An Unproductive Discussion

Editors note:
The following post is by Seth, a contributor to this blog, who is gracious enough to allow his fine work to be shared with (and hopefully by) our readers. I suggest you visit his blog, Our Dinner Table, often if you want thoughtful, shortish commentary about a variety of freedom related issues.

Seth's idea is that "All great change in America begins at the dinner table.  So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven’t been teaching you what it means to be an American, let ‘em know and nail ‘em on it. That would be a very American thing to do."

At Whatwethinkandwhy we have made it clear that this blog is an admirer of Dr. Rand Paul, Senator from Kentucky. We also admire Seth's refreshingly thoughtful and substantive blog. In the following post we get a little of both.

By Seth

I saw this video of David Letterman’s interview of Rand Paul from 2011 posted on Carpe Diem:


I suggest skipping past Paul’s corny attempts at humor near the beginning and watch the last five to six minutes of the discussion. It’s a great example of how someone’s ignorance, Letterman’s in this case, can be mistaken for legitimate arguments by stating platitudes and refusing to accept facts.

In one example, Letterman characterizes Republicans as the party that just wants to give tax breaks to the rich and big business.

Paul points out that there’s the idea that the rich don’t pay their fair share isn’t accurate. They, in fact, pay most of the taxes. He says the top 1% income earners pay a third of income taxes collected and the top 50% pay 96%. Letterman gets some claps for replying:

…I think there’s something wrong with those numbers. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I’m pretty sure there’s something wrong with them…

I’ll give Letterman credit. After the applause, he then says:

Thank you, you’re applauding my stupidity, God bless you.

I’d like to know if Letterman followed up to learn more about these facts to see if he could build a more valid counterpoint than “I’m pretty sure there’s something wrong.” If he did, what did he find? Did it change his mind?

What do you do when you encounter facts that go against what you previously believed? I don’t know about you, but I find that intriguing and I usually dig in deeper.

Earlier in the conversation (4 minute mark), Letterman demonstrates his ignorance by confusing the national deficit with the debt.  ”The American debt is what, $3 trillion?”

Paul explains that the deficit is running about $2 trillion each year, but total debt has accumulated up to $14 trillion.

Letterman blows by this fact. He just learned that something he thought was $3 is nearly 5 times as big and he has no reaction. A reasonable person should respond, “Holy cow! $14 trillion? How did that happen? I had no idea that it was that much. What was I thinking?”

I will give Letterman some credit here. He asks how continuing to borrow will affect him. Paul tries to explain, but I don’t think it made much sense to Letterman.

I would have said the Soviet Union, Greece, Cyprus and Detroit are good examples of what can happen. It’s tough to tell how far down the road that is, but that’s the direction borrowing leads.

If Abbott and Costello Were Economists

By Grant Davies

Today I received a forwarded email from one of our crack staff who keeps an eye out for stuff on the internet that can be used to educate and amuse our readers. I think this one may have been going around for a while but I have never seen it before.

And since I am interested in economics, and even more interested in laughing, I thought this would be a good post to start 2014 off with.

So who's on first? Why, Bud and Lou of course!


COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America.

ABBOTT: Good subject ... terrible times. It's 7.8%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?

ABBOTT: No, that's 14.7%.

COSTELLO: You just said 7.8%.

ABBOTT: 7.8% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 7.8% out of work.

ABBOTT: No, that's 14.7%.

COSTELLO: Wait a minute. Is it 7.8% or 14.7%?

ABBOTT: 7.8% are unemployed. 14.7% are out of work.

COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.

ABBOTT: No, Congress said you cannot count the "Out of Work" as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: But THEY are out of work!

ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.

COSTELLO: What point?

ABBOTT: Someone who doesn't look for work can't be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn't be fair.

COSTELLO: To whom?

ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But all of them are out of work.

ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you're off the unemployment roles that would count as less unemployment?

ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don't look for work?

ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That's how they get it to 7.8%. Otherwise it would be 14.7%. Our government does not want you to read about 14.7% unemployment.

COSTELLO: That would be tough on those running for reelection.

ABBOTT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number?

ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?

ABBOTT: Correct.

COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?

ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have people stop looking for work.

ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like an Economist.

COSTELLO: I don't even know what the hell I just said!

ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like Congress.

Hat Tip To Staff Researcher Jerry Vandenberg for finding this gem.

Dreaming of Sugarplums

I had a dream about how to fix Obamacare. Then I woke up and realized that it was only a dream about the pajama-boy. Oh well, not all dreams come true but we can keep on dreaming anyway.

Finally, Some Good News!

By Grant Davies

According to this new Pew Research poll, very few people trust government. Let's hope it drops even lower so we can have a better shot at returning our society to a more rational, free, and productive state. The more people believe in individual liberty and taking personal responsibility for their actions the better off we all will be.

I'm certain that most people who hear that only 19% of people trust the government are appalled by the news. But, as usual, my take is different. I look at it as people coming to their senses.

Image = Pew Research

You can read the good news and see a larger chart here.

If Health Insurance was Coffee

By Grant Davies

When our crack staff finds cool videos that our readers will want to see, we usually put them on the side bar and leave them for a few weeks so all can enjoy. Some however, are so good that we feature them right here in middle of the wisdom section.

Credit Carl Holzhowser with finding this one. He has been doing a great job lately and we are considering giving him a 50% raise over what he was previously earning on this swell gig.

So grab a cup of coffee and sit back and learn about health insurance in this new world of hopeless change.