Washington Morality — Oxymoron

Just after posting the “Alan Greenspan – Hypocrite” piece, I came across a post that I believe puts Greenspan’s morality in context.

Indeed, it puts most politician’s into perspective. How many times have we elected someone who goes into Washington as a “good man” and then changes to become just another part of the problem?

If you want to get along, you have to go along. Money and big government is the yardstick by which you will be measured.

A Newfound Flexibility

by Michael Panzner

It’s been said that everyone has a price. For politicians and policymakers, the price of a major fiscal crisis is a willingness to abandon principles, join hands with arch rivals, and readily redefine what is and isn’t acceptable behavior, as the New York Times‘ Freakonomics blog suggests in “Isn’t It Funny How Governments Loosen Their Morals When Cash Is Short?”:

From Dan Okrent’s recent Q&A In short: governments who hate vice suddenly hate it much less when cash flow is slow. And we are seeing that again today.

• Congress may overturn a four-year-old ban on Internet gambling in order to tax it. (One potential conflict: most states rely on proceeds from their own lotteries, which carry a comically huge vig of at least 30%.)
• In California (and elsewhere), marijuana is becoming increasingly available, and is beingtaxed accordingly.
• Hard-hit local governments are loosening alcohol restrictions in airports to raise tax revenue.

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