Posts Tagged ‘Federal government’
October 5th, 2011 by John Feehery
Apparently, Radiohead couldn’t get its schedule straight with the Occupy Wall Street protesters and they didn’t play for the grungy crowd last week. I am not hip enough to know exactly what kind of music the band plays, but I do know that a couple of years ago, the members of the band came up with a brilliant marketing strategy to sell one of its albums. “Pay what you want or pay nothing at all if that is what you want to do.” The band never released how much money it made by letting its fans name their own price, but they chose to not pursue the same strategy for their next album.
Despite the scheduling snafu, Radiohead still has endorsed the protest movement that seems to be gaining strength every day. For example, all of the government employee unions are now on board with Michael Moore and assorted other left-wing radicals to protest the money that Wall Street financiers make every day.
These Wall Street financiers and their other colleagues, known collectively by the collectivists as “the rich” or the “one-percenters”, pay about 30 to 35% of the taxes collected by the Federal government. Having the government employee unions protest against these prodigious tax-payers is somewhat akin to the protesting against the goose because he is not producing golden eggs fast enough. Read more...
Tags: America, anti-capitalist, Barack Obama, Capitalism, Democrats, Federal government, immigrants, Jobs, Mexicans, Michael Moore, New York Times, Occupy Wall Street protestors, Old Gray Lady, Politics, Radiohead, spending, taxes, Wall Street financiers
Posted in Bad Decisions, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, Politics, bad news, spending, taxes | No Comments »
September 16th, 2011 by John Feehery
“In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing, such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
That was Thomas Hobbes, who argued that implicit in civil society is a social contract that called for a strong government presence in regulating conduct. In Mr. Hobbes time, the king was the ultimate sovereign. These days, you could argue that the sovereign is the Federal government as set out by the Constitution.
Hobbes understood that the nature of man, without that social contract, would descend into chaos and ultimately darkness. In other words, without strong laws, people cheat, lie and steal.
I say this as a means of introduction to a bipartisan proposal by Jim Gerlach, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon, to get rid of fraud in Medicare. It is a modest proposal that could save tens of billions of dollars in government spending. Read more...
Tags: America, American Express, Common Access Card, Congress, Democrats, dentity verification, Department of Defense, DoD, Earl Blumenauer, Federal government, fraud in Medicare, Government, government spending, health care, Jim Gerlach, medicare, Republican, senior citizens, the Constitution, Thomas Hobbes, Visa
Posted in Bad Decisions, Government, Laws, Politics, Theory, corruption, health care, national security, spending, taxes | No Comments »
July 8th, 2011 by John Feehery
Is Jim DeMint becoming a moderate?
I ask that question because his insistence that a balanced budget amendment be included in any extension of the debt limit is not really that conservative.
Indeed, if you look at it clearly, attaching a balanced budget amendment to the debt limit will not cut a dime of spending.
Here’s why: it is highly unlikely that the states will pass such an amendment, and if they do, it won’t be for at least five years.
Every state, other than Vermont, has to statutorily balance their budget every year. It is often said that if a state has to balance its budget then why shouldn’t the federal government balance its budget?
Well, the big reason that states are able to balance their budgets is because of money that comes in from the feds. Now, governors will say with that money comes too many unfunded mandates. That may be true, but money is money, and the states would rather get the money than not get the money.
If the Federal government is forced to balance its budget, the first place it will look is the money it sends to the states. Programs include Medicare, highway funding, education funding, community block grants, housing funding, homeland security funding, etc. etc. etc. Read more...
Tags: America, balanced budget amendment, Barack Obama, Congress, Conservatives, Constitution, Democrats, Economy, Federal government, Government, health care, Jim DeMint, medicare, President Obama, raising the debt limit, reform, Republican, spending, state funding
Posted in Bailouts, Economy, Financial Crisis, GOP, Government, Laws, Politics, health care, medicare, spending | No Comments »
July 21st, 2010 by John Feehery
Postal - often considered the most violent video game on the market
Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if the Federal government could make our kids eat broccoli? Wouldn’t it be perfect if the Feds could come in and tell little Johnny that he better take a bath or he is going to go to jail? Wouldn’t it be nice if Congress could pass a law telling everybody under eighteen that they couldn’t watch television past 8 o’clock at night?
After all, studies show that broccoli is good for you, that being clean is essential to a long life, and that reading a book is better for your brain than watching television.
Since we all trust the government so much right now, it must be a great time to pass federal mandates to tell parents how to raise their children. Now, parents should be happy about these mandates. It gives them more leverage with their kids, right?
Wrong. Most people would find this kind of government mandate to be a scary intrusion into their daily lives. So why do so many people supposedly support the federal government’s mandates of video games? Read more...
Tags: Chris Healy, Federal government, Richard Blumenthal, Supreme Court, The Congress, video games
Posted in Bad Decisions, Government, Theory | 2 Comments »
July 2nd, 2010 by John Feehery
There is a lot of hot air blowing in Washington DC, but most of it is happening in the cold, cold air inside the well air-conditioned House and Senate chambers.
While modern air-conditioning didn’t come to the Capitol building until 1950 or so, both chambers had earlier versions by the 1930’s.
Air-conditioning has been one of the most remarkable sociological developments in history.
Without air-conditioning, it is hard to see how Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada could have grown so rapidly over the last three decades. Sure, it can get hot in the summer, but in most of those places, people wear sweaters most of the day. They wear sweaters because they spend most of their time inside.
In the old days, Congress used to take the summer off because it was too hot in D.C. Just imagine how much better off we would all be if they continued that tradition today. How many fewer laws would we all have to deal with? How many fewer wasteful government programs would have been authorized and appropriated for? Read more...
Tags: air conditioning, Benjamin Franklin, Federal government, George Washington, July 4, Washington DC
Posted in History, Theory | 1 Comment »
June 28th, 2010 by John Feehery
Taking my dog out for a walk in my neighborhood, I passed by two grand old houses that were clearly in a state of disrepair. I saw my friend Tony, who lives next to them, and asked what the back story was. He told me about a lady who owned several houses on Capitol Hill, where I live, who moved away but keeps ownership of the houses.
“It’s kind of a fetish thing with her. As soon as the DC government threatens to tear the houses down, she pays her back taxes and they back off,” Tony said.
The houses are eyesores. Their floors are crumbling in. Who knows what goes on inside of them?
Fetish or no, the owner’s actions are irresponsible, a threat to her neighbors’ property and a perfect reason for the government to move in and take action.
Government exists for a reason: To take collective action on behalf of the people when the general welfare requires it.
The story of the abandoned houses got me thinking about the nature of freedom in a multi-cultural society as big and as complex as the United States. The rise of the Tea Party movement has challenged the 20th century consensus for what is and what isn’t the appropriate role for government. Read more...
Tags: Ayn Rand, Capitol Hill, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Federal government, Government, Illinois, Indiana, Tea Party
Posted in Government, Politics | 1 Comment »
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