tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885340672616713863.post7903924661014610044..comments2023-09-25T04:08:57.897-04:00Comments on American Counterpoint: The Wisconsin Recall - Another ViewKeith Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18115490864347645607noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885340672616713863.post-6441752116035312812012-06-16T14:55:14.947-04:002012-06-16T14:55:14.947-04:00Thanks for the comment.
My point about the 'i...Thanks for the comment.<br /><br />My point about the 'inherent' failure of government monopoly was that government is by its nature incapable of delivering a quality and range of services fully satisfactory to its recipients or to the employees charged with administering the programs. This leads to a continuous demand for increased funding that is initially not dissimilar to what happens in private companies, where divisional managers foreever clamor for additional resources. The difference, however, is that private companies cannot continue operating for long unless they earn a profit margin on new spending, placing an imperfect but nonetheless real brake on waste and inefficiency. Goverment agencies, on the other hand, are constrained ultimately only by the influence of their political patrons. This dynamic leads to the relentless and secular increse in both the absolute and relative size of government that we've seen in all out developed economies. Such a system inevitably reaches a breakdown point at which both taxpayers and the recipients of essential services are feeling cheated and angry. This is where we are right now.Mark Bachmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16864483782023806885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6885340672616713863.post-91928865971571238382012-06-13T16:15:20.878-04:002012-06-13T16:15:20.878-04:00I don't agree that disgust with government is ...I don't agree that disgust with government is inevitable, "inherent in the nature of government monopoly." After all, our federal government was highly respected for about fifty years from the Depression to Reagan's election. Unfortunately, though, the issue really goes beyond ideology.<br /><br />After WW2, we had about 30 years of rising prosperity, and then another nearly 30 years of rising debt that seemed like rising prosperity, both of which allowed excessive gov't spending without much reckoning. Public employee unions won relentless compensation increases, and wealthy interests won acceleratingly decreasing tax burdens. With the Great Recession, much of the nation's apparent wealth has evaporated, and budgetary push has come to shove.<br /><br />The pressures generated by this loss of wealth allows governors like Walker to reduce union compensation (and while they're at it, cut off their funding and power), while the wealthy can use the Republican party to fend off any tax changes that displease them. In the 2012 elections, the tidal wave of conservative money will almost certainly sweep away Democrats at every level, installing a political class that will complete the job Walker began, not just on labor unions, but also on other Democratic funding supports, such as lawyers. Although divisions within the Republican Party will certainly emerge, the Democrats will be as dead as the Whigs.<br /><br />At least in the immediate future, the consequences will be that budgets will come into balance by cutting services and support for the population at large, and for investments in R&D, education, and infrastructure, reserving the remaining tax revenues for military and police functions. During Romney's presidency, millions of people will lose their jobs as a result of Republican policies, along with their cohorts who will suffer sharply reduced incomes, and throw the country into a severe Depression.<br /><br />If I can take late Rome as a model, there will not be a recovery of balance. The very wealthy, and the wealthiest corporations, will retain their political power. They may well find it necessary to invest in R&D and infrastructure, but not with funds raised through increased taxes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com