"Whoever is fortunate enough to be an American citizen came into the greatest inheritance man has ever enjoyed. He has had the benefit of every heroic and intellectual effort men have made for many thousands of years, realized at last. If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish."

-- Isabel Paterson from "The God of the Machine"

A study by Obama-supporting economists Romer and Romer found "no support for the hypothesis that tax cuts restrain government spending; indeed ... tax cuts may increase spending. The results also indicate that the main effect of tax cuts on the government budget is to induce subsequent legislated tax increases."

This is because major tax cuts, as supply-siders claim, stimulate more private economic growth and therefore provide government with more money to spend. This is precisely what happened in the 1960s and 1980s when tax cuts led to greater prosperity, but also greater government spending and ultimately deficits. These Obama economists are dishonestly leaving out this important fact, implying that tax cuts are bad (from a limited government point-of-view) because they lead to greater government spending. Under liberals and (sadly) under conservatives as well, you can always be sure of one thing: Government will continue to expand and spend more. If government stimulates the economy by lowering taxes and reducing regulation, then government will take that extra money from the economy and spend it on political pet projects and programs; or, in cases like right now, when government is strangling the private economy through the threat of massive expansion, major controls and huge tax increases, government will likewise spend more and more. The common denominator is that government likes to grow. The time has arrived to stop looking to government (and that includes flaky "conservatives," including newly elected ones from Massachusetts) to solve our problems. Government IS the problem. The people have to bring their government into line; not the other way around.

If you're duplicitous, disingenuous or otherwise manipulative towards another person, then consider the mistake you're making. By being manipulative, you're counting on a weakness or foolishness in the person whose behavior you seek to alter by a means other than reason. You're doing this -- why, exactly? You're doing it in order to gain something from them. What are you trying to gain? Something involving their intelligence or sophistication. In practice, you're counting on someone to be weak and foolish so that you can utilize their intelligence and wisdom.

Don't you think if a person really is worth manipulating, he's likewise incapable of being manipulated?

The contradiction involved is obvious. That's why only the foolish and unintelligent are stupid enough to practice deception or manipulation. They're right that they need assistance. But they're not going to get it in this way -- at least, not from anyone who has something to offer.