Transfer O Lunatics

Power Line - The Purpose of Government: "What is the central purpose of government? That question might be tricky to answer in theory, but here in the U.S., the practical answer is easy: the principal function of our national government is to transfer wealth from the young and the middle-aged to the elderly. Such transfers currently account for around $1.159 trillion, nearly one-half trillion more than we spend for national defense, and far more than any other category of the budget.

Am I the only person who finds this bizarre? No political philosopher has ever argued that the central purpose of government is to transfer wealth to the elderly. No politician, to my knowledge, has ever run for office on such a platform. It would be odd, at best, for such transfers to be deemed the principal purpose of government, even if the elderly were not--as one would expect--the wealthiest segment of our society."

And what did our (decidedly non-lunatic) ancestors think of this prospect? Well, here's an excerpt to ponder from one of them:

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.

Who said that? One James Madison. Widely revered as the architect of the Constitution.

Frankly, you're off your rocker if you can read that and determine a mandate from the founders for FedGov to support oldsters, much less virtually anything else they've arrogated to themselves.

And while we're at it, isn't it interesting that Madison thought most of the tax haul for FedGov should come from tariffs? Now there's a great mechanism to support us oldsters ... not. Such a prospect was light-centuries from his mind I'm sorry to inform you.

But what did he know?