There is so much "real" expertise out there and we are all basically connected to each other and to a vast array of knowledge. I wonder what a select group of a Citizens-Congress could do in enacting a budget. Go line by line through the existing one and cut out anything that is pure pork and/or doesn't make any sense. It would be interesting to have this process go on the same time the actual budget is being debated. Maybe a group of people on the Capital lawn with laptops and wifi?
I'm quite happy with all the suggested items for discussion, but for me the biggest of them all was the prologue, "Trust people". This lack of trust is a problem for both sides of the aisle. Moreover, it is manifest especially among the credentialed (aka university educated). Examples abound of how dumb, uneducated rubes just "take care of business" without any need for an enlightened manager or regulations backed up by research. Like a weather event. A less dramatic example would be home-schooling.
I don't know if this makes any sense - sure would be nice if'n I could writ gud - but I just want to say how pleased I was to see this admonition to trust people.
"I’d make sure that the Generals in charge had the right mission for the military."
First off, fire all the General and Flag Officers (GOFO). After 8 years of Obama, all the officers who came of age in his presidency are hopelessly tainted. Rebuild the military from the mid-grade officers, the O5 and O6 level. Second, we don't need anywhere NEAR the level of bureaucracy of the Pentagon; fire most of the defense program analysts, and get that work back in the military. In the Navy especially, we need to fire all the people who came up with the LCS, sometimes known as the "Little Crappy Ship", and get real sailors to design new ships. "CDR Salamander", on Twitter and Substack, has excellent ideas.
Did you know that we currently have 3 times more admirals than we have ships? This seems to not be working.
You need to add a "love" button, Jeffrey, in addition to your "like" button. Key: "Have faith in people and the free market." How about mandating a hiring/budget freeze among all federal agencies? Someone retires, don't replace. Within 10 years, the physical size of government would have shrunk dramatically and no one would be the wiser.
Excellent assessment. I agree that big changes are needed, however it starts with the small things. My little initiative is an example. I like to play golf so I try to support and play at facilities that do not use taxpayer subsidies to lower my costs. For instance, I play at Cantigny for $90 rather than Arrowhead for $65. Mistwood for $75 rather than Downers Grove Park District for $55. Cog Hill’s Dubsdread for $85 rather than Village Links for $65. I’ll enjoy dinner and drinks at Salernos after my round rather than be served by Government employees at Lisle Park District Course. I would rather tip the Capitalists’ employees than those who will benefit from taxpayer funded pensions. Your friends who play at Medinah and Olympia Fields, for instance, are already doing their part, but trunk slammers like me have to think about where their recreational dollars are being spent. There is some pushback from taxpayers already, as reflected by those voting in Lake Bluff against spending $5M on the publicly owned course, but it’s easy, and cheaper, to just go the route of the local public facility. What’s next, Floyd’s Barber Shop in the Village Hall competing with Sports Clips? It starts with us, so #KeepItUp !
You realize that to get any of these ideas implemented would require extensive and substantive legislation? And legislation requires legislators. People who can devise and sell policy changes. Not performative bomb-throwing bullshitters. McCarthy, Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, Hawley, Cruz, Oz, Walker, Vance, Masters, et. al. aren't going to cut it. It's too bad the Rs have spent the last almost decade defenestrating people who have the skills to devise and pass policy and have not replaced them with competent successors.
Before taking on the behemoths of SS and Medicare, I’d start small and focus on education, which would be a much easier sell to most Americans. Radical change in education is possible, but support for privatizing entitlements would be more than a slog. Finding a way to educate children on the benefits of liberty, as opposed to serving the state, would make other changes more likely. Most people are scared. They desire certitude when it comes to healthcare and retirement. The government offers that. Find a way to break that dependency and we are on the road to recovery. I really enjoy reading you, Jeffrey. 😊
Part of taking a hatchet to the federal government involves asking a simple question. What is the federal government doing that can be done at a state level? If something can be done at a state level, then there should be no federal involvement. Take the Dept. Of Education. There are no federal schools, all schools are local, so eliminate any federal involvement in schools. All states are on their own to educate their own residents with their own money. We don’t have a federal Dept. Of Firehouses as they’re all local, so there’s also no need for a federal Dept. Of Education. This logic can carry on through much of the federal government. As the Founders said, there’s not many responsibilities the federal government should have, and it should remain weak.
I bet if you got all the sitting congress critters in a room and swore them to secrecy, a majority would agree that this all makes sense. Publicly you wouldn't get 20% to agree on ALL of this, and the majority on each item would likely say no. The problem is that the incentives for congress critters are diametrically opposed to pretty much all of this. There is a reason things have gotten to where the are (and similar things have happened to other societies around the world and throughout history). It'll take a cataclysmic event to make the kinds of changes you outline here, to allow us to basically start from scratch and build our society and institutions back up with the correct incentives in place. The key problem that has never been solved is how to keep future politicians from mucking it up (slowly but surely). Eventually it gets so mucked up that a war is required to "fix" it, which is where that old quote about watering the tree of liberty comes in...
Jeff Carter for President!!!!
There is so much "real" expertise out there and we are all basically connected to each other and to a vast array of knowledge. I wonder what a select group of a Citizens-Congress could do in enacting a budget. Go line by line through the existing one and cut out anything that is pure pork and/or doesn't make any sense. It would be interesting to have this process go on the same time the actual budget is being debated. Maybe a group of people on the Capital lawn with laptops and wifi?
I'm quite happy with all the suggested items for discussion, but for me the biggest of them all was the prologue, "Trust people". This lack of trust is a problem for both sides of the aisle. Moreover, it is manifest especially among the credentialed (aka university educated). Examples abound of how dumb, uneducated rubes just "take care of business" without any need for an enlightened manager or regulations backed up by research. Like a weather event. A less dramatic example would be home-schooling.
I don't know if this makes any sense - sure would be nice if'n I could writ gud - but I just want to say how pleased I was to see this admonition to trust people.
"I’d make sure that the Generals in charge had the right mission for the military."
First off, fire all the General and Flag Officers (GOFO). After 8 years of Obama, all the officers who came of age in his presidency are hopelessly tainted. Rebuild the military from the mid-grade officers, the O5 and O6 level. Second, we don't need anywhere NEAR the level of bureaucracy of the Pentagon; fire most of the defense program analysts, and get that work back in the military. In the Navy especially, we need to fire all the people who came up with the LCS, sometimes known as the "Little Crappy Ship", and get real sailors to design new ships. "CDR Salamander", on Twitter and Substack, has excellent ideas.
Did you know that we currently have 3 times more admirals than we have ships? This seems to not be working.
You need to add a "love" button, Jeffrey, in addition to your "like" button. Key: "Have faith in people and the free market." How about mandating a hiring/budget freeze among all federal agencies? Someone retires, don't replace. Within 10 years, the physical size of government would have shrunk dramatically and no one would be the wiser.
Excellent assessment. I agree that big changes are needed, however it starts with the small things. My little initiative is an example. I like to play golf so I try to support and play at facilities that do not use taxpayer subsidies to lower my costs. For instance, I play at Cantigny for $90 rather than Arrowhead for $65. Mistwood for $75 rather than Downers Grove Park District for $55. Cog Hill’s Dubsdread for $85 rather than Village Links for $65. I’ll enjoy dinner and drinks at Salernos after my round rather than be served by Government employees at Lisle Park District Course. I would rather tip the Capitalists’ employees than those who will benefit from taxpayer funded pensions. Your friends who play at Medinah and Olympia Fields, for instance, are already doing their part, but trunk slammers like me have to think about where their recreational dollars are being spent. There is some pushback from taxpayers already, as reflected by those voting in Lake Bluff against spending $5M on the publicly owned course, but it’s easy, and cheaper, to just go the route of the local public facility. What’s next, Floyd’s Barber Shop in the Village Hall competing with Sports Clips? It starts with us, so #KeepItUp !
You realize that to get any of these ideas implemented would require extensive and substantive legislation? And legislation requires legislators. People who can devise and sell policy changes. Not performative bomb-throwing bullshitters. McCarthy, Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, Hawley, Cruz, Oz, Walker, Vance, Masters, et. al. aren't going to cut it. It's too bad the Rs have spent the last almost decade defenestrating people who have the skills to devise and pass policy and have not replaced them with competent successors.
Jeff what is the first office you are running for and where do we donate ?
Before taking on the behemoths of SS and Medicare, I’d start small and focus on education, which would be a much easier sell to most Americans. Radical change in education is possible, but support for privatizing entitlements would be more than a slog. Finding a way to educate children on the benefits of liberty, as opposed to serving the state, would make other changes more likely. Most people are scared. They desire certitude when it comes to healthcare and retirement. The government offers that. Find a way to break that dependency and we are on the road to recovery. I really enjoy reading you, Jeffrey. 😊
Part of taking a hatchet to the federal government involves asking a simple question. What is the federal government doing that can be done at a state level? If something can be done at a state level, then there should be no federal involvement. Take the Dept. Of Education. There are no federal schools, all schools are local, so eliminate any federal involvement in schools. All states are on their own to educate their own residents with their own money. We don’t have a federal Dept. Of Firehouses as they’re all local, so there’s also no need for a federal Dept. Of Education. This logic can carry on through much of the federal government. As the Founders said, there’s not many responsibilities the federal government should have, and it should remain weak.
I bet if you got all the sitting congress critters in a room and swore them to secrecy, a majority would agree that this all makes sense. Publicly you wouldn't get 20% to agree on ALL of this, and the majority on each item would likely say no. The problem is that the incentives for congress critters are diametrically opposed to pretty much all of this. There is a reason things have gotten to where the are (and similar things have happened to other societies around the world and throughout history). It'll take a cataclysmic event to make the kinds of changes you outline here, to allow us to basically start from scratch and build our society and institutions back up with the correct incentives in place. The key problem that has never been solved is how to keep future politicians from mucking it up (slowly but surely). Eventually it gets so mucked up that a war is required to "fix" it, which is where that old quote about watering the tree of liberty comes in...