Videos: Main fiscal threat is government spending
posted at 10:55 am on October 9, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Cato’s Dan Mitchell tells a Steamboat Institute audience that the main long-term threat to the economic health of the US comes not from deficits per se, but from the spending that creates them. Titled “Controlling Leviathan: The Battle for Limited Government,” Mitchell expands on his series of videos intended to instruct people on the erosion of liberty and prosperity that comes with the growth of government. Tony Blankley moderated the panel discussion and the Q&A afterwards. These are long videos, but well worth it for both education and entertainment.
Pay close attention to Mitchell’s dead-on accurate prediction about what will get the blame 30 years from now for the current economic crisis, and what will get the credit for its resolution.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Doesn’t he know that Obama has won the Nobel and that the Heisman Trophy Committee is trying to reach him as well!
God bless you and the USA!
Dread Pirate Roberts VI on October 9, 2009 at 10:58 AM
The Obama Doctrine:
Beat the rush, surrender now.
MarkTheGreat on October 9, 2009 at 11:02 AM
Another “well, duh” moment.
Daggett on October 9, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Never forget the latter, it invalidates the former.
TwinkietheKid on October 9, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Hello?? Mitchell is right on, but to whom is this new thought? God help us.
Christian Conservative on October 9, 2009 at 11:18 AM
Harsh, but the the truth hurts sometimes.
Count to 10 on October 9, 2009 at 11:22 AM
I like him.
Youngs98 on October 9, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Why not, Bill? Americans fending for themselves were the exact terms and conditions upon which America was built. It was exactly that dynamic that brought the best and brightest to the US and it was exactly that type of individual who won the west and pioneered the American empire.
keep the change on October 9, 2009 at 11:32 AM
I always feel bad when I can’t comment on these threads because I can’t watch the video until I get home. Sorry, Ed.
Cindy Munford on October 9, 2009 at 11:36 AM
The sad truth is that he should not be having to say any of this.
jdkchem on October 9, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Bush was a welfare-warfare president like FDR.
Spathi on October 9, 2009 at 12:17 PM
I find it ironic that the very people most apt to believe in Darwinism (survival of the fittest) and disbelieve in God are the ones who want government to take care of the weak. This seems a direct contradiction if you want a species to evolve into something better…or is this why they are so adamant about abortion and eugenics?
texabama on October 9, 2009 at 12:32 PM
Always wonder about the thought processes of people who don’t understand this. I remember trying to teach music to a little dyslexic girl, and she just didn’t see the music on the page the same way, so it was almost impossible to communicate about it. Sort of the same, to us this seems so obvious, but to others it just doesn’t look the same…
jodetoad on October 9, 2009 at 1:19 PM
— Christian Conservative
Umm, 52% of the US apparently.
chimney sweep on October 9, 2009 at 1:34 PM
Not bad, but FDR also raised the top tax rate to 97%, continuously pulled the rug out from under the market, and colluded with businesses to set up monopolies and price fixing cartels.
Count to 10 on October 9, 2009 at 2:03 PM
They compartmentalize what has gone before and what they want now. It never crosses their mind to check for consistency.
But, then, believing that evolution was the process that created humanity as we know it does not mean that one wishes to put any effort into continuing the process.
Count to 10 on October 9, 2009 at 2:08 PM
At least a dyslexic person has a reason for not being able to see concepts clearly; their physical brains are wired differently.
What I don’t understand how grown, educated, reasonably intelligent adults don’t get the concepts of simple economics. Especially when there are centuries of examples where certain approaches have been proven not to work, yet Washington insists that this time they will. And the ignorant voting public just buys into it.
Quite simply, it’s a failure of our educational system.
UltimateBob on October 9, 2009 at 2:10 PM
Saw these off of Cato’s blog yesterday.
I LOVED them. I had already sent them to friends and family.
Dan does a great job of simplifying economics through good use of analogies and concise commentary.
iamse7en on October 9, 2009 at 3:04 PM
Theme song for Obamacare
-
Hotel California
-
“You can check out anytime you like
but you can never leave”
-
And check out this You Tube video
“Vader message one”
esblowfeld on October 9, 2009 at 5:10 PM
In general, parents don’t teach their kids true principles. I’d hate to rely on ‘the education system’ for anything beyond crowd control. And I doubt even 25% of voters know and understand some of the basics about the economy. Hell, we have a political class and a fair number of academics at the college level who argue against this, or even worse, so assume their belief is true that they sneer at us.
The videos were nice, but I did not hear how to change the direction of our country. I’m not sure we can change leadership in washington, much less change it to effective leadership. All the pain of the last year has not changed the positions of or taught voters. So what hope does that give us for the next 20-40 years.
I look for relief in a community of shared ideals, and I only find it on corners of the web and radio. Even friends and family will turn nasty if you try to talk about this. The other side can go to boiling in seconds, and then not hear a thing you say over their own shouting. It is like being the last humans in a zombie movie.
AnotherOpinion on October 9, 2009 at 6:15 PM