Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Sunday, October 26. 2008

Who is greedy? And the appeal of Free Money.

Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us.

- P.J. O'Rourke

Who is greedy? New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore bankers who work 18 hrs/day, and the investors around the world who take the risks which make economies work and grow?

No. Those are folks with real and challenging jobs. I'll tell you who is really greedy: Politicians with their endless demands on my money, and the people whose votes they want to buy by making me pay their bills (after passing it through the governmental/political machine which always takes its own generous cut) and to give them the money I have earned through hard work and taking risks. That is real greed, and "Gimme yours" is the Dem agenda.

Anybody who wants an entitlement from somebody else's effort and risk and energy and creativity is, by definition, greedy. But Greed is Good, right? Once upon a time, it was a sin...but that's ancient history.

The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.

- P. J. O'Rourke

Posted by The Barrister in Our Essays, Politics at 08:46 | Comments (6) | Trackback (1)

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Thoughts On A Sunday
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The Barrister is very insightful here. How about bringing a RICO suit? The power to tax held by unscrupulous pols = Disaster. As a body, these legislators, i.e., the feds, and many state gov'ts such as MA, conspire to redistribute hard earned wealth to gain votes while skimming "Vig" off the top in the form of campaign contributions and cushy jobs for their pals. This lot makes The Mob look like a dime store operation by comparison. Now we are hearing about New Deal II. This is the week for the October Surprise to be sprung.
#1 greenmtnpunter on 2008-10-26 09:06 (Reply)
gmp - You just gave a very apt description of Maine State government as well, minus the contributions. Almost all candidates use the deceptively-named "Clean Elections" method of taxpayer-funded campaigns around here. It's despicable.
#2 Pajak on 2008-10-26 09:18 (Reply)
Further to The Barrister's post, and the PJ O'Rourke quote, it just reinforces the historical fact that Republicans are the only bulwark to the left running rampant in government. Republicans in government are always a contradiction- they don't like government and see their role as a check on unbridled Democrat control of government. Democrats see government as their "racket", their "family business", and get downright testy when Republicans try to muscle in on "their" action. They don't see why Republicans just don't fork over whatever is on the "price tag". This has been true since at least the New Deal; for sure it doesn't make being a Republican very much fun since you spend most of your life making valiant goal line stands- such as now.
#3 greenmtnpunter on 2008-10-26 09:18 (Reply)
Are politicians failed businessmen? Like school principals are failed teachers? Nothing ignoble about failure unless it manages to disguise itself in ways that end up hurting others.
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#4 Meta on 2008-10-26 16:59 (Reply)
I think the men tend to be people who cannot do anything else, but want public recognition. Different for women, I think.
#4.1 BD on 2008-10-26 17:08 (Reply)
BD ... "Different for Women" you think? You're right. We play the clean-up squad. Like sharks are the vacuum-cleaners of the sea, we're the clean-up squad on land. We're generalists always -- able to do lots of things adequately and some things superbly. Admirable, don't you think? Somebody's got to do it.

Marianne
#5 Marianne Matthews on 2008-10-27 12:46 (Reply)

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