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"A bureaucrat forces you to obey his decisions, whether you agree with him or not ... " - Ayn Rand

Posted by GaltsGulch 7 years, 3 months ago to The Gulch: General
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"A businessman cannot force you to buy his product; if he makes a mistake, he suffers the consequences; if he fails, he takes the loss. A bureaucrat forces you to obey his decisions, whether you agree with him or not ... If he makes a mistake you suffer the consequences; if he fails, he passes the loss on to you, in the form of heavier taxes." - Ayn Rand


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  • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 3 months ago
    That is, in part, what "drain the swamp" should be about. It's one of the less obvious odious pollutions that ooze out from the belt way, but just as poisonous as crony capitalism, lobbyist's money
    and pay for play.
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    • Posted by Dobrien 7 years, 3 months ago
      Hi Herb,
      Yesterday on CNBC (liberal bias my opinion) After Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to criticize Lockheed Martin ( ) for cost overruns for its delayed F-35 fighter program. The announcers claimed the lobbyists were panicking.
      from CNBC
      Tossed aside by Trump, industry lobbyists scramble to connect.
      For weeks, Kevin O'Connor was the quiet Trump campaign transition leader for the Department of Justice. O'Connor is the managing director and general counsel of Point72 Asset Management, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen's private firm. He also worked for the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani (as in Rudy) and for the Justice Department under President George Bush. O'Connor's appointment was likely to attract both praise for his deep knowledge of the Department of Justice, and criticism for his role at the side of a billionaire whose firm was involved in a massive insider trading case. But never mind all that, because O'Connor is gone An apparent victim of a purge of top level transition officials, O'Connor joins former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and a bevy of other well connected Trump transition officials who suddenly find themselves on the outside looking in. Some of those departures were reportedly related to a broad ouster of aides who were perceived as being close to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who led the Trump transition until last week. On Wednesday, the Trump purge accelerated, now with an effort to push out lobbyists close to the effort. NBC News confirmed that Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who has taken over the transition leadership, had ordered the removal of all lobbyists from the team. That move came in the wake of criticism for Trump's use of lobbyists on his transition team despite his pledge to "drain the swamp" and clean up Washington ethics. In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," Donald Trump seemed to express frustration that his team had to depend on lobbyists for expertise. "That's the only people you have down there," Trump said. "Everybody's a lobbyist down there." At the same time, he pledged to make changes: "We're going to phase that out. You have to phase it out."
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  • Posted by $ allosaur 7 years, 3 months ago
    Lest anyone forget, me dino suddenly recalls a Fascism Harsh Hillarycare stipulation when Slick Willie was in office.
    And it was~ta da!~
    If you don't pay to play, you go to jail.
    That learning experience that came with Hillarycare's rejection led to the Fascism Light Obamacare monetary fine some could opt to afford.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 7 years, 3 months ago
    Here's the deal. What if the businessman pays a lot of money to the government? He can, and does, force you to buy his product. And, he can do it with zero product liability. It's a tremendous game.

    First, they create a government program that brings you a product. Health care comes to mind. Then, they require you to buy it. Health care and car insurance come to mind. Then, if that doesn't work they tax you directly for it. Then, you either take it or you are breaking the law. And, if it backfires, tough luck. When the businessman can get the government to force you to buy his product with no liability back on him you have created the most egregious example of moral hazard ever foisted on the public.
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    • Posted by $ rainman0720 7 years, 3 months ago
      You must buy car insurance if you a) buy a car, and b) intend to park or drive on anything other than private property. If you don't buy a car, you don't need to purchase car insurance. If you own a 1000 acre ranch and never drive that car anywhere off that ranch, you don't need insurance (you probably do if you have a car loan) or license plates.

      The only condition requiring you to either buy health insurance or pay a tax/fine is being alive; you took no action other than taking a breath that required the purchase or fine.

      Definitely a difference.
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    • Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 3 months ago
      That's just one example.When I was in business opportunities to scam people through various government projects came my way about once a month. Another thing is waste. Huge amounts of $$ spent on stuff that's never used. The Gov. over- buys and then when the product(s) are no longer needed they are either sold for pennies on the dollar or simply discarded or left to rust. Too much money too little responsibility. An acquaintance bought a warehouse filled with nuts, bolts, washers, and grommets from the navy.Literally tens of thousands. He hired ten or fifteen temps to sort and package them and sold them Back To The Navy at 50% off the retail price. He made about an 85% profit. And that was not even illegal!
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  • Posted by Esceptico 7 years, 3 months ago
    I remember this, but I don't remember where she said it. Do you have a cite?
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    • Posted by ewv 7 years, 3 months ago
      "America's Persecuted Minority: Big Business" lecture at The Ford Hall Forum, Boston, December 17, 1961, reprinted in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal.
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    • Posted by LibertyBelle 7 years, 3 months ago
      Probably in a chapter in Capitalism: the Unknown
      Ideal
      , thought I'm not sure just which one. (By the
      way, the first edition did not have "Requiem for Man", an article about the papal encyclyclical Po-
      polorum Progressio
      ; that was very interesting, and I think it's great).
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 7 years, 3 months ago
    As villainous as the bureaucrat Floyd Ferris was, he was among the best characters in any novel ever.
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    • Posted by LibertyBelle 7 years, 3 months ago
      I learned something( from reading Ferris's remark) about how to interpret the ac-
      tions of some people in power, including superiors
      on a job; I had an employer who would give contra-
      dictory orders, and got very irritated with me when
      I respectfully pleaded with him to reconcile the disrepancy.
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  • Posted by wiggys 7 years, 3 months ago
    It is unfortunate these days that so many industries not only individual businessman as individuals are standing in line to get a bale out when they blow it.
    The banks, farmers, GM and I expect many of you can name more. When Miss Rand made the statement it may have been true but not today.
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