A few weeks back, This American Life had an episode that actually asked a question that I don't think gets addressed all that often:
what kind of country do we want? In typical public-radio fashion, it skewed liberal, but it's an interesting story nonetheless (the parts where Norquist explains how screwed up the pension system is for states are
(
Read more... )
Comments 32
(The comment has been removed)
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
This presumes that we're overgiving, of course. Having spent the last six months working directly with the very poor, I can't say that's the case.
Would we be so bad off to simply say "we're going back to FY08 spending levels?
Probably. Remember that population has grown, real value of money has dropped due to inflation, and in particular, people relying on entitlements is starting to grow very rapidly as boomers retire. Not only that, we're now in a slump, where spending should rise anyway (a point I know you'll disagree with). Higher unemployment, lower overall wages... the fact is that we're worse off now than we were in '08, and something should fill the gap.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
People who stand up for military spending need to account for military contract fraud and abuse. It has been said that contractors squandered what little "good will" capital the US had in Iraq with their cowboy attitude.
Reply
Reply
Reply
dang, is that true? that is so bad
Reply
It was funny how the guy at the end didn't want to pay the $200 tax for general services, but gladly paid the $300 neighborhood light fee. That made me wonder - how transparent is our government in how tax dollars are spent? I honestly don't know, I've never looked into it. I'm talking about some document that would give the money received, and break it down into how the money was spent, special projects it funded, etc.
I think it's a dumb statement that's easy to agree with to simply say "government should be smaller" without say how to get there. If Norquist has the power he claims to have, I wish he would focus more on educating people about what reforms should be made, instead of just repeating the "lower taxes" mantra.
Reply
it's 2012, technology is everyyyywhere so why not?
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment