Milton Friedman: when the proponents of more government want to be the purveyors of more government

Rent Seeking and Rent Seekers: a very clear and concise explanation

The Do-Gooder and the Hijack of the Do-Gooder’s Cause by the Rent Seeking Special Interest

The well meaning, the do-gooder and the special interest

One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.
- Milton Friedman

Rent Seekers Seek Rent Seekers

Rent seekers aka special interests seek a claim against tax payer monies. The rent seeker might want the monies in the form of direct assistance, tax payer funded subsidies, or want special conditions such as government regulation to protect their position within the market place which then taxes the consumer-tax payer in higher prices. Rent seekers have been known to want a combination of the afore mentioned.

The sly rent seeker lobbies for their claim and many, many times are successful. That is, politicos spending other peoples' money (tax payer money) are not shy in bestowing other people's money upon the rent seeker. However, other sly rent seeks exist as well. The exogenous rent seeker is lobbying for their particular claim. Hence rent seeker X receives their claim. Rent seeker Y receives their claim. Yet rent seeker X and rent seeker Y, in the final analysis, pay for each others claim. That is, if rent seekers X and Y represent firms, non-profits, or citizen groups, their particular claim must be paid by other firms, non-profits, citizen groups of which a subset is rent seekers.

Therefore the sly rent seeker in the form of the lobbiest believes success has been achieved when their claim is validated. They explain to the firm, non-profit or citizen group that they represent that success had been achieved. However the "success" is framed in a closed system argument. That is, it would be success IF no other rent seekers existed. Some one must pay for all the rent seeking activity including rent seekers themselves.

Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. - Frédéric Bastiat

Taking the order of importance to the extreme

Order of Importance

One might list the order of importance facing the US Government. Is it geo-political problems? How about a $3 trillion dollar deficit? $14 trillion dollars national debt? The US government barrowing $3 billion dollars every 30 hours? What about persistently high unemployment? 40 million Americans on food stamps? Unsustainable entitlements? Bankrupt states wanting a bail out?




Extreme

Nay! Nay! The order of importance is the word “extreme”. There are no problems, there is only politics!

‘Sen. Chuck Schumer can't spin his way out of this gaffe.

The media-hungry liberal leader yesterday accidentally revealed the inner workings of the Democratic Party's "extreme" p.r. machine -- hurting budget negotiations as both parties brace for an April 8 government shutdown.

Just before a conference call with reporters, Schumer (D-NY) was heard on the line giving his Democratic colleagues marching orders to spin the budget-battle story.

"I always use the word 'extreme.' That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week," the spin-master said in an effort to color Tea Party lawmakers -- apparently unaware reporters were already listening in on the call.’ (1)

‘Speaking to several Democratic colleagues Tuesday, Sen. Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said they should all use the word "extreme" when describing the budget cuts that Tea Party Republicans were seeking in the ongoing budget negotiations.’ (2)

‘The four Democrats on the call -- Sens. Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Ben Cardin (Md.) and Tom Carper (Del.) -- dutifully followed Schumer's orders, using the word "extreme" at least a dozen times to blast Boehner and the Tea Party.' (3)


Its not your money, its his money

You see, its your tax dollars but its Chuck’s money to spend. Your tax dollars are merely a conduit to political power. Keep sending it and Schumer will keep spending it.

It didn’t really take the gaffe phone call to tell you what Chucky has been up to these oh so many years. Schumer merely takes your tax dollars and spends it on other people in order to build a dependent political constituency. When Chuck is not directly engaged in political constituency building he is busy rewarding rent seekers (special interests) with your tax money to indirectly build political constituency.

Schumer’s real problem is not the Tea Party, Republicans, or any other group. Chuck’s problem is his entire political constituency and consequently his political power and career is totally dependent on spending your tax dollars on other people.


Don’t think of it as “extreme”, just think of it as Chuck!

Updated 04/08/2011: Senator Chuck Schumer Delivers "Marching Orders" To Senate Democrats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zWcRNEyx_w


Notes

(1)http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/knucklehead_chuck_CZpf1dHEUAC2e1r008Qy3J

(2) http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-03-30-teaparty30_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

(3)http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/knucklehead_chuck_CZpf1dHEUAC2e1r008Qy3J