Two Weeds Grown in Progressive Soil
Arnold Kling on his blog Econ Log writes:
“There seems to be more awareness now of what I call the two weeds that have grown in Progressive soil: entitlement spending; and compensation of unionized public sector workers. Greece seems to be an object lesson in what can happen if these weeds are left untrimmed for too long.”
I would say “new awareness” on the part of whom? I certainly would like it to be true that there be such new awareness, and in particular on the part of our Congressional and other leaders in Washington, including President Obama.
But I haven’t seen the evidence of it, only heard the voices from the Right, such as that of Kling, and the angry shouts of the Tea Partiers. I haven’t yet heard our leaders in power apply the “object lesson” that is Greece, to California, say, where retired police and firemen in their fifties are being paid annual pensions of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Also, while agreeing with Kling’s point that entitlements and public sector compensations have gone wild I wouldn’t have called them two “weeds” growing in progressive soil.
Because they’re not weeds. Social security, medicare, medicaid do have value and there are few, if any Americans who now would want to tear them from our ground and discard them as weeds
These government programs are rather much more like those “indeterminate” tomato plants sold in the garden sections of Home Depot, Lowes, and other outlets.
These plants, just as these entitlement programs, if not carefully watched and disciplined, will quickly overrun your entire raised bed garden, crowding out everything else.
In any case that does seem to be what Kling’s “weeds” are now doing to our country’s budget, overunning it, and while doing so restricting our ability to address any of the many other more pressing needs that are out there and confronting us and demanding action.
