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letter to the editor Archive

Friday

25

October 2013

0

COMMENTS

Shrinking Dollars

Written by , Posted in Economics & the Economy

A recent letter to the The New York Times:

To the Editor:

Richard A. Friedman finds that an hour of psychotherapy ain’t what it used to be (“Shrinking Hours,” October 12). He attributes this, along with similar phenomena, to a “contracting culture.” It’s an interesting hypothesis, but economics might provide a better answer. Thanks to inflation brought about by government monetary policy, prices in nominal dollars must constantly rise just for providers to maintain the same level of compensation over time.

Many industries are able to innovate and reduce costs at an equal or faster pace than inflation, which hides its impact from consumers. For the rest it’s either raise prices or lower the quantity of goods provided (ever shrinking chip bags being a prominent example). It’s further no surprise that therapists would understand the psychology of consumers and bet that they’ll be less likely to notice a few minutes trimmed off their sessions than a price increase.

Sincerely,
Brian Garst
Director of Government Affairs
Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Friday

11

October 2013

0

COMMENTS

End Times for the Welfare State

Written by , Posted in Big Government, Health Care, Welfare & Entitlements, Liberty & Limited Government, The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

A recent letter to the The New York Times:

To the Editor:

Stephen D. King correctly observes that the United States and many other so-called advanced economies are looking forward to a dismal future (“When Wealth Disappears,” October 6). Unfortunately, he dances around and at best merely alludes to the root cause of the problem.

While recent years have seen rather dismal economic growth, the fact remains that people today are, by and large, wealthier than ever before. Levels of comfort and convenience – from air conditioning to machine washers to access to multiple vehicles per family – once reserved for the wealthiest few are now common even for the least among us. In asserting that “we are reaching the end times for Western affluence,” King thus fails to be sufficiently precise in his analysis. It is the Western welfare state whose affluence has reached its limits.

While the last century has witnessed tremendous strides economically, with incredible new technologies revolutionizing how we live, work and play, it has also seen an ever increasing share of those gains diverted to the public sector. It is for this reason that King’s prescriptions are just a step in the right direction. For our nation to avoid becoming another Greece, politicians henceforth must refrain from promising the fruit of another’s labor as a means for enhancing their own political power.

Sincerely,
Brian Garst
Director of Government Affairs
Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Friday

17

July 2009

0

COMMENTS

Borrowers Should Have A Choice

Written by , Posted in Free Markets, The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

I recently sent the following letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

If states heed your recent editorial (“Borrowers Bled Dry,” July 13) calling for them to “drive out payday lenders,” it would harm the very people you claim to be protecting. It would also unfairly rob individuals of the right to manage their own affairs.

The issue here is one of choice. While many people are choosing to avail themselves of the loans provided by payday lenders, you think you know better and seek to deny them this right. The prevalence of these lenders, which you point to as a means to scare the reader, only serves to speak to the value they provide the community.

You accuse these service providers of engaging in “legalized loan sharking,” yet following your prescription would ensure that low-income borrowers seeking short loans will have no one to turn to but the real loan sharks.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

Monday

6

July 2009

0

COMMENTS

“Just Say No” To “Just Do It”

Written by , Posted in Energy and the Environment, Legislation

I recently sent the following letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

Intelligent people like Thomas Friedman shouldn’t encourage their government to behave recklessly (“Just Do It,” Op-ed, July 1st). Despite finding ample reason to criticize the “cap and trade” legislation, he calls for it to be passed anyway. His reasoning is disturbing. We must pass this bad bill because, by golly, the world needs to see that we’re serious.

Don’t we have enough examples of what happens when Congress rushes through major legislation? The Patriot Act had to be revisited and fixed years later, the massive stimulus has not done any stimulating, and no one in Congress knows what’s going on with the TARP funds.

Chicken Littles always demand that government act now and do something – anything. But our legislature, via the deliberative and detached Senate crafted by our Founders, was designed to work much slower, and for good reason. “Just do it” is a fine slogan for a shoe company, but it has no place in politics.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

Thursday

2

July 2009

0

COMMENTS

Where's The Proof?

Written by , Posted in Gun Rights

I recently sent the following letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

Your recent editorial (“The Fast-Draw-but-Don’t-Drink Law,” June 25th) regarding the decision by the Tennessee legislature to allow bar owners the right to decide for themselves whether patrons should be allowed to bring guns onto their property was heavy on hyperbole and light on facts.

The editorial approvingly quoted Gov. Bredesen’s claim that the bill is “an invitation to a disaster,” then lamented that “there is no requirement for owners to post warnings of the dangers inside at the doorways of gun-friendly places.” It also highlighted the fact that over 30 states have similar laws. With all these states creating so many opportunities for disaster, it’s interesting that your editorial writers weren’t able to muster up any specific incidents to bolster their case. Either your editorial stuff is incredibly negligent in its research, or reality simply isn’t cooperating with your anti-gun agenda.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

Thursday

12

March 2009

0

COMMENTS

Misleading Statistics On Homelessness

Written by , Posted in Media Bias

I recently sent the following letter to Time.

To the Editor,

Your recent article on homeless children (“Report Says 1 in 50 U.S. Kids Are Homeless,” March 10, 2009) was agenda journalism at its worst. It unquestionably passed off deliberately misleading information without any critical analysis.  Your article made only a single, passing reference to the unusual and fraudulent definition of homeless used by The National Center on Family Homelessness.

When people think of being homeless, they think of having no where to live.  They do not normally think of living in a trailer park or sharing a home with extended family as being “homeless.”  But the claim is even more deceptive than that, as it treats someone who does these things only one time out of the entire year as “homeless” for that year.

I am currently living with extended family while I transition my career.  No one in their right mind would consider me homeless, but The National Center on Family Homelessness does.  When agenda organizations send out press releases, the press needs to do more than just regurgitate their fraudulent claims.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

Friday

6

March 2009

0

COMMENTS

Freedom Is Never A Bad Export

Written by , Posted in Gun Rights, Liberty & Limited Government

I recently sent the following letter to the Boston Globe.

To the Editor:

Your recent editorial blaming Mexico’s drug violence on our gun laws (“A lethal export to Mexico,” March 3) missed the mark. It is not insightful to say that 90% of guns picked up in Mexico are from the U.S. Of course they are; we are the closest supplier. But that does nothing to show that restricting sales in the U.S. would make them unavailable to Mexican criminals, as your editorial suggests. In fact, the evidence shows that view is simply false.

Mexican drug cartels are currently fighting police with machine guns, grenades and even RPG’s. None of these items are legal to purchase in the U.S. There is simply no connection between gun laws and the ability of criminals to arm themselves.

Our drug prohibition has created a black market which the must unsavory characters are willing to fight over. But there is nothing inherent to drugs that makes its trade violent. If the U.S. outlawed meat, there would be meat-related violence in Mexico as criminals vied to smuggle meat to U.S. consumers willing to pay black market prices. If we really want to help Mexico, the best thing we can do is expand our freedoms, not restrict them.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

Saturday

13

December 2008

0

COMMENTS

No Good As A Columnist

Written by , Posted in Taxes

I recently sent the following letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

Timothy Egan accurately titled his recent gutter column (“Typing Without a Clue,” Dec. 7). Although meant as a reference to Joe the Plumber, it more aptly describes Egan’s elitist screed.

Egan childishly hurls ad hominems at Joe, calling him “no good as a citizen” for owing a small amount in taxes. I challenge Egan to find anyone who can understand, and follow, our entire 70,000 page tax code. Is he prepared to hold Charlie Rangel’s far more serious transgressions to the same standard, or is his ire reserved for uppity peasants? He also makes the sophomoric argument that Joe is “no good as a plumber” because Tim the Snob isn’t satisfied with his government certification. By this standard – or any other for that matter – Egan is no good as a columnist.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

Monday

8

December 2008

0

COMMENTS

Delusional Editorial

Written by , Posted in Foreign Affairs & Policy

I recently sent the following letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

You recently took to your editorial pages to fire yet one more shot at President Bush (“The Deluder in Chief,” editorial, Dec. 7). Your assertion that the President “knew or should have known” that intelligence was faulty is not supported by the facts. Not only did every major intelligence service share our conclusions, but they were widely accepted by prominent Democrats.  Dr. Susan Rice, appointed by President-elect Obama to be U.N. ambassador and now falsely remembered as an early critic of the war, said in 2003 that, “I don’t think many informed people doubted that [Saddam has WMD’s].”

There is a strong argument that the Iraq war has made us less secure, or that what benefits may come are not worth the high costs. But your editorial goes further, and insists on perpetrating the “Bush lied, people died” mantra of the radical left. This is a sophomoric argument, and the self-proclaimed “paper of record” should not so easily distort and twist that record.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

Friday

28

November 2008

0

COMMENTS

Treat The Illness

Written by , Posted in Free Markets, Liberty & Limited Government, Waste & Government Reform

I recently sent the following letter to the New York Times:

To the Editor:

As “NASA’s Black Hole Budgets” (editorial, Nov. 24) noted, NASA has a “culture that has lost control of spending.” As a former employee, Alan Stern has seen this problem first hand. Unfortunately, the solution he offers is little more than a call to just try harder. Politicians can’t be counted on to “turn from the self-serving protection of local NASA jobs.” Moreover, the problems he describes in NASA are not unique to the space agency; they are the results of systemic flaws in the bureaucratic system.

We should be treating the illness rather than the symptoms. This requires a fundamental rethinking of how we approach space exploration. A good start would be to rely less on government bureaucracies and more on private endeavors, which can be promoted through tax breaks and prize offerings. But so long as bureaucrats are encouraged to feed on the public trough, we shouldn’t be surprised when they pig out.

Sincerely,

Brian Garst

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About Me

profileI serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.

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