrat can draw their welfare checks. I see the democrats in N.J. have put people earning a quarter of a million + per year on SCHIP. Funny watching the dhimmi's shoot themselves in the foot by dragging out another loser to hype 'not enough food stamps'. Too bad she had a $150 bluetooth gadget in her ear and a bluetooth cell phone. How many months would that feed the average working family? I hurt myself (laughing so hard) daily watching the uneducated (a degree from a liberal college is no guarntee of education) elitest try and defend the undefendable.

[chris]

Wow a $150 gadget! Oh, and it's 'guarantee'. I guess that's an elitist kind of work. Enjoy those hefty retirement checks.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Holy-wood made a movie about you and your kind. It was called Joe Dirt. --"

That's not true at all. Joe Dirt was kind-hearted, open-minded, and charitable.

[TigerHawk]

I blame the watch thing. And the fact that people named George Bush cannot articulate their way out of a paper bag.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- I see the democrats in N.J. have put people earning a quarter of a million + per year on SCHIP. --"

Horray for ignorance. SCHIP is capped at incomes of $80,000 / year for those states receiving federal funding. And the program pays out to the poorest families first. So, if you are claiming that NJ is paying SCHIP - exclusively out of its own pocket - to families earning $250k/year, you'll be forced to concede that this very blue state doesn't have anyone making less than $250k/year applying for the social service.

If that's the case, I'm confident all those triple digit income earners in NJ are more than paying for their government-subsidized insurance by flooding the US Treasury with income taxes. So, what are you complaining about Scrapiron? If McCain tries to scrap the CHIP program for his proposed $2500/family tax cuts, those NJ folks will be getting more back than they'd have paid on insurance premiums anyway. Your conservative hero will actually cost us more money than the current "broken" system you just dreamed up.

[Dan Riehl]

"Don't you remember Ross Perot? "

Qute well, actually. Are you old enough to know who Bob Barr is and that he's considering running? Like I said, beware of predictions. And you can ask Hillary the inevitable about that, as well.

[Fred Beloit]

Hurray for the Big Non sequitur.

Moe writes:

"SCHIP is capped at incomes of $80,000 / year for those states receiving federal funding. And the program pays out to the poorest families first." The in a daring leap of illogic he writes:
"So, if you are claiming that NJ is paying SCHIP - exclusively out of its own pocket - to families earning $250k/year, you'll be forced to concede that this very blue state doesn't have anyone making less than $250k/year applying for the social service."

Ah, no, my darling Moe. Assuming you understanding is correct, could it not be that NJ has 523 $75K-families applying and a $245K family could apply and still get SCHIP coverage? If not, why not?

I hope this disaster fromm 2006 was averted.
"State Watch | New Jersey SCHIP Program Could Eliminate Benefits for Some Children Next Year
[Sep 29, 2006]

New Jersey's SCHIP program is facing an estimated $150 million shortfall in fiscal year 2007, which could result in some children losing benefits under the program, the Bergen Record reports. The program, called KidCare or Family Care in New Jersey, is a joint state-federal program for low-income children of families who do not qualify for Medicaid. According to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), state leaders will have to adjust eligibility requirements, eliminate benefits, increase copayments or cut payments to doctors and hospitals to address the projected deficit. The program provides health care coverage for about 121,000 children in the state. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that 17 states will face a total $890 million shortfall in federal funding next year, which could result in benefit cuts for about 610,000 children nationwide. Suzanne Esterman, spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Human Services, said, "It's an issue everybody's watching. While we're concerned about it, we are hoping Congress finds a way to bridge the gap" (Jackson, Bergen Record, 9/28)."

[joeb]

In 1992 the economy had gone stagnant. Bush was blamed for that. Clinton's team said "It's the economy stupid". And they won. Yes Perot hurt Bush bad. But the bad economy hurt Bush worse. I also remember loud mouth Rush Limbaugh every day on the radio just before that election saying Bush was going to win when the polls were saying something different. People always vote their pocketbooks. Remember how high Bush Senior's approval rating were after the Gulf War? 60 per cent or more. That war ended and the ecomomy went dead in the water. Down came his approval ratings.

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Ah, no, my darling Moe. Assuming you understanding is correct, could it not be that NJ has 523 $75K-families applying and a $245K family could apply and still get SCHIP coverage? If not, why not? --"

Because the $75/year families have priority? And if a $35/year family applies, that family would have priority over the $75/year family. And so it goes.

Of course, you aren't really worried about the $250/year family are you? You're worried about the $40/year family with four kids whose primary breadwinner is self-employed.

The same group of people who have screaming hissy-fits over how families in NJ and California will get swept into the Alternative Minimum Tax rule are throwing equally large and petulant tantrums at SCHIP for scaling to match the cost of living in an expensive state - like NJ or California.

This is laughable because it shows how - in the conservative frame of mind - there is no good social program. Trillions in unilateral invasions of third world countries, not a penny for infrastructure or assistance. Republicans who can't blow enough money on the Defense Department advanced weapons contracts literally crap their pants at the idea of subsidizing a working family's health insurance. Because we all need to pitch in to protect ourselves from Al-Qaeda ICBMs, but when cancer comes calling its every man for himself.

So dumb it hurts.

[Sara]

Surely you aren't equating Bob Barr with Ross Perot? No one even knows who he is. Ross Perot was quite popular because of his hostage rescue attempts and he had gobs and gobs of money to spend and used the media to his ultimate advantage. Clinton got 43.3% of the vote. Not exactly a winning number. Perot came in with 19% which he took away from Bush 41, leaving him with 37.7% of the vote. If even a third of that 19% had voted for Bush, Clinton never would have seen the inside of the White House. Believe me, if Lee Atwater had not been stricken down with a brain tumor, Perot and Clinton would never have been able to pull it off. Mary Matlin, who I like, is/was no Lee Atwater. The '92 campaign never recovered from the body blow of Atwater's death. I worked on both the '88 and '92 Bush national campaigns and there was absolutely no comparison. In '88, we were organized down to the minutest of details, put in 18 hour days, and took states no one believed could be taken, Maryland, as an example, in '92 they couldn't even get their yard signs out to the public or keep their state campaign headquarters open a few hours a day. The campaign was a shambles. It would be like Bush 43 losing Laura, Condi and Karl Rove all at the same time or Reagan losing everyone in his kitchen cabinet and just a few months before the election.

[Scrapiron]

Do a goggle search on SCHIP in NJ. The investigation was just completed a few days ago and by the way democrats seldom report all of their income to the state or feds. I know several small business owners (democrats) I could send up the road by dropping a dime on them. Cash transactions is cash in the pocket. N.J. is known as the mafia controlled chemical dump of the world so most of the population is probably brain dead from contamination. So I don't spell much good when I'm rolling in the floor laughing and the democrats defending the enemies of the country and the criminals that will eventually slit their throats do give me a rolling in the floor laugh a day. But then anyone supporting the most racist man (Hussein) to come down the pike in years for president and a known life long criminal (Shrillary) don't bother me too much. Eventually they will all commit suicide anyway. Maybe I'll get to scrape some of them up while laughing at the bone fragments sticking in the walls and ceiling. I've did it for many years.

[Fred Beloit]

Lordy day in the evening, Moe. Here is a possibility that you claim is an impossibility. I have a hundred sneakers to give away, ten of each size in sizes 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5, 10, 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, 12.5. I want to give away the smallest sizes first, so I take requests by sizes. You say if I do that I will never be able to give away the size 11 and up. There are five 5 people who want sneakers. They get size 8. I have 95 sneakers left. Then five more want sneakers. They get 8.5. etc, etc. When I'm done, every size was given. This is not an impossibility. You are dumb if you think it is, no?

[GMax]

Dan Riehl

I just had a lefty swear to me that Barr was going to pick Paul as his running mate. He was shooting his load, he was so excited. At least you did not try to pass off the Paul bit. Paul just quit his campaign for President. He said he is not going to run as a Libertarian. He has lots of money leftover, and a campaign staff assembled and name recognition to name three advantages he has that Barr does not. The logic did not not stop this guy however.

You do know that Mike Gravel big old lefty Democrat wants the Libertarian spot too right? I am guessing that with the lefty lean to those that call themselves libertarians these days, Gravel would be a more appealing candidate. But I have to admit either one will not get 1% of the vote and will not make any difference. I say Nader and maybe McKinney outpoll the Libertarians.

[seekeronos]

Or the Constitution Party with either Roy Moore or Alan Keyes.

Sadly, without electoral fusion, third parties simply haven't got a long-tailed cat's chance of success in room full of rocking chairs.

[seekeronos]

As for this:

"--- Of course, you aren't really worried about the $250/year family are you? You're worried about the $40/year family with four kids whose primary breadwinner is self-employed. ---"

Please you don't really want to resurrect that 400+ post count thread we did on that sorry sad sack who wouldn't and won't either (a) stand up a real and profitable business so as to afford health care, or (b) put that Ivy League degree to work earning a salary and benefits like the bulk of Americans? The guy who *could have* bought insurance before his child had the catastrophic injury, who used that money to get granite countertops and run his $400k "hobby" business as a part-time, barely profitable venture?

I could understand if he had no options and was living hand-to-mouth on that 40k/year and was unable to get insurance otherwise... but the man just seems to be a good-for-nothing leech.

[BobInStamford]

It looks like another Mission Accomplished for you patriots and your leader

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080404/ap_on_re_us/poll_dissatisfied_americans

28% think that a stammering fool who doesn't know his ass from his elbow or even that gas is approaching $4 is going a "good job". You deadenders are priceless!!! I think years of watching cars drive in circles has made you all as dumb as him!

[Fred Beloit]

Meanwhile, the Progressiveics continue to eat their own in the name of free speech.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/air-america-host-suspended-for-clinton-remarks/

[Fred Beloit]

Golly, Mr. Science, this sure is a big surprise:

"Mr. Obama’s favorability rating among Democratic primary voters has dropped seven percentage points, to 62 percent, since the last Times/CBS News survey, in late February. While that figure is by any measure high, the decline came in a month in which he has come under withering attack from Mrs. Clinton and has had to respond to reports that his former pastor had made politically inflammatory statements from his church’s pulpit in Chicago."

New York Times

[IslamoLlama]

OT, but yet another compelling case for universal health care coverage.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/houppert

"-- Smith, who is now back in the United States on two weeks R&R, is uncertain what the future holds for her. "I don't think I've been able to make any decisions or plans or goals yet," she says. First of all, there is the fact that she arrived home from Iraq to learn that her husband had been rushed to the hospital earlier that day after a partial stroke. She needs her job with SEII because she is the one who gets health insurance--vital not only for the two teenage daughters still living at home but for her husband, with his health problems. She worries, "Human Resources made me sign statements saying that I'm supposed to be back in Dubai on April 7 at 10 p.m., and if I'm not there I will not be reimbursed my $1,600 airfare or for my two weeks' vacation."

And indeed, the March 17 letter her attorney received from KBR attorney Celia Ballí says that Smith can be placed on medical leave "pending resolution of the investigations related to this matter" but warns, "However, per Company policy, [her] leave will be unpaid." She is welcome to apply for workers' comp, the lawyer states.

Can she return to her old job as a paramedic in Lena, Illinois?

"Yes, my license is in good standing, and I've never had a problem," she says. "But it means a difference of about $6,000 a month in salary and no health insurance. My biggest reason for working for KBR in the first place was so I could get insurance for my husband and girls..." Smith's sentence trails off. She begins a new one. Stops midway. She tries again to organize her thoughts. "I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to go back to work. How am I going to make myself do this?" she says, manifesting the confused indecisiveness and sense of a "foreshortened future" that are hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder. --"

[IslamoLlama]

As for NJ SCHIP

"-- The report found, "Although beneficiaries authorize the Division of Taxation to release their tax returns to the NJFC program when signing their application, the division does not currently perform a computer match of all beneficiaries with state tax files." According to the audit, three residents with incomes exceeding $700,000 annually were enrolled in the program, and three other beneficiaries were determined eligible in 2006 because they did not report self-employment annual income of between $177,700 and $295,000, as they had on their tax returns.

State auditors also found that DHSS officials did not attempt to recover $4.6 million in unpaid fees to NJ FamilyCare by 16,300 former beneficiaries and that the program paid $43.1 million in claims for 13,000 residents even though the agency had not verified they were still eligible for coverage (Wright, Bergen Record, 4/1). --"

You've found a problem with management. Good for you. Indeed, a whooping 6 people were enrolled outside of accordance of the law. They've got outstanding fees and unverified coverage issues as well. So, the logical solution would be more oversight and probably a change of management.

Compared to the $295 billion in Defense Contractor overruns, this is the smallest of potatoes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23891322/

If we need to ditch the SCHIP program in NJ, do you also think we should stop development of special weapons for the Pentagon? I mean, fair is fair. The defense budget-busting could pay for NJ's SCHIP excess expenses about a thousand times over. $295 billion comes out to around $1000 in tax cuts for everyone in America. If you are really worried about government waste, are you sure you've picked the best place to start?

[TheSpartan]

Never let the facts get in the way of a good rant...

"xJ. Dionne penned a first report in the Post. Headline: “Perot Seen Not Affecting Vote Outcome:”

DIONNE (11/8/92): Ross Perot's presence on the 1992 presidential ballot did not change the outcome of the election, according to an analysis of the second choices of Perot supporters.

The analysis, based on exit polls conducted by Voter Research & Surveys (VRS) for the major news organizations, indicated that in Perot's absence, only Ohio would have have shifted from the Clinton column to the Bush column. This would still have left Clinton with a healthy 349-to-189 majority in the electoral college.

And even in Ohio, the hypothetical Bush "margin" without Perot in the race was so small that given the normal margin of error in polls, the state still might have stuck with Clinton absent the Texas billionaire.

"The VRS polled more than 15,000 voters. On November 12, Dionne provided more details about Perot voters:

DIONNE (11/12/92): In House races, Perot voters split down the middle: 51 percent said they backed Republicans, 49 percent backed Democrats. In the presidential contest, 38 percent of Perot supporters said they would have supported Clinton if Perot had not been on the ballot and 37 percent said they would have supported Bush.

An additional 6 percent of Perot voters said they would have sought another third-party candidate, while 14 percent said they would not have voted if Perot had not run."

[Fred Beloit]

What a touching story by Lisa Smith (moniker to protect the nonexistent? or is her real name Jane Hamsher?).

"Smith's sentence trails off. She begins a new one. Stops midway. She tries again to organize her thoughts."

I wonder who Oliver Stone will pick to play the hapless and seemingly helpless, familyless, friendless, charityless, Ms Smith. What a great part! Sharon Stone, Babs Streisand, Jane Fonda (too old?), Madonna Clothesafelloffa?

These are such stories about the little people as socialism is made of. Thank you for shilling, I mean sharing this tale, Moe, of one woman alone who is still standing in...the gathering dusk.

[Fred Beloit]

"Compared to the $295 billion in Defense Contractor overruns, this is the smallest of potatoes."

There you go again Moe, comparing apples with potatoes.

[Fred Beloit]

"If we need to ditch the SCHIP program in NJ..."

Now, Moe, you know government givaways never goaway. The Peace Corps. Over 40 years old...we need it now more than ever. Why? Because it never worked to bring peace to anybody but the bureaucrats who run it.

[Fred Beloit]

"If we need to ditch the SCHIP program in NJ, do you also think we should stop development of special weapons for the Pentagon? I mean, fair is fair. The defense budget-busting could pay for NJ's SCHIP excess expenses about a thousand times over..."

Now you are getting smart, Moe. Why hasn't anybody ever thought of this before? All we have to do is give up the defense of the nation and we can all have cradle to grave government care of all aspects of our lives.

Hahaha. You are priceless.

[Fred Beloit]

"You've found a problem with management." Personally, I don't think the problem is with management. I think the problem is with the mindset of The Good Government Is Government As Charity Funded By Force of Law.

[Worst President Ever]

Eight years of George Bush and what's the verdict?

"In the poll, 81 percent of respondents said they believed “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track,” up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in early 2002."
...
"There is now nearly a national consensus that the country faces significant problems."

The country is so unhappy with Bush's policies the Democrats have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pull off a landslide. As far as I can tell, McCain's essentially running as Bush III while Obama - yes, he's going to be the nominee - will run as the anti-Bush. Considering the mood of the country, Obama wins in a walk barring some catastrophic development.

[Fred Beloit]

"...yes, he's going to be the nominee..." Then the Dems will surely lose. Indi Americans don't like stone liberals.

[chris]

Perhaps the greatest aspect of an Obama presidency is the thought of the rednecks having a black president. I 'reckon' that they won't like that too much.

Wife-beating and cheap beer consumption is sure to increase.

[Worst President Ever]

Right, the public hates the war, hates high gas prices, hates the recession, hates seeing the value of their homes go down, hates losing their job, hates having the dollar in the toilet but somehow is going to vote for the Man the Promises Even More of That.

[AmericanAndProud]

It's neat that Fred needed three posts to address one sentence. Almost as though he shot his mouth off before he got to the bottom of the post. Reading comprehension for the win!

"-- Now you are getting smart, Moe. Why hasn't anybody ever thought of this before? All we have to do is give up the defense of the nation and we can all have cradle to grave government care of all aspects of our lives. --"

Hey, Fred, that's your logic not mine. You found waste in government coming from SCHIP so you wanted to scrap the whole program. I found waste in government coming from the Pentagon and I suggested the same draconian measures. Certainly we can agree that $46 million is less than $295 billion. If we can tolerate the waste and graft occurring in the Pentagon needed to protect ourselves from another 9/11, why would we oppose a fraction of that cost to protect citizens from cancer or heart disease or pneumonia? Pneumonia kills far more people every year than terrorists. You'd think it would make more sense to focus our resources where they would save the most lives.

[Fred Beloit]

"You found waste in government coming from SCHIP so you wanted to scrap the whole program."

Could you please show me where I, not someone else, said I had found waste caused by SCHIP? No? That's because, even though it fits your junior meme, it never happened.

Anyway, I am not against SCHIP because there is waste in it. There is waste in every government program; that's a given. I oppose SCHIP because it is a government program of a pseudo-charitable nature. I say pseudo-charitable because those of us who pay taxes, the few, the proud, the able, are forced to support it. Charity should be supported by the willing and able. What is your view, Moe?

[seekeronos]

Charity should come from private individuals, and from groups of concerned individuals (churches and NGOs/NPOs - 501(3) organizations).

Not from the public's money.

Consider the response of one citizen to Rep. David Crockett's vote to give the public money for a charitable cause:

"It's not yours to give."

Link:

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/1111/not-yours-to-give/

[IslamoLlama]

"-- Not from the public's money.

Consider the response of one citizen to Rep. David Crockett's vote to give the public money for a charitable cause:

"It's not yours to give." --"

It wasn't that man's to keep. Taxes aren't optional. Taxes are your rent. You don't get to live in your house without buying it - or at least paying off the mortgage. You don't get to drink the city tap water and dump trash in the city dump and tap the city power grid without paying the bill. When you pay taxes, its no longer your personal money. It is city money.

And social programs aren't charity. They're investments. Food stamps and housing assistance aren't just feel good government endeavors. Starving people clog your emergency rooms. They pick your pockets and steal your groceries. They curl up and die in the middle of the street and generally make a very nasty mess of themselves. Likewise, homeless people are very difficult to employee - especially in this day and age. Homeless women become prostitutes. Homeless men becomes petty thieves and drug dealers. Homeless children form up as gangs.

You can't just throw these people in jail. For starters, jailing a guy today costs you $30k-$60k/year. That's god-awful expensive. Then you've got to build the jails - large sprawling complexes that no one wants to live by - and maintain them and employ them. And when jails start filling up, they get even more difficult and more expensive to run.

You can't just ignore these people. Study your history. China in the 1930s? Russia in the 1900s? French Revolution much? That's what happens to a society that heaps scorn on its most needy as their numbers soar. Don't like Maoist/Stalinist Communism? Don't be a dick. Invest in your population. Make sure they get food and an education. Make sure that those who want to go to college but don't have the money up front aren't denied an education and you won't have nursing shortages or engineering shortages. The guy operating on your colon in 20 years could have gone to a good school on a Pell Grant. Or he could have gone to a shitty school on what he could scrape together working at McDonalds. The guy sweeping your streets could be a native born American who got a good job for fair wages. Or he could be an illegal immigrant contracted out by whatever your local eco-charity could afford. The cop who patrols your street might be well-trained and well-equiped. Or he might be whatever rent-a-stoogie your neighborhood could afford.

You're a smart enough guy, Seek. You know when to save, when to gamble, and when to splurge. Tax expenditures are no different. Invest now or pay later.

[Fred Beloit]

"Starving people clog your emergency rooms."
Moe, do you really think you can make an outrageously false statement like this without offering evidence? I've been in ERs. They were not clogged with starving people. How do you explain that?

[Fred Beloit]

"You're a smart enough guy, Seek. You know when to save, when to gamble, and when to splurge. Tax expenditures are no different. Invest now or pay later."

Trillions have been spent in the "War on Poverty". Where is the payoff? You and like-minded people claim that America is now teeming with the poor to the extent that the starving are clogging ERs. What a dope.

[seekeronos]

"--- It wasn't that man's to keep. Taxes aren't optional. Taxes are your rent. You don't get to live in your house without buying it - or at least paying off the mortgage. You don't get to drink the city tap water and dump trash in the city dump and tap the city power grid without paying the bill. When you pay taxes, its no longer your personal money. It is city money. ---"

I roundly disagree.

Taxes aren't optional, but they are certainly discussable, and the elected officials who discuss them have an obligation to manage the public trust, and ensure that the only the smallest taxes to cover the most necessary expenses are levied.

Accountability and bidding for fair priced labour and services from contractors and suppliers is needed.

There need not be any families forced into homelessness and women into prostitution, or children into gangs, if they are individually wealthier with wages or revenue otherwise saved from excessive and unfair taxes.

The larger government becomes, the more expensive it is to manage.

The more power government gains, the more likely it is to devolve into tyranny.

A government constrained by a wise public who keeps it fed with taxes sufficient unto the basic tasks for which it was constituted poses little threat to liberty.

In fact, if there was any one "government program" I might support, it would be for classes on the growth and maintenance of personal wealth.

If most people knew how to grow their wealth and work with the free market instead of against it, I'd think we'd be all the more prosperous.