KenH
Well-Known Member
"The French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr knew what he was talking about when, in 1849, he coined the phrase “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” (The more things change, the more they remain the same.) It has been repeated and attributed to different people, but he appears to have said it first.
The quote is especially true when it comes to modern politics.
I recently found an interview I conducted with Dr. Ron Paul (the father of Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul) in April 1976. I was a reporter for the local NBC station in Houston and Ron Paul appeared to have won a primary runoff election for a House seat. There was a delay in the final ballot count. Would you care to guess why? It was because of a malfunctioning vote-counting computer in Brazoria County.
A Dr. Paul campaign billboard I have never forgotten depicted an overweight “Uncle Sam” with the caption: “Put big government on a diet.” If only.
A much younger me asked Dr. Paul what he felt was his greatest strength in the race? He replied: “I think one thing was clear cut. Government is too big and the people are fed-up with it. The usual politicians will not (get us) out of it.”
One of the problems with overthrowing the establishment, I said, is that you then become the establishment (take note Democratic Socialists of America). What’s to prevent somebody running against you in two years, saying: “throw that politician out of office”?
He offered this defense: “We’re going to stop spending and stop the taxation and stop the controlling of peoples’ lives.”
How is that going?
I asked Paul to identify the greatest source of fat in government. “The biggest is HEW (now known as the Department of Health and Human Services). But it’s big everywhere – every agency, everywhere you can think of. We’re spending too much money.”
He was right, then, but what would he think now? In 1976, the federal debt was approximately $629 billion. Today it is $39 trillion and counting. In 1976, the defense budget was $90.5 billion. Today it’s $838.5 billion. Welfare spending 50 years ago amounted to $331 billion. Today it’s $1.82 trillion, which includes federal, state and local spending. Yes, inflation is part of it, but not all of it."
- excerpt from a column by Cal Thomas; rest at Plus ca Change... - Cal Thomas
The quote is especially true when it comes to modern politics.
I recently found an interview I conducted with Dr. Ron Paul (the father of Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul) in April 1976. I was a reporter for the local NBC station in Houston and Ron Paul appeared to have won a primary runoff election for a House seat. There was a delay in the final ballot count. Would you care to guess why? It was because of a malfunctioning vote-counting computer in Brazoria County.
A Dr. Paul campaign billboard I have never forgotten depicted an overweight “Uncle Sam” with the caption: “Put big government on a diet.” If only.
A much younger me asked Dr. Paul what he felt was his greatest strength in the race? He replied: “I think one thing was clear cut. Government is too big and the people are fed-up with it. The usual politicians will not (get us) out of it.”
One of the problems with overthrowing the establishment, I said, is that you then become the establishment (take note Democratic Socialists of America). What’s to prevent somebody running against you in two years, saying: “throw that politician out of office”?
He offered this defense: “We’re going to stop spending and stop the taxation and stop the controlling of peoples’ lives.”
How is that going?
I asked Paul to identify the greatest source of fat in government. “The biggest is HEW (now known as the Department of Health and Human Services). But it’s big everywhere – every agency, everywhere you can think of. We’re spending too much money.”
He was right, then, but what would he think now? In 1976, the federal debt was approximately $629 billion. Today it is $39 trillion and counting. In 1976, the defense budget was $90.5 billion. Today it’s $838.5 billion. Welfare spending 50 years ago amounted to $331 billion. Today it’s $1.82 trillion, which includes federal, state and local spending. Yes, inflation is part of it, but not all of it."
- excerpt from a column by Cal Thomas; rest at Plus ca Change... - Cal Thomas