-->... so weit ich es überflogen habe.
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<font face="Verdana" size="1" color="#002864">http://www.mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=1391</font>
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<font size="2"><font face="Verdana" color="#002864" size="5"><strong>Power Over Principle</strong></font>
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<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana" size="4">by James Ostrowski</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">[Posted December 1<span class="759510414-11122003">1</span>,
2003]</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana"><img alt src="http://www.mises.org/images3/garbage.gif" align="right" border="0" NOSEND="1" width="155" height="189">I
write this dutifully and joylessly in the manner of someone taking out the
garbage or performing some other unpleasant task that's been done before but
which must be done once more.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">The Republicans have done it again.
With their </font><font face="Verdana">new
Medicare bill</font><font face="Verdana">, they've made government even </font><font face="Verdana">bigger</font><font face="Verdana">.
This is not new to us here. We've been </font><font face="Verdana">saying
that</font><font face="Verdana"> for years. The Republicans have been
expanding the size, scope and power of government ever since they first got
their mitts on power in 1861. Their Civil War set the blueprint for modern
America, according to liberal historian </font><font face="Verdana">James
McPherson</font><font face="Verdana">. In modern America, unrestrained
democracy—</font><font face="Verdana">of
the greedy people, by the greedy people, and for the greedy people</font><font face="Verdana">—leads
special interest groups to continually expand the size of the state for their
own benefit and everyone else's loss. Does any intelligent person not know
this by now?</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">The Rushians and the Republican
rank and file apparently do not know it. Why? They confuse talk and action.
Republican politicians do speak the language of individual freedom and free
markets and limited government. Most regular folks don't have the time or
energy or money to hang out in the Republican hacks' </font><font face="Verdana">palatial
digs</font><font face="Verdana"> on Capitol Hill to see if their heroes
actually do what they've promised. (They don't.)</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">This explanation is not enough,
however. There are just too many examples of Republican sell-outs and cop-outs
and logrolling over liberty. </font><font face="Verdana">Reagan</font><font face="Verdana">
failed to cut the two useless departments he promised to cut. The 1994"revolution"
of Newt and the Gang was a flop. Yes, but we needed to get control of all
three branches of government. Okay, you did that in </font><font face="Verdana">2002</font><font face="Verdana">.
What's your excuse now? The federal government is bigger than ever; its debt
is colossal; the U.S. is in two wars; and there isn't even talk of abolishing </font><font face="Verdana">HUD</font><font face="Verdana">,
the textbook </font><font face="Verdana">example</font><font face="Verdana">
of a corrupt, destructive and unlawful federal agency.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">There must be something that keeps
the troops anteing up their votes and legwork and contributions to the
mendacious Republican machine. There is. Hillary was right. There is
a vast, right-wing conspiracy to whip up hatred of liberal Democratic icons
like Bill and Hillary primarily for their personal peccadilloes. My response
to most of the Clinton scandals? A big yawn. What politicians do in broad
daylight is much worse than what they do at night or behind closed doors.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Yet, the Republican hacks can
hardly talk about issues. They just did what we were supposed to fear from the
Billary—they socialized medicine even further. Talk about scandals and
side-issues like </font><font face="Verdana">burning
the flag</font><font face="Verdana">, is designed to cloud the minds of
the Rushians with emotions that blind them to the disingenuousness of the
Republican elite. And it works! It looks like the Republicans will retain
control of their beloved federal government once more.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Here's the key to the scam. All
things being ideal, the Republicans actually would make small cuts in
government. Things are never ideal, though. The Republicans always worry that
if they cut government, they will lose votes from the special interest groups.
That would bring on the worst of all possible worlds: people in charge who,
like the Republicans, also support and nurture big government, but are called
"Democrats". Horrors. Check out of the </font><font face="Verdana">Russell
palace</font><font face="Verdana"> and go back to <span class="desc1">Palookaville</span>?
No way, no how! If any of the troops disagree, </font><font face="Verdana">Hammer
'em!</font><font face="Verdana"> </font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Now, I know what the hacks will
say in response. That fella doesn't know how Washington works. We just need to
get a lock on power for another four years, and then we'll lower the boom on
big government. But I do understand, fellas. I've been watching you
guys for 25 years. As I said previously about </font><font face="Verdana">George
Pataki</font><font face="Verdana">, you have sold out for the same reason
that Republicans usually sell out: yes, you would like to make government
smaller, but your desire to stay in power is larger.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">Okay. I've taken out the garbage
one more time.</font>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="759510414-11122003"><font face="Verdana">_____________________________</font></span>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><font face="Verdana">James Ostrowski practices law in
Buffalo, N.Y. See his Mises.org </font><font face="Verdana" color="#000080">Articles
Archive</font><font color="black"><font face="Verdana"> and send him </font><font face="Verdana" color="#000080">MAIL</font></font><font face="Verdana" color="black">.
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