My default policy in the election today was simple: when in doubt, vote against the initiative, vote against the incumbent, or vote against the Democrat (this city is pretty much entirely run by a good-ol-boy network of Democrats). I am not usually a big fan of the "throw the bums out!" approach to political decision-making, as it's usually a cynical ploy by perfectly well-connected insiders to differentiate themselves. However, I'm starting to feel that, by default, increased government activity is bad, and the way things are done is bad. I know money in politics is a perennial thing, going back at least to the Romans or the Greeks, but the influence of lobbying vs the "will of the people" seems especially high lately. And since the Republicans took over all three branches and became officially a big-spending party, there's no one in Washington interested in spending less or in keeping an eye on what other people are spending.
So I was idly thinking about how far you could get running for office on a NO! platform. Whatever comes up in congress, you promise to vote NO! New taxes? no. Tax cuts? no. Spending increases? no. Spending cuts? no. Going to war? no. Coming home from war? no. Roads, bridges, prescription drug plans, tariffs, subsidies, agencies? no, no, no, no, no, and no. The beauty of this is it avoids a lot of the dangers of government, most of which seem to come about from somebody deciding (usually inspired by a lobbyist) that we're not doing enough about something, and that the government should spend more money on it.
The problem of course is that there are some good things that you'd have to vote NO! on, to keep your promise. I suppose you could make the platform a little more complicated: NO! on everything except whatever shrinks government. e.g., spending cuts yes, ending wars yes, agency consolidation yes. Obviously, there are things we really do need, like an intelligence agency and an army and, like, stuff. The NO! party would probably not make a good ruling party. But as the opposition in a time of rampant crap? I think it's the only solution.
So, who wants to help me make buttons, t-shirts, and a web site, and who wants to run for congress next year?
Categories: politics
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