Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktI liked Milbanks’ take on the Cabinet – except for the Big Four, they don’t do anything. The Departments may be important, but the Cabinet members are mere figureheads, he claims. He may have exaggerated (what else is new?), but I got the thrust of it.
Filed under: big government, dod, education, housing, movies, regulations, small government |
All Things in Moderation 
Greatings from Hawaii.
I disagree with Thomas Ricks. The all volunteer military should stay because it is more effective at fighting and winning wars than the draft based military. A draft based military would suffer higher casualties than the volunteer one.
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At the moment Shinseki testified we would need 100,000+ more troops to make a relatively successful short war in Iraq, I thought we needed a supplemental draft. I was trustee for two young men [brothers] who served multiple successive tours in Iraq. They wrote to me. They served to the breaking point, but did not break. A lot of guys did break.
I don’t think we need a permanent draft. I don’t think we needed one for AFG.
But when we got bogged into peacekeeping in the giant hellhole of Iraq, a couple of hundred thousand more troops, with regular rotations of 6mos on 6mos off, and with no frigging contractors robbing us blind, a supplemental draft would have been better, and Ricks is right that the public would have had more actual involvement.
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Interesting list. My strongest opinion is on software patents, in which I generally agree with the proposal to kill them. As a compromise, I’d accept a solution where they were limited to truly innovative work that meets the traditional non-obvious criteria for patents; where the obviousness test is applied at the software engineer level, not the layman’s.
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1. All-volunteer military by Thomas E. Ricks – I agree with jnc4p on this. Keep as is.
2. Premium gas by Jeff S. Bartlett – Never buy it and have never owned a car that requires it….ergo I say ditch it.
3. Home-equity loans by Bethany McLean – Anything that allows people access to funds to do things with, I am for. Caveat emptor.
4. 3 p.m. school day by Peter Orszag – Along with this would be rethinking homework, after school sports/activities, school projects, taxes, etc. Not sayin it is not doable…am saying this would be a difficult change.
5. Chick flicks by Melissa Silverstein – Could care less – if my wife and I go to a movie, its not about the movie for me.
6. The Cabinet by Dana Milbank Just the cabinet? This should be step 1a of a 5000 step process for reducing the size of government…
7. Software patents by Christina Mulligan – Makes sense to me.
8. The social kiss by Meghan Daum – I have never, ever, ever gotten a mouthful of earwax. I think she needs glasses. I don’t find I have this issue. Maybe I just excel at kissing?
9. Brainstorming by Jonah Lehrer – The truth of brainstorming is that everyone who has ever done it has thought at least once “That is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of. What a maroon!”
10. Grades by Melissa Harris-Perry – This seems like the anti-standardized test position. Would my kid’s report card simply state things like “shows improvement” or “needs help” or “meets grade expectations”? What is passing or failing? I think this might be an example of it sounds like a good idea but really isn’t. I don’t know for sure though. Maybe there is something to it that could work.
11. Get rid of Newspapers by Dave! – they are biased, outdated when delivered, subjected to money pressures and environmentally unfriendly.
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