All over the developed world, nations are coming to terms with the fact that the social-democratic welfare state is turning out to be untenable. The reason is partly institutional: The administrative state is dismally inefficient and unresponsive, and therefore ill-suited to our age of endless choice and variety. The reason is also partly cultural and moral: The attempt to rescue the citizen from the burdens of responsibility has undermined the family, self-reliance, and self-government. But, in practice, it is above all fiscal: The welfare state has turned out to be unaffordable, dependent as it is upon dubious economics and the demographic model of a bygone era.
From an article by Yuval Levin at National Affairs, entitled Beyond the Welfare State.
http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/beyond-the-welfare-state
SARG…my olive drab sweetie.
did you just bitch slap joshuwhaabelyin???
I think you did!!!
HOO AAH!!!! XOXOXO
Butt,
Yep. And the beotch had it coming.
SFC MAC
In the UK all of the government spending cuts could be avoided by making large corporations pay their taxes according to the law instead of using loopholes to defraud the nation. And I think you’ll find it’s the ‘dubious economics’ of unchecked speculative banking, and not the nationalisation of healthcare, that caused the financial crisis.
You know what, fuck the ‘family’. If sharing a room together and having children is the highest achievement of your civilisation then you might as well live in a cave. ‘Self-reliance’?! In your utopia will most people work three jobs to pay for a life-saving operation which the rich could pay for with a tiny portion of their earnings? That sounds like it’ll be really popular.
Josh,
In every developed country, skyhigh debt and deficits could be avoided by cutting taxes and spending. The government confiscates money from those who earn and gives it to those (even the able-bodied) who will not. That’s socialism, regardless of where it happens.
There are basic tenets of economics that leftists fail to understand: By cutting taxes and spending and allowing free market capitalism (consumers and entreprenuers) to separate the wheat from the chaff, it strengthens the economy and creates jobs.
You do not reward failure with taxpayer-funded bailouts and penalize success with more taxes.
You cannot spend your way out of a deficit.
Over 4 million jobs have been lost during Obama’s tenure, so far. The number of unemployed currently stands at 15.1 million; that’s over 10%. The current official numbers don’t include those who simply stopped looking for work and ran out of unemployment benefits. That puts it closer to 15%. Our debt is at $14 trillion and climbing.
On a side note, Obama’s so-called “stimulus plan” was one of the bigest con jobs ever pulled on the American people.
Where that money went:
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2010/01/20/where-that-stimulus-money-goes/
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/seiu-big-beneficiary-of-obamas-787-billion-stimulus/
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/stimulus-money-went-to-phantom-districts-and-zip-codes/
Oh, and about those “stimulus-created jobs”?
http://sfcmac.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/shocker-obama-lied-about-stimulus-created-jobs/
As for your beloved NHS, it’s an epic fail. In the United States, ObamaCare was passed without the consent of the American people and in direct violation of the Constitution. Almost half of the states have implemented legislation blocking this train wreck and the new Republican majority in the House is working to overturn it. Speaking of “speculative banking”, socialist megalomanic George Soros speculated the Bank of England into financial catastrophe. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soros#Currency_speculation)
Fuck the family?? Fuck the Nanny State. Big government is the road to serfdom and is diametrically opposed to a Democratic Republic. Working families built our country through hard work and perseverence, not making a living sucking off the public teat. 60% of the working people in this country support the 40% who do not. That includes the able-bodied professional welfare recipients who pass their lifestyle on to their children like it’s a fucking heirloom. There’s no such thing as free government benefits. Small businesses, in particular, are footing skyrocketing bills for bottomless jobless benefits. Self reliance built America long before the entitlement culture existed. My family worked. None of us were on welfare.
Like Margaret Thatcher said: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
You have the same affliction as other socialists; wealth envy. Oh, those eeeeeeeevil rich people. The same “evil” rich who invest in the economy and pay wages. The same scapegoats that take all the flak for “not paying their fair share”. A little information for you: wealthy people actually work for a living. (http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/12/01/how-many-of-the-rich-actually-work-for-a-living/)
The objective of Obama’s “spread the wealth” crap is the same as Marxism; make everyone into a peasant indentured to the State.
I’ll take self reliance over your socialist utopia any fucking day.
SFC MAC