By Mona Charen
Examiner Columnist
June 13, 2010
Newly minted Nevada senate candidate Sharron Angle is a kook. That's what Sen. Harry Reid's people are telling reporters. ABC, CNN, and other outlets seem to agree, noting that Mrs. Angle wants to shutter the federal Department of Education, get the U.S. out of the U.N., phase out Social Security, and eliminate the IRS.
We haven't yet heard her explanations of these positions -- many of which can be justified in the proper context. It's certainly possible that she is a little eccentric (that prison massage program doesn't pass the smell test). But this much is certain: It is not kooky to favor the elimination of the Department of Education. That this proposal is routinely labeled "extremist" is a reminder of the one-way ratchet that operates in government. Enshrine something in a federal agency and it becomes sacrosanct. Democrats cheerlead for federal programs because they are the party of government, and Republicans quietly go along because they're afraid.
But if Republicans know how to argue for smaller government -- as Gov. Chris Christie is demonstrating in New Jersey -- they need not be intimidated. There are hundreds of federal programs that could be eliminated tomorrow with only the happiest consequences for the nation. And yes, the whole Department of Education could be scrapped. It vacuums up money and produces ... what exactly?
It's good to see Mona advocating this as Sharon Angle's opinions - most of them - are "right on" - including this one and abolishing the IRS (via the FairTax) among other things.
ReplyDeleteThe UN accomplishes little or nothing meaningful in the long run and is just another of those nice looney-lefty-lib "feel good" Rodney King ("can't we all get along?") notions. SS is a terrible waste of resources and should be shuttered allowing us to handle that responsibility ourselves within our families to strengthen that bond and responsibility.
As Mona says in her article many of the country's ills are due to ignorance, but one is reminded of the old saying that "ignorance is temporary, but stuipd is forever". People, if ignorant, can eventually be reasoned with; the rest - not!
Along those lines, Erica TPaws, you might find the last paragraph in this exquisitely informative *.pdf very, very interesting as you've taken it as a theme:
http://www.Thirty-Thousand.org
Just click on the link "Taking Back Our Republic" and then, in the resulting window, click on the "Download Pamphlet" link and go to the final paragraph. (Reading the stuff in between helps mitigate the "ignorance" thingy, too).