Apparently, a dreadful thing occurred in the now famous conversation between President Trump and the president of Ukraine. Trump wanted a quid pro quo if the Ukrainians wanted aid.
Oh no! Corruption! Impeachment! The worst.
Never mind that the president was trying to find out about Ukrainian involvement in the corruption of the presidential election of 2016. Never mind about the clear quid pro quo obtained by Joe Biden (for his son) in a trip to Ukraine when Joe was Vice President during the Obama administration.
I don't know exactly when a nod and a wink in politics becomes a quid pro quo. But I understand that only a professional could tell -- amateurs like me should not apply. I suppose there are some limits that even politicians should not exceed.
But please! The whole point of politics is the quid pro quo.
But some things are not a quid pro quo. Oh No.
Now, of course, the whole of human life is quid pro quo. I go to the store. I take stuff out of the store -- the quo. In return for money -- the quid. I work for you; you give me wages. I enlist in your army; you give me a share of the loot and plunder. You give me something; I give you something: quid pro quo.
But when we get to governments and their taxing and spending, we are talking about monies forcibly taken from some people and given to other people. Notice the difference? With governments both the quid and the quo are forced. it's all about force.
Fortunately there is settled science about this. In The Calculus of Consent James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock showed how legislative voting systems work when voting for a new program. You usually have three parties to any issue. There are the proponents, people who stand to benefit from the program: they are in favor. There are the opponents, people who will be forced to pay for the program but not benefit: they are opposed. Then there are the don't cares, people who aren't really going to benefit, or not much, and people who are not going to have to pay for the program, but not much. Typically the voting for the program depends on getting the fence sitters, the don't cares, to vote in favor, by buying their votes. A quid pro quo. All perfectly legal! Because it's all between us dedicated elected officials!
After a few hundred pages of this Buchanan and Tullock come to the conclusion that the only just way of passing a new government program is by unanimous consent. That way, the proponents are forced to buy off the votes of the opponents by holding them harmless, either by excusing them from the taxes or by balancing the taxes with some sort of benefit. Still a quid pro quo. Oh no! But at least everyone gets in on the action.
Of course, the reason that the Democrats are lighting up this quid pro quo roman candle is that, when the other guys are doing the quidding and the quoing it is outrageous. Why, who do those peasants and real-estate dealers think they are! When We do it, it is just a bit of a nod and a wink among friends. But then They do it, it is monstrous!
But, as President Trump seems instinctively to understand, raising the quid pro quo issue turns the spotlight upon the routine and matter-of-fact quid pro quo action that goes on in the ruling class all the time. And that is just the egregious stuff. Why do you think that educated people tend to vote Democrat? Could it be because there are lots of jobs for educated people in the government, in the regulatory agencies, in legal disputes before the government, in the universities, in the schools, in the activist non-profits? Whereas, outside the government etc, there is not that much demand for people that do not have useful skills for making and doing things that other people want and are willing to pay for.
Because, really, the educated elite really does not want the ordinary people to see how the educated elite is a well-paid parasitic aristocracy with no particular talents, no particular usefulness, and no particular care for the lives of ordinary people.
Oh wait. The educated elite has enormous care for the lives of people that could be useful in its power project. But, as I say about the ruling-class's Little Darlings, there comes a time in the life of every Little Darling when Sugar Daddy moves on to another Little Darling. Because the quo he is getting just does not seem to him to be worth the quid he is putting out. Or is it the other way around?
Don't be a Little Darling. It's not worth it, dear.
Oh no! Corruption! Impeachment! The worst.
Never mind that the president was trying to find out about Ukrainian involvement in the corruption of the presidential election of 2016. Never mind about the clear quid pro quo obtained by Joe Biden (for his son) in a trip to Ukraine when Joe was Vice President during the Obama administration.
I don't know exactly when a nod and a wink in politics becomes a quid pro quo. But I understand that only a professional could tell -- amateurs like me should not apply. I suppose there are some limits that even politicians should not exceed.
But please! The whole point of politics is the quid pro quo.
But some things are not a quid pro quo. Oh No.
Listen to this phone message left by a congresswoman on a lobbyist’s voicemail. “I was frankly surprised to see that we don’t have a record, so far as I can tell, of your having given to me despite my long and deep work,” she says. In fact, it’s been my major work on the committee and subcommittee it’s been essentially in your sector. I am, I’m simply candidly calling to ask for a contribution.”Now, what it is that congerswomen do? I will tell you. They run for election promising free stuff for voters. They pass laws providing free stuff for people and special interests. They fund-raise, whining to lobbyists that "I don't have a record" of contributions "despite my long and deep work." Or else, chum.
Now, of course, the whole of human life is quid pro quo. I go to the store. I take stuff out of the store -- the quo. In return for money -- the quid. I work for you; you give me wages. I enlist in your army; you give me a share of the loot and plunder. You give me something; I give you something: quid pro quo.
But when we get to governments and their taxing and spending, we are talking about monies forcibly taken from some people and given to other people. Notice the difference? With governments both the quid and the quo are forced. it's all about force.
Fortunately there is settled science about this. In The Calculus of Consent James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock showed how legislative voting systems work when voting for a new program. You usually have three parties to any issue. There are the proponents, people who stand to benefit from the program: they are in favor. There are the opponents, people who will be forced to pay for the program but not benefit: they are opposed. Then there are the don't cares, people who aren't really going to benefit, or not much, and people who are not going to have to pay for the program, but not much. Typically the voting for the program depends on getting the fence sitters, the don't cares, to vote in favor, by buying their votes. A quid pro quo. All perfectly legal! Because it's all between us dedicated elected officials!
After a few hundred pages of this Buchanan and Tullock come to the conclusion that the only just way of passing a new government program is by unanimous consent. That way, the proponents are forced to buy off the votes of the opponents by holding them harmless, either by excusing them from the taxes or by balancing the taxes with some sort of benefit. Still a quid pro quo. Oh no! But at least everyone gets in on the action.
Of course, the reason that the Democrats are lighting up this quid pro quo roman candle is that, when the other guys are doing the quidding and the quoing it is outrageous. Why, who do those peasants and real-estate dealers think they are! When We do it, it is just a bit of a nod and a wink among friends. But then They do it, it is monstrous!
But, as President Trump seems instinctively to understand, raising the quid pro quo issue turns the spotlight upon the routine and matter-of-fact quid pro quo action that goes on in the ruling class all the time. And that is just the egregious stuff. Why do you think that educated people tend to vote Democrat? Could it be because there are lots of jobs for educated people in the government, in the regulatory agencies, in legal disputes before the government, in the universities, in the schools, in the activist non-profits? Whereas, outside the government etc, there is not that much demand for people that do not have useful skills for making and doing things that other people want and are willing to pay for.
Because, really, the educated elite really does not want the ordinary people to see how the educated elite is a well-paid parasitic aristocracy with no particular talents, no particular usefulness, and no particular care for the lives of ordinary people.
Oh wait. The educated elite has enormous care for the lives of people that could be useful in its power project. But, as I say about the ruling-class's Little Darlings, there comes a time in the life of every Little Darling when Sugar Daddy moves on to another Little Darling. Because the quo he is getting just does not seem to him to be worth the quid he is putting out. Or is it the other way around?
Don't be a Little Darling. It's not worth it, dear.
Excerpted- a little transparency from William B. Taylor Jr., the United States’ top diplomat in Ukraine, with his delivered testimony :
ReplyDelete"After our meeting with President Zelenskyy, Ambassador Volker and I traveled to the front line in northern Donbas to receive a briefing from the commander of the forces on the line of contact. Arriving for the briefing in the military headquarters, the commander thanked us for security assistance, but I was aware that this assistance was on hold, which made me uncomfortable.
Ambassador Volker and I could see the armed and hostile Russian-led forces on the other side of the damaged bridge across the line of contact. Over 13,000 Ukrainians had been killed in the war, one or two a week. More Ukrainians would undoubtedly die without the U.S. assistance."