Unless they say that some govt. agency can run everything with no oversight, they're not so scary. That govt. is so pervasive that you can't lock yourself in the bathroom without being inundated by it is more than a little bothersome.
Actually, government just ignores you if you lock yourself in the bathroom. Here's proof from yesterday. barfo
The article didn't give much. I'd like to read the full interview. They claim that he wants to get rid of FEMA, but they don't actually quote him saying that.
Why don't you then? Seriously. I doubt that jack-booted government thugs are kicking in your door today (or tomorrow, or any other day). Your obsession with government seems entirely unnecessary if it doesn't bring you happiness. barfo
It doesn't bring me happiness. It's well beyond being a nuisance. I honestly remember maybe a handful of times I had direct contact with it that I would call as good a time as going through voicemail hell to speak to some company's human representative. For the most part, any interaction I've had has been a real waste of time, like having an appointment at the DMV only to find I get to wait UN a "special" line for 2 hours with everyone else who waited on the phone for 46 minutes to get the appointment for the same day and time. It's always fun to get stopped by a cop for doing 40 in a 35 zone while there are cars on the same road as you going faster. Words I never, ever want to hear are, "I'm here from the government and I'm here to help you."
One could make a case to save every single government service. The reality is that most are horribly inefficient and should be done away with.
Those are your problems with government? You have to stand in line at the DMV and you got a speeding ticket? Those sound pretty minor to me. Certainly not "well beyond being a nuisance". And completely unrelated to the federal government, which is what you mostly seem to rail about. barfo
I don't at all like that the Feds came into my neighborhood and destroyed the value of my home and all the ones within miles of it. I feel my privacy is invaded by having to provide the Feds with my financial details - right down to my paycheck stub. I don't like it when I fill up the gas tank and the price is inflated by the taxes. I don't like it when the cost of food at the grocery store goes up because they use my tax money to give to farmers to make ethanol instead of food. That's just the short list.
Other than the first (and I don't quite know what you mean by the first - did they build a nuke plant in your backyard?) those seem like fairly trivial concerns. Yes, the feds know how much money you make, but so what? Yes, you have to pay taxes. So what? Yes, government sometimes makes dumb decisions. So what? You haven't provided any examples where the action of the government actually impacts your life in a way that you couldn't just ignore if you were so inclined. barfo
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were quasi public government entities that now own enough houses in the whole city that are being sold for less than the homes cost in 2000. They're not very quasi anymore. I cannot ignore the taxes because they have a bigger army with bigger guns than I could get my hands on. I cannot ignore what they did to my home value, either, unless I want to further hurt my neighbors by walking away from the mortgage.
You think the government caused the housing bubble to crash, but did not cause the housing bubble itself? Interesting viewpoint. As for the army, that seems both paranoid and contradictory, since you've been in favor of most of our major military adventures. Do you expect that we can invade foreign countries without an army? barfo
Boy do you go off on tangents. Yes, the government caused the bubble and the crash. Barney Frank is one of the most culpable in the whole mess. The point about the army is if I ignore the government about taxes, they'll use the army or police and whatever force required to take the money from me.
I'm just responding to what you post. Ok, so what's the big deal? Prices went up, prices came back down. So stop being such a baby and pay your taxes, and they won't come after you. barfo
Prices went up, prices went down. Millions of people lost their homes and life savings. No big deal. "Let them eat cake" -- barfo A must see: [video=youtube;aIm5Mp-mmRU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIm5Mp-mmRU[/video]
It's a big deal, but none of those people were innocent. If you bought more house that you could afford, or you paid an inflated price for your house, then that's a bummer, but it's a choice you made. You didn't have to buy into the bubble. Seems like a libertarian should accept responsibility for his own actions. barfo
