REDUCE GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS!

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #367

Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote in his classic book Democracy in America that democracy will work until elected officials realize that they can buy the voters’ votes with their own tax money. And that basically is what is happening today. So, for example, we have the federal government buying people’s votes by canceling student debts. Obviously many taxpayers did not have the opportunity to pursue a higher education, but they are being forced to pay for the student debts of those who did. If I make a poor decision, I should be responsible to pay for it, and not force the taxpayers to bail me out! Similarly, if office buildings are now vacant, don’t force the taxpayers to pay to convert them to housing units. The Free Market is much better equipped to handle that (probably necessary) task! And, as you should know, mostly the business people who support the present Administration will receive that financial assistance. Furthermore, obviously, the price of gasoline has doubled in about a year. So help the people who actually purchase the gasoline by temporarily canceling the state sales taxes on each gallon of gas? No instead, for example, California’s Governor Newsom plans to send checks for $200 to each owner of a car in California, thus attempting to take credit for the payments in an effort to buy our votes. De Tocqueville’s nightmares coming true! And do you think, by the way, that owners of electric cars should receive those checks? These are just a few examples, but space is limited.

So what should we do instead to help all taxpayers and others in our society? School Choice, which will bring competition to schools thus virtually eliminating the unnecessary tragedy of too many public schools failing our children! Reduce the size – and thus the cost – of government! The easiest example is to abolish the Department of Indian Affairs! Native Americans are continually at the bottom of all economic indicators. Why? Because the BIA thinks it knows better how to run their lives than they do. So often they have no incentives to better themselves! (And each of these government bureaus is hugely expensive for the taxpayers!) Reduce the number and difficulty of procuring government occupational licenses! They mostly serve to increase bureaucracy and reduce completion. Reduce our involvement in foreign military conflicts! How? By again requiring Congress to issue a Declaration of War before our troops can be involved in military conflicts for more than 60 days. (Remember the US Constitution? Only Congress has the authority to Declare War, not the President!) And provide a true Safety Net for all of the citizens in our country, as well as those here with a valid Green Card. Then we can eliminate almost all other welfare programs, including all of the expense, fraud, intrusion and bureaucracy that go along with them, except for people with truly Special Needs. These are some logical and straightforward changes that we must make in our country. And if and when we make those changes, we will soon all sit back and wonder why we didn’t take those steps long long ago!

Question for the week: What is the difference between a Dad joke and a Bad joke?
Answer: Well, one is apparent.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.) Superior Court of Orange County, California 2012 Libertarian Candidate for Vice President

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