Quotes

"Fascism and communism both promise "social welfare," "social justice," and "fairness" to justify authoritarian means and extensive arbitrary and discretionary governmental powers." - F. A. Hayek"

"Life is a Bungling process and in no way educational." in James M. Cain

Jean Giraudoux who first said, “Only the mediocre are always at their best.”

If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law. Sir Winston Churchill

"summum ius summa iniuria" ("More laws, more injustice.") Cicero

As Christopher Hitchens once put it, “The essence of tyranny is not iron law; it is capricious law.”

"Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." Ronald Reagan

"Law is where you buy it." Raymond Chandler

"Why did God make so many damn fools and Democrats?" Clarence Day

"If I feel like feeding squirrels to the nuts, this is the place for it." - Cluny Brown

"Oh, pshaw! When yu' can't have what you choose, yu' just choose what you have." Owen Wister "The Virginian"

Oscar Wilde said about the death scene in Little Nell, you would have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.

Thomas More's definition of government as "a conspiracy of rich men procuring their own commodities under the name and title of a commonwealth.” ~ Winston S. Churchill, A History of the English Speaking Peoples

“Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” ~ Jonathon Swift

Monday, June 29, 2015

From Wheaties to Froot Loops, the Dimension of Sleaze and Frivolity Out-sizing Even Teddy Kennedy

Five-Ring Circus by Oren Cass, City Journal June 26, 2015

Weary of megaprojects, Boston turns on its Olympic bid.

If Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics were the central
narrative device in a tragedy about urban development in
twenty-first-century America, it would be too perfect. The cast includes
an enthusiastic assembly of civic leaders pursuing a project of
questionable value, a tangled network of financial and political
backers, and a chorus of residents whose voices have largely been
ignored. The backdrop of international athletics adds a dimension of
sleaze and frivolity to the proceedings.

But Bostonians aren’t following the script. They well understand the
implications of hosting a marathon each year for 30,000 athletes and
500,000 spectators; they can extrapolate what hosting the Olympics would
be like. They lived for decades through the “Big Dig,”
the nation’s largest-ever highway project, whose costs overran from
$2.6 billion to nearly $15 billion. Polling in the city and the
surrounding area shows widespread opposition to the Olympic bid, with
support bottoming out at 36 percent (with 52 percent opposed) in March
and improving slightly to 40 percent (with 50 percent opposed) in April.
Opposition climbed to 62 percent among those who say that they have
heard a lot about the bid. In April, No Boston Olympics, an advocacy
group, scored a higher favorable rating than the Boston 2024 organizing
committee.

The committee hasn’t helped its cause with its lack of transparency
and frequent political miscues. Members claimed that their bid wouldn’t
require public funding, but documents released via a Freedom of
Information Act request made clear that it would. The proposal calls for
use of an expanded Boston convention center, but Massachusetts governor
Charlie Baker recently put that expansion on hold. Plans also called
for a country club in Brookline to host the golf tournament, but the
town has voted to oppose the bid. The Boston 2024 website
highlights various projected economic gains for the city from hosting
the Olympics, ranging from jobs and tourism to infrastructure and
housing. But there is little evidence that these kinds of events bring
in new investment or other real economic gains.

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