Good government both liberal and conservative - By Jerrold E. Johnson

Reproduced here for fair use and discussion purposes. My comments in bold.
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Dr. Johnson doesn't seem to understand what conservatives believe. Or liberals for that matter.
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Oct. 3, the column head was, “An ailing economy starts to weigh on U.S. job market.” The sub head was, ”Businesses pull back on hiring.” Job losses for September were 58,877, and only 141,000 jobs created. So much for the wealthy creating jobs, part of Reagan’s vaunted “Trickle Down’ theory. (This is an astonishing leap of vapid illogic. First, "business" is not synonymous with "wealthy." Second, "business" is not synonymous with "trickle down." Third, "trickle down" is not synonymous with "wealthy."

Thus, when business pulls back on hiring, it's because there's not work to do that requires hiring employees. That's it. There is no reason for a business to hire people beyond its need to have work done. You see, business is not an arm of government. It is not an implementer of theories of economics or someone's societal goals.)

The minute things look a little questionable they head for a fox hole and middle and lower class Americans take it on the chin. (Implicit in Dr. Johnson's statement is the presumption that there is a higher obligation that comes to bear on business. He seems to think it is the job of business to do what's good for the middle and lower class, regardless of the financial impact on the business.)

Conservatives rant (Pejorative use of language.) 

about government creating jobs and forget that we are the government (No, we are not the government. The government is a creation of The People. It is an entity apart from The People, and is to serve the interests of The People, for these reasons: "...in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..."

The concept of The People being the government is not a founding principle.  There is no mention of the idea until the Gettysburg address, where President Lincoln proclaimed that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth." And even here there's no statement that the government is The People.)

and when we the government create jobs through rebuilding infrastructure, hiring health care workers for expanded Medicaid, educating young people and veterans through supporting higher education, etc., we are giving people the dignity of work; income to buy things, pay taxes, have health care and reduce the need for food stamps and unemployment payments and, thus, reduce the national debt.
(First, government doesn't create jobs, it employs people. Government must source its money from the private sector to hire people, which means the private sector lacks those funds for its own uses. The private sector cannot hire as many people as it would otherwise, because government has the money now.  Therefore, there is no net gain in jobs.

Second, government does not give anyone dignity, through jobs or anything else. Being on the government teat is undignifying. Doing make-work is undignifying. 

Third, the national debt is not reduced. In fact, the last time the debt went down was 1957. And government make-work does not improve the economy or relieve government budgets. For where it saves money in not paying unemployment it gives away by spending to make jobs.)

In other words, as the government, we the people are promoting capitalism (Absolute and total nonsense. This notion of government involving itself in the private sector VIOLATES capitalism. Capitalism is the free exchange of value between willing parties. However, the government, as we noted above, does not have any money unless it takes it from taxpayers. This is not free exchange or willing parties. The taxee has no choice at all to resist the will of government.) 

--the government becomes a capitalist. (This is definitionally impossible. As we noted above, a capitalist is a person who engages in the free exchange with other parties for mutual benefit.) 

Can you imagine Cheney’s corporation, Halliburton, of its own volition deciding to rebuild our highways? (Cheney left Halliburton in 2000.

But more to the point, why would Halliburton or any other business simply decide to rebuild a highway? That makes no sense. I really don't get this. A business operates to provide a needed product or service in order to make a profit. That's it. Anything beyond that is irrelevant.)

No, they’d say, “That’s the government’s job.” (I am left befuddled. On one hand Dr. Johnson deems government capitalist, then mocks a business for being capitalist, then notes government's obligation to engage in non-capitalist infrastructure building. Did Dr. Johnson even stop to think before he wrote this?)

(Change of subject:)

I think Jack Levitt (letter Nov. 1) misunderstands liberalism and conservatism. (You can be sure that when a leftist is going to explain what their opposition should believe, it's going to be wrong.)

Conservatism should conserve the best of the past -- safe water, health of the people, air quality, equality, right to vote, equal opportunity, protection under the law -- all the elements of conservation. (That is, conservatism should have a liberal agenda. It should support these things in the form of government programs. That is, conservatives should be liberals.)

Liberalism welcomes new ideas, constructive change, freedom of expression, and ways to make sure change preserves what’s good. (No, it does none of this. In its contemporary form, liberalism is censorious, hateful, oppressive, rigid, and intolerant. It doesn't welcome new ideas, it embraces old thinking [socialism], old programs [Social Security], and aged, irrelevant people [Hillary and Bernie]. 

There is nothing "constructive" about disassembling the institutions and mores of a society without regard for the consequences. The liberal doesn't care if it's good change or bad change. Change itself is enough. And the liberal doesn't care about if people agree with or even want to change. Liberals are happy to impose their own morality on these people. Liberalism is anti-choice, anti-intellectual diversity, and coercive.)

It can be radical, but conservatives can be rigid, afraid of risk and change, and oblivious of the welfare of people and environmental protection. ("Oblivious?' Apparently Dr. Johnson really believes leftist straw men. remember above when Dr. Johnson accused a person of misunderstanding conservatism?)

Good government should embody the best of both, conserving the best of the past, but moving forward with new ideas as changing situations and times demand. ("Should be." But of course, that is impossible. The Left has no intention of preserving the past. They are intent on erasing it. They want to expunge it. They want to eliminate it. Down the Memory Hole. 

The Left's version of the future is with them in control. They want to tell us what to think, what to say, how to worship, and who we must accept and love and employ and believe. There's nothing liberal about liberalism.)