Walter Williams
Written by Mike on February 15th, 2005One of our nation’s finest economists explains why it was wrong for Bush to pledge any public funds for aid to the tidal wave victims in Southeast Asia here. Can you imagine how different a world this would be if we actually followed the Constitution? I can always dream I guess.
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PM
Hmm, I think we made a bit too big of a leap to state that wanting to pay a Army officer’s widow $10,000 to massive entitlement programs. If a citizen fights on behalf of the state, then the state has an obligation to provide for that soldier’s needs, including those of his family after he’s paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Providing state aid is also in our state’s interest in the Tsunami racked areas to show our benevolence to Muslim lands. Your thoughts?
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PM
It is unconstitutional. Its theft, Bush has no authority to take my money and give it away like that, now if I want to do so on my own then I should use private charity. Basically this is what Bush should have done: Come on TV and asked Americans to personally contribute to a fund, he would set an example and give $1000. He would have collected more money than his pledge! A fundamental lack of constitutional knowledge pervades our society, and it will one day mean the end of the republic.
The example of the army officer’s widow can best be read here: http://www.house.gov/paul/nytg.htm
Congress has no authority to give money to the widow. Now if people want to contribute individually then the government can certainly facilitate them by being a distributor of funds, or raising awareness of an issue, but if you can give money to one group you can give it to any group and that is why the Federal budget is out of control today.
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PM
Also we earned no “points” with the Muslim world for this show of good faith, just as none of our previous efforts, Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, or Persian Gulf I did anything to prove our good intentions. Our assistance to the Uighars of Chinese Turkestan means nothing. Our vocal protest against Russian brutality in Chechnya has earned us nothing. Our stated support for the existence of a Palestinian state means little. Our support for Turkey’s entrance into the EU does nothing to support our “image” in the Middle East, so why would this be any different? The millions given to Bangladesh the last time a tidal wave wiped out thousands has been forgotten no? In some small measure this aid is counter-productive, it shames the Muslim world because they know they are dependent upon us for aid and that Saudi Arabia has given hardly anything.
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PM
From my brief look at Crockett’s response, he was against cutting a special check for a specific widow whose husband died long after he had fought.
Why can we pay members of the military, but not provide insurance for their family if they die?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought Chechnya supported our actions in Iraq.
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AM
Many Chechens fight against us in Afghanistan and Iraq. They obviously didn’t get that memo. Certain Chechen politicians might support America but the populace is rife with Islamists.
As for supporting military widows, there is nothing stopping people from doing so privately and I have no trouble believing that if called upon America would provide more than enough funds for everyone of these widows. The government should support veterans themselves, but a line must be drawn.
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AM
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