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Wasting our labors under the pretense of taking care of us
Posted by: McQ on Wednesday, February 07, 2007

 "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy."

— Thomas Jefferson (letter to Thomas Cooper, 29 November 1802)

Somehow we've completely lost our way as it concerns Jefferson's advice:
President Bush unveiled a $2.9 trillion budget on Monday that he said would wipe out the deficit in five years without raising taxes, setting up a clash with the Democratic-run Congress and charting a course for Republicans to continue his policies long after he leaves office.
Almost 3 trillion - with a "t" - dollars, the vast majority of which are focused on the "pretense (not necessarily the reality) of taking care" of us.

And no, I'm not happy about it.
 
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Bush slashes aid to the poor to boost Iraq war chest

BUDGET: Although the bill for the Iraq conflict is approaching the cost of the Vietnam war, Bush proposed a US$78 billion squeeze on medical care for the poor and elderly

——
This was the headline of the Taipei Times.

Any wonder why I stopped subscribing?

Inside the story...

The New York Times noted that the cost of the war would have paid for universal healthcare in the US, nursery education for all three and four-year-olds in the country, immunization for children around the world against a host of diseases, and still leave about half of the money left over.

So, let me ask, right after 9/11 did the NYT advocate slashing social programs to pay for the military funding we would need for Afghanistan? Why is it fungible in only one direction?
 
Written By: Harun
URL: http://
Interesting that Jefferson’s words closely follow the words of the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. Lao Tzu cautioned the administrator to "do nothing" and the people are happy.
 
Written By: kyle N
URL: http://impudent.blognation.us/blog
I think the following is more or less accurate:

DOD, DHS & VA: 675 billion
Medicare/Medicaid: 870 billion
Interest on debt: 440 billion
Soc. Sec. Admin: 622 billion

other large programs:

Dept. Ag.: 92 billion
Dept. Ed.: 64 billion
HUD: 44 billion
Dept. Labor (mostly retraining, i think): 53 billion
DOT: 65 billion
Office Personnel Mgmt (pensions, mostly): 67 billion

see here

I don’t think this counts the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
Written By: Francis
URL: http://
a few billion here, a few billion there, after a while you are talking about some real money.
 
Written By: kyle N
URL: http://impudent.blognation.us/blog
... and in 15 years it will all go for interest payments on the debt and social security.

The war ends when we run out of money.
 
Written By: cindyb
URL: http://

 
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