Taking Judicial Matters Seriously | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Taking Judicial Matters Seriously | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Justices are supposed to apply the law to cases before them — to call balls and strikes impartially, as then-Judge Roberts put it — not decide cases according to liberal, conservative or any other political values. Yet ever since liberals viciously attacked Robert Bork in 1987, that's the way we've judged nominees.

The reason is simple: In large measure, we no longer live under the Constitution. Instead, after turn-of-the-century Progressives came to power during the New Deal, the Court began reading the document not as a limit on government but as a font of endless government powers and programs.

But those programs would eventually have to be adjudicated in the courts, which meant judges would ultimately rule over vast areas of life that the Constitution had left either to the political branches or to private ordering under the common law. And since much of that adjudication would require judges to make not legal but value judgments, it would be important to know just what values they would bring to the court. Thus has politics trumped law, and a Constitution of limited government been turned on its head."

Russ Feingold: In the News - Press Releases

Russ Feingold: In the News - Press Releases: "The American people deserve to know how trillions of their tax dollars have been used.� While millions of Americans continue to look for jobs, the Fed has been doling out huge sums of money to corporations and financial institutions, some of which may have contributed to the financial crisis. Senator Sanders’ amendment will mean more transparency for the Federal Reserve, so the public will have a better idea of how it is spending taxpayer dollars. Unfortunately, the defeat of the Vitter amendment means American taxpayers will still not have a complete picture of how one of the most powerful government agencies makes policy and spends their tax dollars."

Health Bill Floods Business in Paper | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Health Bill Floods Business in Paper | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Section 9006(b)(1) — come on, I know you've read it — which requires that businesses provide a 1099 form to every vendor with whom they do more than $600 worth of business over the course of a year. A 1099 is similar to a W-2 form, but for income other than wages. Businesses will also have to file a copy of the form with the IRS."

"To pay your rent, you have to issue a 1099. Buy a new set of tools, issue another one. Software, office supplies, airline tickets, gas for your truck, they all could require filing a 1099 — and entail a huge new administrative burden.

The burden falls on the other partner in the transaction too. The business providing the goods and services would have to collect 1099s from all its customers and integrate them with the rest of its tax records."

Do Capitalists Produce Nothing? - D.W. MacKenzie - Mises Daily

Do Capitalists Produce Nothing? - D.W. MacKenzie - Mises Daily: "Investors do not produce any actual physical product; they make the planning of production more rational. The efforts of 'workers who produce real goods' are wasted if production plans are defective. Matthews does not see how successful capitalists can shift production toward goods that consumers want most urgently. Profits derive from the sale of goods that garner the highest revenues from consumers over costs. Few people can predict market trends. Investors can earn or lose billions because their decisions determine whether the work of millions of ordinary people is productive or a waste of time"

The Cairo Garbage Calamity - Anders Mikkelsen - Mises Daily

The Cairo Garbage Calamity - Anders Mikkelsen - Mises Daily: "The documentary shows there was a functioning system of garbage collection that had co-evolved with the norms of Egyptian society. The government then stepped in to 'solve the problem.' It forced everyone to pay money to companies using western techniques that hadn't been adapted to the realities of Egyptian society. The companies couldn't cope with the quantity of garbage or managing Egyptian employees. The western-style companies apparently didn't recycle as intensively and couldn't provide low-cost daily garbage pickup like the garbage village system.

The garbage companies and government would also try to persuade people to change their habits to use the bin system that was convenient for companies, but less convenient than the old system. The companies were also unable to figure out how to efficiently collect the garbage that was lying around in easy-to-access piles on the side of the streets.

At the end of the film we learn that the government then killed all the pigs in garbage villages. The pigs were the key component for processing the vast quantities of organic garbage Cairo produces year round. As one would expect, this has vastly increased the amount of rotting garbage on the streets. The situation was so bad that even New York Times articles on the subject are clear that this is an example of government failure."