re: #102 Obdicut

I’m a little uncomfortable with the whole “if you can’t name examples of bad government spending your argument is hollow” approach. My standard response to arguments about government waste is accede that there are plenty of wasteful, badly managed government programs, but that doesn’t negate the existence of good government programs. Arguing that government spending isn’t bad is simple, just point to a good government program (e.g. food stamps).

Arguing that government spending is good on the other hand requires a higher burden of proof, you need to prove the existence of good programs and demonstrate that they’re more likely to be a positive net investment than the equivalent amount of money spent in the private sector, or that government spending is doing something that the private sector can’t.

None of that is disproven by the existence of a wasteful government program.