Should we even call “Republicans” “conservatives”? They certainly aren’t concerned with “Res publica” (public things) and the only thing they want to conserve is their power.
I think real conservatives from Edmund Burke to Dwight Eisenhower would not want to be associated with them. Remember Eisenhower’s warning about the “military-industrial complex”.
Posted as a comment: http://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/opinion/the-force-of-decency-awakens.html?comments#permid=26131193:26134931.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Word of the day: Twidiocy
Used by “Socrates” in comments to https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/opinion/trump-agenda-corruption.html.
It’s a reference to unthinking Twitter usage.
It’s a reference to unthinking Twitter usage.
Monday, February 05, 2018
Taxes are not a one-way transaction
We all complain about taxes and we all would like to pay less taxes or none at all.
But what happens when we pay less taxes?
We won’t have the public streets and highways that we want to be in pot-holeless condition.
We wont’t have fire departments coming to put out our house-fires or the neighbors’ house-fires that might expand to our house. Does that give you a clue why tax supported fire departments are a good idea? If not, consider how safe your house would be if you were the only one on your block who paid the fire department.
The same holds for police and snowplowing and street cleaning and … Would you want to be responsible for clearing the snow from the street in front of your house?
And the irony of ironies is that the “conservatives” who complain the loudest about taxes for things they don’t like want to to throw money at the military, especially if it means a military base in their district.
Oh, yes! If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you're rich, maybe your daddy paid the teacher. If you're not rich, hundreds and thousands of tax-paying citizens paid the teacher. Or, the poor kid whose education you helped pay for in your middle-age may be the doctor that saves your life in your old age.
But what happens when we pay less taxes?
We won’t have the public streets and highways that we want to be in pot-holeless condition.
We wont’t have fire departments coming to put out our house-fires or the neighbors’ house-fires that might expand to our house. Does that give you a clue why tax supported fire departments are a good idea? If not, consider how safe your house would be if you were the only one on your block who paid the fire department.
The same holds for police and snowplowing and street cleaning and … Would you want to be responsible for clearing the snow from the street in front of your house?
And the irony of ironies is that the “conservatives” who complain the loudest about taxes for things they don’t like want to to throw money at the military, especially if it means a military base in their district.
Oh, yes! If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you're rich, maybe your daddy paid the teacher. If you're not rich, hundreds and thousands of tax-paying citizens paid the teacher. Or, the poor kid whose education you helped pay for in your middle-age may be the doctor that saves your life in your old age.
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