Sunday May 13 2007

How Special Interest Groups Take Advantage of a Lazy Society
One of the most frustrating things is to listen to people support a political position that you know will damage the economy of the United States. What's worse is when it is clear that they know nothing about the subject.

There are certain economic principles that a majority of respected economists, regardless of their political affliation, right or left, unanimously agree upon. From Paul Krugman to Greg Mankiw, economists agree that free trade is beneficial both within and between countries and that government imposed price controls to redistribute income always has the same disasterous economic result. These are the lessons of all economics text books.

The priciples of economics are intellectually compelling, but fall flat emotionally. The media knows this and is invested in trying to convince us that economists disagree. In addtion, it is much easier for the media to sell the story that greedy corporations and bad foreigners are out to destroy us. This is one of the primary reasons that people resist the most basic lessons of economics.

Steel tarrifs are bad for consumers. They increase the price consumers have to pay for the thousands of product made with steel. Yet the number of Americans who think imposing tarrifs on foreign goods far outnumber those who don't.

Farm subsidies are bad for taxpayers and nonsubsidized farmers. Yet 58% of those surveyed agree with farm subsidies.

The minimum wage is bad for consumers, employers and low-skilled workers who get priced out of their jobs. yet 80% of those polled agree with increasing the minimum wage.

Special interest groups, supported by the media, seem to control the political agenda politicians bow to. Politicians eagerly buy into these ridiculous iprograms because a0 they do not do their homework and b) the programs are camoflauged as helping the poor and protecting the average American. These are the very programs the empty the pockets of hard working taxpayers.

It's easy for us to blame the special interest groups and the politicians. But at the end of the day it's the voters who are too lazy to educate themselves on the issues and who keep voting in the same politicians that bow to the special interest groups.

What's a Thoughtful and Compassionate Conservative?
You hear a lot of ugly descriptions of conservatives from those who disagree with conservative politics. I picked the title of this blog as the "Thoughtful and Compassionate Conservative" with purpose.

Thoughtful means taking the time to investigate the facts and understand the subject material. It is not "thoughtful" to parrott special interest groups, whether they are Liberals or Republicans. One should think for themselves and avoid group hysteria.

Compassionate means caring about people, all people, regardless of their political affiliation, or whether they agree or disagree with you.

Now we come to Conservative. The following description comes from The Secular Conservative-a blog of Townhall.com

#1 Equality of opportunity. Civil liberties must be upheld to the degree that equal opportunity is provided to everyone. The principle of equality should not impinge on freedom; freedom is more important than equality. The government’s role is to create equality of opportunity by eliminating restrictions, not by creating new restrictions that favor those deemed to have less opportunity.

#2 Individual responsibility. Individuals must accept responsibility for their own prosperity; one must not rely on the government to level the playing field through wealth redistribution, or to provide that which cannot be obtained individually.

#3 Private property rights. Private property rights encourage prosperity, responsibility, and general cultural advance. The more widespread is the possession of private property, the more stable and productive is a society as long as the price of ownership is determined by the free market. In support of individual property rights, the government must not infringe on these rights through the use of confiscation without due process.

#4 Free market. When markets dictate prices through the mechanism of supply and demand, individual consumers are better served. Protectionist trade policies are damaging to the marketplace. Obsolete industries and poorly run businesses should succeed or fail as determined by the marketplace and not as a result of government interference.

#5 Fair taxation. Economic leveling, a progressive tax system, and the redistribution of wealth only serve to inhibit economic progress and restrict societal prosperity. A progressive tax system inhibits the opportunity of some in order to provide an equal outcome to others. A reasonable tax rate should be set that allows the government to collect enough taxes to cover its expenditures. When tax revenues exceed expenditures, taxpayers should be refunded the difference; when expenditures exceed revenues, the government should reduce spending. Because of the dynamic nature of taxation, increases in tax rates do not necessarily correlate to higher tax revenues, and lower tax rates do not necessarily correlate to lower tax revenues.

#6 Limited government. Government must be limited in its power and responsibility. The role of the federal government is to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for a strong national defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. Our Constitution is an instrument of delegated powers thus, our federal government only wields power as provided by the Constitution. Government must not do for individuals what individuals can do for themselves. Government is to be a servant of the people as represented by the majority.

#7 Strong national defense. Our officials must always act to preserve the sovereignty of these United States, protect the integrity and self-determination of the state, and not concede power to some other authority. Protection of U.S. sovereignty requires a strong military presence throughout the world in order to protect our interests and our allies. A weak military or deference to international organizations risks the encroachment of U.S. sovereignty.