🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <30p699$mm4@crl.crl.com> dk@crl.com (David A. Kaye) writes:
>Russ Vreeland (russ@.etdesg.trw.com) wrote:
>
>: If laying off all government workers could cause an unemployment rate of 25%,
>: then our government is far, far, too big already.
>
>The unemployment rate is 8% currently.  Laying off all government workers 
>would realistically raise it by 17% to 25%.  Of course a lot of people 
>work for the government.  Look at how many services you get from the 
>government: water, sewer, local streets, highways, schools, transit, 
>mediating disputes over property claims (survey work in this case), the 
>entire court system, the DMV, police, fire protection, administration of 
>welfare plans such as Social Security (the biggest welfare bite of all), 
>and on and on.  You're bitching for the sake of bitching.  Government is 
>not "far, far too big"; by the condition of streets, our libraries, and 
>schools, it's obvious that it's not big enough.
>

Just a few comments; obviously a philosophical difference between these 2
points of view, one based on limited government and freedom, the other based
on using government due to its convenient possesion of means of enforcement
to attempt to solve, communally, problems of all sorts -> is not going to be closed.

Services? Water is a public utility which is supported by fees ( or should be
if it's not 100% self-supporting in your area; ditto sewer; local streets - a
legitimate function of govt. (what percentage of the budget is transportation?);
ditto highways; schools - I happen to believe in private schools, while
supporting the tax-supported funding thereof (i.e., vouchers); .....

Oh this is getting too tedious, you get the picture. Any look at a pie chart of
govt. spending today vs. one done 50 years ago (when we had pretty good services
adjusted for technology differences) gives a pretty clear indication of the 
waste and bloat in the govt. budget.

The condition of our streets, our libraries, is a result of the "thirdworldization"
of our political system, sucking more and more of the funds for legitimate 
functions of govt. into transfer payoffs, largesse, and other corrupt and 
corrupting things.

Just hope you realize that you are probably eligible for some govt. program right
now, being a member of a minority group that thinks govt. is "not big enough" :)


-- 
R.E.Vreeland  TRW Space & Engineering Group, Hardware 4 $$s
Fighting entropy, authenticating myself, just foolin' around.
Views expressed here are mine, are true, reasoned, and devoid of 
malice, selfish interest, and the usual 20th century human stuff.