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I'll never understand why our politicians continue to cut funding to the one organization that could help the government save AND make more money. Not to menti
by vinhboy 11y ago
I'll never understand why our politicians continue to cut funding to the one organization that could help the government save AND make more money.
Not to mention save all of us from the headache of things like this.
- x3n0ph3n3 11y agoBecause politicians don't all belong to the same ideology and different camps have competing goals. This really isn't that complicated to understand.
- stephengillie 11y agoIt's not complicated to understand if you already understand the prerequisite concept of individuality - that each person acts somewhat independently of everyone else in the world. You have to understand individuality and apply it broadly. If you don't, then it's cognitively easier to lump people into groups that you don't have to care about, and can even grow to hate.
- acdha 11y agoYou assume that the goal is to make society better. Currently one of the two major parties has aggressively staked out the position that government cannot work and should be privatized – from that perspective dysfunction is a goal, not a problem. I liked Adam Gopnik's summation last week: “What we have, uniquely in America, is a political class, and an entire political party, devoted to the idea that any money spent on public goods is money misplaced, not because the state goods might not be good but because they would distract us from the larger principle that no ultimate good can be found in the state. Ride a fast train to Washington today and you’ll start thinking about national health insurance tomorrow.” http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-plot-against-trains http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-plot-against...
- ahallock 11y agoJust a talking point--empirically that's not true.
- acdha 11y ago> empirically that's not true Feel like expanding that point? I mean shrinking government and changing society so people depend on it less is literally part of the national GOP platform. Is your argument just that they're not willing to sabotage things for political advantage? (and, if so, how are we to explain the billions spent shutting down the federal government as a negotiating tactic?)
- throwaway0492 11y agoliterally part of the national GOP platform So you really think whatever they tell you is true? The GOP has not actually shrunk the government. Even when they had full control over the senate, house, and the presidency, they did not shrink the government... in fact, they made it bigger.
- anigbrowl 11y agoThe poster above is saying that it's part of the GOP's political agenda that's marketed to voters, rather than necessarily what they do once they're in office.
- throwaway0492 11y agoNo he's not. It's called a "thread". He's replying to a post that says "Just a talking point--empirically that's not true." and he's saying it's more than a talking point because it's in the GOP platform.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- acdha 11y ago
- throwaway0492 11y agoBecause the IRS lost the trust of people long ago when they used overly aggressive and abusive tactics against taxpayers. http://www.cato.org/blog/irs-abuses-past-present http://www.cato.org/blog/irs-abuses-past-present