““The first law is that the desire of authorities in charge of security for information will continue in a straight line with no limits in time and space short of the heat death of the universe. The second law is that the willingness of their authorities to supply them with the budget they need to do that has very definite limits, both in time and space. Hence the third law, which is the one we are now operating under. The information assembled by security authorities invariably overwhelms their ability to analyze the information. They are, in effect, suffocated by their own insecurity.””

— David Weber, Cauldron of Ghosts

Tags: David Weber ∙ authority ∙ security ∙ information ∙ budget ∙ overwhelm ∙ analyze

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: facts ∙ narrative ∙ Donald Trump ∙ sociaism ∙ hotels ∙ surveillance culture ∙ sex trafficking ∙ Federal government ∙ Nancy Pelosi ∙ health care ∙ insurance companies ∙ Medicare ∙ budget ∙ deficit ∙ debt ∙ politicos ∙ Mick Mulvaney ∙ Larry Summers

❝❝One flawed legacy of Keynesian economics is that government can control individual action by government. Taxes and budgeting are not the same thing and shouldn't be treated as such. Taxes on the revenue side of the ledger are calculated in terms of their cost (expense side of the ledger) to government. This is probably the most fucked up part of modern government accounting. It's not about how much money government has, it's about how much money government takes from people. Money is power and choice, the more government takes the less people have. Government can't create value, it can only divert it.

There hasn't been a real government budget in years. What there has been is a series of continuing resolutions, essentially a short term agreement to spend at least the same amount as before unless specifically changed by Congress. There hasn't been a balanced budget in even longer. There's no cost to Congresscritters for not passing a balanced budget. If it were up to me, I'd say that Congress and it's staff only gets paid in years that a budget is passed and the budget is balanced. In years that the budget isn’t balanced, a Congresscritter should pay it’s salary to the government with interest.

In the case of the tax cut, the original CBO scoring said that the cost to government would not be offset by the revenue it generated. The new CBO report says that the cost to government was offset. Since people like having more money, Trump's popularity went up. People don’t care about the deficit. People do care about money in their pocket.

I’m not “you guys.” I’m not cheering for massive deficits (which happen with Democrat presidents too). I specifically said that he gave the economy a (mythical) boot into growth and that the tax cuts have paid for themselves and boosted his popularity. This is not the action of a drooling idiot. It’s not smart enough and it’s only short term, but it makes Trump look good and gives people more power today.

What I am doing is pointing out that Trump plays the populist better than any recent president, possibly any President since Jackson. The reason he can do this is because government has become more and more oppressive, no matter what party is “in control.”❞❞

Tags: Donald Trump ∙ Keynesian ∙ economics ∙ Congress ∙ budget ∙ taxes ∙ cost to government ∙ money in pocket ∙ revenue ∙ expense ∙ government accounting ∙ value ∙ continuing resolution ∙ balanced budget ∙ Congresscritter ∙ CBO ∙ popularity ∙ deficit ∙ economy ∙ populist ∙ Andrew Jackson ∙ oppresive

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Tags: FEMA ∙ rent control ∙ Hillary Clinton ∙ George Soros ∙ Brexit ∙ #MeToo ∙ women ∙ corporate accountability ∙ Senate ∙ budget ∙ nutrition rules ∙ Congress ∙ goverment ∙ government spending ∙ government accountability ∙ Lee E. Goodman ∙ FEC ∙ regulation ∙ Drudge Report ∙ internet ∙ Nunes Memo ∙ Grassley-Graham Memo ∙ Christopher Steele ∙ FBI ∙ FISA ∙ Barack Obama ∙ Rose McGowan ∙ New Orleans ∙ strip clubs ∙ Ivanka Trump ∙ Democrat ∙ conservatives

Headlines that don't merit their own entry

Tags: child porn ∙ government shutdown ∙ Obama administration ∙ hate speech ∙ budget ∙ Google memo ∙ debt ∙ private equity ∙ real estate bubble ∙ CFPB ∙ college ∙ corporate training programs ∙ FBI ∙ investigate ∙ Clinton e-mail ∙ NSA ∙ deleted data ∙ California ∙ tax extortion

And this would be a bad thing how?

I know what CNN is saying.

But realistically, why would a government shutdown be bad?

We know what Milton Friedman said.
Pretty much everything else could be done better by the states or the private sector.

If your local grocery store closed because they forgot to order, you'd go somewhere else. If the plumber you called couldn't come because his truck got repossessed, you'd call another. If your favorite coffee place had no one to work and was closed, well, there are other options.

But with government services, there aren't options.

Government doesn't like competition.

Every year, statists tell you How Important Government Is and how the "other party" is about to screw up your life.

It's political theater.

There isn't even a budget.

The last time there was officially a budget was 2009. But it was pretty much a budget in name only. Even if there was a budget, it would be several thousand pages long, incredibly detailed on some things and disturbingly vague on others. It's meant to be abused. I don't want to examine the Federal budget process here but I will tell you that even if Congress makes no changes, each agency gets the same amount it had the previous year plus an automatic increase. This is the so-called discretionary spending.

That's right. It takes an act of Congress to keep spending at the same level it was in the previous year.

The default setting is more government and more spending.

Then there is the mandatory spending which isn't part of the budget process. Congress may revisit the rules every few years on mandatory spending qualifications, but it usually rolls along on it's own. Mandatory spending is about two-thirds of the budget, Social Security alone is about one-third.

And I haven't even gotten to earmarks.

Government doesn't like competition so it locks private interests out of the services it provides. It manipulates you into blaming the other party so it can tax and spend more of your money. And it expects thanks for it's hard work.

Government shutdown.

This would be a bad thing how?

Tags: government ∙ government shutdown ∙ Milton Friedman ∙ picture ∙ competition ∙ Congress ∙ budget process ∙ political theater ∙ budget ∙ discretionary spending ∙ mandatory spending ∙ Social Security ∙ earmarks