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Hopes and Fears for 2023
It’s not easy being a libertarian, especially when your job is to protect economic liberty. Politicians have a natural incentive to increase the size, scope, and power of government.
In almost all cases, our freedoms are best protected when politicians do nothing. Which is why, in general, I’m a fan of gridlock.
But I also realize that we’re on a very bad path (thanks to demographic change and poorly designed entitlement programs), so we need to hope and pray that lawmakers at some point affirmatively take enact reforms to restrain the burden of government spending.
But that won’t happen this year.
Instead, let’s review my hopes and fears on things that might actually happen. We’ll start with the things I hope to see.
Rejuvenated interest in spending restraint – While I don’t have any hope of actual spending discipline with Joe Biden in the White House, I will be very interested to see whether congressional Republicans go back to caring about fiscal responsibility. In my fantasy world, we see a reincarnation of interest in genuine entitlement reform. But I’ll be happy if they simply acknowledge that there’s a problem.
More school choice – More education freedom was one of the good things that happened in 2022 and I am uncharacteristically optimistic that we will see more progress in 2023. In part, this is because the evidence for choice is so strong. But it is also because Republican politicians are learning that there they may lose their jobs if they side with teacher unions over families.
The Supreme Court Ends Civil Asset Forfeiture – I mentioned this as a hope for 2022, 2021, and 2020, so maybe the fourth time is the charm. My fingers are crossed that the odious practice of “theft by government” is finally rejected by the Supreme Court (especially since America’s best Justice is very aware of the problem).
Now let’s look at the things I’m afraid will happen.
Bipartisanship – It’s possible that Republicans and Democrats cooperate to improve policy (the Clinton years, for instance), but normally bad things happenwhen the Evil Party and the Stupid Party agree on something. So I’m worried that the two parties will work together in 2023.
Green protectionism – I’ve written about how Europe’s politicians want to throw a monkey wrench in the global trading system by imposing protectionist barriers against products from nations that are deemed to be insufficiently green. Sadly, Biden is interested in doing the same thing and US trade law unfortunately cedes a lot of unilateral power to the president.
A Bursting Bubble in Italy – Back in 2017, I speculated that an Italian fiscal crisis could be either a good thing or bad thing depending on whether the moral-hazard-promoting folks at the IMF did a bailout. But there has not been a crisis. What I did not foresee is how the European Central Bank would break its own rules by doing an indirect bailout(basically, by buying up the new debt the Italian government has been issuing). At some point, though, bubbles burst. In this case, it won’t be pretty.
P.S. Having just survived an emotionally draining Georgia Bulldog victory over Ohio State last night, my far-and-away biggest hope for 2023 is a victory over TCU on January 9. National champions, again!
P.P.S. I’m trying to figure out my all-time biggest fail. Was it when I listed trade liberalization as a hope for 2021 (wildly wrong since Biden has been just as badas Trump)? Or was it back in 2018 when I expressed hope that Venezuela’s socialist government might be on the verge of collapse?
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December 22, 2022
The Honorable Mitt Romney of Utah
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Mitt Romney,
The federal government debt is growing so much that it is endangering us because if things keep going like they are now we will not have any money left for the national defense because we are so far in debt as a nation.
We have been spending so much on our welfare state through food stamps and other programs that I am worrying that many of our citizens are becoming more dependent on government and in many cases they are losing their incentive to work hard because of the welfare trap the government has put in place.
Other nations in Europe have gone down this road and we see what mess this has gotten them in. People really are losing their faith in big government and they want more liberty back.
It seems to me we have to get back to the founding principles that made our country great. We also need to realize that a big government will encourage waste and corruption. The recent scandals in our government have proved my point.
We got to stop spending so much money and start paying off our national debt or the future of our children and grandchildren will be very sad indeed. Everyone knows that entitlement spending must be cut but it seems we are not brave enough to do it.
TRUE CONSERVATIVES are not the problem because they voted AGAINST THE OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL THAT DEMOCRATS AND RINO REPUBLICANS LIKE YOU IN THE SENATE HAVE VOTED FOR!!! Why did you betray your conservative supporters back home?
What’s in the $1.7 trillion spending bill Congress wants to pass this week
December 21, 2022 | 8:07pm
WASHINGTON – What’s 4,155 pages long and spends $1.7 trillion of your money?
It’s the massive omnibus bill members of Congress are trying to ram through the House and Senate before a partial government shutdown would start at 11:59 p.m. Friday and potentially force lawmakers to spend Christmas at the Capitol to resolve the impasse.
House Republicans have pushed back on both the amount of spending and what the money is being spent on. On Wednesday, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) pointed out what he called “some of the most egregious” provisions in the bill.
Among those Bishop cited were:
- $524.4 million for the National Institutes of Health to fund a subdivision focused on “minority health and health disparities research.
- $410 to reimburse Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, and Oman for tighter border security.
- $65 million “for necessary expenses associated with the restoration of Pacific salmon populations.”
- $65 million for salmon?” Bishop tweeted. “Seems fishy.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted Wednesday that passing the omnibus before the holiday break remains the best option, especially to ensure the military receives critical funding as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher, everettehatcher@gmail.Com, cell 501-920-5733, http://www.thedailyhatch.org, PS:PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR CONSERVATIVE ROOTS!!!! I have always been a big fan of yours in the past!
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The Daily Hatch 