April 11, 2005
Gotta Nuke Somethin'
Fans of 'The Simpsons' doubtless recall Lisa's short-lived infatuation with Springfield bully Nelson Muntz. For reasons unknown, Lisa found herself attracted to the town bully and so she determined to seduce him and then change him to better reflect her values. Her first foray was to Nelson's home, where she was appalled to see a poster on his wall that proclaimed 'Nuke the whales.'
"You don't really believe that, do you," Lisa asked.
Nelson's response: "Gotta nuke somethin'," a rejoinder for which Lisa had no answer.
A post from John Cole is illustrative of the problems we will always face in attempts to cut the budget. Inspired by Amydala's Gary Farber, John notes that cutting the budget for the Voyager deep space probe is a bad place to start. I happen to agree with Gary and John that cutting Voyager isn't a great idea. On the cost-benefit scale, a few million dollars is a good exchange for the additional data we can garner from the probe. Given that the data is irreplaceable, it's hard to argue in favor of cutting the funding.
The same can be said of just about any government program. Any government program has at least a few people who think it's vital: those people it employs. Generally you can add to that the people who gain some benefit from the program, whether they be farmowners who collect subsidy checks, Social Security recipients, or space enthusiasts. The nature of government guarantees that costs are widely distributed while benefits are tightly focused. Which means that cutting any government spending pits a small number of people who stand to lose a lot against a diffuse number of people none of whom will gain much.
As I said above, I agree with John and Gary that Voyager is a terrible place to start cutting government spending. But when push comes to shove, wherever we start cutting government spending it will upset people. Therefore, if we're actually going to start cutting spending, we're going to have to be willing to start with programs that matter to us if we're to have any hope of success. The politics of budgeting guarantee that we have to demonstrate our own willingness to sacrifice before anyone else will get on board.
Posted at April 11, 2005 10:41 AM
