Posts
Three Cheers for Divided Government | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "In fact, in the past half century, voters have opted for divided government over 60 percent of the time. We Americans rest easier when the purse and sword are in different hands.
Why shouldn't we, given the horrors of one-party government? Whenever one faction controls both elected branches, checks and balances disappear."
"In 2004, two political scientists crunched the numbers, estimating that more than 20 percent of American voters ... tried to 'divide power and balance policy.'"
"Divided government tends to boost the president's approval rating.
It's no accident that the few modern presidents who left office with high popularity — Eisenhower, Reagan, and Clinton — had to battle a Congress controlled by the opposition. We tend to like the guy better when he doesn't have a free hand."
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Choosing Fantasy or Facts | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary
Choosing Fantasy or Facts | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Those on the left never stop claiming that problems will be solved if only tax rates are increased. Why then does California, with its 10.6 percent state income tax rate, have a huge budget deficit and a 12.2 percent unemployment rate, while Texas, which does not have a state income tax, enjoys a budget surplus and a below average unemployment rate of 8.2 percent?"
"Any American citizen (which includes all native-born Puerto Ricans) who resides in Puerto Rico pays income taxes to the Puerto Rican, not to the U.S., government. The maximum income tax rate in Puerto Rico is now 33 percent, just a couple of points lower than the U.S. federal rate.
But if Mr. Obama succeeds in raising the maximum federal income tax rate up to the 50 percent range (by letting the Bush tax cuts expire and increasing "surtaxes" to fund his health care and energy schemes), and if the high-tax states continue to raise their rates so the total burden on upper-income people reaches 60 percent or more, Puerto Rican residency is going to become increasingly attractive."
"Any American citizen (which includes all native-born Puerto Ricans) who resides in Puerto Rico pays income taxes to the Puerto Rican, not to the U.S., government. The maximum income tax rate in Puerto Rico is now 33 percent, just a couple of points lower than the U.S. federal rate.
But if Mr. Obama succeeds in raising the maximum federal income tax rate up to the 50 percent range (by letting the Bush tax cuts expire and increasing "surtaxes" to fund his health care and energy schemes), and if the high-tax states continue to raise their rates so the total burden on upper-income people reaches 60 percent or more, Puerto Rican residency is going to become increasingly attractive."
Has Federal Involvement Improved America's Schools? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary
Has Federal Involvement Improved America's Schools? | Andrew J. Coulson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "we have little to show for the nearly $2 trillion dollars spent on federal education programs since 1965. As the chart demonstrates, federal education spending per pupil has nearly tripled since 1970 in real, inflation-adjusted dollars — but achievement has barely budged. In fact, the only subject in which achievement at the end of high school has changed by more than 1 percent is science, and it has gotten worse.
This overall average masks some tiny gains for minority children, such as a 3 to 5 percent rise in the scores of African American 17-year-olds. But even these modest improvements can't be attributed to federal spending. Almost all of the gain occurred between 1980 and 1988, a period during which federal spending per pupil actually fell. And the scores of African American 17-year-olds have declined in the twenty years since, even as federal spending has shot through the roof."
"A key goal of this administration is to homogenize standards and testing nationwide. Is your son or daughter really identical to every other child you've ever met? Does he or she learn math, reading, biology, and history at the same pace as every other 9, 12, or 15 year old? If not, it makes no sense to place all children on a national education conveyor belt that drags them through the curriculum at a fixed pace.
Wouldn't it be better to make schools adapt to the needs of individual kids instead of trying to forcibly fit the kids into a single bureaucratic learning schedule? Wouldn't it be better to give teachers the professional freedom to do their jobs, and then make it easier for families to pick the best schools for their children — public, private, or parochial?"
This overall average masks some tiny gains for minority children, such as a 3 to 5 percent rise in the scores of African American 17-year-olds. But even these modest improvements can't be attributed to federal spending. Almost all of the gain occurred between 1980 and 1988, a period during which federal spending per pupil actually fell. And the scores of African American 17-year-olds have declined in the twenty years since, even as federal spending has shot through the roof."
"A key goal of this administration is to homogenize standards and testing nationwide. Is your son or daughter really identical to every other child you've ever met? Does he or she learn math, reading, biology, and history at the same pace as every other 9, 12, or 15 year old? If not, it makes no sense to place all children on a national education conveyor belt that drags them through the curriculum at a fixed pace.
Wouldn't it be better to make schools adapt to the needs of individual kids instead of trying to forcibly fit the kids into a single bureaucratic learning schedule? Wouldn't it be better to give teachers the professional freedom to do their jobs, and then make it easier for families to pick the best schools for their children — public, private, or parochial?"
The $1.5 Trillion Fraud | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary
The $1.5 Trillion Fraud | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Never mind the everyday budget gimmicks House Democrats have used, such as removing $250 billion of deficit spending to be voted on separately. Or claiming their bill would cost just $894 billion — around $400 billion less than the CBO actually projected."
"The current leadership has rigged the legislation so that 60 percent of its total cost will not be made public by the CBO in advance of the House vote."
"The current leadership has rigged the legislation so that 60 percent of its total cost will not be made public by the CBO in advance of the House vote."
The Dead Zone: The Implicit Marginal Tax Rate - Clifford F. Thies - Mises Institute
The Dead Zone: The Implicit Marginal Tax Rate - Clifford F. Thies - Mises Institute: "For many of the working poor, the implicit marginal tax rate is greater than 100 percent."
Basically, incomes under $40,000 all get the same benefit so there is no incentive for someone making $20,000 to try to earn more until they make over $40,000.
Basically, incomes under $40,000 all get the same benefit so there is no incentive for someone making $20,000 to try to earn more until they make over $40,000.
Why Would Congress Compel Young Adults to Buy Health Insurance They Don't Need? | Aaron Yelowitz | Cato Institute: Commentary
Why Would Congress Compel Young Adults to Buy Health Insurance They Don't Need? | Aaron Yelowitz | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Obama won the presidency with 66% of the vote among adults ages 18 to 29 - a larger share than any presidential candidate in decades. So it's ironic that his health plan could impose its greatest hidden taxes on young adults."
"The legislation before Congress would force young adults to purchase health insurance at prices far higher than the market would charge. The legislation would use that hidden tax to reduce premiums for their parents, who typically have higher incomes."
"Forcing young adults to purchase health insurance, and forcing them to pay actuarially unfair premiums, effectively taxes the young to subsidize the old. Never mind that median family income for households headed by someone in his 50s ($60,000) is nearly double that for households headed by someone in their 20s ($33,000).
A desire to redistribute income is the only thing that can explain a policy of forcing young adults to pay above-market premiums for health insurance. Gruber estimates that one bill before Congress would charge young adults at least 62% more than those low-cost California plans, even if they qualify for government subsidies. Young adults could end up paying hundreds or thousands of dollars more, many of them for a product they didn't want in the first place."
"The legislation before Congress would force young adults to purchase health insurance at prices far higher than the market would charge. The legislation would use that hidden tax to reduce premiums for their parents, who typically have higher incomes."
"Forcing young adults to purchase health insurance, and forcing them to pay actuarially unfair premiums, effectively taxes the young to subsidize the old. Never mind that median family income for households headed by someone in his 50s ($60,000) is nearly double that for households headed by someone in their 20s ($33,000).
A desire to redistribute income is the only thing that can explain a policy of forcing young adults to pay above-market premiums for health insurance. Gruber estimates that one bill before Congress would charge young adults at least 62% more than those low-cost California plans, even if they qualify for government subsidies. Young adults could end up paying hundreds or thousands of dollars more, many of them for a product they didn't want in the first place."
When Government Slippery Slope Goes Vertical | David Boaz | Cato Institute: Commentary
When Government Slippery Slope Goes Vertical | David Boaz | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Libertarians often warn about the slippery slope of government intervention:
Let the government run the schools, and it may end up teaching your children values that offend you. Let the government have new powers to fight terrorism, and it may use those extraordinary powers in the pursuit of ordinary crimes. Let the federal government give the states money for highways, and it may eventually use its money to impose its own rules on the states."
"Before he had even secured government control, Obama fired the chief executive officer of General Motors. He decided what the ownership structure of the companies should be. He insisted that the companies build 'clean cars' rather than cars that consumers want to buy. And as soon as a deal was concluded, members of Congress started trying to block the closing of inefficient dealerships and to require the companies to buy their palladium in Montana, use unionized trucking companies, remove mercury from scrapped cars, and so on. Politics reared its ugly head in the first moments of government control."
"On the very day that the government czar announced that he would cut the pay of companies that received taxpayer bailouts, the Federal Reserve announced that it would start regulating compensation at the thousands of banks that it regulates, as well as American subsidiaries of non-U.S. financial companies."
Let the government run the schools, and it may end up teaching your children values that offend you. Let the government have new powers to fight terrorism, and it may use those extraordinary powers in the pursuit of ordinary crimes. Let the federal government give the states money for highways, and it may eventually use its money to impose its own rules on the states."
"Before he had even secured government control, Obama fired the chief executive officer of General Motors. He decided what the ownership structure of the companies should be. He insisted that the companies build 'clean cars' rather than cars that consumers want to buy. And as soon as a deal was concluded, members of Congress started trying to block the closing of inefficient dealerships and to require the companies to buy their palladium in Montana, use unionized trucking companies, remove mercury from scrapped cars, and so on. Politics reared its ugly head in the first moments of government control."
"On the very day that the government czar announced that he would cut the pay of companies that received taxpayer bailouts, the Federal Reserve announced that it would start regulating compensation at the thousands of banks that it regulates, as well as American subsidiaries of non-U.S. financial companies."
DeLong's Stimulus Accounting: A Deconstruction - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute
DeLong's Stimulus Accounting: A Deconstruction - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute: "Jared Bernstein, chief economist and senior economic advisor to the vice president, ... said the cost per job was actually $92,000 — but acknowledged that estimate is for the whole stimulus package as of the end of 2010."
$92,000 per job!!! No wonder unemployment is so high! And that number is only what they hope -- it is probably much better.
$92,000 per job!!! No wonder unemployment is so high! And that number is only what they hope -- it is probably much better.
Unanswered Questions for Us at War | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary
Unanswered Questions for Us at War | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'If we can't feel the impact of the people that we're killing and we can't see them, and none of our own people (are) at risk, does this somehow make it easier to just be in a perpetual state of war because there's no seeming cost to us?'"
Obama's Extra-Judicial Killers Subvert American Values | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary
Obama's Extra-Judicial Killers Subvert American Values | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'The embrace of the Predator program has occurred with remarkably little public discussion.' That's why I'm writing this series. Mayer continued: '(yet) it represents a radically new and geographically unbounded use of state-sanctioned lethal force. And, because of the C.I.A. program's secrecy, there is no visible system of accountability in place, despite the fact that the agency has killed many civilians inside a politically fragile, nuclear-armed country with which the U.S. is not at war.'"
"As Whitlock emphasizes, there is 'fierce opposition from Afghan officials, who say it could undermine their fragile justice system and trigger a backlash against foreign troops.'
The Afghan family survivors of those inadvertently but terminally killed nonterrorist men, women and children in implementing this hit list are deeply angry at this lethal operation by foreign forces including us.
Afghanistan's deputy foreign minister for counter-narcotics operations, Gen. Mohammad Daud Daud, says that he's grateful for this NATO-U.S. help 'in destroying drug labs and stashes of opium,' but about those killings, he adds the names on the hit list are not told to Afghan officials.
Says Daud: 'They should respect our law, our constitution and our legal codes,' Daud said. 'We have a commitment to arrest these people on our own.' Note: Arrest, not kill instantly."
"As Whitlock emphasizes, there is 'fierce opposition from Afghan officials, who say it could undermine their fragile justice system and trigger a backlash against foreign troops.'
The Afghan family survivors of those inadvertently but terminally killed nonterrorist men, women and children in implementing this hit list are deeply angry at this lethal operation by foreign forces including us.
Afghanistan's deputy foreign minister for counter-narcotics operations, Gen. Mohammad Daud Daud, says that he's grateful for this NATO-U.S. help 'in destroying drug labs and stashes of opium,' but about those killings, he adds the names on the hit list are not told to Afghan officials.
Says Daud: 'They should respect our law, our constitution and our legal codes,' Daud said. 'We have a commitment to arrest these people on our own.' Note: Arrest, not kill instantly."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)