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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (23736)	10/27/2007 11:46:39 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71588

That is circular reasoning, Tim. It doesn't even vaguely resemble circular reasoning. The problem (too big a government, taking too large a slice of the economic potential of the nation, and eroding too many personal liberties of the people...) exists* now.* Exactly my point. If you want to believe that it exists because the American people have been ignorant, or too gullible, or that they have had the wool pulled over their eyes by a continuous series of Big Government politicians... or that the people actually desire a big government Statist solution, you are certainly free to... Some of them are ignorant (often rationally so) or gullible. Others desire big government in general. Others are just pushing for their own special interest (and government spending on one special interest here, and another there, and a third over there, and so forth, adds up to big government). I define it as a problem, and look for solutions... I don't reject the search for solutions simply because a problem was allowed to develop.... Rejecting a specific proposed solution (actually more like being very skeptical about it and not pushing for it, which falls short of rejecting it) doesn't amount to rejecting the search for solutions. that the 'flaw' in the system is a STRUCTURAL BIAS toward the production of ever-larger and ever more intrusive and ever more Authoritarian government... The bias isn't really inherent in the specific structure we have, its a matter of the special interest problem, not just for voters and lobbyists, but also for politicians. Look in to public choice economics. Its in politicians interest to have bigger government because it gives them more power, and since politicians make the decisions you get bigger government. But our government is far from totally unresponsive to voters so the voters have to be part of the problem as well. Through ignorance, gullibility, greed, or some other reason, many of them vote for big government (not necessarily as a whole, but each additional bit of government action often gets a lot of support) My #1 suggestion would be the Balanced Budget Amendment to the US Constitution. My #2 suggestion would be to scrap the current loophole-ridden mess of a gargantuan tax code and replace it with a fairer, much simpler, flat rate system (like so much of emerging Europe has found great success with). Well this conversation has lately been about my response to #1. What do you think about my response to #2?