It was in my Reason Magazine RSS feed, so I checked it out.
http://reason.com/archives/2010/01/1...libertarians/1
Nation-building after killing 200,000 innocent people. Yeah, great idea.1. Democratic Reconstruction in Japan Post WWII. Gen. MacArthur's title "Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers" left no doubt who was in charge during his six-year stint. Worked through the locals to help forge a model democracy.
Did we owe them any money? I think I read that some countries still haven't paid us that money back.2. The Marshall Plan. Aid to rebuild Europe following WWII. This initially unpopular idea was dubbed "Operation Rathole" by its opponents. Truman took his time working this through Congress and making the case for public support. Executed by experienced business leaders, this operation closed up shop when the job was done.
Of course, that's all it was, a race. What did we win?3. The Apollo Moon Landings. A come-from-behind win in the space race. On time, on budget, and 40 years later still never repeated. A strong head of NASA, James Webb, and a start-up culture made this incredibly audacious effort reality.
Also, does anyone know what the legal status of private space exploration was at the time?
Oh, and the "never repeated" after 40 years point goes against their argument, proving we're wasting hundreds of billions of dollars for a one-in-a-hundred-year project.
This I don't know anything about. Was this a success? It doesn't seem like an example of "good government", though, as much as something government doesn't do.4. 1996 Welfare Reform. Put time limits on welfare benefits and encouraged work rather than dependence. Based on a program in Wisconsin, a good example of building off the demonstrated success of our nation's laboratories of democracy—the states. Cut welfare rolls by more than 50 percent in many states.
It's cap-and-trade, Charlie Brown!5. Acid Rain Reduction. This emissions trading market approach to a serious environmental problem yielded a 40:1 benefit to cost ratio. After years of political gridlock, this bi-partisan effort relied on the input of economists to yield a solution both business and environmentalists could live with.
What do you guys think?
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