Tag: bloated bureaucracy

Omnibus shows Congress’s Priorities: Authoritarianism and War

Guest Post by Ron Paul

Those hoping for a Christmastime government shutdown were once again disappointed when Congress passed a 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus appropriations bill that few, if any, Representatives and Senators read before voting on. The Republican leadership celebrated this bloated monstrosity because it spends $858 billion on warfare while “only” spending $772.5 billion on welfare.

No one should think Republican insistence on more warfare than welfare spending means Democrats oppose the warfare state. Under President Biden and a Democrat-controlled Congress, “defense” spending has increased by 4.3 percent over the last two years. Similarly, every Republican President in recent years—including two who had a Republican-controlled Congress for at least part of their term—supported huge increases in welfare state spending. Most Democrats only pretend to oppose warfare and most Republicans only pretend to oppose welfare to appease their parties’ respective bases.

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Travelogue: The Imperial Capital

Guest Post by The Zman

Yesterday, my duties required me to go into the Imperial Capital for meetings. Not being a Cloud Person, and living among the Dirt People, it means I have to drive into the city, which is one of the worst things that can be asked of a man. Traffic around the Capital is some of the worst on the planet. I think I’d rather ride a scooter in Tijuana than drive around Washington DC. But, when duty calls you do what you must and that meant two hours of car time navigating the traffic of the capital.

One of the things you notice upon entering the capital area, if you are the noticing type, is the wealth. Sitting in traffic, I looked at the cars around me and I spied an Audi A8 to my left, a Mercedes S-class in front and a Tesla to my right. That was roughly a quarter million dollars within arms length of me. Looking around, I saw lots of other luxury cars. For the managerial elite, Audi and Mercedes are the safe choices so you see a lot of them. Lexus is another solid choice as their cars are well appointed, without being ostentatious.

The Imperial Capital is the richest place on the planet, which makes a lot of sense, given that it is the capital of the empire. Half of the ten richest counties in America are around Washington DC. The reason for that is the people living in those counties either work for the government or they work for companies that have one customer – the Federal government. The average Federal salary is something north of $80,000 per year, while the average American salary is about $50,000. That’s before figuring in the lavish government benefits.

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COPS – SHAKEDOWN ARTISTS FOR THE STATE

This has been sticking in my craw since yesterday morning, so I’ll get it off my chest. I was driving to the Post Office at 10:00 am on Bustard Road. It’s a fairly rural two lane road, with wide shoulders, virtually no pedestrian traffic, and it’s not considered dangerous or hazardous. The speed limit is set at 35 mph, which is too low. Most traffic flows at 40 to 45 mph with no increase in danger to anyone. As I proceeded up the hill towards Sumneytown Pike there was one of Towamencin’s finest partially blocking the right lane with their turbo-charged brand new police car flashing its lights. He had pulled over a middle aged man in a newer pickup truck and was writing a speeding ticket.

This working class guy was probably headed to Wawa to get a coffee and a breakfast sandwich or to Lowes to get some materials for a home construction project. He was minding his own business, safely cruising along at 45 mph like hundreds of other cars do per day on that road. Now he was being shaken down by a cop, collecting revenue to sustain the bloated government budget of Towamencin. His Saturday morning trip probably got $100 more expensive. The sight irritated me, as cops increasingly become nothing more than intimidating revenue producers with guns.

On my way home I knew where to look. There was the government lackey parked on a side street out of the view of cars coming in both directions, waiting for his next victim. He wasn’t protecting the citizens of Towamencin from reckless drivers. He was adding no benefit whatsoever to society. He was nothing but a blood sucking parasite, generating dollars to pay his department’s bloated government salaries, benefits and pensions. This entire episode pissed me off, so I decided to do a little research and understand what my taxes are supporting.

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