I’ve decided which political cliché I most hate. It’s “it would send a strong signal…” along with its sibling “it would send the wrong signal” and its cousin “it would send the wrong message”.
Government is not just about money and regulation decisions; inspiring, questioning, warning and all manner of rhetoric have their role.
But don’t call for money or regulations just to signal something.
If the substance is right, justify the money or regulations on those grounds. And if you only want to send a signal, don’t summon up the law makers or accountants – summon up a good speech writer. If only sending signals is your thing, go learn semaphore:
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