Robert Banks Jenkinson Liverpool Quotes
I do not believe it would have been possible to have continued [wartime taxes] for the purpose of carrying on the American war … The question there is whether, under all these circumstances, it was not better to conclude the peace at the present moment, before the impatience of the country on the subject had been manifested at public meetings, or by motions in Parliament.
A negotiated end to the war made sense for both sides. The English budget was in terrible shape with the huge costs of dealing with Napoleon and although Liverpool wanted to teach the Americans a lesson, he could not get the money to finance it. The Americans could prevent British conquest but they could not defeat the British overall or eject them from the continent.
Robert Banks Jenkinson Liverpool, 1770-1828, British Prime Minister (Tory), Christmas Eve Letter, 1814
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The prerogative of preparedness weakens after a war is won; everyone expects some sort of peace dividend.
Wilson was very candid that there would be high cost to war and sacrifice would be needed. See {584570} for other similar candor. This quotation was often used by critics of George W. Bush who initiated the Iraq War and then cut taxes for the rich, but then financed the war through the budgetary emergency appropriations bypassing the budget rules that the revenue must be specified to pay for it. His administration even claimed at an early stage in the war that the oil revenue from Iraq oil would defray the costs.
Jefferson was opposed to a standing army or a buildup of revenue even in case of war. He thought that a national surplus might tempt an administration to engage in war. This was one of the biggest differences between the Jeffersonians or Republican Democrats as they called themselves and the Federalists led by George Washington and John Adams. Washington was a strong advocate of military preparedness, while Jefferson believed that a nation which had a strong army and war chest would be too easily tempted to use it. That debate has raged in America since. However, at the beginning of the second world war, the then conservative party, the Republicans, had adopted the Jeffersonian view and it was FDR and the Democrats arguing for armament and preparedness. The United States was terribly unprepared for war, but mobilized rapidly and won the day. Since then both parties have supported military preparedness and the political argument has been over the degree, but there are few Jeffersonians left when it comes to military preparedness.
Many in the House were calling on England to fulfill its treaty obligations and stop Hitler and the Germans from overrunning Europe. Prime Minister Chamberlain, kept trying to appease Hitler by giving in to some of his demands. The more he gave in, the greater the demands became. Maxton was one of the few members of Parliament who wanted to give the Prime Minister more time to avoid war. Chamberlain’s efforts failed miserably and Hitler already had a huge advantage.
Advocating canceling one year of the tax cuts for the wealthiest people to pay for the Iraq War.
