What Explains Crystal Meth? - Mark Thornton - Mises Daily

What Explains Crystal Meth? - Mark Thornton - Mises Daily: "During cocaine's heyday, meth was nearly extinct on the illegal market.

This changed with Reagan's 'War on Drugs,' which was effective in raising prices for illegal drugs by imposing greater risks and thus higher costs on production, distribution, and consumption. The initial shock of the war on drugs sent black-market entrepreneurs back to the drawing board; they needed to reduce their risk and their costs. What they came back with included highly potent marijuana, crack cocaine, and crystal meth."

"When government enacts a prohibition, increases enforcement, or increases penalties on a good such as alcohol or drugs, it inevitably results in substitution to more adulterated, more potent, and more dangerous drugs."

Corporate Taxes Are Self-defeating | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Corporate Taxes Are Self-defeating | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "From a purely economic standpoint, it makes no sense to tax corporations at all, because only people pay taxes, not legal entities. The corporate tax is paid by customers in terms of higher prices, by suppliers in terms of lower volumes of business, by employees in terms of lower wages and by stockholders in terms of lower returns."

Health-'Reform' Facts: Lame Defenses | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

Health-'Reform' Facts: Lame Defenses | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin warns that if we account for all the bill's costs, the health-care law adds at least $500 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years and increases the deficit by as much as $1.5 trillion over the decade beyond that.

Repeal, therefore, would yield a tremendous savings."

No Surrender on Debt Ceiling | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

No Surrender on Debt Ceiling | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "If the debt ceiling is not increased, the Treasury can prioritize interest and debt payment to avoid a default and essentially put the government on a stringent pay-as-you-go basis. Would that involve extreme cuts in government spending? Certainly. But it could be done, if it had to.

If Republicans hold tough on the debt limit, they will have the public strongly on their side. According to the most recent Ipsos/Reuters poll, fully 71 percent of Americans oppose raising the debt ceiling. In fact, that number didn't change even after people were told that 'not raising the debt limit would damage the U.S. sovereign debt rating, which is like our credit rating: it would seriously damage our credibility abroad, would make it much more difficult for us to borrow in the future, and would likely push up interest rates.'"

The Politics of Deflation - Vijay Boyapati - Mises Daily

The Politics of Deflation - Vijay Boyapati - Mises Daily: "[Inflation] is a secret rip-off and thus the perfect vehicle for the exploitation of a population through its (false) elites, whereas deflation means open redistribution through bankruptcy according to the law."

The Constitution Needs More Than Lip Service from the House GOP | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Constitution Needs More Than Lip Service from the House GOP | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Boehner's new rule changes little, because since 1997, the House rules have already required a constitutional citation for every bill that leaves committee. Obamacare leaped that speed bump with a perfunctory reference to — surprise! — the Commerce clause."

"If Boehner can't imagine any unnecessary, unconstitutional federal programs, why on earth does he think it's important to insist that his colleagues review the Constitution before they legislate?"

Limiting Free Speech Isn't the Answer | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary

Limiting Free Speech Isn't the Answer | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The argument for free speech holds simply that the harms from government restrictions on speech are worse than the harms from free speech itself. If government can determine what constitutes acceptable speech, it will use that power to restrict speech in inappropriate ways.

Opponents of the civil rights movement, for example, could readily have argued that inflammatory speech by some civil rights leaders posed a violent threat, especially since a few civil rights advocates, like the Black Panthers, presented themselves as well-armed, and indeed committed (a few) acts of violence. Civil rights opponents could then have used real or alleged connections between violent and nonviolent groups to restrict speech by all civil rights advocates."

"Free speech does mean, of course, that politicians have the right to call for misguided restrictions on speech. Let's just hope the rest of us have the good sense to ignore them."

Put Off Badly Needed Budget Cuts? Austerity Doesn't Mean No Growth | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

Put Off Badly Needed Budget Cuts? Austerity Doesn't Mean No Growth | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: "If spending borrowed money is really as effective a 'stimulus' as they assume, why are countries with the biggest budget deficits doing so much worse than those with the smallest?"

Is There a Conservative Case for QE? - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily

Is There a Conservative Case for QE? - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily: "Many rank-and-file conservatives are recognizing that it makes no sense to lambast Obama's fiscal-stimulus package in one breath and praise Bernanke's monetary stimulus in the next."

"if spending were really the trick to having a growing economy, then the world would have eliminated poverty long ago. No, it's production that is the real obstacle; consumption can take care of itself."

"Beckworth actually calls a policy designed by a guy appointed by the president, running an institution that sits atop a cartel of the nation's banks, 'market-based.'"

Another Genius Idea from Central Planning - Ralph Reiland - Mises Daily

Another Genius Idea from Central Planning - Ralph Reiland - Mises Daily: "the National Labor Relations Board (now with its first Democratic majority in a decade) announced on December 14 that, under a newly proposed federal rule, private employers will be required to display pro-unionizing posters in their businesses.

'The planned rule,' reported the Associated Press, 'would require businesses to post notices in employee break rooms or other prominent locations to explain workers' rights to bargain collectively, distribute union literature or engage in other union activities without reprisal.'"

Justice Department seeks mandatory data retention | Privacy Inc. - CNET News

Justice Department seeks mandatory data retention | Privacy Inc. - CNET News: "Criminal investigations 'are being frustrated' because no law currently exists to force Internet providers to keep track of what their customers are doing, the U.S. Department of Justice will announce tomorrow."

You could also say that criminal investigations "are being frustrated" because no law currently exists to force all people to wear GPS tracking devices. Taking away privacy does make it easier for criminal investigations but is it worth it?

GOP pushing for ISPs to record user data | Privacy Inc. - CNET News

GOP pushing for ISPs to record user data | Privacy Inc. - CNET News: "I fail to see where the Fourth Amendment permits the government to require dragnet surveillance of Internet users."

Strict Gun Control Will Seem Like War on Drugs | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary

Strict Gun Control Will Seem Like War on Drugs | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Strict controls and prohibition, moreover, don't eliminate guns any more than drug prohibition stops drug trafficking and use. Prohibition might deter some potential gun owners, but mainly those who would own and use guns responsibly."

"Even if strict controls or prohibition had prevented Loughner from obtaining a gun, he might have still carried out a violent attack. Timothy McVeigh's 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people, illustrates perfectly that a determined lunatic has multiple ways to inflict harm.

Beyond being ineffective, gun prohibition might even increase violence by creating a large black market in guns. So if gun laws follow the path of drug laws, we can expect more violence under gun prohibition than in a society with limited or no controls."

Congress Rediscovers the Constitution | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Congress Rediscovers the Constitution | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Congress must acknowledge honestly that it has not kept faith with the limits the Constitution imposes. It should then stop delegating its legislative powers to executive agencies. Congress should either vote on the sea of regulations the executive branch is promulgating or, far better, rescind or defund those regulations, policies and programs that never should have been promulgated in the first place"

Can We Stop Calling Them "Consumer Protections" Now? | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Can We Stop Calling Them "Consumer Protections" Now? | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "At the same time Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius was threatening to bankrupt insurers who claim ObamaCare is increasing premiums by more than 1 percent, her own employees estimated that one of the law's regulations — the requirement to purchase unlimited annual coverage — will increase some people's premiums by 7 percent or more when fully implemented."

"The ban on discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions has caused insurers to stop selling child-only policies in dozens of states. The dependent-coverage mandate was cited as one of the reasons spurring a Service Employees International Union local in New York City to eliminate coverage for 6,000 dependent children.

In 2008, Congress passed a similar mandate that supporters said would expand coverage for mental-health and substance-abuse services. Instead, that mandate spurred the Screen Actors Guild to eliminate mental-health coverage for 12,000 of its lower-paid members. It had the same effect on 3,500 members of the Chicago's Plumbers Welfare Fund, and 2,200 employees of Woodman's Food Market in Wisconsin. Other employers are curtailing access to mental-health services thanks to this mandate, and some insurers have stopped selling such coverage altogether."

"This supposed consumer protection also punishes efforts to reduce fraud and improve quality by reviewing claims. Thus, in addition to increasing premiums, it may expose patients to unnecessary and even harmful services."

"Sebelius has so far issued 222 waivers, which raises the question: if these were really consumer protections, why waive them?"

"rules that were supposed to protect children have stripped sick kids of their health insurance and made it harder for parents to find coverage for kids who may soon fall ill. Other rules have reduced wages and discouraged hiring amid high unemployment."

Welcome to the President's Private Prison | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Welcome to the President's Private Prison | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'indefinite detention as a long-term Obama administration policy makes clear that the White House ALONE (emphasis added) will manage a review process for those it chooses to hold without charge of trial."

"To deprive someone of their liberty for what could very well be their entire lifetime without charging them with any crime and without having the evidence necessary to convict them in a regular court strikes at the heart of our core constitutional values."

Time to Play Dr. No | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Time to Play Dr. No | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "A former New York City fraud investigator has estimated that fraud and abuse account for as much as 40% of Medicaid spending in New York — an amount that dwarfs all future budget gaps combined.

ObamaCare makes this unmanageable program even worse. The health-care bill's Medicaid mandate forces states to expand eligibility, to enroll more people who were already eligible, and gives states less flexibility to eliminate abuse."

"Medicaid's 'matching grants' mean that when states eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, they only get to keep (at most) half the savings. So they don't try even half as hard as they should."

A Brighter Look at Milgram's Obedience Study - Michael Kitchens - Mises Daily

A Brighter Look at Milgram's Obedience Study - Michael Kitchens - Mises Daily: "Thus, only in the direct presence of the authority figure do you find that most people will obey malevolent orders. Overall, what we find is that authority is a relatively weak way to establish and maintain social order."

Campaign For Liberty — Votes For Sale

Campaign For Liberty — Votes For Sale: "I say if liberals and moderates want to raise the debt ceiling the fiscal conservatives should hold out and one at time agree to vote for it in return for $250 million in spending cuts being passed. This means that if they need 40 votes they need to pass $10 Billion in spending cuts to get their bill passed."

Campaign For Liberty — Voter ID

Campaign For Liberty — Voter ID: "Surely the danger posed to society from vote tampering is far greater than that posed by an underage puff on a Camel. Acts of voter fraud are certain to occur in each election cycle, while acts of terrorism are ridiculously improbable; and yet the government makes me show it a state-issued photo ID, a travel voucher, and my unit before I can fly on plane that does not belong to them."

Governor says Wisconsin ‘Open For Business’ | New Richmond News | New Richmond, Wisconsin

Governor says Wisconsin ‘Open For Business’ | New Richmond News | New Richmond, Wisconsin: "The [“Welcome to Wisconsin”] sign generally shows the name of the current governor. Walker’s “Open For Business” sign will be posted instead of a sign with his name."

Campaign For Liberty — A More Perfect Union

Campaign For Liberty — A More Perfect Union: "The problem with compulsory unionization is simple enough: it is incompatible with a commitment to equal rights. Each of us has the right to form a union and bargain collectively; and each of us has the equal right to work union-free. The Constitution does not select one over the other."

"If the union adds value, as it claims, employees will see this first hand and readily join. If union labor is superior, as it claims, employers will gladly choose to employ more of it. If unionism were in everyone's best interest, as it claims, then everyone will choose it enthusiastically.

In fact, if unions would guarantee the quality, safety, and availability of their workforce, employers would have a powerful incentive to choose union labor exclusively. The more perfect union is the one which individuals are free to choose, not forced to join. If liberty offends, then let the unionists be offended."

Burns Diary Exposes the Myth of Fed Independence - Doug French - Mises Daily

Burns Diary Exposes the Myth of Fed Independence - Doug French - Mises Daily: "a Fed chairman has to do what the president demands or 'the central bank would lose its independence.'"

"The Fed chair [Burns] writes more than once that he did not favor closing the gold window, but that ultimately it had to be closed because the government was incapable of action and leadership. But, of course, Burns and company were implementing Nixon's New Economic Policy, which involved plenty of heavy-handed government action: a wage-and-price freeze, a 10 percent surcharge on imports, an investment tax credit of 10 percent, and a 'temporary' closing of the gold window that became very permanent.

Burns wrote that he 'assured the President that I would support his new program fully,' notwithstanding his reservations about the gold suspension."

A Message of Hope from the Dismal Science - Art Carden - Mises Daily

A Message of Hope from the Dismal Science - Art Carden - Mises Daily: "Almost all economic progress has been confined to the last two and a half centuries, which has (for me, at least) changed the way I look at history, look at my life, read my Bible, and all sorts of things. We've done well, but the fact that our progress is confined largely to the last 250 years suggests that we should tread lightly and avoid hubris. The past shows us that economic growth is not automatic, and under the wrong conditions, self-interest will be channeled into predation rather than production."

"for all of our wars and bloodshed you are today less likely to die at the hands of another person than at any point in history. In China and India, we are witnessing the largest movement of human beings out of abject poverty in the history of our species.

An average life several hundred years ago would be considered a humanitarian disaster today."

"The poor are not better than you and me. They're just poorer. We bourgeois do not make them better off by being ashamed of being rich, since it's not our fault that they are poor, and there is therefore no original sin in our being rich. We should instead work to make them rich, too, by spreading the used-up liberal capitalism."

"just because some people cannot be trusted with liberty does not mean that other people can or should be trusted with power."

"Calling President Obama a socialist or a Nazi short-circuits the discussion and puts our friends on the Left on the defensive. It obscures the substance of the analysis. It's also intellectually lazy, and it's something I don't tolerate from my students."

The Faults of Fractional-Reserve Banking - Thorsten Polleit - Mises Daily

The Faults of Fractional-Reserve Banking - Thorsten Polleit - Mises Daily: "'any contractual agreement that involves presenting two different individuals as simultaneous owners of the same thing (or alternatively, the same thing as simultaneously owned by more than one person) is objectively false and thus fraudulent.'[4] A 'fractional reserve banking agreement implies no lesser an impossibility and fraud than that involved in the trade of flying elephants or squared circles.'"

"Arguing in favor of fractional-reserve banking would in fact be tantamount to saying that it is legal (or rightful or even lawful) that Mr. A does whatever he wishes with Mr. B's property — without requiring Mr. B's consent."

"fractional-reserve banking is not, as Mr. Wolf notes, 'a natural consequence of market forces.' It is a result of, and has been upheld by, government law.


In a free-market system, the practice of fractional-reserve banking would be illegal by its very nature. And so fractional-reserve banking would be ended (sooner rather than later) under the auspices of a functioning law of private-property rights."

"fractional-reserve banking under commodity money necessarily causes economic problems on a grand scale. This is because banks then engage in circulation-credit expansion — that is, they issue money through lending that is not backed by real savings.

Circulation bank credit is inflationary, and it causes economic disequilibria and overindebtedness of the private sector — in particular on the part of governments. It is also the very cause of the 'boom-and-bust' cycle."

Taxes and the Top Percentile Myth | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

Taxes and the Top Percentile Myth | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'the upper 1% of the income distribution earned 19.6% of total income before tax [in 2004], and paid 41% of the individual federal income tax.' No other major country is so dependent on so few taxpayers."

"if tax rates on high incomes, capital gains and dividends were increased in 2013, the top 1%'s reported share of before-tax income would indeed go way down. That would be partly because of reduced effort, investment and entrepreneurship."

Obama's Bull's-eye on U.S. Citizens | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Obama's Bull's-eye on U.S. Citizens | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "An extrajudicial killing policy under which individuals are added to 'kill lists' after secret bureaucratic processes and remain on the lists (for months at a time) even in the absence of any reason to believe that they pose a threat of imminent harm goes far beyond what the Constitution and international law permit.'"

"In Zimbabwe — where President Robert Mugabe, while voicing agreement with the Bush administration's policies in the war on terrorism, "declared foreign journalists and other critics of his regime 'terrorists' and suppressed their work." His version of our "enemy combatants."

And in Eritrea — where the governing party arrested 11 political opponents, has held them incommunicado and without charge, and defended its actions as being consistent with United States actions after September 11"

"Even a Nazi got more due process than we today are willing to extend to U.S. citizens. Aulaqi is a traitor, to be sure, but hanging American traitors is a job for the American federal courts"

The Ozone Scare: A Retrospective - Rod Rojas - Mises Daily

The Ozone Scare: A Retrospective - Rod Rojas - Mises Daily: "Environmentalists claimed that CFCs would somehow travel 40 miles up above the surface of the earth, despite the fact that CFCs are about five times heavier than air. A common case of floating bricks, no doubt."

"The substitutes for CFC inhalers are the HFA (hydro-fluoroalkane) inhalers, which many doctors report to be of marginal effectiveness compared to the CFC version, which provided faster and longer-lasting relief from the agony of suffocation."

Why This Gigantic "Intelligence" Apparatus? - Robert Higgs - Mises Daily

Why This Gigantic "Intelligence" Apparatus? - Robert Higgs - Mises Daily: "According to retired admiral Dennis C. Blair, formerly the director of national intelligence, after 9/11 'the attitude was, if it's worth doing, it's probably worth overdoing.' I submit that this explanation does not cut to the heart of the matter. As it stands, it suggests a sort of mindless desire to pile mountains of money, technology, and personnel on top of an already-enormous mountain of money, technology, and personnel for no reason other than the vague notion that more must be better."

"the Bush administration and Congress gave agencies more money than they were capable of responsibly spending."

Revealing the Reality of Antitrust - Gary Galles - Mises Daily

Revealing the Reality of Antitrust - Gary Galles - Mises Daily: "Antitrust keeps superior products and marketing strategies from harming rivals, but since every innovation that benefits consumers takes business away from rivals, halting such innovation harms consumers. It inhibits superior firms from passing on their efficiencies to consumers in lower prices; it does so by restricting their ability to cut prices for some (without enabling them to raise prices for others), or by invoking the mythical bogeyman of predatory pricing. It also restricts their growth, even when consumers will be better served by moving more production into the hands of lower cost firms."

"[Producers] have no reason to subsidize retailers through excess markups, which would lower their profits. Producers only impose minimum retail prices when they expect to benefit, which is only true when they believe that consumers value the extra retail services bought with the higher markup more than they value the money they must spend on the increased retail price"

Fear and Control: The TSA Case - Chris Waidele - Mises Daily

Fear and Control: The TSA Case - Chris Waidele - Mises Daily: "Because getting on a plane is tougher these days, don't you think that a terrorist would just try something else? Are there terrorist bombs, fires, and shootings going on around the country on a daily basis?"

"any terrorist with the most basic intelligence will know the security procedures and find a way to circumvent or avoid them."

Missouri's Mover Monopoly | Timothy Sandefur | Cato Institute: Commentary

Missouri's Mover Monopoly | Timothy Sandefur | Cato Institute: Commentary: "the government won't let you open your doors unless you first get permission from all your existing competitors.

Bizarre as it might seem, that's just the law that St. Louis entrepreneur Michael Munie ran into when he asked the state's Department of Transportation for a permit to operate a statewide moving company. Under a seventy-year old law, MoDOT cannot issue a permit without first notifying the existing moving companies and giving them the chance to object."

They Just Hate Rich People | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

They Just Hate Rich People | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "On the one hand, we are told that the rich spend their money frivolously. Perhaps some do, but this ignores the fact that frivolous expenditures often provide jobs and income for the rest of us. Back in 1990, for example, Congress decided to impose a 'luxury tax' on such frivolous items as high-priced automobiles, aircraft, jewelry, furs, and yachts. The tax 'worked' in a sense. The rich bought fewer luxury goods — and thousands of Americans who worked in the jewelry, aircraft, and boating industries lost their jobs. According to a study done for the Joint Economic Committee, the tax destroyed 7,600 jobs in the yacht-building industry alone.

On the other hand, we are told that lower taxes on the wealthy won't help the economy because the rich don't spend enough of their money."

Campaign against WikiLeaks Is Lawless | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Campaign against WikiLeaks Is Lawless | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Terrorism ain't what it used to be. Apparently, today you can qualify just for embarrassing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

True, some secrecy is necessary, in business, war and diplomacy. And Congress and the Obama administration should take a close look at the vulnerabilities Assange has exposed. Why did an Army private have access to such a broad range of diplomatic cables, anyway?

Anyone who values the First Amendment ought to oppose the campaign to 'get' Assange by any means necessary. In a free society, you can't just 'change the law' to persecute someone you don't like, and you can't abuse your position to silence speech you oppose."

Myanmar and Russia "can now rightly say to us, 'You went after WikiLeaks' domain name, their hosting provider, and even denied your citizens the ability to register protest through donations,' all without the slightest legal authority. 'If that's the way governments get to behave, we can live with that.' "

Ethanol: Let Protectionism Expire | Harry de Gorter and Jerry Taylor | Cato Institute: Commentary

Ethanol: Let Protectionism Expire | Harry de Gorter and Jerry Taylor | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The ethanol tax credit alone costs taxpayers over $6 billion per year.

The expiration of these policies will have little, if any, impact on the U.S. ethanol industry, because the Renewable Fuel Standard requires Americans to consume an increasing amount of biofuels each year. The demand for ethanol will therefore not drop significantly even when the current tax credit (45 cents per gallon) and tariff (54 cents per gallon) expire. As a mandate, the standard acts as a built-in market for U.S. ethanol producers."

Are Tea Partiers Anti-trade? | Daniel Griswold | Cato Institute: Commentary

Are Tea Partiers Anti-trade? | Daniel Griswold | Cato Institute: Commentary: "protectionism is just another form of subsidy for politically connected producers. The same government that bailed out General Motors and Chrysler protects other special interests with tariffs and production subsidies. Will tea party members who are angry about corporate bailouts really want to carry water for the United Steelworkers union, textile magnates, and the sugar industry by supporting anti-competitive trade barriers?"

The Cuts That Weren't | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Cuts That Weren't | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "So, under the terrible 'cuts' that the commission is recommending, federal spending would still increase faster than inflation. This is the old Washington game of calling a slower increase than previously projected a 'cut.'"

"A new study by economists at Ohio State University, for example, found that since World War II every dollar of increased federal tax revenue resulted in $1.17 of increased federal spending."

Improve Legal Defense for Poor with Free-market Solution | Stephen J. Schulhofer and David Friedman | Cato Institute: Commentary

Improve Legal Defense for Poor with Free-market Solution | Stephen J. Schulhofer and David Friedman | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Indigents commonly mistrust the public defender assigned to them, viewing him as part of the same court bureaucracy that is trying to put them in prison. Nearly everyone would regard it as outrageous for one side in a civil case to have the power to appoint the other side's lawyer. And yet, in a criminal case, where the plaintiff is the state, this happens every day. If the defendant is indigent — and roughly 80 percent of felony defendants are — it is the state that selects his attorney."

"The power to select the defense attorney need only be transferred, by means of a voucher system, from the government to the person he or she will represent."

GOP readies major push for Internet transparency | Privacy Inc. - CNET News

GOP readies major push for Internet transparency | Privacy Inc. - CNET News: "Through a set of almost-radical changes that most Americans would probably view as common sense, the incoming GOP majority is set to approve rules saying that legislation must be posted online three days before a vote and that committee amendments will also be publicly posted.
Politicians' formal votes in committees will also be disclosed, and audio and video recordings will be permanently posted 'in a manner that is easily accessible to the public,' according to the rules that are scheduled for a vote tomorrow. Witness testimony and amendments must be posted within 24 hours of a hearing.

In two more nods to technology and openness, electronic devices will now be allowed on the House floor (as long as they don't impair 'decorum'), and the opening session of the new Congress will be live-streamed on Facebook at noon ET tomorrow."

That should have been done a decade ago!

"Other portions say all legislation must include statements specifying 'the power or powers granted to Congress in the Constitution to enact the bill,' and measures normally may not be considered if they 'have the net effect of increasing mandatory spending.'"

Death of M3: The Fifth Anniversary - Jire Sekar - Mises Daily

Death of M3: The Fifth Anniversary - Jire Sekar - Mises Daily: "M3 was probably the most important statistic produced by the Fed and the best leading indicator of economic activity and inflation. The Fed's lack of interest in the components of M3 can be directly linked to its inability to foresee the 2008 collapse of the financial system."

Folding the Fed | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Folding the Fed | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The Fed is in an impossible situation. It has been given multiple targets — i.e., a constant-value dollar, bank stability, consumer protection and full employment — plus being required to outguess the market. At times, these targets are in conflict with each other, and the people at the Fed cannot see the future with greater clarity than anyone else."

"If you are skeptical about abolishing the Fed, just consider the following question: Would those who voted for the Fed in 1913 have done so if they had known that:

1. After having a 125-year period of relatively stable money when the dollar was still close to its value in 1790, the dollar would be worth less than 5 cents at the end of the century?

2. The longest and severest depression the country had ever experienced would occur a mere 20 years after the creation of the Fed and that the Fed had a major responsibility for the disaster?

3. And the number of bank failures would increase and not decrease?"

Tuesday's Pearl Harbor Anniversary Spurs Reflection | Stanley Kober | Cato Institute: Commentary

Tuesday's Pearl Harbor Anniversary Spurs Reflection | Stanley Kober | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The transformation of countries from enemies to allies may be attributed to changes in national interest, but there is something else at work, and that is change at the level of the people themselves.

There are two basic approaches to preventing war. One is based on arrangements of power, on creating alliances or collective security systems that deter war through their military strength. The other is affecting the attitudes of people so they no longer perceive one another as enemies."

"Unlike the situation during the Cold War, the Chinese send more students here than any other country. This surge in Chinese students is not only a tremendous compliment to the quality of American higher education; it is also a political signal. By expressing a willingness to learn from others, they are demonstrating a willingness to change. Whatever the tensions that exist now, especially concerning human rights, the growing number of Chinese students here is a reassuring sign of hope for the future."

The impact of grief on the outside observer | Wide White

The impact of grief on the outside observer | Wide White: "But I'm thankful that there are parents who choose to tell their stories [about grief]. People like me need it. We need the perspective it gives us towards our own children, towards our parents, towards our siblings. We need it as a reminder the next time we start to lose it with our 10-month-old's fussing or our spouse's (or our own?) seemingly incredible stupidity. We need it when we're tempted to run out the door for work in the morning rather than lean in for a goodbye kiss.

Grief is hard, but we need to see it because it helps make us better at the relationships we have. We need to see it because we will experience it. We need to see it so we can walk alongside those going through it and weep with them."

A Self-Tax for Fiscal Patriots | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Self-Tax for Fiscal Patriots | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "tax cuts should go to people who pay taxes, not to people who consume taxes"

"It's always easiest to spend other people's money. Liberal legislators have proved that for years. Compassion once meant suffering with others. Then it turned into writing checks. Now — at least in Washington — compassion means making other people write checks."

"While proclaiming the importance of people paying higher taxes, most are probably pocketing their savings under the Bush tax cuts. They want their peers to pay more, but in the meantime they are living the good life."

The Fiscal Commission's Omission | Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Commentary

The Fiscal Commission's Omission | Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'At the same time, we must invest in education, infrastructure and high-value research and development to help our economy grow, keep us globally competitive and make it easier for businesses to create jobs.'

Did the panel even consider whether decades of multibillion-dollar federal 'investments' in education have actually accomplished anything? Inflation-adjusted federal spending per pupil has exploded by almost 200 percent since 1970. Yet test scores have remained essentially flat.

Might federal involvement in education be a reason why this country produces such mediocre educational results despite massive taxpayer 'investments'? The commission should have addressed that question before deciding that federal taxpayers 'must' continue funding the Department of Education."

Campaign For Liberty — Trainiacs

Campaign For Liberty — Trainiacs: "The proposed fare for a one-way ticket was $32; but that is only what the rider would pay. The non-riding taxpayer would pick up the other $68 of the $100 actual cost per trip. High speed rail is the literal incarnation of the metaphorical free ride - the fraud upon which modern liberalism is based. The more obvious fraud of this HSR project is the 'high speed' part; our train was going to trundle along at only 57 mph."

Greyhound only charges $8-$25 for the same trip!