Parliament

It is my impression that the purpose of Parliament -- of the "speaking" -- is to control the purse strings of the King. Those who find their way to Parliament are generally men of substance; and they use the voice that Parliament gives them to limit the King's spending, to limit the taxes they must pay, and to protect their substance.

I'm sure I have this wrong, but I think the idea goes back to the Magna Carta.

One might think of the Shutdown Boys of Congress as the modern-day version of those old men of substance. One might. The question, I suppose, is whether what the "king" is spending money on is only what the king wants, or also what his subjects want.

Or maybe the better question is this: What are policymakers doing wrong, that hobbles the government's task of promoting the general welfare?


Speaking of men of substance, here's a link to a 6-minute video from utrend.tv:

http://utrend.tv/v/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact/

And here's a hat tip to my son Aaron. Meanwhile, this is somehow disturbing:

Source: Google parliament etymology