“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”
—Frederic Bastiat
What would he say about USAID?
Omnibus spending bills?
Forever wars?
Much will be made about these reports as people scoff at the incompetence that led to flagrantly wasteful spending
“If only they had the right people running this, it’d be different,” they’ll say—as if someone just made a few unwise hiring decisions, resulting in wasteful spending
This misses the point:
A government as unconcerned about deficit spending as ours is—and as unwilling to recognize any meaningful limit on its authority—will *always* waste enormous sums of money
This is what inevitably happens when the people spending government money have very little connection to those who earned it & have little personal stake in whether or not it’s spent wisely
To a significant degree, such circumstances are inherent in government itself
This is one of many reasons why our federal government was supposed to be in charge of only a few things—e.g., war, interstate and foreign trade, intellectual property, immigration laws, etc.
Since the 1930s, we’ve effectively eliminated any real limit on federal power
Waste, fraud, and abuse have inexorably followed
If we want the waste, fraud, and abuse to end, we’ve got to restore our founding-era understanding that the powers of the federal government are “few and defined,” while those reserved to the states are “numerous and indefinite” (see Federalist Number 45)
We call that federalism
Let’s bring it back
Who’s in?
@HotlineJosh@neontaster DC Metro has been a managerial disaster for decades - only massive infusions of cash have kept it going for this long. So, no surprise.
@anniewillett You'll never be safer, dear. You should thank those brave men (and women) for keeping your building from burning and roasting you inside of it. #Enoughofthisshit
@pwcdanica Seven businesses were damaged, 3 dumpster fires were set, and someone drove a truck through the back door of Best Buy. The police showed great restraint and did a fine job.
@pwcdanica I watched on the traffic cam and monitored the police scanner all day. The protesters were blocking the road, and at one point tried to surround 2 police cars that drove through. Rocks, bottles, and spray-painting of vehicles then started. Then the crowd headed toward I-66.
@PatFrmMoonachie That sucks. My neuropathy is excruciatingly painful. I'm lucky that one a day works for me. Now they treat it like a schedule 1 narcotic.
@MichaelAvenatti "A second lawyer who was previously referred to as a co-conspirator was not indicted..." Looks like your buddy has rolled over on you, in exchange for leniency. You're gonna need a miracle to get out of this one, CPL.
@Thomas1774Paine Driving home this evening through the Manassas Battlefields, it struck me that the last civil war ended just 100 years before I was born. Chilling thought.
@oliverdarcy@IlhanMN Trump is right. Even the tourist areas are overrun with thugs who have no sense of civility, with barely a cop in sight. It's a shithole.