Republicans Resurgent in Elections
The results are in. Conservative Republicans have won in Virginia. Voters have ejected liberal taxer John Corzine from the New Jersey governorship. And while the Democrats took the Congressional seat in New York's 23rd district, Republicans got a reminder that you will not win - and you will not endure in office - if you do not adhere to the principles of limited government.
Conservative pundits have explained that this may be a referendum on President Obama. This may be a statement by a diverse set of voters that they are not thrilled with the "hope and change" playing out across the political landscape. Those pundits are probably right. Voters don't like the stimulus. They don't want government run healthcare. Instead, they want to see Congress and the President reign in federal spending. They don't want to keep hearing disingenuous claims that giant new entitlements will actually decrease the deficit. And they certainly don't want to keep hearing tortured tails from President Obama that he hasn't and won't raise taxes on anyone but the rich, despite the pressing evidence of objective reality.
It's the economy, stupid, and it's on the minds of every American right now. Given that, it makes no sense why the President and Congress continue to focus on far-left wish lists rather than simple policies geared toward reducing unemployment, balancing the federal budget, and ensuring the stability and value of the American dollar. Although I see no signs that they'll change their ways, if they do, I'll be the first one to give a thumbs up for a step in the right direction. But I'm not holding my breath.
In light of that behavior, it makes sense that we've seen the results that we've seen over the past 24 hours. Fiscal and social conservatives are happy right now - as they should be. Bob McDonnell and Ken Cuccinelli are not "moderate" Republicans, and the governor-elect appears ready to to reign in spending and reduce taxes. Of course, liberals are fond of reminding us that George W. Bush spent like a drunken sailor - most significantly on the Iraq war. This is certainly a valid criticism of President Bush. I'd add that he was the idiot that started this whole bailout mess when he signed TARP into law. But the fact that the former President spent like crazy doesn't justify the new President's crazy spending. Instead, it reinforces the idea that massive spending is bad, regardless of what party is in power.
So we should be happy today, but we should also remind the GOP of what we expect of them. If you don't cut spending, cut taxes, and improve the dollar, we will vote you out of office too, and we will not continue to put you in office if you speak of limited government on the one hand, while on the other your actions help to grow and strengthen the massive federal bureaucracy and its entitlement culture.
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Government: Let’s ‘Stimulate’ the Economy by Producing Less
Government encourages inefficient economic behavior that actually goes against its purported objectives. Just look at this nonsense:
A stimulus package may be a lifeline for the nation's economy, but it could be a death sentence for a lot of cows.
Lawmakers are looking for ways to use the forthcoming stimulus bill to help dairy farmers, and the number one priority is to dampen milk supplies and prop up prices. Translation: reduce the nation's dairy herd.
Let's think about this logically. The economy is 'hurting,' which means that the country as a whole has less products and services to go around. In the latest crisis, this has come about primarily because banks loaned capital to bad credit risks, and when the bill came due, they didn't pay up. In the normal cycle of things, banks would loan money to good credit risks, and while some would not pay up because they failed to produce, invariably others would add real tangible assets to the economy, which in turn would result in a net gain to lenders and a net gain to the economy as a whole. Instead, banks made many bad loans to people not deserving of the amount of credit they received, and rather than gain new wealth we have lost capital. That is the problem.
So what does the government propose as a solution? Less production.
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Atlas Shrugged and the Wisdom of Bailouts
I caught an interesting article today over at the Wall Street Journal reflecting on the prophetic wisdom of Ayn Rand's epic novel, Atlas Shrugged. I haven't actually read the novel, although I've wanted to read it for some time - I just haven't had the chance quite yet. I've enjoyed many of Ayn Rand's non-fiction books, including The Return of the Primitive: the Anti-Industrial Revolution and Capitalism: the Unknown Ideal. The Wall Street Journal sure makes me want to go out and get a copy:
For the uninitiated, the moral of the story is simply this: Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism.
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