One peculiar aspect of the 1993–95 trade debate was the contradictory purposes—or so it seemed—of Nafta and Gatt. They embrace different theories of how the U.S. should conduct trade policy. The “bilateralistists” think that the U.S. should negotiate trade with one country at a time. The “multilateralists” say that leads to protectionist alliances; what we really need is one big agreement with the world.
The Senator has a painful announcement to make. His daughter is mentally ill. This gives him special insight into a social injustice: insurance companies are less willing to cover mental illness than other forms. They place annual and lifetime limits on the number of permitted psychiatric sessions, for example.
It’s a myth that the Federal Reserve is independent of politics. It’s a lie so brazen, in fact, that it’s fit only for Fed press releases. Every administration, to take just one example, tries to get the Fed chairman to time monetary policy so as to insure its reelection.
Republicans seemed sincere when they argued against a minimum-wage increase. In their rhetoric they were right: it increases unemployment, especially among the poor, by making work illegal. Even the head of Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers denounced the minimum wage—when he was a private economist.
In the famed 1995 budget battles between the White House and the Congress, Bill Clinton told a whopper that put him on the rhetorical offensive. He said that Congress’s proposed cuts in a particular program amounted to “raising taxes on the poor.”
It was classic Clinton: he could oppose a bill that curbed spending while not having to defend programs that should be cut, even as he posed as anti-tax. Spooked by this rhetorical razzmatazz, Congress backed off.
As the Cold War wound down, opinion elites discovered a new menace: “unfair trade practices.” These are the subsidies, protectionist tariffs, and various regulations and business practices other countries use, which hamper the export of American goods.
Last Christmas some cheeky MIT undergrads pulled one of their trademark “hacks,” publishing a report on the physics of Santa Claus. Using pseudo-precise estimates of the distance Santa must travel plus the number of stops he has to make, the MIT-ers announced (tongues firmly in cheeks) that he would be subject to accelerations of 60,000 G’s, squashing him flat. Sorry, Virginia; according to Newton there is no St. Nick.
According to official history, the 104th Congress doomed itself when it shut down the government to force its budget priorities on the president. People got up in arms and demanded that government be reopened. This taught the people and their representatives a valuable lesson. As much as we may complain, we truly need big government. Today, we all agree with the White House vow to never allow the government to shut down again.
The excuses given for big government take many forms. But NASA has surely come up with something unique in world history. They are trying to convince us that there is life on Mars, that we’d better speed our way there to find out more, and that’s why they need more of your money.
The big 2000 is approaching, and with it comes renewed interest in millennialism and the Book of Revelation. Everyone is looking for signs of something to happen, either cataclysmic or glorious. Will the Kingdom of God be established on earth? If so, what will it look like and who will be its prophet?
