I believe in the First Amendment, so I would never support legislation to restrict political speech or curtail the ability of people to petition the government.
That being said, I despise the corrupt Washington game of obtaining unearned wealth thanks to the sleazy interaction of lobbyists, politicians, bureaucrats, and interest groups.
So you can imagine my unfettered joy when reading about how this odious process is being curtailed by sequestration. Here are some cheerful details from story in Roll Call.
…sequester cuts…reflect not only Washington’s political paralysis but a bitter lobbying failure for K Street interests across the board. From university professors and scientists to cancer victims, defense contractors and federal workers, hundreds of advocacy, trade and labor groups have lobbied aggressively for months to head off the cuts. They’ve run ads, testified on Capitol Hill, staged demonstrations and hounded lawmakers, all to no avail. …the path forward could be a lobbying nightmare.
Reading the story, I recalled a Charles Addams cartoon from my childhood. Thanks to the magic of Al Gore’s Internet, I found it.
Slightly modified to capture my spirit of elation, here it is for you to enjoy.
Except I like to think I’m a bit more prepossessing than the Uncle Fester character, but let’s not get hung up on details.
What matters is that sequestration was a much-needed and very welcome victory for taxpayers. Obama suffered a rare defeat, as did the cronyists who get rich by working the system.
To be sure, all that we’ve achieved is a tiny reduction in the growth of federal spending (the budget will be $2.4 trillion bigger in 10 years rather than $2.5 trillion bigger). But a journey of many trillions of dollars begins with a first step.
[…] instance, we had a five-year de facto spending freeze under Obama (including a sequester), thanks to the “Tea Party” spirit that temporarily animated Republicans on Capitol […]
[…] P.S. If you want some lobbyist-themed humor, click here and here. […]
[…] P.S. If you want some lobbyist-themed humor, click here and here. […]
[…] P.S. If you want some lobbyist-themed humor, click here and here. […]
[…] I’ve been accused of corruption and I wasn’t upset. That’s because I realize I’m different than most everyone else in […]
[…] wealthy by producing value. Instead, it’s rolling in money because of overpaid bureaucrats, fat-cat lobbyists, sleazy politicians, beltway-bandit contractors, and other grifters who have figured out how to […]
[…] that the relatively good spending numbers during the Obama years were because of policies – sequestration, shutdowns, etc – he […]
[…] I’d be happy with that outcome. Perhaps even pruriently happy. […]
[…] I experience a feeling of joy and serenity (as illustrated by this modified cartoon, which originally was altered to show my reaction to […]
[…] all those fights earlier this decade about debt limits, government shutdowns, spending caps, and sequestration actually produced a meaningful victory for advocates of spending restraint. The net result of those […]
[…] as good as my Uncle Fester/sequestration cartoon, but it does capture Sen. Warren’s […]
[…] Here’s my contribution to sequestration […]
Ever notice how, when a business finds that it has to cut back on spending, they search for things that will have the least impact on their customers: They cut gym memberships for employees, sending people to conferences, that sort of thing. But when government has to cut back, they always look for things that will most hurt the taxpayers. They close down national parks, delay processing of licenses and passports, reduce hours at VA clinics, etc. Have you ever heard of the government responding to a tightening budget by cutting bonuses to bureaucrats, cutting subsidies to big corporations, or scaling back grants for research on the sex life of caterpillars?
[…] P.S. You can enjoy some government corruption humor here, here, here, here, and (my personal creation) here. […]
[…] So be happy about the shutdowns, debt-limit battles, earmark fights, and sequestration. […]
[…] explains, of course, why lobbyists were so bitterly opposed to the sequester. It reduced the money flow to Washington, and that meant less of our money to be shared by looter […]
[…] look at the bright side…at least for DC insiders. If the sequester is gutted, that will be a big victory for lobbyists. That means they’ll get larger bonuses, which means their kids will have even more presents under […]
[…] look at the bright side…at least for DC insiders. If the sequester is gutted, that will be a big victory for lobbyists. That means they’ll get larger bonuses, which means their kids will have even more presents […]
[…] P.P.P.P.S. You can enjoy some government corruption humor here, here, here, here, and (my personal creation) here. […]
[…] defeat for Obama and a significant victory for advocates of smaller government. And it was a defeat for all the lobbyists, special interests, and crony capitalists that get rich when there’s more money in […]
[…] Spot on. The sequester was a major defeat for Obama (and also a big loss to the Washington establishment). […]
[…] policies – such as sequestration – that actually slow the growth of Leviathan and require them to say no to lobbyists. Particularly when many lobbyists are their former colleagues and […]
[…] the good news about sequestration is that the savings are real, unlike the gimmicks that you get when the politicians are in charge of “cutting” […]
[…] any victory. Fighting for freedom in Washington is a rather grim task. Yet in the past month, we got the sequester and now we’ve stiff-armed the […]
Jason, if you have a bit of time this essay is worth reading on congress and giving from Davey Crocketts tale.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig4/ellis1.html
Katherine – even for cancer victims…there is still nothing in the Constitution giving the Feds authority to spend money on helping them! Worthy of sympathy, maybe. But none of that money going towards Cancer research would be affected if Obama had chosen to cut things that are wasteful instead of the “meat cleaver” cuts that are so evil.
You’ve got to love the fact they threw “cancer victims” in there, otherwise the list is not made up of anyone worthy of sympathy.