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There is a ratchet effect total spending can only move in one direction: higher.
FORBES: Compromise Or Gridlock In Washington: Two Unplatable Alternatives
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This created a ratchet effect: lawmakers who wish to sound tough must propose laws tougher than the ones that the last chap who wanted to sound tough proposed.
ECONOMIST: Crime and punishment in America
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One way to ratchet up their effect would be for Obama to launch an effort to cut off Iran's flow of imported gasoline.
FORBES: Freedom's Edge
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If the decision is primarily an affirmation of the status quo (two congressional committees and a small army of Justice Department lawyers will continue probes), the main effect of Reno's decision was to ratchet up the political heat on herself.
CNN: Decision