Posted on 09/02/2010 10:34:16 AM PDT by Steve495
I’ve been reading a bit about Milton Friedman, a Hoover Institution economist -- not a politician -- who past away in 2006. Conservatives can learn quite a bit from this great man. We need another conservative economic mentor for present-day, and maybe Dan Mitchell is that person?
The headline from this article is a Friedman quote from a March 2000 interview billed as an effort to provide economic advice to the next president. Do read the full interview, I can almost hear Friedman’s voice discussing the topic with his unique inflection, almost guiding you to answer questions yourself with an approving smile.
(Excerpt) Read more at radioviceonline.com ...
Correction: government will spend whatever it can, whether or not covered by taxes. Government is like an drug addict in the last stages of addiction—beg, borrow or steal to get that spending fix.
Milton and Rose Friedman were absolute giants in the field of economics!
Of course their conclusions don’t comport with the leftist agenda so many have never heard of them.
I agree.
Correction: isn’t the government, right now, spending twice as much as it takes him?
Isn’t the government borrowing $5 billion every single day for its deficit spending?
They will spend every penny that they take in, and they no longer borrow an extra 5% just to run us into debt forever — they now are 100% more, to keep on spending and spending and giving it away and using it for bribes.
Does everyone know what section 8 housing is? Have you ever seen it in action?
Have you ever been told by a Real estate agent that your wife and children might get raped by the swimming pool?
This is the kind of thing that you will hear, in the new United States of America, thanks to the giveaway of your tax money, called section 8 — see the post that I made just five minutes ago.
Barack Hussein Obama borrows more money in the name of the U.S. government in 30 days, than George Bush did in one year — but no one ever hears about it.
Annnd if that fails, watch out for your savings account!
fixed it!
Borrowing money needs to be approved by someone. Who is that someone? Who signs the contracts? All borrowing needs to stop now. At that point, you can figure out what you are going to cut and spend the money on things the country really needs. Fair Tax will help take care of this. We need to start pushing this.
Great Friedman quote:
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
Let’s think about ObamaCare for a moment in light of this quote and historical fact (USPS, AMTRACK, Social Security, etc, etc, etc.)
Great Friedman quote:
“If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.”
Let’s think about ObamaCare for a moment in light of this quote and historical fact (USPS, AMTRACK, Social Security, etc, etc, etc.)
Refreshing Milton Friedman bump!
His points on healthcare (10 years ago) are right on the button.
I will agree with you, but I wonder how much of the rest of America will agree or even understand.
The income tax that we all have to pay is simply outrageous. The Social Security tax is a fraud and also outrageous. But I, like most Americans, don’t know what to do about it, and feel that there is very little we can do about it, unfortunately.
We can vote. That is one vote. Is that enough?
The govt will spend what ever it can get in tax and whatever it can get for issuing bonds and other obligations.
We have acquired a debt that we can’t grow or tax our way out of. That leaves only on alternative..inflate. The Fed is trying that, but that so far isn’t working. QE is the only weapon they have now and that will only succeed by overshoot into big inflation.
How far we have fallen! Conservatives have truly strayed too far afield. Milton Freedman WAS the man. Back in the day.
That’s why I always say it’s about the SPENDING more than the taxes.
You could tax to 99% and it still would not be enough for the tax and spend marxists ..... they’ll still overspend and want more.
You could tax to 100% and it still would not be enough for them. Even slavery is no upper limit to them.
One vote, then another one, then two more, then three more. I can be enough if we all pay attention. My fear is that people aren’t paying attention and the politicians count on that.
Peter Robinson: Right, into the Social Security fund.
Milton Friedman: So they take these bonds out and sell them again to the public. How else are they going to pay for it? So what you are doing is simply changing the form of the debt, but you’re not really reducing the debt—
Peter Robinson: Because these obligations are going to be there no matter—
Milton Friedman: —is an evasion. In the long run government will spend whatever the tax system will raise, plus as much more as it can get away with. That’s what history tells us, I think. So my view has always been: cut taxes on any occasion, for any reason, in any way, that’s politically feasible. That’s the only way to keep down the size of government.
This is certainly a good argument for NOT raising taxes but what we really need is a balanced budget amendment with no exceptions(and term limits). War, recession, emergencies??? Forget it. There is NO one that we can elect that can be trusted to not to call everything an emergency and run up debts for political purposes, or just hit us with taxes. But at least with taxes presidents usually get voted out of office for raising them , unlike deficits that screw the unborn voter.
The best way to kill the liberal deficit spending beast is to starve the beast of tax revenues while simultaneously resurrecting the old Gramm-Rudman bill otherwise known as Paygo with teeth.
Gramm-Rudman, for the most part, worked in controlling Congressional spending. That is why Congress got rid of it.
I started to say that such an amendment should require that all tax hikes have to be approved by a popular referendum, but California tried that, and the crooks in the legislature renamed taxes as "fees." (Note that the Obama regime uses the word "taxes" only when it's convenient, as in states suing Obamacare).
Bearing that in mind, you would have to be very careful how you define "balanced budget."
There is NO one that we can elect that can be trusted to not to call everything an emergency and run up debts for political purposes, or just hit us with taxes.
Speaking of "emergencies"
Republican Bob Ehrlich got the MD governorship in 2002 promising not to sign tax increases but then ran into political problems as the democrat houses sent him spending bill after spending bill, then he announced that increasing all types of fees and property taxes was not really raising taxes. He passed a water bill fee increase that also applied to those that get water from their own wells, basically in republican areas. Come re-election year 2006 the liberal Sun pointed out to voters how he raised all these taxes after promising not to, after the sun itself had been critical of him opposing raising taxes. The Sun had repeatly called for him to raise taxes. He lost the issue, liberal O Malley won and he immediately raised our taxes.
My idea of balanced budget means everything is part of the budget, even stuff Republican like. If there is an REAL emergency they can sell some land.
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