Posted on 02/01/2010 1:45:30 PM PST by Southack
Must society borrow money today for current social programs (e.g. Social Security, Dept. Education, Medicare/Medicaid, Welfare, War on Poverty, et al) that will leave a legacy of debt for our kids to repay?
Or is there another option?
Of course, the obvious, idealistic answer is that the scope of government must be cut. I agree. That doesn't seem realistic anytime soon, however. *So, can we please spare this thread from a series of posts along that line? Surely there are enough threads on cutting spending, already.
What about in the meantime? Elected officials are about to vote in a $3.8 Trillion budget with at least $1.6 Trillion coming from new debt, as it is at least 50% over-budget (more spending than revenues alone would permit).
This new budget will leave a legacy of debt for our children and grandchildren to repay.
But people in general don't grasp such long-term consequences/trade-offs anymore. Debt that has to be repaid?! A novel concept to most citizens today. Such thinking is too cerebral for them.
However, if you restructure existing social programs, the people *will* understand. For example, have a draft not for the military, but to staff every social spending job.
Citizens *do* understand the concept of forced conscription. Institute a draft and suddenly the Department of Education will look a lot less appealing to those being drafted to run and staff it.
Jury duty does this on a small scale, already. Ramp up too many court cases and you'll get pushback from those who don't want to be constantly drafted into serving as jurors every month. Our court system simply can't afford to pay jurors even Minimum Wage, so the solution for them is to conscript citizens into serving as jurors.
And that brings social pressure against taking on too many court cases.
Well, start drafting the citizens for every cap-and-trade social spending idea and such boondoggles will become a lot less appealing.
...and at some point, we have to move to a different way of staffing the vast government bureaucracies, anyway. Taxing and spending won't work at current levels; it's an unsustainable business model (e.g. $1.6 Trillion over-budget this year alone).
So the draft is coming one way or another; for social programs. Either that or cut social programs so deeply that we can live within our means (LOL! Like that would ever happen!).
The Left pushes for a military draft everytime that the Right goes to war.
We should use this same strategy on them.
We should propose "jury duty" drafts to staff every boondoggle position in the federal social bureaucracy. Government employees shouldn't be hired, they should be drafted into service involuntarily.
Such a draft would make enlarging our federal government much less popular.
This sort of "jury duty" Conscription would impact all of the non-tax-payers...something that our current tax/spend/borrow system does not do.
We need a bureaucratic draft.
Ha! This made me think of y’all!
Imaginative. Another, easier way are for states to default on their public-service sector liabilities. Just do to the unions what Obama did to the Chrysler bondholders.
A bureaucratic institutional draft.
Not a bit like the NFL draft, is it? Put people doing jobs they hate, with harsh disciplinary measures if they fail to meet minimum expectations, and a very damaged future if other means of attaining compliance fail.
Sounds a lot like the life of Winston Smith, the protagonist in the Orwellian tale of “1984”, a world of total control and a barely functioning dystopia.
I like it! Draft the dang welfare recipients.
They can'be any more incompetent that what's in there now.
No slavery, thanks. Once this camel’s nose is in the tent, you wind up in chains forever.
There are many forms of slavery, including debt.
Obama : the president who brought slavery BACK to the USA.
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