In part one of our discussion of Republican government (First Principles: Coconuts) we created our own little republic on a tropical island and ratified our constitution. Our constitutional republic is the most humane form of government in the history of the world, because we “the people” specifically empowered the government to do certain things and forbade it to interfere in other things. We called that our Bill of Rights.
For most of human history life was horrid and people suffered under tyrannical governments. They lived their entire lives to enrich the sovereign(s) or ruling classes of that particular nation state. Even earlier republics like Athens and Rome had constitutions, but they all enabled ruling classes that looted the population. The Kings were the sovereigns and the entire population worked to protect and enrich the King. Not until the Magna Carta in 1215 was the power of a King restricted allowing a ruling noble class to emerge. The populations of those European states were looted to enrich the ruling class and the sovereigns. It wasn't until 1777 when the little country, The Republic of Virginia, ratified its constitution in a legislative body selected by the people.
Constitutions are your protection from the natural tendency for men to concentrate power to themselves. Our Founding Fathers knew that some men were inherently bad and Constitutions protect the people from bad men in power. This power enables men to loot the population and enrich themselves. In order to loot the people the Constitution must be violated, even though it was ratified by the people being looted. The most common way to loot the people is to use the force of government to re distribute wealth to special interests and cronies. Let's consider a few examples.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created after 9/11 in November 2001. It has over 58,000 employees and costs $8.1 billion per year. It is a wholly unconstitutional creation of government designed to bailout the airlines. This is a direct subsidy to the airlines. The airlines have the greatest incentive to ensure their airliners get from point A to point B safely. No other organization has more motivation to set up security to ensure that passengers are safe. The TSA is an $8.1 billion yearly subsidy, because without the TSA one would assume that the airlines would find a way to deliver these services cheaper and more efficiently. Otherwise people would travel by differing means. Government intrusion protects the airlines from lawsuits should a terrorist successfully get on board, but it prevents better security procedures from being invented. The same game is played with the big pharmaceutical companies.
As much as I may scour the United States Constitution I can't find any reference to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). There is absolutely no authority in the Constitution for the federal government to regulate pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The FDA employs 9,200 people and costs $4.36 billion per year doing all the things the pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers should be doing. These companies have the greatest incentive to ensure their pharmaceuticals and devices are safe and effective. The FDA subsidy ($4.36 billion per year) of these industries provides no incentive to find the least costly drugs and devices. The FDA subsidies cause the cost of drugs and devices to rise, requiring the government to then introduce price controls or Medicare Part D type of legislation. Government intrusion also protects the companies from lawsuits should another thalidomide tragedy occur. But again the intrusion prevents safer development procedures from being invented. Yet this is nothing as compared to the subsidies with Obamacare.
The medical insurance business is marginally profitable. A combination of government meddling with Medicaid and Medicare and tort laws have driven up the cost to cover groups and individuals. They just can't raise premiums enough to make it very profitable without driving themselves out of the market. People will buy something else. Obamacare fixes this for the insurance companies even though it is totally and absolutely unconstitutional. The state exchanges whether set up by the state or the feds will include seven handpicked very large national medical insurance companies. The offered plans include services and products normally covered and those not normally purchased by customers (contraceptives, lower deductions, and abortion). Mandating those coverages drives up the premium and the insurance companies reap more profits, but the real bailout is the risk pool. With Obamacare the taxpayers in the states now assume the risk. The insurance companies no longer need to reserve for potential risk, because the state is paying the claims and the insurance companies are just processing the paperwork. The insurance companies boost profitability with higher premiums paid and subsidized by the taxpayers, plus the risk is passed off to the taxpayers and the insurance have no reason to reserve for the risk.
A republic is very difficult to maintain, as it’s difficult to find representatives who will hold fidelity to the Constitution, which protects you. These designing men purposefully subvert the Constitutions enabling them to loot the people and enrich themselves. Next month we'll learn about some great Republicans and some not so good.
Introduction: I made the decision to register Republican in 1979 and as a Young Republican at University I worked to help elect Ronald Reagan as President. While at University I read the works of Hume, Locke, Montesquieu, Hobbs, Plato, Cicero, and others. I made the personal decision that I wanted to live under a Republican form of government, because I believe it is the most humane. Now that I am running for 2nd Vice Chair of Georgia's 7th District, Republican Party, I want to share a series of articles that clearly define my understanding of republicanism and the principles of the Republican Party.
A good choice in ditching you mystical coconut island for your second contribution. The question I would ask is this: Is government ever good? For example, if the TSA is a huge industry subsidy and protecting air travelers is the responsibility of the airlines, is it reasonable to rely on that private industry to protect Americans? Are market forces the best way to insure passenger safety? If it were up to the airlines would the accountants look at the potential cost burden of protecting passengers ($8.1B) and decide that a few hijacked airliners and a few hundred dead passengers each year was better business than incurring that cost? Should the government provide fire departments? Or should clusters of citizens have to set up their own fire brigades and respond with buckets and power washers any time a fire broke out in the neighborhood? Police? Is that an example of good government? Waste disposal? I doubt that trash removal is in the constitution but I think we need it.
I ran a Canadian Division as well and the single payer system did indeed result in inadequate healthcare resources as physician compensation and drug prices were controlled. With capitation (physician income limits), many physicians shut down mid-year as they had reached their allowable maximum and work on a cash only basis. The irony is that left/socialist leaning folks who support these type programs are really hurting middle class and poor individuals due to healthcare supply reduction. It hurts the rich less since they are more able to pay cash. I fear that here as well and we are already seeing physicians opting out of Medicare and rising concierge practices not accepting insurance plans.
1)A disease causing acute and prolonged bouts with hypocrisy and religiously infected ideology counter to actual small government principles 2) A political idealism that causes rational people to vote for virtually anyone else
Please explain to me how the government mandated transvaginal probes of Americans against their will or government involvement in the choice of one's spouse somehow equates to smaller less intrusive government? How is it that "bans" so often favored by those infected with Republicanism equate to more personal freedom? You're doing it wrong and in so doing letting the other guy spike the ball in the endzone with increasing regularity .
If you can't express yourself without the use of foul language, then find some other place to post!!!
Republicanism is the anti-thesis of big government in its truest form. I tried to illustrate that both Republicans and Democrats injure the people when they violate the Constitution.
Why are corporations sitting on over 2 trillion dollars in cash? The problem is not lack of investment money but demand. The way to increase demand is to raise the minimum wage to at least $9.00 and create a National Infrastructure Bank to rebuild America. We have already had this debate .It was called an election.
Liz Kennedy, Editor
I like the nondelete because it shows that Bill has jumped the shark just like the Republican party. The republican thing really is over.
Is English your primary language? Which words are you having difficulty with ?
Inflation is not a problem in our current economy demand is the problem. How do you create demand? Seventy thousands jobs could be created in Georgia if only our Governor would add 640,000 uninsured people to the Medicaid program. Economists have also proven that raising the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour would not cause unemployment but the additional money would create demand. The spending of money on infrastructure such as roads and bridges would put construction workers back to work and create demand. Also "Argumentum ad Hominem" is still a fallacy in argument/logic .Either argue the point or quit with the school yard name calling. It hurts your credibility. As to employment I own three successful corporations and my training is in business and economics.
Inflation is not a problem in our current economy demand is the problem. How do you create demand? Seventy thousands jobs could be created in Georgia if only our Governor would add 640,000 uninsured people to the Medicaid program. Economists have also proven that raising the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour would not cause unemployment but the additional money would create demand. The spending of money on infrastructure such as roads and bridges would put construction workers back to work and create demand. Also "Argumentum ad Hominem" is still a fallacy in argument/logic .Either argue the point or quit with the school yard name calling. It hurts your credibility. As to employment I own three successful corporations and my training is in business and economics.
George please point out in history where the government has arranged to basically purchase its own debt to the extent that has occurred under QE Revision whatever, while holding rates so low for so long? More importantly please offer your perspective of what will occur once that program is terminated?
That fact never seems to make it into the discussions whenever you make mention of them.
Boeing knowingly were delivering aircraft with shoddy batteries because they were behind schedule and way over budget, putting lives at risk. History also shows us when the airlines were supposed to be managing safety they proved incapable because of cost cutting resulted in the loss of 270 lives over Scotland in 1988 because PAN-AM wasn't doing their job to boost the bottom line. More recently gaps in security at the freight airliners because they were not adequately scanning cargo a task that is left for them to do resulted in another security scare with the printer cartridge bombs. Give a man an inch and they will take a mile. Market forces do not play a single role when it comes to safety its the accounts that will decide.
Paying a living wage would solve many problems in America. Over half of the poor in this country work, yet they need government services such as food stamps and Medicare. We can turn these folks into taxpayers rather than people needing our tax dollars. We should stop subsidies to businesses that pay poverty wages. Efforts to raise the minimum invariably run into arguments that employers, especially small businesses, cannot afford to pay a higher wage. But the evidence shows that most low-wage employees work for large companies, which have largely recovered from the recession and have reinstituted generous pay packages for executives. As for low-wage workers at small businesses, many are waitresses and other “tipped” workers for whom the federal minimum wage is $2.13 an hour, where it has been since 1991. Clearly, there is ample room for an increase. A related argument is that a higher minimum wage destroys jobs, especially employment for teenagers. But research shows that most low-wage workers are over the age of 20 and suggests that paying them a higher wage could actually create jobs by bolstering consumer spending. The Georgia legislature could raise the minimum wage and not wait on congress. But it is a conservative group that doles out corporate welfare and cares less about the average working man.