President Biden: The NEW one and only politics thread

They restrict supply when supply is especially needed.

 

I have to disagree with the last paragraph. I have no interest in judging the relative merits of belief systems. It's the opposite. I don't want political opinions dismissed out of hand because they are based on religion.

 

Yeah, but what makes you right about what the best utility would be? Or me? Or anyone?

And if one is not getting instructions from any deity - which, fine, OK - then from what does anyone get it? Their wits? Some common, agreed-upon knowledge of goodness? A hodgepodge of things borrowed from religions but magically free of anything a progressive might object to?

 

Everybody knows that Trump is crazy
Everybody knows that he's also lazy
Everybody knows that '20 is over
Everybody knows the bad guys lost
Everybody knows that it wasn't fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the Times is failing
Everybody knows the Murdochs lied
Everybody got this sinking feeling
Like they have lost most of their pride

Everybody has got phones in their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long stem rose
Everybody knows

 

Same here.

 

If I rise at our next town hall meeting and present evidence gathered during a one-year water study that a townwide sewer system would prevent 99% of our local cholera cases, I'd be basing my argument on science.

Not religion.

 

That's a policy disagreement. Not an ethical or moral disagreement.

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/573841-theres-no-denying-the-data-rent-control-works/

https://www.theurbanist.org/2019/08/05/the-case-for-rent-control/

Issues 2020: Rent Control Does Not Make Housing More Affordable

The Pros And Cons Of Rent Control For Landlords And Tenants

We're not arguing about 'right' or 'wrong' in the sense of 'correct' or 'incorrect.'

 

It took me about 5 seconds to find this in your "theurbanist" link ...

"[The] research also finds that the overall positive impact of rent control–reducing inequality and providing a source of stability for households who face a decline in income–more than compensates for any loss in market efficiency–due to higher housing and labor market distortions."

If that "value" doesn't rest on some ethical/moral foundation, I'll eat this here Texas Rangers World Series Champions (!!!) hat.

 

I don't think anyone is dismissing political opinions based on religion out of hand.

I'm arguing that because they are faith-based, many dearly held religious convictions become political opinions or policies that cannot be reasonably argued against.

Religion is a much different foundation on which to build an ethics or morality.

But you and I can have a reasonable, evidence-based argument about rent control, each of us presenting facts and figures to bolster our argument. One of us might be wrong and one of us might be right, but it's not an argument dependent entirely on faith.

And it's not inherently hypocritical to adopt or abandon one side or the other of that argument.

 

Sure it is. I dare you to make the case for something vis-a-vis "inequality" (!!!) and have it not be a faith-based one. Because the case against inequality (!!!) has no rational foundation.

 

Gotta sign off for awhile and go to church, where I'll be offering up prayers for a more just federal marginal tax regime.