Say it with me: We told you so.
Over the years, I’ve tried to help citizens regain control over their prodigal representatives. Sometimes I got called a radical for these activities. An extremist. But I think of myself as a moderate, as someone promoting moderation.
In government spending, for example.
Among the most moderate of these many statewide initiatives have been what are sometimes called the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, initiatives. These proposals are designed to limit spending increases to a formula of population growth-plus-inflation.
Sometimes we succeeded. Too often we failed.
The consequence of our failures, of each defeat at the hands and promotional budgets of groups that called us, of all people, extremists?
Now, state after state has become what Reason magazine dubs “Failed States.” They did what politicians demanded, spent at rates far greater than moderation would allow. And now that we’ve hit hard times, and state revenues have drastically fallen, how the politicians whine! Indeed, they demand bailouts.
Say it with me, you who’ve voted for TABOR in the past: “We told you so. Lacking our measures, the states have become part of the out-of-control federal deficits and ballooning debt.”
And remember, you who opposed our moderate measures to limit state spending: You are the radicals. You are the ones who helped set our country on its current, self-destructive course.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
3 replies on “We Told You So”
Now it will be impingent on each state to prevent the federal government form spreading the failure, by taking tax dollars away from the citizens of the responsible states and flushing down the rat hole of irresponsible nanny state living of the states that are bankrupting themselves. Each governor and attorney general needs to spearhead the policy of interposition, as championed by Jefferson and Madison in the Virginia and Kentucky doctrines, to serve as an intermediary and prevent the seizing of its citizens dollars for unconstitutinal purposes.
Is the 10th Amendment still functional? At this point in time, it seems not, at least, not as so you’d notice.
Great point made by the AG of Virginia, I think it was: If one is NOT buying health care, one is by definition not engaged in commerce. (The “commerce clause” is the official Congressional method of interfering with the states and the 10th Amendment.)
Just in passing, yeah, I told ’em so, too.
Back in Sept of 07 (or thereabouts; my letter is dated late Sept), I contacted Mitch McConnell about something called “hot-lining” after reading Mr Jacob’s column on same, enclosing a copy of same.
It reads (I save my correspondence with pols which in this case included a print out of the relevant column; ran a search on “hot-lining,” but nothing turned up at the CIC web site):
Senator McConnell:
While I have viewed you in the past in a favorable light as a somewhat avuncular, but respectable, Senator and American patriot, I read the enclosed article by Paul Jacob about a despicable betrayal of the American people known as “hot-lining,” by which you can “pass” legislation without bestirring yourself to actually vote on “routine” measures…that include spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the most slapdash fashion imaginable. Not answering the phone is a “no” vote. This is contemptible in every way imaginable.
I won’t trouble you by restating what Mr. Jacob had to say (his own words will suffice), but rest assured that I am in total agreement with his views on this travesty of “government.” By now, the reasonably intelligent and informed citizens of America (those who realize that Hillary’s “achievements” can be listed in less than five seconds…with time to spare; we are a minority to be sure) have learned that we are ruled by the consent of government, as opposed to the vision of the Founding Fathers. This gimmick is insulting to these brilliant visionaries who made an attempt to preclude just about everything our “ruling class” has set up to override the rule of law with the rule of man, while leaving you up to your neck in excrement with politics the sole “law of the land.”
To be quite frank, I vote a straight-republican ticket every two years for one reason and one reason only: to vote for the lesser of two evils. The socialists (call them “progressives” or “liberals” or whatever you please, but I use a more accurately-descriptive term) are doing everything possible to change American into a mixture of Mexico (utter corruption) and Europe (spineless weenies)… and it seems they’re getting the complete cooperation of the GOP, which lost sight of its conservative base some time ago.
While I usually close letters contacting elected officials with a prayer for God’s blessings, I think it would be more befitting to close with something more appropriate.
Shame…shame on you (and that corrupt hypocrite Harry Reid, may he rot in hell),
*This last was my closing, hence no ellipses following the comma. Man alive, was I ever ahead of the curve on THIS one! (Thanks to Mr Jacob, natch.)
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