Quote of the day 18th December 2013

“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”
 
(
Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress )

Comments

Jim said…
seems Roert Heinlein would like my awesome system too.
Jim said…
again off topic (sorry, i just find this whole tory line so funny)
from the guardian we have this story.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/17/theresa-may-cap-eu-migration

yeah, it funny on the part of the guardian that it takes nick clegg to tell them "it would be illegal" then they can report it as news.

readers of comments on this very blog right here, have known for months and months that meaningful negotiation without a major treaty change can not happen.
due to a principle of the EU, "a power handed over can never be handed back"

so i dont quite get why the torys are pushing EU immigration so much, that is even harder, ammending one of the core 4 freedoms on which all eu treaties are based, without a major treaty change, I get they want to silence the UKIP vote for the next GE, but why use a promise they can not possibly keep?

I am still trying to make sense of that bit, so for this round, Check.

(if you never played poker, "Check" means i am still in the game, i have not been forced to raise my bet by another player yet so i am letting the betting go on for now without raising but watching you all, if the betting continues to "check" by all following players then cards are on the table face up, if someone raises then i can match it or raise it.
Chris Whiteside said…
Handing powers back probably does require a treaty change.

Introducing a waiting period before migrants can qualify for benefits almost certainly does not.

Furthermore, for all the sound and fury from certain quarters including one or two EU Commissioners when Britain agreed (with support from all three parties for the principle) that we will do this, it is something that other EU member states have already done.
Chris Whiteside said…
You're quite possibly right that the late Robert Heinlein would like your proposal.

He was a small-government libertarian, and a sceptic - in the proper meaning of that word - about government programmes and about politicians.
Jim said…
One thing though from your quote "Handing powers back probably does require a treaty change."

I see my message on DC's proposed renegotiated EU (i.e. powers returned to the UK) without the required time for a treaty change is getting through.

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