Counterfactually, if the US budget hadn’t included (pick expenditure), (unrelated expenditure that was’t made) probably would not have been made, and (unrelated cut that was made) probably would have been made anyway.
As the US engages in deficit spending, whatever program you think most important that wasn’t funded, if Congress collectively agreed with you, it would have been funded regardless of other spending. An argument for a program is only weakly an argument against all other programs. If a program is actually bad, it is suspicious that the worst that can be said about it is that it isn’t as worthy an expenditure of the most valuable unfunded thing—that’s like arguing that someone is sickly because they can’t lift more weight than the strongest weightlifter in their city. If someone is truly sickly, there really should be a better argument showing that than that particular measure of their strength.
I will try again.
Counterfactually, if the US budget hadn’t included (pick expenditure), (unrelated expenditure that was’t made) probably would not have been made, and (unrelated cut that was made) probably would have been made anyway.
As the US engages in deficit spending, whatever program you think most important that wasn’t funded, if Congress collectively agreed with you, it would have been funded regardless of other spending. An argument for a program is only weakly an argument against all other programs. If a program is actually bad, it is suspicious that the worst that can be said about it is that it isn’t as worthy an expenditure of the most valuable unfunded thing—that’s like arguing that someone is sickly because they can’t lift more weight than the strongest weightlifter in their city. If someone is truly sickly, there really should be a better argument showing that than that particular measure of their strength.