political theater
Government shutdown
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.
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?
I know what CNN is saying.
But realistically, why would a government shutdown be bad?
We know what Milton Friedman said.
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?
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