gdp's Comments

Thoughts on Global Warming : In Case of Global Warming

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:01:13 +0000

How many sciences are started and then completed in 20 years? Climate prediction is young as sciences go. It's facing no more controversy than other sciences - and it has an advantage over past new sciences in that the controversy is more internal. Climate scientists are the big news both for and against. Sometimes in the middle as well. I find quite credible the arguments that we don't need the fire department, we need a fire extinguisher. That is to say, it'll cost less to cope with global warming using current economic and social paradigms than it will to try and bring new systems into the equation.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:58:24 +0000

Strict constitutionalism mandates a bare minimum of government only on the federal level. With sharp drops in federal regulation, control, and taxes, some states would likely raise taxes and expand their budgets to attempt to replicate formerly federal functions.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:54:52 +0000

Consider that some politicians have made statements that the real issue is they think this particular item shouldn't be funded by the federal government. Constitutionally it probably shouldn't be. Perhaps some of the states should invest in research on stem cells. If current administrative policy blocks that as well, then current administrative policy regarding stem cell research is overly centralized and too controlled by the executive branch.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:51:36 +0000

Law and order provided by the government is supported by Ron Paul and his supporters.

It's also a state-by-state function rather than the business of the federal government. The federal government has jurisdiction over only a limited number of strictly enumerated crimes. Ron Paul would reduce federal efforts to combat crime and return the focus to the several states where our Constitution says that it belongs.

Many state functions should be returned to the state. Decentralization makes it easier to change/improve governments. It makes it easier to escape oppressive ones. It allows for easier comparison of several policies.

Ron Paul isn't a minarchist. He's a constitutionalist. Some of the states would likely have absolutely massive governments - California comes to mind as a state likely to replicate many currently federal functions should the federal government reduce its role.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:34:53 +0000

Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barrack Obama are lunatics. Hillary is a bit corrupt, but no more so than most politicians. I don't know what Obama is, but he at least puts out the image of a decent person.

Thoughts on Global Warming : In Case of Global Warming

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:27:36 +0000

The problem here is that in a fire, everyone can see the fire.

In the case of global warming, a group of people is claiming to see a fire that is invisible to another group of people.

In such circumstances, the first thing one does is try to make everyone agree there is or isn't a fire before you take actions. If the disagreement remains then you bring in outside people to see if the outside people can see the fire. If the answer turns out that "it's a fireplace" or "that's supposed to be on fire" then you don't do anything. If the answer turns out to be, "Yeah. Here, let me get my fire extinguisher, that's tiny," you don't call the fire department, you use a fire extinguisher.

When nobody can agree on whether a fire exists, that checklist is exactly what you do. It might be that some people are hallucinating a fire, it might be that others are hallucinating the lack of one, and it might be that there's a real fire but the people who are upset by it are just failing to understand what's going on. Bonfires look really dangerous when you don't know why they were lit, as can some fireplace designs. So does food that bursts into flame, but some foreign cuisines actually have food that's served on fire.

Thoughts on Global Warming : And the Candidate Least Like Me Is...

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 13:18:14 +0000

My biggest issues are tax reform and healthcare, two issues where I agree with Ron Paul. I weighted global warming to nearly nothing. I think it'd cost less to adapt to warming than to try to prevent it, but I'm not hostile to environmental regulation.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:59:25 +0000

Ron Paul's famous consistency has come at the cost of voting against popular issues. He has the backbone to always be philosophically consistent. He never allows himself to be swayed by popular opinion. He's a true leader. It actually kind of reminds me of Thatcher. That lady was not for turnin either.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:56:27 +0000

There's a long history of 'conspiracy' thinking in our nation going back to the founding fathers. There is nothing immoral about considering the possibility of people working together to maintain or advance their positions. All such thoughts deserve civil answers as long as they are brought forth by civil people. (Some writers on etiquette go further and hold that even rude people deserve civil answers.)

Political Grind : The Cost of Free Speech

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:52:10 +0000

I think that if some states have low standards, it does not necessarily invalidate a state-by-state system. It is easier for citizens to change states (either in the sense of moving between states or in the sense of changing the nature of their state government) than it is for citizens to change the federal government.

If some states have particularly low or particularly high standards, we can examine them from a distance and see what effects the differences make.

The national solution has advantages, but the heightened chance of innovation from the decentralized solution is lost entirely. Just like we're nowhere near to the limits of communications technology (as I pointed out in another post on this blog), we're nowhere near the limits to knowledge in political science.

Political Grind : Shaking up '08

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:36:14 +0000

Ron Paul is the best candidate with the GOP. I think there's a serious possibility of a major "sleeper" event at the primaries, with him winning or placing well in the primaries of various states. The reason why this would be a "sleeper" is because I believe polling organizations have mis-pegged the 'likely Republican primary voter' crowd. Their polls are accordingly excluding the most relevant data.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:33:58 +0000

Of course! Thanks for organizing this blog community. I like politics - or rather, I hate politics but consider myself to have a civic duty to remain engaged with them.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:23:55 +0000

This is largely my position on net neutrality. It's government regulation. I'd rather a few corporations did things wrong than the government intervening to protect the telecoms from their own stupidity. If corps think that they can create a tiered internet, they've got another thing coming. It's called competition. Consumers won't stand for too many abuses before they start switching providers.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:21:44 +0000

Like I said to OJC, ad hominem is not cool. Please support Ron Paul by the issues. There's a wealth of good information to present to his detractors, and it's much more persuasive than insults are.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:19:59 +0000

Dude, calling your opposition names is not cool. Look at Mr. McAllen above for a better way to do things.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:19:11 +0000

Thank you for the reasoned, on-the-issues defense of Ron Paul. Too many of RP's supporters rush in to condemn those who condemn him. Arguments like yours, on the issues and avoiding ad hominem attacks, are far more likely to change people's minds.

Not that I agree with every point you present. I personally think that the government should subsidize research, though I think that it merits a Constitutional amendment to do legally.

You might also make a little less use of CAPS LOCK. It'd be polite, though as long as you stick to the issues I don't think people will react too poorly.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:15:16 +0000

Personally, I think that the government starting to regulate the internet - as 'net neutrality' would be - is not very neutral at all.

I also think that if telecom companies really do get tyrannical about it, consumer demand plus increased profits will result in the development of new competition and new delivery technologies. We're nowhere near the limits of communications technology. Government intervention to make supplies of existing technologies served "fairly" could inhibit market incentives towards research of new technologies, particularly if "fairness" were accepted as a general governmental priority (as then providers of new technology would fear that they would be "made fair" by the government).

Political Grind : Congress Looks for a Major Cigarette Tax Increase

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:48:24 +0000

The slippery slope argument is sometimes fallacious. I think that the connection between new taxes and higher overall tax burdens is a bit weak. Sometimes what happens is more accurately termed an 'innovative tax structure'. This is particularly common when local and regional governments (like cities and states) set their taxes independently. The variances between them can be analyzed and the best systems adopted.

On the other hand, this only applies to smaller levels of government. On the federal level it's harder to justify unusual taxes because the government is simply too big and hard to compare with other governments. So in this case the slippery slope argument you're proposing may be accurate. There's a condition where it is stronger though.

The slippery slope argument is also accurate whenever the new taxes are tied to existent or new programs instead of general revenue. The disincentives created by the tax will likely weaken gradually the funding of those programs, requiring new taxes or weakening of the program. Those are the conditions when this particular slippery slope is logically sound. I believe that Evrviglnt points this out in one of his earlier comments on this post.

Political Grind : Top 5 Worst Things About Ron Paul (Or, Top 5 Reasons I Hate Ron Paul)

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:24:29 +0000

The list you gave only has two things I personally find objectionable. (I'm mildly surprised to find that I object to anything on it.) They are his vote to ban gay adoptions in D.C. and his vote to eliminate the death tax. However, both votes are constitutionally authorized, so they pass the litmus that makes him so desirable to me in the first place. In the case of the first, D.C. is under 'true' control of Congress as far as I know, without a state government present. Congress has authority to ban gay adoptions in D.C. if they want to (though I think it is still stupid to do), and no related authority to ban gay adoptions throughout the nation, so there's no danger that Ron Paul would attempt to do it federally.

In the case of eliminating the death tax, there's no constitutional requirement that one be present, nor transparent authority for the federal government to do it. I'm only going to vote on non-Constitutional issues once we're cohering more closely to the Constitution as stands. Ideally, I think that the several states should all pass their own inheritance taxes. At the same time, I think it's perfectly fair if a few states compete to host 'old money' families by having low or no inheritance taxes while other states try to maintain more egalitarian policies. That kind of differentiation would allow better comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of various policies and various inheritance tax levels.

Aside from those two, only the Mexican border fence and the vote against embryonic stem cell research are really questionable. The first is a very legitimate action for any government to take, but it isn't clear whether it is actually an effective action to take. The second is very much in line with Constitutionality and small government principles, since the private sector rather than the government should be funding such research. I personally think that the federal public sector *should* do some research, including this research, however I think that a Constitutional amendment is needed first.

Finally, a note on your #1 gripe with him, about the UN. In recent years the UN has been a tool for legitimizing warmaking and militarism while being largely ineffectual in such peacekeeping as it has attempted to do. Every year that passes makes abolishing it appear more and more likely to encourage world peace. If an organization to promote peace and international dialogue is needed then a NEW organization to promote peace and international dialogue is needed.