THE BUTS START HERE

George Washington: “I either did or did not chop down the cherry tree”

FDR: The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Now is the time for us to ask ourselves…What did we do to provoke this? If we could end the disastrous policies of the Hoover administration, and meet without preconditions with the Japanese we probably could have pre-negotiated our surrender without so much terrible loss of life.

“almost every extremely serious problem our country has dealt with in the last 75 years has had at its root, actions taken by the government.

The Depression? It was an economic downturn turned into a lingering disaster by the government policies designed to fix it. Gas lines during the Carter years? That was caused by government price controls. Staggering out-of-wedlock birth rates? Welfare and no-fault divorce laws created that issue. A flood of illegal aliens? The government failed to secure the border and deliberately refused to enforce the laws. The mortgage crisis? The government forced businesses to give loans to bad risks. The deficit? The government spends too much year after year after year. It goes on and on, but you ALWAYS, ALWAYS, find government actions at trouble’s core.

So, how does the government get by with this? By pointing out the good a policy does, or more often than not, the potential good it can do, while studiously ignoring the costs. As Thomas Sowell is wont to say,

“Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs…is a viable political strategy, so long as the goose doesn’t die before the next election and politicians can avoid leaving their fingerprints on the weapon.”