Much of the burden of government is not captured in the spending statistics. The amount of national effort wasted in complying with bureaucratic requirements and filling out forms is horrendous. For example, I would bet that if the number of hours that citizens currently work for the IRS could be spent instead on children at risk, within a few years we could close half our prisons. Also, in my opinion, conservatives have frequently been as guilty of buying into the spirit of the selfish sixties as the liberals. I am no longer surprised when I notice conservatives using what ought to be completely discredited Marxist principles and analysis.
Politicians are no different from anyone else.
Sure, some politicians do evil things like running brothels out of their home, treating women as though women were invented for their own personal gratification, using their office to enrich themselves, stealing public funds, and such. But in general most politicians are trying their best most of the time. The pit may not be bottomless but there is a great temptation to let someone else worry about hitting the bottom. The views and opinions contained within the messages of this archive are strictly those of the message authors. The contents of the messages in this archive have not been reveiwed or approved by neither the Humphrey Institute nor the University of Minnesota.