Heard on NPR today that the Transportation Minister of the EU is outraged at the problems being caused by the heavy snowfall across Europe. If the airports can't handle it, he wants to increase regulation.
'Cause that's the solution to everything. By God, we'll slap a regulation in that limits the amount of snow an airport can experience in any given period. That'll fix 'em.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
"We compromised on eight."
"The Conservatives wanted six; the Liberals wanted four; we compromised on eight." - Winston Churchill.
I cannot swear to the exact accuracy of the previous quote, but it is more or less accurate. It has to do with the British government's internal arguments on naval spending circa 1909. The Admiralty wanted to build six battleships that year, but Churchill and Lloyd George wanted four. A crisis in the form of a scare about German naval building occurred and when the dust settled, Parliament authorized the building of eight battleships.
This quote is mentioned because it came to mind after reading that the President was going to sign the tax compromise bill this afternoon. Everyone seems to agree that the deficit is a problem and the economy is a problem. The Dems want to expand unemployment to pay benefits for a longer time, costing the tax payer money. They argue this puts money in the hands of people who will spend it and stimulates the economy. The GOP wants to keep taxes low, allowing people to keep more money and hopes they will then spend or invest it. This also costs the taxpayer's money, albeit while avoiding a tax rise that would, excuse the expression, tax the resources of many families. Note that both scheme cost the government money, and in this year of urgency about the growing debt, what do we do? We adopt both.
Doing neither would substantially raise the amount of income the government has. Doing both seems the worst possible thing, so, of course, that's what we did. And it's not the first time. Frequently, in the past, when the two major parties could not agree nor one prevail, they solve the problem by spending more while reducing the government's income at the same time. It's moronic and unsustainable.
I cannot swear to the exact accuracy of the previous quote, but it is more or less accurate. It has to do with the British government's internal arguments on naval spending circa 1909. The Admiralty wanted to build six battleships that year, but Churchill and Lloyd George wanted four. A crisis in the form of a scare about German naval building occurred and when the dust settled, Parliament authorized the building of eight battleships.
This quote is mentioned because it came to mind after reading that the President was going to sign the tax compromise bill this afternoon. Everyone seems to agree that the deficit is a problem and the economy is a problem. The Dems want to expand unemployment to pay benefits for a longer time, costing the tax payer money. They argue this puts money in the hands of people who will spend it and stimulates the economy. The GOP wants to keep taxes low, allowing people to keep more money and hopes they will then spend or invest it. This also costs the taxpayer's money, albeit while avoiding a tax rise that would, excuse the expression, tax the resources of many families. Note that both scheme cost the government money, and in this year of urgency about the growing debt, what do we do? We adopt both.
Doing neither would substantially raise the amount of income the government has. Doing both seems the worst possible thing, so, of course, that's what we did. And it's not the first time. Frequently, in the past, when the two major parties could not agree nor one prevail, they solve the problem by spending more while reducing the government's income at the same time. It's moronic and unsustainable.
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