Not long ago I overheard a man complaining about the federal deficit and how the government should stop giving away money. He was fed up with fancy stimulus programs and bailouts.
In the very next breath, he said he hoped Congress would extend and expand the first time home buyers’ credit because, as a mortgage broker, it was good for his business. I suppose that is similar to senior citizens who use Medicare saying they don’t want government health care programs.
I do not bring this up to begin a political discussion. I mention it because I do not understand what these people are saying.
Mr. Spock, the ultimate in logical thinking, might use this example of deductive reasoning: The Social Security Administration is part of the federal government. Medicare is part of the Social Security Administration. Medicare is a health care program. Therefore, Medicare is a government health care program.
Someone over age 65 arguing against government health care while at the same time charging their doctor visits to Medicare is not logical thinking. The same applies to the mortgage broker. A person cannot oppose government stimulus packages and then hope that the home buyers’ credit program is extended.
If I apply deductive reasoning to both these situations, I must assume that these people are not capable of logical thinking or they are communicating something else.
If I understand correctly, these citizens are saying that they are opposed to government spending programs unless they are on the receiving end of them. They don’t want their tax dollars to be used for government programs but they are happy if my tax dollars are used that way.
I wonder what Mr. Spock would say.
