By Nathan Barton

Insanity is sometimes defined as doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result.

All of us have been that way more than once, of course.  “Why won’t that delete key work!?!” and “Maybe THIS time Joe will do what he’s told…”

But government is the real example of this madness. Particularly in one serious way.  “The solution to ANY problem is to throw more stolen money at it.”

By stolen, of course, I mean money stolen from taxpayers, directly or indirectly:

• Stolen directly from taxpayers in the form of personal income, “contributions” to social security and medicare, and excise taxes
• Stolen indirectly from taxpayers in the form of corporate income taxes, which are of course passed on to their customers
• Stolen indirectly from taxpayers in the form of regulatory costs, payroll taxes (like Social Security and Medicare)
• Stolen indirectly from everyone in the form of borrowing money which is supposedly to be paid back in the future (current and future taxpayers)
• Stolen indirectly from taxpayers by getting money from OTHER governmental agencies in the form of grants, loans (often forgiven), or some other con scheme

One perfect example of this is the great People’s Democratic Republic of California (emphasis on Democratic, the Republic part is actually silent).  Some samples of the insanity:

• The boondoggle of the supposedly high-tech rail system to link the two power centers (Bay Area and Greater LA), for which they received billions of federal money and have now, after spending billions, decided that they can’t afford to spend the total (quarter-trillion?) needed to subsidize every future rider to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. No indication that they’ll ever give the fedgov back any of what they got.
• The current thug-in-chief’s proposal to tax drinking water to supposedly pay for providing clean and safe drinking water to the claimed 360,000 Californians without safe water.  After spending billions of dollars over the years to supposedly provide safe drinking water to all Californians.

Such things are little but worn-thin excuses to steal more and more money from California taxpayers and anyone else that California’s thug-o-crats and political-thugs can victimize. And meanwhile support their insanity.

For some details on the railroad confidence scheme, see AASHTO Journal, which in part tell us: “U.S. Department of Transportation said in a statement that it is “actively exploring every legal option” to get California to repay $2.5 billion in federal funds FRA previously granted for, in its words, this “now-defunct project. … FRA has determined that CHSRA has materially failed to comply with the terms of the agreement and has failed to make reasonable progress on the project … significantly endangering substantial performance.”

California’s thug-in-chief of course says that US DOT is punishing California for opposing Trump’s wall. Of course.

For some info on the drinking water scam, read the Sacramento Bee and learn how it is everyone else’s fault (except the politicians and bureaucrats in Sacramento) that some people in California don’t have good water. And then go and read the Foundation for Economic Education’s expose. Don’t do it just before, or too soon after eating.

You know, what the thugs are saying about water troubles is another classic sign of insanity: blaming everyone but yourself for your mistakes and problems.

Actually, though, I do have to ask this.  Are these thugs in California really insane, or just doing a really good job of pretending to be madmen, because that way they have an excuse for what they are doing as parasites on the other Forty-nine States, their own people, and the rest of the world?  And a defense (however worthless) when they are at last judged? Whether it is by true, freedom-loving revolutionaries or by God?

What do you think?

A final note: California is (of course) far from the only example of insane government. Consider Venezuela.  And of course, the District of Criminals itself.