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Monday, August 15, 2011

Some Thoughts on the 10th Amendment

With the "introduction" of Rick Perry into the GOP race for the Presidency has come the debate pertaining to his "ideas". One of his so called "ideas" is that the 10th Amendment is supreme and lays most of the federal government unconstitutional. Now besides the fact that the 10th Amendment is at odds with this clause, this clause and this clause, or that the 10th has basically been dead since the Civil War, and forgetting the fact that Perry used to be a Democrat, rule by the 10th is a really really really bad way to govern.

Imagine if each state had their form of Social Security as Perry insinuates they should. Think of the redundant costs and overlapping pensions. Or think about how much this would restrict movement between states for employment. There are certain things that are better done on a large and national scale, such as currency, defense, entitlements, pensions, etc. Unfortunately the founding fathers did not have the foresight to write them all into the Constitution, hence why they wrote in escape clauses such as Necessary and Proper and the Commerce Clause. But it appears that Rick Perry sees something that he likes and just runs with it and he will be damned with the facts and contradicting arguments.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Some Thoughts on Social Security

In this weeks Businessweek there is a short interview that Tom Keene Had with former Reagan OMB Director David Stockman. There is really nothing knew in it; he advocates means testing and outright stripping of benefits for the rich. It's just that it hit me; how is treating Social Security like the large part of the budget it is (and not the so called trust fund it is perceived to be) and eliminating its payouts to high earners not a political win for both sides? It would preserve the benefits for those that need it while "taxing" the rich (both Dem talking points). While at the same time it "reigns in entitlement spending" for Conservatives. Throw in slightly lower taxes for the rich (not as much as this change would save) or an increase in the retirement age by a year and I don't see how this could not look good for both sides.

It's the creative ideas and true compromises that will win the day. This isn't a benefits cut that Democrats would hate (you could sell it as a revenue creator) and this isn't a tax increase (hell you could sell it as a spending cut paired with a tax cut if you were so inclined). I really hope this is something the super committee takes a look at.