Economics 101

Due to the current economic events happening in these our United States of America; I thought it only fitting in waning weeks of this year to focus today's Blog thread on the Economy. As always feel free to leave any comments or quotes you wish as long as they are pithy and topical.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving!

Revenue, Jobs, and Profit

“An economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough revenue to balance our budget, just as it will never produce enough jobs or enough profits”
- John F. Kennedy

Government's view of Economy

“Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it”
- Ronald Reagan

$15 for a $10 haircut

“Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.” - Sam Ewing

Scarcity

“The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.” - Thomas Sowell

The stuff Dictatorships are made...

“True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Prepare today...Improve tomorrow

“Economy is the method by which we prepare today to afford the improvements of tomorrow”
- Calvin Coolidge

1st Virtue

“I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared.” - Thomas Jefferson

Lies & Principals

"I have a higher and grander standard of principle than George Washington. He could not lie; I can, but I won't." - Mark Twain

Radicals & Conservatives

"The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them." - Mark Twain's Notebook, 1898

God save us from Politicians!

"History has tried hard to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians. Now, to go and stick one at the very head of the government couldn't be wise." - Mark Twain
New York Herald, 8/26/1876

My kingdom for an honest man!

"An honest man in politics shines more there than he would elsewhere."
- Mark Twain
"A Tramp Abroad"

Hearts & Mouths

"We adore titles and heredities in our hearts and ridicule them with our mouths. This is our democratic privilege."
- Mark Twain's Autobiography

Plausible arguments

"Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible." - Mark Twain
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"

"Father of American Literature"

Confessions of a Federalist is happy to have a very distinguished guest today on our humble blog. He was one of the greatest political satirists and social commentators of his day or perhaps any day...please put your hands together for one of the greatest American authors...Samuel Langhorne Clemens! Better known by his pen name "Mark Twain".

The Good vs. The Bad

"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." - Plato

My country, my bretheren, my religion

"The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion" - Thomas Paine

Character!

“I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!”
- Theodore Roosevelt

Questions...questions

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
- Theodore Roosevelt

Victory nor Defeat

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt

Grey Twilight

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
- Theodore Roosevelt

Voice of the People

“The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and, however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true to fact. The people are turbulent and changing, they seldom judge or determine right.” - Alexander Hamilton

Wit

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate wit” - Thomas Jefferson

Will

“In the main it will be found that a power over a man's support (salary) is a power over his will”
- Alexander Hamilton

Spirit of resistance II

“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.” - Thomas Jefferson

Strong neutrality

“Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.”
- Alexander Hamilton

Tyrannical nurseries

“Whenever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to ensure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery” - Benjamin Disraeli

Frequent remarks

“It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government”
- Alexander Hamilton

Error alone

“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
- Thomas Jefferson

The most controversial question is: Why?

“Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.”
- Alexander Hamilton

Justice vs. Order

“Justice is incidental to law and order.” - J. Edgar Hoover

The First Duty

“I think the first duty of society is justice” - Alexander Hamilton

Government & Democracy

Today's topic is the nature of Government and Democracy. The purpose of this blog is to create a dialog, sometimes even a debate, using quotes from famous people about various topics dealing with Freedom, Democracy and Liberty as well as the occasional diatribe by your humble moderator. Please feel free to leave comments and any quotes you want posted as long as they are pithy and topical. Tune in next time when we have our first guest moderator: Alexander Hamilton.

By the people for the people

“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”
- Abraham Lincoln

Good citizens are made not born

“No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.” - Kofi Annan

Excesses, excesses

“Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.” - Aristotle

Lest we never forget

“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Sad but true

“Democracy is a government where you can say what you think even if you don't think.”
- Anonymous

Freedom is our greatest blessing

“The greatest blessing of our democracy is freedom. But in the last analysis, our only freedom is the freedom to discipline ourselves.”
- Bernard M. Baruch

Make it work

“To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” - Louis L'Amour

Jackals & Jackasses

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.”
- Henry Louis Mencken

What you think...what you hear

“Democracy consists of choosing your dictators after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear”
- Alan Coren

Wolves and sheep

“Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner” - James Bovard

Equal absolutely

“Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.” - Aristotle

Ha ha ha ha!

“Democracy is the road to socialism.”
- Karl Marx

Democratic belief

“The motivating force of the theory of a Democratic way of life is still a belief that as individuals we live cooperatively, and, to the best of our ability, serve the community in which we live, and that our own success, to be real, must contribute.”
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Proposition of power

“All democracies are based on the proposition that power is very dangerous and that it is extremely important not to let any one person or small group have too much power for too long a time” - Aldus Huxely

Lesser of two weevils

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group,” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Indigent rulers

“Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” - Aristotle

No better than we deserve

“Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”
- George Bernard Shaw

Hands of low birth

“A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employment” - Aristotle

Who gets the blame?

“Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.”
- Dr. Laurence J. Peter

Common Sense

"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent, experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it, if it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."
- Theodore Roosevelt

Letter to the Plebes

This is a copy of my post to bullmoose.org. "I am inspired by the posters at bullmoose.org and the vision statement of the "Party". I have one question though: How serious are you about forming a real political entity? The reason I ask is because I see real merit in the principles of the Bull Moose movement and I am willing to put my money where my mouth is. I want a party I can believe in that stands on honesty and principals rather than obfuscation and patronage. I am not deluded enough to believe that any political entity can grow overnight but I do feel that there are very realistic ways to grow a viable third party. The first is to realize that the function of third parties in the US at this moment is to create a dialogue that if it has enough support by the people will influence the platforms of the current two party system. This is a start but keeps the power in the hands of either party not much choice for the people. Much of the power of the two party system comes in the form of voter registrations and party affiliations. Voters who register for one party or the other are then part of the lists those parties use to seek funding and target for get out the vote campaigns and volunteering. I propose that a good practical beginning for the Bull Moose Party is to use the next few years to start a voter registration program to encourage as many people as possible to register as an "Independent" regardless of their current party affiliation in order to start diminishing the voter roles and information data bases of the two party system. This registration drive is also subtle advertisement for the Bull Moose Party. Because the registration drive is sponsored by the Party without asking for a vote of any kind. This brings the public attention to existence of the Bull Moose Party without the negative connotation of begging for votes. This is just one of many strategies that could be used to grow a real political third party. I think that the greatest weapons that the Bull Moose Party can wield are: Honesty (I'm talkin' real transparency), Common Sense (no nonsense Centrist platforms), Principals (the buck stops here mentality), and Education (articulation to the people about the power of Liberty, common sense economics and the origins of Democracy). Again I am serious about pursuing this. I will willingly help in any way I can. One of the posts talked about framing the positions of the Party I would be more than willing to help if your still interested in pursuing it. I live in Rochester, NY and I am willing to start a chapter here if there is not already one. If there is would you be willing to put me in contact with them. I can be contacted through my blog Confessions of a Federalist. I have put a link from my site to yours if you don't mind... if you do I'll take it off. Thank you for your time."

Blood and Sweat

Today's posts are meant to act as a running commentary about Democracy between some of the great theorists of the past. I fear that our ignorance as a society about what Democracies are and how they function will jeopardize the future of this democracy. You can politically believe what ever you wish, push what ever policies you choose...but...never forget you have that right because we live in a democratic society paid for by the blood of patriots and the sweat of immigrants.

Dare mighty things

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checked by failure...than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt