Posts
Report Shows Air Quality Improved During Bush Administration - Political News - FOXNews.com: "Carbon monoxide decreased by 39 percent, ozone by 6 percent, and sulfur dioxide by 32 percent.
'Pick any category you want and pollution levels are generally lower than they were seven years ago,' said Steven Hayward, the policy analyst who authored the report, titled 'Index of Leading Environmental Indicators,' for the conservative think tank."
Friday, May 29, 2009
Judge: U.S. Can Hold Detainees Indefinitely - Political News - FOXNews.com
Judge: U.S. Can Hold Detainees Indefinitely - Political News - FOXNews.com: "U.S. District Judge John Bates' opinion issued Tuesday night limited the Obama administration's definition of who can be held. But he said Congress in the days after Sept. 11, 2001 gave the president the authority to hold anyone involved in planning, aiding or carrying out the terrorist attacks."
If these are bad people it should be easy to show that to a judge and jury. What do we need to lower our standards of justice?
If these are bad people it should be easy to show that to a judge and jury. What do we need to lower our standards of justice?
Silicon Valley VCs don't want Obama's money, think Google is passe | Webware - CNET
Silicon Valley VCs don't want Obama's money, think Google is passe | Webware - CNET: "Moderator Jason Pontin, a self-described liberal who 'finds our president as dreamy as the next man,' broke party rank and echoed a popular sentiment in the room of wealthy (and traditionally mostly Republican) venture capitalists, to say that the Obama administration's plan to invest in new technologies is doomed to fail. While acknowledging that the administration's heart is in the right place, he pointed out that traditionally, direct investment in technology by governments doesn't work out well. He said the United State's subsidies on ethanol, France's decision to skip the Internet in favor of the state-sponsored Minitel, and Japan's direct investment in supercomputers as it tried to spend its way out of a recession were examples of poor investments. 'Government is a particularly poor judge of new technology,' he said."
Bush: The Information We Gained Saved Lives - Political News - FOXNews.com
Bush: The Information We Gained Saved Lives - Political News - FOXNews.com: "Former President George W. Bush on Thursday defended his decision to allow harsh interrogations on the terror mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying he did what was necessary to prevent what his advisers believed was another imminent attack.
Describing the decision to use waterboarding on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after his capture in March 2003, Bush said the idea was first cleared with his lawyers in order to 'take whatever steps that were necessary to protect' the American public.
'The first thing you do is ask, what's legal? What do the lawyers say is possible?' he said. 'I made the decision, within the law, to get information so I can say to myself, 'I've done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people.' I can tell you that the information we got saved lives.'"
Saving lives isn't the only metric. It would have saved lives to not fight the Revolutionary War but people thought that liberty was worth dying.
Describing the decision to use waterboarding on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after his capture in March 2003, Bush said the idea was first cleared with his lawyers in order to 'take whatever steps that were necessary to protect' the American public.
'The first thing you do is ask, what's legal? What do the lawyers say is possible?' he said. 'I made the decision, within the law, to get information so I can say to myself, 'I've done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people.' I can tell you that the information we got saved lives.'"
Saving lives isn't the only metric. It would have saved lives to not fight the Revolutionary War but people thought that liberty was worth dying.
The Social Security Scam - Mark Brandly - Mises Institute
The Social Security Scam - Mark Brandly - Mises Institute: "The federal government is in debt to itself. Compare this to debt in the private sector. No business declares that it's deep in debt because it loaned itself money. It's the same with families. Parents don't lay awake at night trying to figure out how to repay the money they loaned themselves. The government, however, thinks that it makes perfect sense to collect $100 of tax revenue, spend the $100, and then declare that it now owes itself $100. This scheme is not limited to Social Security. Currently, federal intragovernmental debt for all programs totals $4.3 trillion.
How should we think about this intragovernmental debt? The Treasury department collects $100 in Social Security taxes, the SSA spends $70 on Social Security benefits, and the other $30 goes to, let's say, military spending. Since $30 was collected for Social Security, but spent on the military, the Trust Fund now has $30 of bonds. The bonds are simply promises of future taxes. The feds collected the money for Social Security and now they are going to collect taxes again for Social Security spending. The $2.4 trillion of bonds in the Trust fund represent Social Security revenues that need to be collected a second time, since the tax revenues did not go towards Social Security spending when they were initially collected. In fact, all of the intragovernmental debt represents future higher taxes."
How should we think about this intragovernmental debt? The Treasury department collects $100 in Social Security taxes, the SSA spends $70 on Social Security benefits, and the other $30 goes to, let's say, military spending. Since $30 was collected for Social Security, but spent on the military, the Trust Fund now has $30 of bonds. The bonds are simply promises of future taxes. The feds collected the money for Social Security and now they are going to collect taxes again for Social Security spending. The $2.4 trillion of bonds in the Trust fund represent Social Security revenues that need to be collected a second time, since the tax revenues did not go towards Social Security spending when they were initially collected. In fact, all of the intragovernmental debt represents future higher taxes."
The Social Security Scam - Mark Brandly - Mises Institute
The Social Security Scam - Mark Brandly - Mises Institute: "It may seem that employers are paying half of the Social Security taxes, but that's not the case. Even though the employers are legally liable for one-half of the tax, they shift the tax onto workers in the form of lower gross wages. Therefore, the Social Security tax burden, 12.4 percent of each worker's gross pay, falls on workers. Half of this burden is hidden from the workers."
Study: DRM makes pirates of us all | Inside CNET Labs Podcast - CNET Blogs
Study: DRM makes pirates of us all | Inside CNET Labs Podcast - CNET Blogs: "In the report she notes that when people who are legally attempting to access DRM content (like film lecturers putting together clips from movies for educational purposes) and they hit a DRM restriction, they are driven to instead download DRM-free, illegal copies of the content to get the job done.
Not the most surprising news, and it's another win for those who believe the way DRM is currently implemented hurts more than helps. Now we have a study that says because of DRM restrictions, people are driven to download illegally. I think that's the definition of backfire."
Not the most surprising news, and it's another win for those who believe the way DRM is currently implemented hurts more than helps. Now we have a study that says because of DRM restrictions, people are driven to download illegally. I think that's the definition of backfire."
Friday, May 22, 2009
Salon.com | We wouldn't want to inflame anti-American sentiment
Salon.com | We wouldn't want to inflame anti-American sentiment: "There are many bizarre aspects to Obama's decision to try to suppress evidence of America's detainee abuse, beginning with the newfound willingness of so many people to say: "We want our leaders to suppress information that reflects poorly on what our government does." One would think that it would be impossible to train a citizenry to be grateful to political officials for concealing evidence of government wrongdoing, or to accept the idea that evidence that reflects poorly on the conduct of political leaders should, for that reason alone, be covered-up: "Obama and his military commanders decide when it's best that we're kept in the dark, and I'm thankful when they keep from me things that reflect poorly on my government because I trust them to decide what I should and should not know." It's the fantasy of every political leader to have a citizenry willing to think that way ("I know it's totally unrealistic, but wouldn't it be great if we could actually convince people that it's for their own good when we cover-up evidence of government crimes?").
But what is ultimately even more amazing is the claim that suppressing these photographs is necessary to prevent an inflammation of anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world generally and Afghanistan specifically."
"We're currently occupying two Muslim countries. We're killing civilians regularly (as usual) -- with airplanes and unmanned sky robots. We're imprisoning tens of thousands of Muslims with no trial, for years. Our government continues to insist that it has the power to abduct people -- virtually all Muslim -- ship them to Bagram, put them in cages, and keep them there indefinitely with no charges of any kind. We're denying our torture victims any ability to obtain justice for what was done to them by insisting that the way we tortured them is a "state secret" and that we need to "look to the future." We provide Israel with the arms and money used to do things like devastate Gaza. Independent of whether any or all of these policies are justifiable, the extent to which those actions "inflame anti-American sentiment" is impossible to overstate.
And now, the very same people who are doing all of that are claiming that they must suppress evidence of our government's abuse of detainees because to allow the evidence to be seen would "inflame anti-American sentiment." It's not hard to believe that releasing the photos would do so to some extent -- people generally consider it a bad thing to torture and brutally abuse helpless detainees -- but compared to everything else we're doing, the notion that releasing or concealing these photos would make an appreciable difference in terms of how we're perceived in the Muslim world is laughable on its face.
Moreover, isn't it rather obvious that Obama's decision to hide this evidence -- certain to be a prominent news story in the Muslim world, and justifiably so -- will itself inflame anti-American sentiment? It's not exactly a compelling advertisement for the virtues of transparency, honesty and open government. What do you think the impact is when we announce to the world: "What we did is so heinous that we're going to suppress the evidence?" Some Americans might be grateful to Obama for hiding evidence of what we did to detainees, but that is unlikely to be the reaction of people around the world.
If we're actually worried about inflaming anti-American sentiment and endangering our troops, we might want to re-consider whether we should keep doing the things that actually spawn "anti-American sentiment" and put American soldiers in danger. We might, for instance, want to stop invading, bombing and occupying Muslim countries and imprisoning their citizens with no charges by the thousands. But exploiting concerns over "anti-American sentiment" to vest our own government leaders with the power to cover-up evidence of wrongdoing is as incoherent as it is dangerous. Who actually thinks that the solution to anti-American sentiment is to hide evidence of our wrongdoing rather than ceasing the conduct that causes that sentiment in the first place?"
But what is ultimately even more amazing is the claim that suppressing these photographs is necessary to prevent an inflammation of anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world generally and Afghanistan specifically."
"We're currently occupying two Muslim countries. We're killing civilians regularly (as usual) -- with airplanes and unmanned sky robots. We're imprisoning tens of thousands of Muslims with no trial, for years. Our government continues to insist that it has the power to abduct people -- virtually all Muslim -- ship them to Bagram, put them in cages, and keep them there indefinitely with no charges of any kind. We're denying our torture victims any ability to obtain justice for what was done to them by insisting that the way we tortured them is a "state secret" and that we need to "look to the future." We provide Israel with the arms and money used to do things like devastate Gaza. Independent of whether any or all of these policies are justifiable, the extent to which those actions "inflame anti-American sentiment" is impossible to overstate.
And now, the very same people who are doing all of that are claiming that they must suppress evidence of our government's abuse of detainees because to allow the evidence to be seen would "inflame anti-American sentiment." It's not hard to believe that releasing the photos would do so to some extent -- people generally consider it a bad thing to torture and brutally abuse helpless detainees -- but compared to everything else we're doing, the notion that releasing or concealing these photos would make an appreciable difference in terms of how we're perceived in the Muslim world is laughable on its face.
Moreover, isn't it rather obvious that Obama's decision to hide this evidence -- certain to be a prominent news story in the Muslim world, and justifiably so -- will itself inflame anti-American sentiment? It's not exactly a compelling advertisement for the virtues of transparency, honesty and open government. What do you think the impact is when we announce to the world: "What we did is so heinous that we're going to suppress the evidence?" Some Americans might be grateful to Obama for hiding evidence of what we did to detainees, but that is unlikely to be the reaction of people around the world.
If we're actually worried about inflaming anti-American sentiment and endangering our troops, we might want to re-consider whether we should keep doing the things that actually spawn "anti-American sentiment" and put American soldiers in danger. We might, for instance, want to stop invading, bombing and occupying Muslim countries and imprisoning their citizens with no charges by the thousands. But exploiting concerns over "anti-American sentiment" to vest our own government leaders with the power to cover-up evidence of wrongdoing is as incoherent as it is dangerous. Who actually thinks that the solution to anti-American sentiment is to hide evidence of our wrongdoing rather than ceasing the conduct that causes that sentiment in the first place?"
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Bibles Unbound
Bibles Unbound: "persecuted Christians from around the world are gathering names and addresses from their local communities. These names are then submitted to Bibles Unbound where members have the opportunity to mail New Testaments in the appropriate language directly to the field. This unique program gives you the ability to stand alongside our persecuted brothers and sisters and help create a witness for Jesus Christ in hostile lands right from your own home."
Monday, May 18, 2009
Is Sully Too Old to Fly? - Christopher Westley - Mises Institute
Is Sully Too Old to Fly? - Christopher Westley - Mises Institute: "Many Sully Sullenbergers have been forced to retire before Congress extended the retirement age, based on the belief that US airlines, if allowed to make rules on their own, would allow unhealthy or incompetent pilots to man their expensive aircraft, regardless of age. That such decisions are better made by government officials, separated from the industry and bearing no direct cost if they decide incorrectly, is a scandal. Why no outrage from foes of age discrimination when the perpetrator is the state itself? Government control of hiring in the private sector is a characteristic of fascism, not capitalism."
Friday, May 15, 2009
"Socking Stocks" by Jim Powell (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Socking Stocks" by Jim Powell (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Ironically, Obama's increased corporate taxes would probably lead more Americans to seek higher returns by investing in offshore-based companies. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis says US investors hold some $5.1 trillion worth of stock in offshore-based companies. These assets have appreciated as foreign currencies have risen against the dollar, and many Americans have invested in them as a means to diversify and protect themselves from dollar devaluation."
"Corporations don't really pay taxes anyway. Like other costs of doing business, they pass them on to consumers."
"Corporations don't really pay taxes anyway. Like other costs of doing business, they pass them on to consumers."
"In Defense Of Tax Havens" by Daniel J. Mitchell (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"In Defense Of Tax Havens" by Daniel J. Mitchell (Cato Institute: Commentary): "They argue that if an American firm can earn money in Ireland and only pay 12.5% tax, this gives them an incentive to close down factories in America and ship them overseas.
Since nearly 90% of what American companies produce overseas is sold overseas, according to Commerce Department data, there's not much evidence that this is happening. But there's actually some truth to this argument. If a company can save money by building widgets in Ireland and selling them to the U.S. market, then we shouldn't be surprised that some of them will consider that option.
But this does not mean the president's proposal might save some American jobs. If deferral is eliminated, that may prevent an American company from taking advantage of a profitable opportunity to build a factory in some place like Ireland. But U.S. tax law does not constrain foreign companies operating in foreign countries. So there would be nothing to prevent a Dutch company from taking advantage of that profitable Irish opportunity. And since a foreign-based company can ship goods into the U.S. market under the same rules as a U.S. company's foreign subsidiary, worldwide taxation does not insulate America from overseas competition. It simply means that foreign companies get the business and earn the profits."
Since nearly 90% of what American companies produce overseas is sold overseas, according to Commerce Department data, there's not much evidence that this is happening. But there's actually some truth to this argument. If a company can save money by building widgets in Ireland and selling them to the U.S. market, then we shouldn't be surprised that some of them will consider that option.
But this does not mean the president's proposal might save some American jobs. If deferral is eliminated, that may prevent an American company from taking advantage of a profitable opportunity to build a factory in some place like Ireland. But U.S. tax law does not constrain foreign companies operating in foreign countries. So there would be nothing to prevent a Dutch company from taking advantage of that profitable Irish opportunity. And since a foreign-based company can ship goods into the U.S. market under the same rules as a U.S. company's foreign subsidiary, worldwide taxation does not insulate America from overseas competition. It simply means that foreign companies get the business and earn the profits."
"Politics Plays Role in Bailout Mania" by Will Wilkinson (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Politics Plays Role in Bailout Mania" by Will Wilkinson (Cato Institute: Commentary): "'I don't want to run the auto companies, and I don't want to run banks,' President Obama said last week during a prime-time press conference on the fate of Detroit. He may not want to, but the Obama administration is effectively running auto companies and banks. And the president does get a bit cranky when he tells the private sector to jump and it doesn't jump.
In a rare flash of anger, Obama lashed out at several Chrysler investors who refused to sign on to the administration's restructuring plan for the automaker. The plan would have required senior investors, who are usually first in line in bankruptcy proceedings, to take big losses while more junior investors, including the UAW, were offered rather more generous terms.
The failure of the plan has left Chrysler no other option than to file for bankruptcy. But why is the president involved at all in deciding who gets what in the breakup of an auto company?"
"When the government gets its finger in every pie, who gets what piece becomes a political decision. We may want to trust our leaders to be dispassionate stewards of the public interest, but politicians — and our over-empowered executive is a politician — will use whatever discretion is at hand to reward their constituencies."
In a rare flash of anger, Obama lashed out at several Chrysler investors who refused to sign on to the administration's restructuring plan for the automaker. The plan would have required senior investors, who are usually first in line in bankruptcy proceedings, to take big losses while more junior investors, including the UAW, were offered rather more generous terms.
The failure of the plan has left Chrysler no other option than to file for bankruptcy. But why is the president involved at all in deciding who gets what in the breakup of an auto company?"
"When the government gets its finger in every pie, who gets what piece becomes a political decision. We may want to trust our leaders to be dispassionate stewards of the public interest, but politicians — and our over-empowered executive is a politician — will use whatever discretion is at hand to reward their constituencies."
Creating Disequilibrium, and Benefiting Society - Isaac M. Morehouse - Mises Institute
Creating Disequilibrium, and Benefiting Society - Isaac M. Morehouse - Mises Institute: "Classical economists often treated economic growth as a mechanistic operation that happened at a stable rate as a result of unchanging levels of investment and production — as if economies simply grew on their own as long as production was steady and inputs were not disrupted. The problem with this view is that, quite simply, the real world doesn't work that way. In 1911, economist Joseph Schumpeter's Theory of Economic Development radically changed this view, and his insights are still relevant today.
Schumpeter stressed the role of the entrepreneur in economic growth and argued that, far from a static maintenance of equilibrium in production, it was the entrepreneurial ability to cause disequilibrium that created wealth. The constant innovation of these economic actors shakes the economy up, breaking down old methods and building up newer and better ones.
It's not just increases in production that create wealth but a radical reforming of the way production itself is done. Think Henry Ford's assembly line. Such entrepreneurial innovations disrupt the unrealistic ideal of a stationary economy. They do destroy the old order — like the classic example of buggy makers losing their jobs when the automobile took hold — but they cause growth because what they create is more valuable than what they replace. Can you imagine halting the progress of the automobile in order to preserve buggy makers?"
"The entrepreneur, by seeing and acting on different combinations of existing knowledge, products, and services, disrupts the economic order and creates growth. There is evidence of this "creative destruction" all around us: every year millions of jobs are created and destroyed, yet the overall long-term trend is continued economic growth.
$25 $20
Finally a shirt to fight back!
The growth could not happen without both creation and destruction; it is the driver of growth, not a problem to be solved. If the economy were static — if jobs were never lost, prices never shifted up or down, investments never enjoyed large profits or major losses — we would not live in a stable utopia but a stagnant subsistence economy.
Don't be afraid to disrupt the economy. Look for ways that things can be done differently — goods, services, and production methods that can be rearranged, new technologies that can be better used. Right now, as the economy reshuffles, there are more opportunities to generate change than ever — the kind of dynamic change that we need to grow out of this slump.
Don't just sit there, create some disequilibrium!"
Schumpeter stressed the role of the entrepreneur in economic growth and argued that, far from a static maintenance of equilibrium in production, it was the entrepreneurial ability to cause disequilibrium that created wealth. The constant innovation of these economic actors shakes the economy up, breaking down old methods and building up newer and better ones.
It's not just increases in production that create wealth but a radical reforming of the way production itself is done. Think Henry Ford's assembly line. Such entrepreneurial innovations disrupt the unrealistic ideal of a stationary economy. They do destroy the old order — like the classic example of buggy makers losing their jobs when the automobile took hold — but they cause growth because what they create is more valuable than what they replace. Can you imagine halting the progress of the automobile in order to preserve buggy makers?"
"The entrepreneur, by seeing and acting on different combinations of existing knowledge, products, and services, disrupts the economic order and creates growth. There is evidence of this "creative destruction" all around us: every year millions of jobs are created and destroyed, yet the overall long-term trend is continued economic growth.
$25 $20
Finally a shirt to fight back!
The growth could not happen without both creation and destruction; it is the driver of growth, not a problem to be solved. If the economy were static — if jobs were never lost, prices never shifted up or down, investments never enjoyed large profits or major losses — we would not live in a stable utopia but a stagnant subsistence economy.
Don't be afraid to disrupt the economy. Look for ways that things can be done differently — goods, services, and production methods that can be rearranged, new technologies that can be better used. Right now, as the economy reshuffles, there are more opportunities to generate change than ever — the kind of dynamic change that we need to grow out of this slump.
Don't just sit there, create some disequilibrium!"
"Rangoon's Renaissance" by Doug Bandow (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Rangoon's Renaissance" by Doug Bandow (Cato Institute: Commentary): "John Holmes, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, opined: 'I'm not sure that invading Burma would be a very sensible option.' And the SPDC gradually opened the delta to Western aid even as it tried to profit from the international community's activities. Three months later Holmes reported that 'a much-feared second wave of deaths from starvation or disease has not happened.' He also said that 'This is now a normal international-relief operation.'
The Burmese military's turnaround led some NGOs to develop a 'strange new respect' for the SPDC. For instance, one unnamed UN program director told the New York Times that after the Burmese recognized they could not handle the disaster, 'they did a lot. A huge national response occurred.' Last October the International Crisis Group reported that developments since the storm
Since then the regime has become even more responsive (though not, of course, more democratic). Twice as many aid workers are now active in the delta as before Cyclone Nargis. A former Oxfam adviser on Burma opines: "The overall response of the government has been remarkable. They are 'getting it' more and more each day that they are involved in the recovery process." Frank Smithuis of Doctors Without Borders told the New York Times: "You can work here very well, and to say that you can't is a lie." Indeed, "the military at times has actually been quite helpful to us." "
The Burmese military's turnaround led some NGOs to develop a 'strange new respect' for the SPDC. For instance, one unnamed UN program director told the New York Times that after the Burmese recognized they could not handle the disaster, 'they did a lot. A huge national response occurred.' Last October the International Crisis Group reported that developments since the storm
show that it is possible to work with the military regime on humanitarian issues. Communication between the government and international agencies has improved. Visas and travel permits today are easier and faster to get than before. Requirements for the launch of new aid projects have been eased. By and large, the authorities are making efforts to facilitate aid, including allowing a substantial role for civil society.
Since then the regime has become even more responsive (though not, of course, more democratic). Twice as many aid workers are now active in the delta as before Cyclone Nargis. A former Oxfam adviser on Burma opines: "The overall response of the government has been remarkable. They are 'getting it' more and more each day that they are involved in the recovery process." Frank Smithuis of Doctors Without Borders told the New York Times: "You can work here very well, and to say that you can't is a lie." Indeed, "the military at times has actually been quite helpful to us." "
What Keeps Us Safe? - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute
What Keeps Us Safe? - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute: "Most people don't realize that dozens of products in their homes — toasters, fire extinguishers, space heaters, televisions, etc. — have been tested by the Underwriters Lab for safety. The Lab also tests items like bulletproof vests, electric blankets, commercial ice-cream machines, and chicken de-beakers, among thousands of other products.
But the Lab isn't an arm of the government. It is privately owned, financed, and operated. No one is compelled by force of law to use its services. It thrives — and makes our lives safer — by the power of its excellent reputation."
"The very existence of the Lab debunks the common civics-text view that, without government intervention, private businesses would seek profit without regard for safety; thus, bureaucrats have to police markets to impose a balance between private interests and the common good. The government, according to this view, is the only thing standing between us and unceasing fatal accidents.
The truth is the opposite. The market is well equipped to regulate itself, and does a fine job of it. It's the government that operates without oversight."
"The Lab was the first to set standards for certifying the safety of pilots and planes before the government intervened. It set the standards for building materials, fire-fighting equipment, air conditioners, and household chemicals. It employs safecrackers and pyrotechnicians to test safes, and a variety of unique machines and devices to test thousands of other products each year. It has been testing multicolored Christmas lights since 1905, and entered the building-code business right after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906."
"Its effectiveness in determining safety standards (even for brand-new products) and maintaining them over time has generated an interesting result. Many government regulations, especially at the state level, merely mimic the building codes and insurance requirements of the Lab."
But the Lab isn't an arm of the government. It is privately owned, financed, and operated. No one is compelled by force of law to use its services. It thrives — and makes our lives safer — by the power of its excellent reputation."
"The very existence of the Lab debunks the common civics-text view that, without government intervention, private businesses would seek profit without regard for safety; thus, bureaucrats have to police markets to impose a balance between private interests and the common good. The government, according to this view, is the only thing standing between us and unceasing fatal accidents.
The truth is the opposite. The market is well equipped to regulate itself, and does a fine job of it. It's the government that operates without oversight."
"The Lab was the first to set standards for certifying the safety of pilots and planes before the government intervened. It set the standards for building materials, fire-fighting equipment, air conditioners, and household chemicals. It employs safecrackers and pyrotechnicians to test safes, and a variety of unique machines and devices to test thousands of other products each year. It has been testing multicolored Christmas lights since 1905, and entered the building-code business right after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906."
"Its effectiveness in determining safety standards (even for brand-new products) and maintaining them over time has generated an interesting result. Many government regulations, especially at the state level, merely mimic the building codes and insurance requirements of the Lab."
"Obama Must Move beyond Pseudo-Events" by Leon T. Hadar (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Obama Must Move beyond Pseudo-Events" by Leon T. Hadar (Cato Institute: Commentary): "The Bush administration's belligerent style of managing American relations with both friends and foes, so full of empty bravado and a crusading militaristic spirit, has been one of the reasons for the erosion in US global prestige in the last eight years. Obama's emphasis on quiet diplomacy and international engagement that is backed by a genuine sense of confidence and a strong military should prove to be more effective in promoting US interests abroad.
One could imagine, for example, Obama's predecessor responding to the recent pirate attack off the coast of Somalia by labeling the pirates as 'Islamofascists,' adding them to the list of members of Axis of Evil, and threatening tough American military retaliation. By contrast, Obama's measured response followed by a low-key but precise military action is the kind of cool approach one expects from American presidents. That the leader of the most powerful country in the world should be willing to listen to, and treat with respect, foreign critics of American policy is a sign of self-assurance — not timidity — that Americans should welcome."
One could imagine, for example, Obama's predecessor responding to the recent pirate attack off the coast of Somalia by labeling the pirates as 'Islamofascists,' adding them to the list of members of Axis of Evil, and threatening tough American military retaliation. By contrast, Obama's measured response followed by a low-key but precise military action is the kind of cool approach one expects from American presidents. That the leader of the most powerful country in the world should be willing to listen to, and treat with respect, foreign critics of American policy is a sign of self-assurance — not timidity — that Americans should welcome."
"'Thought Crimes' Bill Advances" by Nat Hentoff (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"'Thought Crimes' Bill Advances" by Nat Hentoff (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Then, regarding a Colorado 'hate crime' law, one of 45 such state laws, Corry wrote: 'When a Colorado gang engaged in an initiation ritual of specifically seeking out a 'white woman' to rape, the Boulder prosecutor declined to pursue 'hate crime' charges.' She was not enough of one of its protected classes.
Corey adds that the state 'hate crime' law - like the newly expanded House of Representatives federal bill - 'does not apply equally' (as the 14th Amendment requires), essentially instead 'criminalizing only politically incorrect thoughts directed against politically incorrect victim categories.'
Whether you're a Republican or Democrat, think hard about what Corry adds: "A government powerful enough to pick and choose which thoughts to prosecute is a government too powerful."
But James Madison, who initially introduced the First Amendment to the Constitution, had previously written to Thomas Jefferson on the passage of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom: "We have in this country extinguished forever ... making laws for the human mind." No American, he emphasized later, would be punished for his "thoughts." "
Corey adds that the state 'hate crime' law - like the newly expanded House of Representatives federal bill - 'does not apply equally' (as the 14th Amendment requires), essentially instead 'criminalizing only politically incorrect thoughts directed against politically incorrect victim categories.'
Whether you're a Republican or Democrat, think hard about what Corry adds: "A government powerful enough to pick and choose which thoughts to prosecute is a government too powerful."
But James Madison, who initially introduced the First Amendment to the Constitution, had previously written to Thomas Jefferson on the passage of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom: "We have in this country extinguished forever ... making laws for the human mind." No American, he emphasized later, would be punished for his "thoughts." "
"Obama's Compromise on D.C.'s School Vouchers Program" by Andrew J. Coulson (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Obama's Compromise on D.C.'s School Vouchers Program" by Andrew J. Coulson (Cato Institute: Commentary): "During the campaign, Obama said that if vouchers worked he would support them. The Education Department recently revealed that students who joined the voucher program in 2004 are now more than two school years ahead of their public school peers in reading.
In his initial budget, Obama declared that when it comes to education, we cannot waste dollars on programs that are inefficient. Average tuition at the voucher schools is $6,620, while the District is spending $26,555 per pupil this year on K-12 education."
In his initial budget, Obama declared that when it comes to education, we cannot waste dollars on programs that are inefficient. Average tuition at the voucher schools is $6,620, while the District is spending $26,555 per pupil this year on K-12 education."
"Cancer and the Government" by Michael D. Tanner (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Cancer and the Government" by Michael D. Tanner (Cato Institute: Commentary): "The overall five-year survival rate for all types of cancer for men in America is 66.3 percent, and 62.9 percent for women, the best outcome in the world.
We shouldn't be surprised. The one common characteristic of all national health-care systems is that they ration care."
"With the creation of NICE, the U.K. government has effectively put a dollar amount to how much a citizen's life is worth. To be exact, each year of added life is worth approximately $44,305 (£30,000)."
"The advantages of free-market health care go far beyond an absence of rationing. With no price controls, free-market U.S. medicine provides the incentives that lead to innovative breakthroughs in new drugs and other medical technologies. U.S. companies have developed half of all the major new medicines introduced worldwide over the last 20 years.
In fact, Americans played a key role in 80 percent of the most important medical advances of the last 30 years. Eighteen of the last 25 winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine either are U.S. citizens or work here.
If the American Cancer Society got the government-run national health-care system it wants, we would eliminate consumer choice and put a stop to the innovations we count on to improve our health. It would condemn thousands of cancer sufferers to waiting lists and denied care. In the end, it would cost lives."
We shouldn't be surprised. The one common characteristic of all national health-care systems is that they ration care."
"With the creation of NICE, the U.K. government has effectively put a dollar amount to how much a citizen's life is worth. To be exact, each year of added life is worth approximately $44,305 (£30,000)."
"The advantages of free-market health care go far beyond an absence of rationing. With no price controls, free-market U.S. medicine provides the incentives that lead to innovative breakthroughs in new drugs and other medical technologies. U.S. companies have developed half of all the major new medicines introduced worldwide over the last 20 years.
In fact, Americans played a key role in 80 percent of the most important medical advances of the last 30 years. Eighteen of the last 25 winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine either are U.S. citizens or work here.
If the American Cancer Society got the government-run national health-care system it wants, we would eliminate consumer choice and put a stop to the innovations we count on to improve our health. It would condemn thousands of cancer sufferers to waiting lists and denied care. In the end, it would cost lives."
"Bears Shouldn't Do Math" by Alan Reynolds (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Bears Shouldn't Do Math" by Alan Reynolds (Cato Institute: Commentary): "But stock valuations are not just a matter of opinion, gyrating unpredictably between waves of optimism and pessimism. On the contrary, the graph shows that P/E ratios mainly depend on interest rates. It makes that point by simply turning the P/E ratio upside down, resulting in an earnings-price ratio or 'earnings yield.'"
"Deposit Insurance Undermines Bank Stability" by Mark Calabria (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Deposit Insurance Undermines Bank Stability" by Mark Calabria (Cato Institute: Commentary): "f the 117 million households in America, only about 10 million have total bank deposits above $100,000, or less than 9 percent of all American households. These same families also have incomes of over twice the median, putting these households in the top 20 percent of earners. Nor are these households without significant wealth, with total median holdings of financial assets alone of almost $600,000. Most households with deposits above $100,000, given their considerable financial wealth, demonstrate sufficient sophistication to provide monitoring of a bank's financial condition. Even if families with bank deposits above $100,000 were to suffer a loss in deposits resulting from a bank failure, the typical family in this group has both considerable income and wealth to buffer such a hit. In contrast, the typical, or median, American household, has only about $6,400 in bank deposits, well below the previous ceiling of $100,000."
"A recent academic study across over 150 countries found that, all else equal, those countries with more generous deposit insurance schemes also suffered more frequent banking crises."
"Few relationships in economics have been found in so many different settings as the link between expanded deposit insurance and bank instability."
"FDR vocally opposed the creation of deposit insurance and threatened to veto the Glass-Steagall banking bill over its inclusion, saying it "would lead to laxity in bank management and carelessness on the part of both banker and depositor." "
"A recent academic study across over 150 countries found that, all else equal, those countries with more generous deposit insurance schemes also suffered more frequent banking crises."
"Few relationships in economics have been found in so many different settings as the link between expanded deposit insurance and bank instability."
"FDR vocally opposed the creation of deposit insurance and threatened to veto the Glass-Steagall banking bill over its inclusion, saying it "would lead to laxity in bank management and carelessness on the part of both banker and depositor." "
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Quoted in an article because of www.helpareporter.com
I signed up to "Help a reported out" at http://www.helpareporter.com/ and was quoted in an article: "Programming magic: Rituals and habits of effective programmers"
The Upside-down World of John Maynard Keynes - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute
The Upside-down World of John Maynard Keynes - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute: "he could not understand why people would invest resources in risky adventures that helped keep the economy growing at full employment. He therefore substituted 'animal spirits' for the profit motive. These spirits allow entrepreneurs to proceed with a naive confidence and to set aside concerns over losses. Similarly, the failure to invest was also a psychological problem that he dubbed the 'liquidity trap.' This trap occurs when investors seek liquidity in cash and when monetary policy — in terms of cutting interest rates — no longer produces an increase in investment."
"This slew of interventions has been disorderly. Many interventions, like the takeover of AIG, were total surprises, causing volatility in stock markets. Moreover, these interventions have been extremely large and wide ranging in scope. Measured in dollar terms, the money "allocated" totals over $12 trillion by one account."
" hoarding is actually a good thing because it helps facilitate the process of deflation and deflation helps bring about recovery. If people reduce consumption (demand) then prices fall, particularly in the early stages of production. As all types of resources and goods are becoming cheaper, including labor, the purchasing power of every hoarded dollar increases. All the prices that were bid up during the boom — particularly land, capital, and various asset classes — are thus reset at lower levels. Debt is liquidated and savings are restored and the prospects for a return to prosperity emerge, first among producers and then by consumers. Therefore hoarding speeds up deflation and deflation speeds up the correction process."
"This slew of interventions has been disorderly. Many interventions, like the takeover of AIG, were total surprises, causing volatility in stock markets. Moreover, these interventions have been extremely large and wide ranging in scope. Measured in dollar terms, the money "allocated" totals over $12 trillion by one account."
" hoarding is actually a good thing because it helps facilitate the process of deflation and deflation helps bring about recovery. If people reduce consumption (demand) then prices fall, particularly in the early stages of production. As all types of resources and goods are becoming cheaper, including labor, the purchasing power of every hoarded dollar increases. All the prices that were bid up during the boom — particularly land, capital, and various asset classes — are thus reset at lower levels. Debt is liquidated and savings are restored and the prospects for a return to prosperity emerge, first among producers and then by consumers. Therefore hoarding speeds up deflation and deflation speeds up the correction process."
"Who Is Watching the Watchmen?" by Gene Healy (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Who Is Watching the Watchmen?" by Gene Healy (Cato Institute: Commentary): "The DHS memo suggests that bureaucratic 'mission creep' can be as dangerous to liberty as a deliberate campaign of repression.
America's experience with domestic spying in the pre-Watergate period makes that clear. Presidents Johnson and Nixon believed antiwar groups were being funded by the Soviet Union, and pressured the CIA, the FBI, and the military to establish the link.
Federal intelligence operatives assigned to domestic spying programs like COINTELPRO and Operation CHAOS found little evidence of communist subversion.
Yet it's the rare bureaucracy that closes up shop for lack of anything useful to do: instead, COINTELPRO and CHAOS agents began keeping files on law-abiding citizens who disagreed with their government.
The U.S. military got into the act as well. The Army kept files on over 100,000 citizens, including such dangerous national security threats as folk singers Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.
Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the program revealed that 'comments about the financial affairs, sex lives, and psychiatric histories of persons unaffiliated with the armed forces appear throughout the various records systems.'"
America's experience with domestic spying in the pre-Watergate period makes that clear. Presidents Johnson and Nixon believed antiwar groups were being funded by the Soviet Union, and pressured the CIA, the FBI, and the military to establish the link.
Federal intelligence operatives assigned to domestic spying programs like COINTELPRO and Operation CHAOS found little evidence of communist subversion.
Yet it's the rare bureaucracy that closes up shop for lack of anything useful to do: instead, COINTELPRO and CHAOS agents began keeping files on law-abiding citizens who disagreed with their government.
The U.S. military got into the act as well. The Army kept files on over 100,000 citizens, including such dangerous national security threats as folk singers Arlo Guthrie and Joan Baez.
Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on the program revealed that 'comments about the financial affairs, sex lives, and psychiatric histories of persons unaffiliated with the armed forces appear throughout the various records systems.'"
"A Tax Attack on America's Top Companies" by Jim Powell (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"A Tax Attack on America's Top Companies" by Jim Powell (Cato Institute: Commentary): "In the event Obama were able to impose such double taxation on the offshore operations of U.S.-based multinationals, the consequences could be devastating. U.S.-based business could be wiped out around the world because of the difficulty of competing with offshore-based rivals that have to pay taxes only to the (probably lower-tax) country where they have operations. Taxes are just another cost of doing business, and if they make the total cost of doing business excessively high, a company is bound to lose market share and ultimately withdraw from a market. Large numbers of U.S. jobs are related to business being conducted overseas, so if overseas business contracts, jobs are going to be lost here in America."
"Another possibility is that Obama's double taxation triggers an exodus of U.S.-based multinationals that re-incorporate offshore. We have seen how, during the past several decades, high New York City taxes played a major role in the dramatic exodus of Fortune 500 headquarters to lower-tax states. More recently, we have seen how California's high taxes have stimulated an exodus of companies from that state, contributing to high-tech "clusters" elsewhere in the country.
Consider how double taxation would affect incentives facing U.S.-based multinationals that make more money abroad than they do in the U.S: General Motors, for example. Why would GM endure double taxation on its profitable overseas operations for the sake of its unprofitable U.S. operation? If Obama had his way with double taxation, we might wake up suddenly to find that GM had become a Swiss-based corporation that walked away from its U.S. operation, leaving it in the hands of the UAW and the U.S. Treasury (or maybe the post office). There could be many defections from the Fortune 500 list."
"Another possibility is that Obama's double taxation triggers an exodus of U.S.-based multinationals that re-incorporate offshore. We have seen how, during the past several decades, high New York City taxes played a major role in the dramatic exodus of Fortune 500 headquarters to lower-tax states. More recently, we have seen how California's high taxes have stimulated an exodus of companies from that state, contributing to high-tech "clusters" elsewhere in the country.
Consider how double taxation would affect incentives facing U.S.-based multinationals that make more money abroad than they do in the U.S: General Motors, for example. Why would GM endure double taxation on its profitable overseas operations for the sake of its unprofitable U.S. operation? If Obama had his way with double taxation, we might wake up suddenly to find that GM had become a Swiss-based corporation that walked away from its U.S. operation, leaving it in the hands of the UAW and the U.S. Treasury (or maybe the post office). There could be many defections from the Fortune 500 list."
"Political Stock Picks" by Richard W. Rahn (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Political Stock Picks" by Richard W. Rahn (Cato Institute: Commentary): "After frittering away 4 billion 'bailout' taxpayer dollars to 'save the company,' Chrysler just announced it was going into bankruptcy. Not the normal Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but a 'managed bankruptcy' that will require at least another 8 billion in taxpayer dollars, while, at the same time, turning 55 percent of the ownership of the company over to the United Auto Workers (whose contracts and work practices helped destroy Chrysler) and 35 percent of the equity to Fiat motors of Italy (a company that is contributing no cash - hmmm). U.S. and Canadian taxpayers are putting up a lot of cash but only get to share the remaining 10 percent ownership."
"If a business, even after reorganization, will still not be viable without a subsidy, why should a taxpayer get stuck with the tab? After all, there are plenty of competitive, well-managed and solvent banks, insurance companies, auto companies, etc., to pick up the slack for those that are not viable and to provide for consumers' wants, needs and desires."
"Over time, only one of these systems has been compatible with continued economic growth, opportunity and liberty - and that system is capitalism.
Capitalism is a self-correcting economic system and only gets in sustained trouble as a result of faulty government policies, such as excessive or erratic monetary growth, which causes "bubbles"; inflation or deflation; and/or destructive tax, spending or regulatory policies."
"If a business, even after reorganization, will still not be viable without a subsidy, why should a taxpayer get stuck with the tab? After all, there are plenty of competitive, well-managed and solvent banks, insurance companies, auto companies, etc., to pick up the slack for those that are not viable and to provide for consumers' wants, needs and desires."
"Over time, only one of these systems has been compatible with continued economic growth, opportunity and liberty - and that system is capitalism.
Capitalism is a self-correcting economic system and only gets in sustained trouble as a result of faulty government policies, such as excessive or erratic monetary growth, which causes "bubbles"; inflation or deflation; and/or destructive tax, spending or regulatory policies."
Geothermal Technologies Program: How an Enhanced Geothermal System Works
Geothermal Technologies Program: How an Enhanced Geothermal System Works: "EGS offers the chance to extend use of geothermal resources to larger areas of the western U.S., as well as into new geographic areas of the entire U.S. More than 100,000 MWe of economically viable capacity may be available in the continental United States, representing a 40-fold increase over present geothermal power generating capacity. This potential is about 10% of the overall U.S. electric capacity today, and represents a domestic energy source that is clean, reliable, and proven."
Colorado High School Students Assigned to Plot a Terror Attack - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
Colorado High School Students Assigned to Plot a Terror Attack - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com: "More than 110 students at Pueblo County High School were given two minutes to come up with their history project, the Web site reported.
'To ask them to use their creative energies to come up with a plot for an act of terrorism is very ludicrous,' said outraged parent Gini Fischer.
The school superintendent told the Web site students may have misinterpreted the assignment.
All of the assignments were collected from the students and destroyed, TheDenverChannel.com reported."
They probably wouldn't have been destroyed if they weren't incriminating.
'To ask them to use their creative energies to come up with a plot for an act of terrorism is very ludicrous,' said outraged parent Gini Fischer.
The school superintendent told the Web site students may have misinterpreted the assignment.
All of the assignments were collected from the students and destroyed, TheDenverChannel.com reported."
They probably wouldn't have been destroyed if they weren't incriminating.
Baptist School Teen Expects Suspension for Going to Public School Prom - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
Baptist School Teen Expects Suspension for Going to Public School Prom - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com: "Frost's stepfather says the rules shouldn't apply outside of school and he may take legal action if Frost is suspended."
The school can make any rules they want because the parents/students are free to choose another school.
The school can make any rules they want because the parents/students are free to choose another school.
Obama Considers Detaining Terror Suspects Indefinitely - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com
Obama Considers Detaining Terror Suspects Indefinitely - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com: "The Obama administration is weighing plans to detain some terror suspects on U.S. soil -- indefinitely and without trial -- as part of a plan to retool military commission trials that were conducted for prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."
Court says police can use GPS to track anyone | Technically Incorrect - CNET News
Court says police can use GPS to track anyone | Technically Incorrect - CNET News: "I was moved to virtual paralysis when I learned that an appeals court in Wisconsin decided that police can stick a GPS-tracking device on anyone they want without getting a search warrant. Even if that person is not suspected of anything more than living, breathing and expectorating.
The Fourth District U.S. Court of Appeals doesn't seem terribly happy about its own decision. However, the court decided, after much rumination, that GPS does not involve searching and seizing.
Which means that any information gained by sticking a secret GPS-tracking device on someone's car will only yield information that could have been gleaned through normal visual surveillance.
Some might wonder, normal visual surveillance by whom? R2D2? Spiderman?
The decision stemmed from a case against Michael Sveum, a Madison resident who was accused of stalking. In his case, police got a warrant to slip a GPS on his car.
Sveum argued that this contravened his Fourth Amendment rights, which protect him against unreasonable search and seizure. His lawyers said that he was followed out of the public view, in intimate places such as his garage.
The court begged to differ, declaring that an officer could have used his eyes to see when Sveum entered and left his garage."
"Larry Dupuis, legal director of the ACLU in Wisconsin, does. He told the Chicago Tribune: "The idea that you can go and attach anything you want to somebody else's property without any court supervision, that's wrong. Without a warrant, they can do this on anybody they want."
Even the appeals court itself is "more than a little troubled" by its own misdirected thinking and suggested that lawmakers in Wisconsin regulate the use of GPS by its officials."
The Fourth District U.S. Court of Appeals doesn't seem terribly happy about its own decision. However, the court decided, after much rumination, that GPS does not involve searching and seizing.
Which means that any information gained by sticking a secret GPS-tracking device on someone's car will only yield information that could have been gleaned through normal visual surveillance.
Some might wonder, normal visual surveillance by whom? R2D2? Spiderman?
The decision stemmed from a case against Michael Sveum, a Madison resident who was accused of stalking. In his case, police got a warrant to slip a GPS on his car.
Sveum argued that this contravened his Fourth Amendment rights, which protect him against unreasonable search and seizure. His lawyers said that he was followed out of the public view, in intimate places such as his garage.
The court begged to differ, declaring that an officer could have used his eyes to see when Sveum entered and left his garage."
"Larry Dupuis, legal director of the ACLU in Wisconsin, does. He told the Chicago Tribune: "The idea that you can go and attach anything you want to somebody else's property without any court supervision, that's wrong. Without a warrant, they can do this on anybody they want."
Even the appeals court itself is "more than a little troubled" by its own misdirected thinking and suggested that lawmakers in Wisconsin regulate the use of GPS by its officials."
Lawyer in Pirate Bay case facing 'DDo$' attack | Digital Media - CNET News
Lawyer in Pirate Bay case facing 'DDo$' attack | Digital Media - CNET News: "In this case, Danowsky's law firm's account at the Nordea bank is being targeted. The site internetavgift.se--it's unclear who runs it--is challenging people to send 1 Swedish krona (about 13 cents) to the account. The site instructs participants to cite 'purchase of media' as a payment reference, and the plan is making its way around Twitter and blogs.
The scheme may turn out to be expensive for Danowsky's firm--or at least that's what the tricksters hope. According to the bank's rules (PDF in Swedish) companies can receive up to 1,000 payments a year for free. Further incoming payments will be charged 1.70 kronor (about 21 cents) each.
However, according to the law, each transaction, free or not, has to be entered in the law firm's books, which implies a lot of manpower."
The scheme may turn out to be expensive for Danowsky's firm--or at least that's what the tricksters hope. According to the bank's rules (PDF in Swedish) companies can receive up to 1,000 payments a year for free. Further incoming payments will be charged 1.70 kronor (about 21 cents) each.
However, according to the law, each transaction, free or not, has to be entered in the law firm's books, which implies a lot of manpower."
Campaign For Liberty — An Open Letter to President Obama and the American People
Campaign For Liberty — An Open Letter to President Obama and the American People: "Even if, by some miracle, she lives through the initial abortion, she has already been classified as non-human and therefore can be terminated at the doctor's convenience (approved by this President but not Constitutional)."
"The 14th Amendment makes the answer clear. Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
"The 14th Amendment makes the answer clear. Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Campaign For Liberty — Pay No Attention to the Fed Behind the Curtain
Campaign For Liberty — Pay No Attention to the Fed Behind the Curtain: "The standard reply of the Fed and its partisans is that any such measures, however marginal, would encroach on the Fed's 'independence from politics/' which is invoked as a kind of self-evident absolute. The monetary system is highly important, it is claimed, and therefore the Fed must enjoy absolute independence.
'Independent of politics' has a nice, neat ring to it, and has been a staple of proposals for bureaucratic intervention and power ever since the Progressive Era. Sweeping the streets; control of seaports; regulation of industry; providing social security; these and many other functions of government are held to be "too important" to be subject to the vagaries of political whims. But it is one thing to say that private, or market, activities should be free of government control, and "independent of politics" in that sense. But these are government agencies and operations we are talking about, and to say that government should be "independent of politics" conveys very different implications. For government, unlike private industry on the market, is not accountable either to stockholders or consumers. Government can only be accountable to the public and to its representatives in the legislature; and if government becomes "independent of politics" it can only mean that that sphere of government becomes an absolute self-perpetuating oligarchy, accountable to no one and never subject to the public's ability to change its personnel or to "throw the rascals out." If no person or group, whether stockholders or voters, can displace a ruling elite, then such an elite becomes more suitable for a dictatorship than for an allegedly democratic country. And yet it is curious how many self-proclaimed champions of "democracy," whether domestic or global, rush to defend the alleged ideal of the total independence of the Federal Reserve. "
'Independent of politics' has a nice, neat ring to it, and has been a staple of proposals for bureaucratic intervention and power ever since the Progressive Era. Sweeping the streets; control of seaports; regulation of industry; providing social security; these and many other functions of government are held to be "too important" to be subject to the vagaries of political whims. But it is one thing to say that private, or market, activities should be free of government control, and "independent of politics" in that sense. But these are government agencies and operations we are talking about, and to say that government should be "independent of politics" conveys very different implications. For government, unlike private industry on the market, is not accountable either to stockholders or consumers. Government can only be accountable to the public and to its representatives in the legislature; and if government becomes "independent of politics" it can only mean that that sphere of government becomes an absolute self-perpetuating oligarchy, accountable to no one and never subject to the public's ability to change its personnel or to "throw the rascals out." If no person or group, whether stockholders or voters, can displace a ruling elite, then such an elite becomes more suitable for a dictatorship than for an allegedly democratic country. And yet it is curious how many self-proclaimed champions of "democracy," whether domestic or global, rush to defend the alleged ideal of the total independence of the Federal Reserve. "
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
"When the Government Takes Your Money, It Takes Your Property" by Ilya Shapiro and Lauren Wiggins (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"When the Government Takes Your Money, It Takes Your Property" by Ilya Shapiro and Lauren Wiggins (Cato Institute: Commentary): "The court first reasoned that money is not property"
Money is not property?!?
Money is not property?!?
"Behind The Scenes Of Imprudent Bank Loans" by Alan Reynolds (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Behind The Scenes Of Imprudent Bank Loans" by Alan Reynolds (Cato Institute: Commentary): "'Bank Lending Keeps Dropping,' according to a recent front-page Wall Street Journal headline. But the Treasury Department statistics used in that article did not measure total bank lending. Instead, the figures include only $231.4 billion of monthly 'loan originations' at 21 of the nation's 8,300 banks — namely, those that received the biggest 'capital infusions' (loans) from the TARP program."
"Speaking in Trinidad-Tobago, President Obama nonetheless complained, "Banks still are not lending at previous levels." So what? Why would anyone expect banks to lend as much while the economy was shrinking as they did when it was growing? When people buy fewer cars and houses, they don't need as many auto loans and mortgages. When retail businesses and car dealers are raising cash by liquidating inventories, they don't need to borrow to buy more inventories."
"When households and firms borrow sensibly, they are borrowing against expected future earnings or against accumulated wealth (assets minus debts). Debt does not allow people to live beyond their means. On the contrary, heavily indebted consumers actually acquire fewer goods over time, because so much of their budget is wasted on interest payments."
"The Obama administration has repeatedly frightened bank stockholders with threats of quasi-nationalization, putting taxpayers at risk for trillions of dollars in the process, ostensibly because of a quixotic crusade to get banks to lend "at previous levels." If so — that is, if the intent of the TARP plan was to induce banks to hand out loans at a faster pace than before last November — then the program has evidently been useless, if not harmful. Yet increased bank lending couldn't possibly have been the real goal, since much of the federal loot went to investment banks that never wanted any part of this scheme. After all, nobody goes to Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley looking for a loan.
The deeper purpose of the Treasury's "capital purchase plan" appears to have been quite different — namely, to ensure that big financial firms will now be managed according to the principles of politics rather than economics. And that can also explain why the administration is so suspiciously reluctant to allow TARP supplicants pay back the loans."
"Speaking in Trinidad-Tobago, President Obama nonetheless complained, "Banks still are not lending at previous levels." So what? Why would anyone expect banks to lend as much while the economy was shrinking as they did when it was growing? When people buy fewer cars and houses, they don't need as many auto loans and mortgages. When retail businesses and car dealers are raising cash by liquidating inventories, they don't need to borrow to buy more inventories."
"When households and firms borrow sensibly, they are borrowing against expected future earnings or against accumulated wealth (assets minus debts). Debt does not allow people to live beyond their means. On the contrary, heavily indebted consumers actually acquire fewer goods over time, because so much of their budget is wasted on interest payments."
"The Obama administration has repeatedly frightened bank stockholders with threats of quasi-nationalization, putting taxpayers at risk for trillions of dollars in the process, ostensibly because of a quixotic crusade to get banks to lend "at previous levels." If so — that is, if the intent of the TARP plan was to induce banks to hand out loans at a faster pace than before last November — then the program has evidently been useless, if not harmful. Yet increased bank lending couldn't possibly have been the real goal, since much of the federal loot went to investment banks that never wanted any part of this scheme. After all, nobody goes to Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley looking for a loan.
The deeper purpose of the Treasury's "capital purchase plan" appears to have been quite different — namely, to ensure that big financial firms will now be managed according to the principles of politics rather than economics. And that can also explain why the administration is so suspiciously reluctant to allow TARP supplicants pay back the loans."
"Obama's Fine Act in Trinidad" by Juan Carlos Hidalgo (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Obama's Fine Act in Trinidad" by Juan Carlos Hidalgo (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Conservatives who have criticized the president fail to recognize that it is precisely confrontation what the Bolivarians want. Anti-Americanism is a building block of Latin American populism: blaming the U.S. for all of Latin America's problems has been a pastime for the region's leftists for many years. That is precisely the central theme of the book Chavez gave Obama: The Open Veins of Latin America. Fueling anti-American sentiment serves them well as a smokescreen for their own corruption, mismanagement and abuses of power.
In the last eight years, Chavez and his gang were able to easily focus their anti-Americanism on the person of George W. Bush. Now that he is gone, and a popular new U.S. president is in charge, they need to look harder for a scapegoat. That is why weeks before the summit Chavez called Obama an 'ignoramus,' and Morales even accused the U.S. last week of sponsoring an alleged plot to assassinate him. But it takes two to tango, and Obama rightfully avoided a public row with the populists. It was not a sign of weakness, but a display of smart diplomacy."
In the last eight years, Chavez and his gang were able to easily focus their anti-Americanism on the person of George W. Bush. Now that he is gone, and a popular new U.S. president is in charge, they need to look harder for a scapegoat. That is why weeks before the summit Chavez called Obama an 'ignoramus,' and Morales even accused the U.S. last week of sponsoring an alleged plot to assassinate him. But it takes two to tango, and Obama rightfully avoided a public row with the populists. It was not a sign of weakness, but a display of smart diplomacy."
"Abolish the 'Death Tax'" by Daniel J. Mitchell (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Abolish the 'Death Tax'" by Daniel J. Mitchell (Cato Institute: Commentary): "For all intents and purposes, the tax code sends a perverse message to America's entrepreneurs, investors, small-business owners and farmers: If you squander your money as quickly as possible, the government will not tax you. But if you behave responsibly and invest in the nation's future, the government will swoop in like a flock of vultures and grab a huge chunk of your money when you die."
"Scholars who have examined this issue estimate that the death tax has reduced America's stock of saving and investment by nearly $850 billion.
Moreover, the death tax is a job killer, reducing employment by 1.5 million."
"Scholars who have examined this issue estimate that the death tax has reduced America's stock of saving and investment by nearly $850 billion.
Moreover, the death tax is a job killer, reducing employment by 1.5 million."
"Fed Up" by Steve H. Hanke (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Fed Up" by Steve H. Hanke (Cato Institute: Commentary): "What the Fed has failed to realize is that most deflations are good ones, not bad ones. During the last two centuries there have been many deflations throughout the world. Almost all of them have been good ones precipitated by technological innovation, rising productivity, global capital flows and sustained economic growth. If farm mechanization cuts the price of wheat, you get a rising living standard. This is good."
"Arab Education Displays its Discontents" by Raja M. Kamal and Tom G. Palmer (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Arab Education Displays its Discontents" by Raja M. Kamal and Tom G. Palmer (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Despite the flood of billions and billions in oil money to public education, Saudi students consistently score among the worst in math and science. The greatest culprit is the suppression of critical thinking, coupled with limited and weak exposure to math and science. An impressive investment in the infrastructure of higher education has not yielded positive returns. It is as if the state had purchased the most advanced computer hardware, but neglected to secure any software to run it."
"The task facing many Arab countries is acknowledging the priority of education over mere schooling. The answer isn't just spending more money. Alchemy didn't fail because of a lack of investments in alchemy academies. A curriculum centered on memorization of dogma should be reformed to allow critical thought, a key ingredient in escaping backwardness. That's as true of judicial backwardness, as it is of economic backwardness. Thorough-going educational reform — involving not merely money, but orientation to the market and critical thinking — can produce judicious judges. Memorization will merely perpetuate backwardness."
"The task facing many Arab countries is acknowledging the priority of education over mere schooling. The answer isn't just spending more money. Alchemy didn't fail because of a lack of investments in alchemy academies. A curriculum centered on memorization of dogma should be reformed to allow critical thought, a key ingredient in escaping backwardness. That's as true of judicial backwardness, as it is of economic backwardness. Thorough-going educational reform — involving not merely money, but orientation to the market and critical thinking — can produce judicious judges. Memorization will merely perpetuate backwardness."
"Displaying Their Ignorance on Smoking" by Patrick Basham and John Luik (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Displaying Their Ignorance on Smoking" by Patrick Basham and John Luik (Cato Institute: Commentary): "they refute each of the key claims about the supposed effect of tobacco displays on children's intentions to smoke.
First, there were no statistically significant differences in the estimates of how many of their peers smoke between the children who saw the convenience shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
Second, there were no statistically significant differences in approval of smoking between those who saw the shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
Third, there were no significant differences in assigning favourable attributes to children who smoke between those who saw the convenience shops with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
Fourth, there were no statistically significant differences in their perceptions of the dangers of smoking between children viewing the shop with no cigarettes and those seeing the shop with cigarettes.
Finally, and most importantly, there were no statistically significant differences in the children's intention to smoke between those who saw the shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
This research is not produced by the tobacco industry. Wakefield works at Cancer Council Victoria."
"The Goddard Report, a longitudinal study of the causes of youth smoking and one of the largest studies of adolescent smoking conducted in the UK, found that becoming a smoker was associated with seven risk factors: being a girl, having brothers or sisters who smoke, having parents who smoke, living with a single parent, having relatively less negative views about smoking, not intending to stay on in full-time education after 16, and thinking that one might be a smoker in the future.
Becoming a smoker was not statistically associated with being aware of tobacco advertising or being able to name more brands of cigarettes. Indeed, Goddard found that children overwhelmingly did not like tobacco advertisements."
"In Canada, for instance, there is no obvious difference in youth prevalence between provinces with and without tobacco display bans. Moreover, according to the UK government's own data, the highest prevalence is found in Saskatchewan, the first province to ban tobacco displays."
First, there were no statistically significant differences in the estimates of how many of their peers smoke between the children who saw the convenience shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
Second, there were no statistically significant differences in approval of smoking between those who saw the shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
Third, there were no significant differences in assigning favourable attributes to children who smoke between those who saw the convenience shops with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
Fourth, there were no statistically significant differences in their perceptions of the dangers of smoking between children viewing the shop with no cigarettes and those seeing the shop with cigarettes.
Finally, and most importantly, there were no statistically significant differences in the children's intention to smoke between those who saw the shop with no cigarettes and those who saw the shop with cigarettes.
This research is not produced by the tobacco industry. Wakefield works at Cancer Council Victoria."
"The Goddard Report, a longitudinal study of the causes of youth smoking and one of the largest studies of adolescent smoking conducted in the UK, found that becoming a smoker was associated with seven risk factors: being a girl, having brothers or sisters who smoke, having parents who smoke, living with a single parent, having relatively less negative views about smoking, not intending to stay on in full-time education after 16, and thinking that one might be a smoker in the future.
Becoming a smoker was not statistically associated with being aware of tobacco advertising or being able to name more brands of cigarettes. Indeed, Goddard found that children overwhelmingly did not like tobacco advertisements."
"In Canada, for instance, there is no obvious difference in youth prevalence between provinces with and without tobacco display bans. Moreover, according to the UK government's own data, the highest prevalence is found in Saskatchewan, the first province to ban tobacco displays."
"Obama Is a Statist, Not a Socialist" by Edward H. Crane (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Obama Is a Statist, Not a Socialist" by Edward H. Crane (Cato Institute: Commentary): "'Doctor Shortage Proves Obstacle to Obama Goals,' laments the headline. Hmm. Wonder why there would be a doctor shortage in the face of nationalized health care?"
How to Keep Your House Safe While You're Away - Travel - FOXNews.com
How to Keep Your House Safe While You're Away - Travel - FOXNews.com: "Don’t put out a virtual welcome mat.
We all like bragging about our trips, but refrain from discussing details on social networking sites before you go. “Every day in my networks, someone indicates that they’re looking forward to their trip. They’re even kind enough to indicate their dates of travel and mention that the entire family is going. Why not just post a sign up in the local jail letting the criminals know you’re going on vacation?” says private investigator Jeff Stein.
Too much information, specifically your home address, may be stored in your car’s GPS device. “If a thief were to steal your car, all he needs to do is turn on your GPS and push ‘Home,’” Stein says. “Since your car was parked at the airport or long term parking somewhere, he knows you’re not home,” he says. Further, the thief has the added luxury of opening your garage door with the remote built into your car, pulling into the garage, and loading up your own car with your stuff."
We all like bragging about our trips, but refrain from discussing details on social networking sites before you go. “Every day in my networks, someone indicates that they’re looking forward to their trip. They’re even kind enough to indicate their dates of travel and mention that the entire family is going. Why not just post a sign up in the local jail letting the criminals know you’re going on vacation?” says private investigator Jeff Stein.
Too much information, specifically your home address, may be stored in your car’s GPS device. “If a thief were to steal your car, all he needs to do is turn on your GPS and push ‘Home,’” Stein says. “Since your car was parked at the airport or long term parking somewhere, he knows you’re not home,” he says. Further, the thief has the added luxury of opening your garage door with the remote built into your car, pulling into the garage, and loading up your own car with your stuff."
Did FDR Make the Depression Great? - David Gordon - Mises Institute
Did FDR Make the Depression Great? - David Gordon - Mises Institute:
High wages do not cause prosperity, they are rather an indication of prosperity. Ultimately, it doesn't matter how many green pieces of paper employers hand out to workers. Unless workers first physically produced the goods (and services), there will be nothing on the store shelves for them to buy when they attempt to spend their big fat paychecks.
By focusing on aggregate monetary conditions such as "total wage payments," Hoover completely overlooked the fact that real, physical resources had to be rearranged in order to correct the imbalances in the economy. It wasn't that "business" was producing too much, but rather that some sectors were producing too much, while other sectors were producing too little, in light of the economy's supplies of resources, the skills and desires of its workers, and the tastes of its consumers.
The only way to rectify the situation — to transform the economy into a sustainable configuration — was to shuffle workers and resources. Some enterprises had to be shut down immediately, releasing their workers and freeing up the raw materials they would have consumed had they remained in business… But in a market economy, workers are free to choose their occupations, and the owners of raw materials can sell their property to whomever they desire. Yet with that freedom comes the unfortunate necessity of prolonged spells of unemployment and "idle resources," when the workers and raw materials are searching for a new home in the complex economy.
According to this view, if people anticipate falling prices, they will refrain from spending. Because they expect prices to fall, they think that that will do better to consume later. But this drop in consumption causes a further price fall, and the whole cycle repeats. Prices may spiral uncontrollably downward.
Murphy responds in this way:
"One could construct an analogous argument for the computer industry, in which the government passes regulation to slow down improvements in operating systems and processing speed. After all, how can computer manufacturers possibly remain viable if consumers are always waiting for a faster model to become available? … The solution to this paradox, of course, is that consumers do decide to bite the bullet and buy a computer, knowing full well that they would be able to buy the same performance for less money, if they were willing to wait… (There's no point in holding out for lower prices but never actually buying!) (pp. 68–9)"
Many analysts who are terrified of deflation stress that in an environment of falling prices, cash stuffed under the mattress earns a positive return. This observation is certainly true, but nonetheless cash lent out earns an even greater return. Falling prices, then, encourage consumers to devote more of their income to savings, which in turn lowers interest rates and allows businesses to borrow and invest more.
So we see that immediately following the stock market crash, the Fed began flooding the market with liquidity and in fact brought its rates down to record lows…. If the ostensible cause of the Great Depression — the one factor that set it apart from all previous depressions — was the Fed's unwillingness to provide sufficient liquidity, then how could it possibly be that the Fed's record rate cuts proved inadequate to solve "the problem?"
The Road to Freedom: An Interview with Walter Block - Walter Block - Mises Institute
The Road to Freedom: An Interview with Walter Block - Walter Block - Mises Institute: "The reason we have [Air Polution] at all is due to a government failure to uphold private property rights, in that pollution is merely and simply an uninvited border crossing, a trespass of dust and other particles, as it were. So, air pollution could rise, fall or stay the same as we moved to road privatization. It all depends upon the state upholding, or failing to uphold, private property rights in this domain.
The one exception is that lawsuits for pollution would be much easier with private rather than public roads. No longer would you have to sue millions of separate auto owners. Now, you could sue one or just a few road owners for being bawdy houses, not of sex, but of aiding and encouraging pollution on their property, which then leaks out onto other people's property."
"Congestion problems would decrease, as peak-load pricing (charging more during rush hours than at 3 a.m., which irons out the variations in demand during the day) would become the order of the day. Right now, the government engages in anti-peak-load pricing, which exacerbates the problem. They commonly sell monthly tickets to bridges, tunnels, etc., at a cheaper price per trip than otherwise. But who uses such tickets? Employees, not casual shoppers, visitors. And when do they use these tickets? Precisely during rush hours.
Nor is this any accident. The principle holds true (congestion is a government failure) in many other cases too. Compare congestion during Christmas with the post office and private firms. The former tells you not to mail during the peak-load times; the latter roll up their sleeves, put on extra workers, and satisfy consumers."
"Let's look at private roads in malls. Some allow you to park for free, if they want to encourage attendance. Others charge a fee, unless you make a purchase. Practices vary. All we can say is that if different pricing policies long endure, then they all satisfy consumer needs. If not, the efficient ones will out-compete the inefficient ones."
"Second, it is by no means clear that the Indians are the rightful owners of anything like the entire United States. Under libertarian law, they could justly claim only those parts of the land that they homesteaded, or occupied, not hunted over. They owned those paths that they used to get from their winter to their summer places. This is based on the Lockean-Rothbardian-Hoppean homesteading theory. I estimate that they owned, in this way, at most 1 percent of the land in the United States."
"Every time I get a new freshman class, I have to demonstrate to their utter amazement and consternation that minimum wages don't help the poor, that free trade does, that markets, not welfare, help the poor, etc., etc."
The one exception is that lawsuits for pollution would be much easier with private rather than public roads. No longer would you have to sue millions of separate auto owners. Now, you could sue one or just a few road owners for being bawdy houses, not of sex, but of aiding and encouraging pollution on their property, which then leaks out onto other people's property."
"Congestion problems would decrease, as peak-load pricing (charging more during rush hours than at 3 a.m., which irons out the variations in demand during the day) would become the order of the day. Right now, the government engages in anti-peak-load pricing, which exacerbates the problem. They commonly sell monthly tickets to bridges, tunnels, etc., at a cheaper price per trip than otherwise. But who uses such tickets? Employees, not casual shoppers, visitors. And when do they use these tickets? Precisely during rush hours.
Nor is this any accident. The principle holds true (congestion is a government failure) in many other cases too. Compare congestion during Christmas with the post office and private firms. The former tells you not to mail during the peak-load times; the latter roll up their sleeves, put on extra workers, and satisfy consumers."
"Let's look at private roads in malls. Some allow you to park for free, if they want to encourage attendance. Others charge a fee, unless you make a purchase. Practices vary. All we can say is that if different pricing policies long endure, then they all satisfy consumer needs. If not, the efficient ones will out-compete the inefficient ones."
"Second, it is by no means clear that the Indians are the rightful owners of anything like the entire United States. Under libertarian law, they could justly claim only those parts of the land that they homesteaded, or occupied, not hunted over. They owned those paths that they used to get from their winter to their summer places. This is based on the Lockean-Rothbardian-Hoppean homesteading theory. I estimate that they owned, in this way, at most 1 percent of the land in the United States."
"Every time I get a new freshman class, I have to demonstrate to their utter amazement and consternation that minimum wages don't help the poor, that free trade does, that markets, not welfare, help the poor, etc., etc."
"With Realism and Restraint" by Doug Bandow (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"With Realism and Restraint" by Doug Bandow (Cato Institute: Commentary): "The botched effort suggests that the DPRK poses less than a formidable military threat. Gen. James E. Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, snickered: 'On the idea of proliferation, would you buy from somebody that had failed three times in a row and never been successful?'"
"U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon complained that the action was "not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability," as if those were North Korea's objectives."
"America should step back and let others take the lead in dealing with Pyongyang. A desperately poor, isolated state with an antiquated military, the DPRK poses far greater problems for its neighbors than for America.
Only South Korea is within reach of the North's army — a good reason for the U.S. to withdraw its troops, since they are not needed to safeguard the Republic of Korea. (Seoul enjoys a vast economic, technological, population, and diplomatic edge over the North.)"
"Finally, Washington needs to concentrate on changing the negotiating dynamic with North Korea before negotiating with Pyongyang. For years the DPRK has used brinkmanship to win concessions. The U.S., ROK, and other friendly states need to reverse this reward structure.
First, they should respond to the North's provocations with bored contempt rather than excited fear. Calling an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council sent precisely the wrong message to Pyongyang.
Second, rather than publicly whining about North Korea's actions, friendly nations should quietly inform Pyongyang that they will offer no benefits while it is ratcheting up tensions.
If the DPRK responds positively, however, Washington should offer diplomatic recognition and the end of trade sanctions, small concessions in areas where punitive policies have manifestly failed; South Korea should move back toward the "Sunshine Policy.""
"U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon complained that the action was "not conducive to efforts to promote dialogue, regional peace and stability," as if those were North Korea's objectives."
"America should step back and let others take the lead in dealing with Pyongyang. A desperately poor, isolated state with an antiquated military, the DPRK poses far greater problems for its neighbors than for America.
Only South Korea is within reach of the North's army — a good reason for the U.S. to withdraw its troops, since they are not needed to safeguard the Republic of Korea. (Seoul enjoys a vast economic, technological, population, and diplomatic edge over the North.)"
"Finally, Washington needs to concentrate on changing the negotiating dynamic with North Korea before negotiating with Pyongyang. For years the DPRK has used brinkmanship to win concessions. The U.S., ROK, and other friendly states need to reverse this reward structure.
First, they should respond to the North's provocations with bored contempt rather than excited fear. Calling an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council sent precisely the wrong message to Pyongyang.
Second, rather than publicly whining about North Korea's actions, friendly nations should quietly inform Pyongyang that they will offer no benefits while it is ratcheting up tensions.
If the DPRK responds positively, however, Washington should offer diplomatic recognition and the end of trade sanctions, small concessions in areas where punitive policies have manifestly failed; South Korea should move back toward the "Sunshine Policy.""
"High-Speed Rail Is No Solution" by Randal O'Toole (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"High-Speed Rail Is No Solution" by Randal O'Toole (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Outside of the Boston-Washington corridor, the fastest Amtrak trains have top speeds of about 80 to 90 miles per hour and average speeds of 40 to 50 miles per hour. Obama proposes to boost top speeds to 110 miles per hour in some places, which means average speeds no greater than 70 to 75 miles per hour.
This is not an innovation. The Milwaukee Road, Santa Fe and other railroads routinely ran trains at those speeds 70 years ago — and still couldn't compete against cars and airlines."
"The environmental analysis report for the California high-speed rail projects costs of $33 billion for 400 miles, while the Midwest Rail Initiative projects costs of $7.7 billion for 3,150 miles of moderate-speed rail. That's $82 million per mile for true high-speed rail (partly because the California project goes through some mountains) and only $2.4 million for moderate-speed rail. All else being equal, high-speed rail will cost 10 to 12 times more than moderate-speed rail. A true, national high-speed rail network would cost more than half a trillion dollars."
"Americans who have ridden French or Japanese high-speed trains often wonder why such trains won't work here. The problem is, they don't work that well in France or Japan.
France and Japan have each spent roughly (after adjusting for inflation) the same amount of money per capita on high-speed rail as the United States spent on the interstate highway system. Americans use the interstates to travel nearly 4,000 passenger miles and ship more than 2,000 ton-miles of freight per person per year.
By comparison, high-speed rail moves virtually no freight and carries the average resident of Japan less than 400 miles per year, and the average resident of France less than 300 miles per year. It is likely that a few people use them a lot, and most rarely or not at all."
This is not an innovation. The Milwaukee Road, Santa Fe and other railroads routinely ran trains at those speeds 70 years ago — and still couldn't compete against cars and airlines."
"The environmental analysis report for the California high-speed rail projects costs of $33 billion for 400 miles, while the Midwest Rail Initiative projects costs of $7.7 billion for 3,150 miles of moderate-speed rail. That's $82 million per mile for true high-speed rail (partly because the California project goes through some mountains) and only $2.4 million for moderate-speed rail. All else being equal, high-speed rail will cost 10 to 12 times more than moderate-speed rail. A true, national high-speed rail network would cost more than half a trillion dollars."
"Americans who have ridden French or Japanese high-speed trains often wonder why such trains won't work here. The problem is, they don't work that well in France or Japan.
France and Japan have each spent roughly (after adjusting for inflation) the same amount of money per capita on high-speed rail as the United States spent on the interstate highway system. Americans use the interstates to travel nearly 4,000 passenger miles and ship more than 2,000 ton-miles of freight per person per year.
By comparison, high-speed rail moves virtually no freight and carries the average resident of Japan less than 400 miles per year, and the average resident of France less than 300 miles per year. It is likely that a few people use them a lot, and most rarely or not at all."
"Still a Nation of Laws, Not Men?" by Nat Hentoff (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Still a Nation of Laws, Not Men?" by Nat Hentoff (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Moreover, Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which has been made part of our law, requires that any person — whether a prisoner of war, unprivileged belligerent, terrorist or noncombatant, is guaranteed freedom from 'cruel treatment and torture' and 'outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment,' including denial of process in case of trial.
These guarantees, Mr. President, apply 'in all circumstances' and 'at any time and in any place whatsoever.'"
These guarantees, Mr. President, apply 'in all circumstances' and 'at any time and in any place whatsoever.'"
Taking Secession Seriously–At Last | Front Porch Republic
Taking Secession Seriously–At Last | Front Porch Republic: "Of course it is true that the particular secession of 1861-65 did not succeed–but that didn’t make it illegal or even unwise. It made it a failure, that’s all."
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Using a black hole as a mirror to see our past
Could a black hole be used as a mirror to see our sun's (or planet's) past?
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q4h73n0763720106/ seems to show that it is a possibility.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q4h73n0763720106/ seems to show that it is a possibility.
"Black-Market Schools" by James Tooley (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Black-Market Schools" by James Tooley (Cato Institute: Commentary):
One mother told us: 'I have two children who joined this school since their nursery level and they are still in this school today. I see them doing good in subjects. Their time and subjects are well planned; they spend time well and are taught all subjects. . . . For those reasons this private school has impressed me a lot. I have saved money and cut many costs of my maintenance in order to bring children in this private school. Even though people might question why I send children in private school while there are free [government] schools, I am concerned with high-quality subject teaching offered in this private school.'
One mother told us: "People thought education is free; it may be free but children do not learn. This makes the quality of education poor and that is why many parents have brought their children back here. People got their children out of the private schools to the public schools because of free education.... However, the children do not learn; all they do is play."
One father summed it all rather neatly as to why he still preferred private schooling for his daughter rather than what was provided free in the public school: "If you go to a market and are offered free fruit and vegetables, they will be rotten. If you want fresh fruit and vegetables, you have to pay for them."
The Health Czar Can't Calculate - Edgardo Tenreiro - Mises Institute
The Health Czar Can't Calculate - Edgardo Tenreiro - Mises Institute: "under central planning any rational economic calculation, that is, any method to efficiently allocate resources, is practically and theoretically impossible — not just of higher cost, lower quality, and reduced innovation; not just uncoordinated, inefficient, and ineffective; but literally impossible.
In practice, a health czar would have to evaluate the quality, revenue, and cost of complex production processes, and billions of healthcare goods, services, hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes, surgery centers, diagnostic centers, laboratories, outpatient clinics, home health agencies, hospices, long-term-acute-care hospitals, ambulances, patients, physicians, nurses, therapists, and clinicians, all across geography and across time. The health czar must therefore consider an almost infinite number of permutations in order to correctly allocate trillions of dollars."
In practice, a health czar would have to evaluate the quality, revenue, and cost of complex production processes, and billions of healthcare goods, services, hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes, surgery centers, diagnostic centers, laboratories, outpatient clinics, home health agencies, hospices, long-term-acute-care hospitals, ambulances, patients, physicians, nurses, therapists, and clinicians, all across geography and across time. The health czar must therefore consider an almost infinite number of permutations in order to correctly allocate trillions of dollars."
EC wants software makers held liable for code | Business Tech - CNET News
EC wants software makers held liable for code | Business Tech - CNET News:
Do paper plates have to be guaranteed for 2 years?
Why not let the consumer choose how much of a guarantee they want?
Right now, under the current EU Sales and Guarantees Directive, physical products are expected to carry a guarantee of two years. Extending those terms to software would have the effect of limiting customer choice, as contract terms would have to be extended to a minimum of two years, Mingorance added.
"Extending the scope would force the businesses to maintain update services for such contracts beyond the contractual term and ultimately limit the choice of offers," the BSA director said. "It is like renting your house for a summer month and being then obliged to extend the rent for another 23 months."
Do paper plates have to be guaranteed for 2 years?
In addition, Mingorance said that extending consumer regulation to software could lead to less interoperability between software products, as manufacturers might decide to limit how far third-party developers could access their code.
Why not let the consumer choose how much of a guarantee they want?
Texas Mom Who Put Fetus in Fridge Gets 22 Years for Child Injury and Endangerment - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
Texas Mom Who Put Fetus in Fridge Gets 22 Years for Child Injury and Endangerment - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com: "A mother of nine who was arrested after authorities found a dead fetus stored in the refrigerator of her filthy home is headed to prison for 10 years on that charge"
Why 10 years in prison for having a dead baby in the freezer?
Why 10 years in prison for having a dead baby in the freezer?
Pelosi: I Was Told Interrogation Methods Were Lawful - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com
Pelosi: I Was Told Interrogation Methods Were Lawful - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com:
It isn't a question of legality -- it is a question of morality and prudence!
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted Friday that she was briefed only once about the 'enhanced' interrogation techniques being used on terrorism suspects and that she was assured by lawyers with the CIA and the Department of Justice that the methods were legal.
It isn't a question of legality -- it is a question of morality and prudence!
In addition, from the beginning of the program in 2002 until it became public in the fall of 2006, the House held 13 votes to authorize intelligence funding at which time no one objected or demanded changes to any intelligence programs.
Mom Outraged by Son's Arrest Reportedly Knew of His Web Stardom for Phone Threats - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.co
Mom Outraged by Son's Arrest Reportedly Knew of His Web Stardom for Phone Threats - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com: "Annette Lundeby admitted to Wired News that she knew Ashton had been making "really funny" prank calls, and that he'd made bomb threats, and that he'd received money for some of the calls — but she said it was all just a joke."
It's not just a joke but is the level of federal response warranted?
It's not just a joke but is the level of federal response warranted?
NASA Approves Partial Privatization of the Space Program - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com
NASA Approves Partial Privatization of the Space Program - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com: "The two leading contractors are building their launch vehicles from scratch. Their designs emphasize very efficient business models and low manufacturing costs. And they operate with at most a few dozen employees at their launch sites, as opposed to the space shuttle program's standing army of almost 15,000 workers."
Monday, May 11, 2009
"In Education, 100 Days of Rhetoric and Not a Minute of Real Reform" by Neal McCluskey (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"In Education, 100 Days of Rhetoric and Not a Minute of Real Reform" by Neal McCluskey (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Instead of giving tax dollars to public schools, let parents control the cash. Enable parents to choose schools, and force school employees to respond to them. It's real reform that's been shown to work
Unfortunately, in his first one-hundred days Obama failed to fight for just such meaningful reform. The president did nothing to defend Washington DC's school voucher program, which provides real school choice for 1,700 education-starved kids. Indeed, what his administration did was worse than nothing: it buried a report showing vouchers' success just as Congress was debating the program's fate, and barred 200 children who had won vouchers from using them in the coming school year.
'It didn't make sense to me to put more students in the program,' explained Secretary Duncan.
But here's what really doesn't make sense: spending unprecedented billions to save a hopeless system while letting real reform die."
Unfortunately, in his first one-hundred days Obama failed to fight for just such meaningful reform. The president did nothing to defend Washington DC's school voucher program, which provides real school choice for 1,700 education-starved kids. Indeed, what his administration did was worse than nothing: it buried a report showing vouchers' success just as Congress was debating the program's fate, and barred 200 children who had won vouchers from using them in the coming school year.
'It didn't make sense to me to put more students in the program,' explained Secretary Duncan.
But here's what really doesn't make sense: spending unprecedented billions to save a hopeless system while letting real reform die."
What Is “Hate” Crime?
Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts � What Is “Hate” Crime?:
Group A disagrees with the outlook of Group B, and since Group A is comprised of people from a previously identified minority, they claim that the mere existence of Group B comprises a hate crime or promotes hate speech. I take HUGE issue with this.
Why is it illegal or hateful for the members of one historical culture to celebrate their history but not illegal for another? What makes the history and culture of one group of people any more important that the history and culture of EVERY group of people?
Reality, and this is just MY opinion, is probably that ALL crime is hateful. Murdering someone is pretty hateful. Raping someone is pretty hateful. It doesn’t matter what race, religion, nationality, gender, age, etc of the intended victim is: crime is hateful. If we must label these crimes as different from “regular” crimes because they target a minority, then how about if we call them “minority crimes”? Or does that make too many people think that a member of a minority committed the crime? It has always bothered me that one crime is considered more serious than another crime simply because of the protected status of the victim. Robbery is robbery no matter what protected group (or not) the victim is a part of. Murder is murder the same way.
If you put tomfoolery into a computer
Quote Details: Pierre Gallois: If you put tomfoolery... - The Quotations Page: "If you put tomfoolery into a computer, nothing comes out of it but tomfoolery. But this tomfoolery, having passed through a very expensive machine, is somehow ennobled and no-one dares criticize it.
Pierre Gallois"
Pierre Gallois"
Thursday, May 07, 2009
"Cannot Be Saved by World's Rich" by Marian L. Tupy (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"Cannot Be Saved by World's Rich" by Marian L. Tupy (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Sub-Saharan Africa lags behind the rest of the world in most indicators of human well-being. It scored a mere 0.472 on the United Nations' 2006 Human Development Index, which is measured on a scale from 0 to 1, with higher values denoting higher standards of living. The United States, in contrast, scored 0.948.
For decades, many development experts have advocated more aid and debt relief as solutions to African poverty."
"But aid has failed to stimulate growth in Africa. Between 1975 and 2005, for example, per capita aid to Africa averaged $24.60 per year. By contrast, in China, it averaged $1.50 and in India $2. Over the same period, Chinese and Indian incomes, adjusted for inflation and purchasing-power parity, rose by 888 percent and 174 percent respectively. In Africa, incomes fell by 5 percent.
Moreover, aid has encouraged waste and corruption. Inadvertently, it also has financed "around 40 percent of Africa's military spending," according to Paul Collier of Oxford University."
"Africa remains the poorest and least economically free region on Earth. The G-20 should do all it can to help Africa integrate with the rest of the world. It should eliminate remaining restrictions on African exports and end its farm subsidies. Africans, however, will have to make most of the changes needed to tackle African poverty."
For decades, many development experts have advocated more aid and debt relief as solutions to African poverty."
"But aid has failed to stimulate growth in Africa. Between 1975 and 2005, for example, per capita aid to Africa averaged $24.60 per year. By contrast, in China, it averaged $1.50 and in India $2. Over the same period, Chinese and Indian incomes, adjusted for inflation and purchasing-power parity, rose by 888 percent and 174 percent respectively. In Africa, incomes fell by 5 percent.
Moreover, aid has encouraged waste and corruption. Inadvertently, it also has financed "around 40 percent of Africa's military spending," according to Paul Collier of Oxford University."
"Africa remains the poorest and least economically free region on Earth. The G-20 should do all it can to help Africa integrate with the rest of the world. It should eliminate remaining restrictions on African exports and end its farm subsidies. Africans, however, will have to make most of the changes needed to tackle African poverty."
Wild Wisconsin: Supreme Court Nomoniee
Wild Wisconsin: Supreme Court Nomoniee: "One standard: Do you support the constitution and have the qualifications for the job?
Avoid: Litmus tests. Be it issue, race, creed, or party. Please can we move past nominating people for the color of their skin or gender?"
Well said!
Avoid: Litmus tests. Be it issue, race, creed, or party. Please can we move past nominating people for the color of their skin or gender?"
Well said!
"The Immigration Fallacy" by Will Wilkinson (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"The Immigration Fallacy" by Will Wilkinson (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Nearly half the denizens of Canada's most populous metropolis (Toronto) were born outside the nation's borders—47 percent according to the 2006 census, and the number is rising. This makes Toronto, the fifth biggest city in North America, also the most diverse city in North America. Neither Miami, Los Angeles, nor New York City can compete with Toronto's cosmopolitan credentials.
Here is what Toronto is: the fifth most livable city in the world. So said The Economist Intelligence Unit in a report last year drawing on indicators of stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure. (The Economist's world champion of livability, Vancouver, harbors a treacherous 40 percent foreign-born population.) Toronto is wealthy, healthy, well-educated, and much safer than any sizable American city. In 2006, its murder rate was 2.6 per 100,000 residents, which makes it less than half as deadly as Des Moines, Iowa. The most culturally mixed city on the continent truly is one of Earth's closest approximations of urban paradise."
"The United States, this fabled land of immigrants, has fallen dismally far behind countries like Australia and Canada in openness to immigration. The Statue of Liberty may as well be moved to Vancouver's English Bay where the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" are now rather more welcome than in New York harbor."
Here is what Toronto is: the fifth most livable city in the world. So said The Economist Intelligence Unit in a report last year drawing on indicators of stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure. (The Economist's world champion of livability, Vancouver, harbors a treacherous 40 percent foreign-born population.) Toronto is wealthy, healthy, well-educated, and much safer than any sizable American city. In 2006, its murder rate was 2.6 per 100,000 residents, which makes it less than half as deadly as Des Moines, Iowa. The most culturally mixed city on the continent truly is one of Earth's closest approximations of urban paradise."
"The United States, this fabled land of immigrants, has fallen dismally far behind countries like Australia and Canada in openness to immigration. The Statue of Liberty may as well be moved to Vancouver's English Bay where the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" are now rather more welcome than in New York harbor."
"The US Should Cut Military Spending in Half" by Benjamin H. Friedman (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"The US Should Cut Military Spending in Half" by Benjamin H. Friedman (Cato Institute: Commentary): "[C]onsider how much we spend on defense relative to both our purported rivals and our past. Our defense budget is almost half the world's, even leaving out nuclear weapons, the wars, veterans, and homeland security. It is also more than we spent at any point during the cold war."
"There are no enemies to justify such spending. Invasion and civil war are unthinkable here. North Korea, Syria, and Iran trouble their citizens and neighbors, but with small economies, shoddy militaries, and a desire to survive, they pose little threat to us. Their combined military spending is one-sixtieth of ours.
Russia and China are incapable of territorial expansion that should pose any worry, unless we put our troops on their borders. China's defense spending is less than one-fifth of ours. We spend more researching and developing new weapons than Russia spends on its military. And with an economy larger than ours, the European Union can protect itself. Our biggest security problem, terrorism, is chiefly an intelligence problem arising from a Muslim civil war. Our military has little to do with it."
"There are no enemies to justify such spending. Invasion and civil war are unthinkable here. North Korea, Syria, and Iran trouble their citizens and neighbors, but with small economies, shoddy militaries, and a desire to survive, they pose little threat to us. Their combined military spending is one-sixtieth of ours.
Russia and China are incapable of territorial expansion that should pose any worry, unless we put our troops on their borders. China's defense spending is less than one-fifth of ours. We spend more researching and developing new weapons than Russia spends on its military. And with an economy larger than ours, the European Union can protect itself. Our biggest security problem, terrorism, is chiefly an intelligence problem arising from a Muslim civil war. Our military has little to do with it."
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Shooting Back: Guns in Churches
Shop.WND.com - A WorldNetDaily Exclusive!: "'Grenades were exploding in flashes of light. Pews shattered under the blasts, sending splinters flying through the air,' he recalls of the July 25, 1993, St. James Church Massacre. 'An automatic assault rifle was being fired and was fast ripping the pews -- and whoever, whatever was in its trajectory -- to pieces. We were being attacked!'
But van Wyk was not defenseless that day. Had he been unarmed like the other congregants, the slaughter would have been much worse.
'Instinctively, I knelt down behind the bench in front of me and pulled out my .38 special snub-nosed revolver, which I always carried with me,' he writes in 'Shooting Back,' a book published for the first time in America by WND Books. 'I would have felt undressed without it. Many people could not understand why I would carry a firearm into a church service, but I argued that this was a particularly dangerous time in South Africa.'
During that Sunday evening service, the terrorists, wielding AK-47s and grenades, killed 11 and wounded 58. But the fact that one man – van Wyk – fired back, wounding one of the attackers and driving the others away."
But van Wyk was not defenseless that day. Had he been unarmed like the other congregants, the slaughter would have been much worse.
'Instinctively, I knelt down behind the bench in front of me and pulled out my .38 special snub-nosed revolver, which I always carried with me,' he writes in 'Shooting Back,' a book published for the first time in America by WND Books. 'I would have felt undressed without it. Many people could not understand why I would carry a firearm into a church service, but I argued that this was a particularly dangerous time in South Africa.'
During that Sunday evening service, the terrorists, wielding AK-47s and grenades, killed 11 and wounded 58. But the fact that one man – van Wyk – fired back, wounding one of the attackers and driving the others away."
Montana Firearms Freedom Act
Montana Firearms Freedom Act
"AN ACT EXEMPTING FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES A FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY, OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN MONTANA; AND PROVIDING AN APPLICABILITY DATE."
This should be interesting.
"AN ACT EXEMPTING FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES A FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY, OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN MONTANA; AND PROVIDING AN APPLICABILITY DATE."
This should be interesting.
Teen Homeschooler Arrested Under Patriot Act
Campaign For Liberty — Teen Homeschooler Arrested Under Patriot Act: "The Act's defenders denied it was ever abused (although the first man imprisoned under it was an innocent man punished despite his judge not thinking he deserved the sentence). Now the Act is being turned against ordinary Americans, and even teenage homeschoolers:
This latest outrage just demonstrates why government can never be trusted with any powers that compromise its constitutional limits. Even if you somehow trust the administration currently in power, that can change every four or eight years."
This latest outrage just demonstrates why government can never be trusted with any powers that compromise its constitutional limits. Even if you somehow trust the administration currently in power, that can change every four or eight years."
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
FOXNews.com - Nation's First Face Transplant Recipient - Shotgun Blast Victim - Shows Off Her New Face - Incredible Health
FOXNews.com - Nation's First Face Transplant Recipient - Shotgun Blast Victim - Shows Off Her New Face - Incredible Health: "'I guess I'm the one you came to see today,' the 46-year-old Ohio woman said at a news conference at the Cleveland Clinic, where the groundbreaking operation was performed. But 'I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face.'"
Wonderful story and medical effect! This also shows how much good donating can do!
Wonderful story and medical effect! This also shows how much good donating can do!
The Hippocratic oath gets in the way — Cranach: The Blog of Veith
The Hippocratic oath gets in the way — Cranach: The Blog of Veith: "Ezekiel Emanuel sees the Hippocratic Oath as one factor driving “overuse” of medical care. He is a policy adviser in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a brother of Rahm Emanuel, the president’s chief of staff.
Dr. Emanuel argues that “peer recognition goes to the most thorough and aggressive physicians.” He has lamented that doctors regard the “Hippocratic Oath’s admonition to ‘use my power to help the patient to the best of my ability and judgment’ as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others.”"
When government controls health care it must ration care. That is a high price for "free"
Dr. Emanuel argues that “peer recognition goes to the most thorough and aggressive physicians.” He has lamented that doctors regard the “Hippocratic Oath’s admonition to ‘use my power to help the patient to the best of my ability and judgment’ as an imperative to do everything for the patient regardless of the cost or effects on others.”"
When government controls health care it must ration care. That is a high price for "free"
Why Circuit City Failed, and Why B&H Thrives, Managing Technology Article - Inc. Article
Why Circuit City Failed, and Why B&H Thrives, Managing Technology Article - Inc. Article: "You know what? I don't buy the argument that the economy caused Circuit City's failure. Take one look at its competitors, and you know that the market for consumer electronics and computer equipment remains strong, even in this economy. You can walk into any Apple Store and see large crowds of people lining up to buy computers and iPods. But enough has been said about how wonderful Apple is. I want to tell you about another first-class consumer electronics retailer -- a much smaller business you probably haven't been to, unless you live in New York City or are a professional photographer or an avid hobbyist. It's called B&H."
Monday, May 04, 2009
"A Certain Failure" by Richard W. Rahn (Cato Institute: Commentary)
"A Certain Failure" by Richard W. Rahn (Cato Institute: Commentary): "Do you know what the word 'income' means? My large Webster's dictionary is able to provide a clear and comprehensive definition in a mere 52 words. The shortest definition the Internal Revenue Service could provide in response to my request for its definition was 140 words - but the word income was included 10 times, missing the point that you do not include the word to be defined as part of the definition."
"[T]he income-tax code and regulations contain many inconsistent and even contradictory explicit and implicit definitions of the word income, leaving taxpayers both confused and endlessly at risk legally."
"Mr. Cohen, arguably the best tax lawyer of his day, also said he did not understand much of what was in the tax code - at that time a mere 4 million words or so, as contrasted with the more than 7 million words (almost 70,000 pages) in today's code. Last week, I was in a meeting with some of the nation's best and most experienced tax lawyers and tax economists, several of whom had served in the Treasury, and, again, there was the general lament that the tax code is so complex it is beyond their understanding and repair.
Those who claim that the government will be able to get a lot more tax revenue by increasing tax rates on the rich live in a fantasy world. Over the past 40 years, maximum income tax rates have ranged from 28 percent to 70 percent, yet tax revenues as a percentage of gross domestic product have been remarkably constant, ranging from a low of 16.3 to a high of 20.9 percent of gross domestic product."
"People always seem surprised that very rich people such as Warren Buffet, Sens. John Kerry, Edward M. Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pay much smaller effective tax rates than many in the middle class. One should not be shocked; the politically powerful have always protected themselves and their friends."
"[T]he income-tax code and regulations contain many inconsistent and even contradictory explicit and implicit definitions of the word income, leaving taxpayers both confused and endlessly at risk legally."
"Mr. Cohen, arguably the best tax lawyer of his day, also said he did not understand much of what was in the tax code - at that time a mere 4 million words or so, as contrasted with the more than 7 million words (almost 70,000 pages) in today's code. Last week, I was in a meeting with some of the nation's best and most experienced tax lawyers and tax economists, several of whom had served in the Treasury, and, again, there was the general lament that the tax code is so complex it is beyond their understanding and repair.
Those who claim that the government will be able to get a lot more tax revenue by increasing tax rates on the rich live in a fantasy world. Over the past 40 years, maximum income tax rates have ranged from 28 percent to 70 percent, yet tax revenues as a percentage of gross domestic product have been remarkably constant, ranging from a low of 16.3 to a high of 20.9 percent of gross domestic product."
"People always seem surprised that very rich people such as Warren Buffet, Sens. John Kerry, Edward M. Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pay much smaller effective tax rates than many in the middle class. One should not be shocked; the politically powerful have always protected themselves and their friends."
Obama Breaks Campaign Promise to Sign Abortion Bill Immediately - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com
Obama Breaks Campaign Promise to Sign Abortion Bill Immediately - Presidential Politics | Political News - FOXNews.com: "On Wednesday, Obama said both sides must recognize abortion is both a moral and an ethical issue, adding that proponents of abortion rights are mistaken when they say abortion is merely 'about women's freedom' without recognizing any other consideration."
A Free Society
Quote Details: Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.: My definition of a... - The Quotations Page: "My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr."
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr."
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