Letters to the Editor
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One Last Thing Chris....
"Really? as a Libertarian and 20 year political activist at levels a bit higher then yours...."
Just how do you know what level of political activism I have been involved in? A bit presumptious on your part, but I'll overlook that. After all you are a Libertarian, you can't be wrong, perish the thought!
Just FYI, I was involved in my local & state Democratic party fuctions & activities for many years, along with nearly twenty years of union involvement, including political education of my fellow union members.
Sorry I overlooked responding to that spurious comment in my last letter, but after all, I'm merely a human, & prone to making mistakes. Too bad I'm not some sort of "Super Libertarian", why then I could just cut the Gordian knot of humanity & solve everything!
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Forced To Register says, in response to my contention
that the feds redistribute wealth (and therefore services) from the wealthier states to the poorer:
“This may be true for some things like defense and interstate highways, but not everything. And if they were just moving money around, fine, but it all comes down to control. Ive worked in state government before, and every federal dollar comes with conditions that have to be met, that may or may not apply to the what's going on in particular state.”
Actually, Medicaid, food stamps, many local anti-crime programs and policing, Medicare, and many, many other state programs depend in large part on federal redistribution. Take federal dollars away from Texas, without huge state tax hikes, and you get Mexico; take the same money away from Mississippi and you have Bangladesh.
Your remarks on “control” are well taken, but, obviously, our federal government does have a responsibility to see that tax dollars are used appropriately and fairly. Otherwise you have state government using money intended for policing spending it on roads or only in wealthier areas. Medicaid is a huge state program which allows states great flexibility to set individual terms; the feds do give a lot of attention to rules and regulations to minimize fraud however. Medicaid loses a lot of efficiency because it allows states so much leeway in what state legislators and residents want to provide.
The libertarian take on many issues is overly idealistic. It idealizes a 19th century that was, in fact, capricious and cruel. It would never fly today. More people vote, and many of them understand that the deck is stacked against them. We can see what happens to our countrymen in places like New Orleans when the federal system is sabotaged by the Bushs and Norquists. Like its antithesis, Marxism, economic libertarianism as espoused by Ron Paul, is an ideology that is too disconnected from people and reality to have any use or practicality in today’s America. It’s a sideshow, and as Bluesman Mark has pointed out, it effect is to slow progress toward the real 21st Century covenant between government and citizens.
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Idealistic?
I'm sick of people saying federal libertarianism is idealistic! How high does the debt have to go before you 'pragmatic' people realizing the current system isn't working? 15 trillion? 20 trillion? The problem is that the same people that print our money are the ones in charge of spending it. Do you see a problem here? States can't print their own money, so eventually they have to deal with reality and balance their budgets.
"Your remarks on “control” are well taken, but, obviously, our federal government does have a responsibility to see that tax dollars are used appropriately and fairly."
Yeah, like New Orleans. Perfect example of my original point, which is that people in government have their own agendas, and you're better off taking care of your own neighborhood.
"We can see what happens to our countrymen in places like New Orleans when the federal system is sabotaged by the Bushs and Norquists. "
So when the federal government works it's because it's the most efficient form of government, and when it doesn't it's because of the Republicans? Now who's being idealistic? Who is complaining that their perfect form of government is being ruined by PEOPLE? Get real. There will always be greedy, power hungry, selfish people in government. The pragmatic view is to limit the amount of damage that they can do.
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Forced to regiter
Its idealistic because it is based on ideas or ideology, not on reality. As tilde person points out in a post on today’s article on conservatism, people are not going to give up Medicare or Social Security for an idea, and the examples of how effective and efficient European and Canadian Health Care is will eventually lead to that here too.
Our federal spending is out of control because of tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy and an imbalance between military spending and investment in non-military growth over the last 50 years. Its special interests alright, but these “greedy, power hungry, selfish people” are from outside the government, not within, except when our leaders enable them by undoing controls, checks and balances.
It is Republicans like Norquist who say they want to drown government in a bathtub, not Democrats, so I take them at their word. Ron Paul is a Republican, is he not? Bush shares this political philosophy when it regards government programs he does not care about, such as FEMA and SCHIP. If you think FEMA’s response to Katrina would have been the same under Clinton as under Bush, I disagree most strongly.
You say you have worked in state government, but I’m guessing not for long or at a low level. Your ideas on government appear to me more theoretical than realistic.
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sorry, I meant Forced to Register,
Also, economic libertarianism is dead because history killed it. No one in their right minds want to go back to the 1890s, especially given today’s access to weapons and bombs.
“I'm sick of people saying federal libertarianism is idealistic!”
Doesn’t matter. It’s the truth, from every perspective you examine it.
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Republican candidates
It matters not which Republican candidate is "macho." We've had macho up to the neck. it matters not which candidate is the most "religious" or the most compassionate or the most patriotic...or the most of the most.
We just very simply cannot afford any GOP boosters or boasters "leading" our nation. We cannot suffer them either politically or morally or in their version of patriotism.But there is always that fear eating at my guts...
"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.": - Voltaire - [François Marie Arouet] (1694-1778)