Lawmakers Debate Patent Immunity For Banks

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Now that a small Texas company has a patent on scanning and archiving checks — something every bank does — that has survived a USPTO challenge, lawmakers feel they have to do something about it. Rather than reform patent law, they seem to think it wiser to protect the banks from having to pay billions in royalties by using eminent domain to buy the patent for an estimated $1 billion in taxpayer money, immunizing the banks. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL)."

Comments

No True Scottsman Fallacy

[spun]

This is an example of the No true Scottsman fallacy, a type of equivocation and begging the question. Someone says, "Conservatives do such and so," and the defenders of conservatism retort with, "Well, no true conservative would do that! They aren't conservatives!" Sorry, no. This is what conservatives do. You don't get to redefine conservatism as, "That part of conservatism I happen to agree with." Liberals do a hell of a lot of things I don't agree with, but I try not to say things like "Hillary and Obama are no true liberals." Sadly, this is what liberalism and conservatism have come to. Maybe we need to drop political labels altogether and look at what candidates actually stand for.

Re:No True Scottsman Fallacy

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Telling someone what you'd like them to do is different than forcing them to do something against their will. We both know there's no comparison. You've taken my at least semi-reasonable statement that very few modern conservatives act in a fiscally responsible manner, and trumped it with a Nazi card. All you've done is show that you have no rebuttal except to appeal to irrational emotions. Thanks for making it that much harder for liberals and conservatives to come together to fix what's wrong with our country.

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar who obviously has the country's best interests at heart, and in no way treats politics as if it were a competition between sports teams where the only important facet is wining and rubbing your opponent's nose in that fact. Well done!

Re:No True Scottsman Fallacy

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Pollution impacts everyone. By saying, "I have the right to drive whatever I like, no matter how much it pollutes," you are really saying, "I have the right to shit in your lungs and there's not a damned thing you can do about it." As for the McDonalds thing, if true, that's idiotic. People should take responsibility for what they put in their own bodies, and no one has the right to tell them what they can and can't do to themselves.

But I've noticed something. Both sides tend to exaggerate and take out of context what the other side does. If you have some references for either of those things, I'll be happy to believe you, otherwise, I hope you understand I have to take it with a grain of salt. As for the 'trying to make us perfect human beings' thing, that is vague, completely unsourced, and another appeal to emotion. Not to mention, it applies at least as much to conservatives and their moralizing as it does to liberals.