Freedom Is A Wonderful Thing – We Ought To Want To Have More Of It
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
Back when Ben Franklin was thinking up wise comments for us to eventually consider, the principle of freedom from government intrusion was a basic tenet, held by at least those who thought it would be a great thing to not be under the thumb of the King of England. There were those back then, as today, who didn’t agree with such radical thinking. If we are to consider the polls from back then (at least as they are currently interpreted) there were three camps of believers – those who were perfectly satisfied with having England in charge…those who were adamantly opposed to having England in charge…and a third group who probably didn’t care one way or the other. Sort of like today -- where you believe that Washington, D.C. is the center of the universe and you can hardly wait for some more handouts to come your way from this benevolent provider…or, are sick and tired of Big Brother pilfering the resources you’ve worked hard to acquire…or, you are completely unsure of what everybody is in such a fuss about.
Our forefathers had to endure things we can’t even imagine and they had to rely on themselves and their neighbors (in a voluntary fashion) to get through the things that had to be dealt with. Self reliance, providing for your family and unforced charity were values which were considered normal.
Today, we supposed to believe that everyone making more than $250,000 is an evil Grinch who needs to be vilified and drug forward to have their wallets emptied for the public good. (It is also worthy of note that when publicly proclaiming the objective of only fleecing the rich, the advocates also have their hands in the pockets of more than the targeted “few”… Note to self: Wait to see what happens to the tax rates of all when the much maligned Bush Tax Cuts expire in January because the current leaders prefer it that way…)
Nevada government agencies, evidently unaware that economic fortunes are diminished when we have the nation’s leading unemployment rate and a variety of other indicators of less-than-prosperous circumstances, did their calculating and figured out that Nevada government’s spending capacity for the coming budget cycle should be bumped up by 30 percent or so. (Since more spending requires more taxes – darn it, we’ll just have to raise taxes some more.)
Hard times require more government…or so we’re lead to believe. Then again, when the economy is cooking along – more government is necessary too – since we ought to be able to afford the extra something taken out of what’s being earned. More government is just an automatic necessity, it can be no other way!
In some ways, as we approach November 2nd, I’m hopeful that the much discussed “voter anger” will be like a tidal wave that sweeps the halls of government clean of those so adept at spending money that isn’t theirs, to provide for the greater mutual good of the masses… On the other hand, I’m expecting the entrenched to hang-on and maintain enough of a presence to keep doing their spending and increasing taxes to pay for more dentures and adult diapers -- since that is now the proper role for government to serve…
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -- Benjamin FranklinAs we ponder our choices in the 2010 Election and wonder what ill-fate will befall Nevada and the Nation if we don’t vote in favor of electing those who will raise our taxes so that we can be taken care of by a government which can’t grow big enough or fast enough – it’s probably good to think of Ben Franklin’s insights on the topic of freedom and security. For some reason, perhaps because we’ve grown too accustomed to relying on government bureaucrats to tell us how to do, what they prescribe and do so in as compliant manner as possible – the concept of freedom has become not a personally-embraced frame-of-mind…but something which is labeled in TV Commercials as being signs of “too extreme”.
Back when Ben Franklin was thinking up wise comments for us to eventually consider, the principle of freedom from government intrusion was a basic tenet, held by at least those who thought it would be a great thing to not be under the thumb of the King of England. There were those back then, as today, who didn’t agree with such radical thinking. If we are to consider the polls from back then (at least as they are currently interpreted) there were three camps of believers – those who were perfectly satisfied with having England in charge…those who were adamantly opposed to having England in charge…and a third group who probably didn’t care one way or the other. Sort of like today -- where you believe that Washington, D.C. is the center of the universe and you can hardly wait for some more handouts to come your way from this benevolent provider…or, are sick and tired of Big Brother pilfering the resources you’ve worked hard to acquire…or, you are completely unsure of what everybody is in such a fuss about.
Our forefathers had to endure things we can’t even imagine and they had to rely on themselves and their neighbors (in a voluntary fashion) to get through the things that had to be dealt with. Self reliance, providing for your family and unforced charity were values which were considered normal.
Today, we supposed to believe that everyone making more than $250,000 is an evil Grinch who needs to be vilified and drug forward to have their wallets emptied for the public good. (It is also worthy of note that when publicly proclaiming the objective of only fleecing the rich, the advocates also have their hands in the pockets of more than the targeted “few”… Note to self: Wait to see what happens to the tax rates of all when the much maligned Bush Tax Cuts expire in January because the current leaders prefer it that way…)
Nevada government agencies, evidently unaware that economic fortunes are diminished when we have the nation’s leading unemployment rate and a variety of other indicators of less-than-prosperous circumstances, did their calculating and figured out that Nevada government’s spending capacity for the coming budget cycle should be bumped up by 30 percent or so. (Since more spending requires more taxes – darn it, we’ll just have to raise taxes some more.)
Hard times require more government…or so we’re lead to believe. Then again, when the economy is cooking along – more government is necessary too – since we ought to be able to afford the extra something taken out of what’s being earned. More government is just an automatic necessity, it can be no other way!
In some ways, as we approach November 2nd, I’m hopeful that the much discussed “voter anger” will be like a tidal wave that sweeps the halls of government clean of those so adept at spending money that isn’t theirs, to provide for the greater mutual good of the masses… On the other hand, I’m expecting the entrenched to hang-on and maintain enough of a presence to keep doing their spending and increasing taxes to pay for more dentures and adult diapers -- since that is now the proper role for government to serve…
Posted by Doug Busselman at 10/29/2010 7:20 AM 
Categories: 2010 Elections
Tags: Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes 2010 Election Government
Categories: 2010 Elections
Tags: Nevada Budget State Spending Taxes 2010 Election Government
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