Prickly City by Scott Stantis for April 05, 2022

You can throw some money at me.

Doubly “begging the question.” Who is moderating this debate, Scott Adams?

Republicans* NEVER believe there is ANY waste, fraud, or abuse in the Defense budget, OR the tax code.

They are perfectly happy that billionaire oligarchs hide their wealth and income offshore in order to evade income taxes.

Well, maybe if we elected and supported officials who wanted to govern, as opposed to auditioning for a cable news spot.

If you think government doesn’t work, wait till you try anarchy.

You can’t keep cutting government agencies off at the knees, then complain that they can’t get the job done.

It is a real shame after 40 years of cutting taxes and funding wars the government doesn’t seem to have enough money to pay its bills, it must mean we need to cut more taxes and build more ships.

So, if you believe that our government is not working, could you give an example of a country where the government is doing a better job?

Reaganism. “You don’t solve a problem by throwing money at it.” No, but you CAN solve a problem by SPENDING money ON it. Of course. Nobody throws money. And it’s a guarantee that the problem will not be fixed if you REFUSE to spend money to fix it. And deferring needed maintenance doesn’t save money, it costs a lot more.

Before Reagan, Government programs put a man on the moon, built the Interstate, huge hydroelectric dams that powered rural areas, developed the Internet, and split the atom. Since Reagan, we can’t fix a stinking bridge, because some billionaire might lose his Almighty Tax Cut. Countries we call “socialist” have internet speeds 4 times faster, state-of-the-art dams, and are developing inexhaustible energy sources. The United States used to lead the world in technological innovation. No more. Because Reagan taught us to call investing in the future “throwing money at a problem.”

We’ve been “throwing money” at the “Trickle-Down Theory” since Reagan’s administration. It ought to start working just any day now. . . . /s

Do they really need those lecterns? Why not just have them floating in a stark white (or light blue, okay) void? Why should cartoonists have to work drawing things for readers?

And since around 3 out of every 10 businesses ever opened fail, it’s way past time to scrap private enterprise.

One such government thingy that got scrapped was a council to advise the president about possible pandemics. How did that work out? PS over a million Americans dead in less that three years. OH, and don’t stop counting.

OK, I think “government” is a bit too amorphous to really have impact. How ’bout, why do voters keep throwing money (salaries) at Senators and Representatives whose primary activity is making sure they stay in office? Expecting a different result, maybe? And what do they call that, hhmmm?

It’s called taxes. And after all. Things are big in Taxes! Groan!

Libertarians share the same values that criminals have. They believe that any crimes they get away with are the fault of the crime victims for letting them get away with their crimes.

Straw man argument, ajr. Rational people don’t want those agencies even to exist. Why would you, or anyone, think a government can run your life better than you can?Worse, why would you, or anyone, want government to run everyone’s life?Michael F.S.W. Morrison

The Libertarians have the same issue as the DSA-crowd on government – they only look at those areas that support their views.

Yes, government can and does work – it’s the basic solution to the ‘problem of the commons’, troubled situations and ensuring basic fairness (no, not complete fairness as the world isn’t fair and you can make it so). Yes, it doesn’t work for a lot of areas nor should you ever expect it to – it’s not a reactive system. You shouldn’t have it doing things that the private sector can more effectively or even other governmental entities (state/local).