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Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The U.S. Should Be Wary of Arming Syrian Rebels | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary
The U.S. Should Be Wary of Arming Syrian Rebels | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Washington has a dreadful track record of being manipulated by thugs and charlatans in other countries masquerading as committed democrats. The decision to aid the Afghan mujahideen during the 1980s ended up strengthening radical Islamic forces."
Sanctuary: Florida church invites fugitives to surrender | Fox News
Sanctuary: Florida church invites fugitives to surrender | Fox News: "A Florida church wants to help flocks of fugitives get right with the law, and will even host their court appearances via a closed-circuit TV system that links the house of worship to the local judge."
"This is the third time the church has partnered with law enforcement and the courts to hold the event. Durham said the event netted about 38 fugitives when it was held last year."
"This is the third time the church has partnered with law enforcement and the courts to hold the event. Durham said the event netted about 38 fugitives when it was held last year."
Beyond Allies and Adversaries | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary
Beyond Allies and Adversaries | Ted Galen Carpenter | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The binary approach to global affairs had unfortunate policy consequences in other respects. The inability of U.S. policy makers to accept the reality that a nation might wish to be neither friend nor foe led to CIA-orchestrated coups against the left-leaning but independent nationalist governments in Iran and Guatemala. Instead of tolerating such ideological ambiguity, the Eisenhower administration viewed those regimes as nothing more than Soviet puppets and reacted accordingly.
Unfortunately, the binary attitude persisted long after the 1950s. It was a major factor that prevented the United States from recognizing that North Vietnam's communist regime was primarily nationalist and was not going to be a surrogate of either the Soviet Union or China. A similar blind spot impelled Washington to embrace such corrupt and thuggish "friends" as South Korea's Park Chung-hee, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza and Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko."
Unfortunately, the binary attitude persisted long after the 1950s. It was a major factor that prevented the United States from recognizing that North Vietnam's communist regime was primarily nationalist and was not going to be a surrogate of either the Soviet Union or China. A similar blind spot impelled Washington to embrace such corrupt and thuggish "friends" as South Korea's Park Chung-hee, Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza and Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko."
U.S. Targeted Kill Lists for Next Generations? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary
U.S. Targeted Kill Lists for Next Generations? | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: Romney: "Well, I believe we should use any and all means necessary to take out people who are a threat to us and our friends around the world. And it's widely reported that drones are being used in drone strikes, and I support that and entirely, and feel the president was right to up the usage of that technology and believe that we should continue to use it, to continue to go after the people that represent a threat to this nation and to our friends."
Four Months Later, I'm Still Not over the Obamacare Ruling | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary
Four Months Later, I'm Still Not over the Obamacare Ruling | Ilya Shapiro | Cato Institute: Commentary: "by letting Obamacare survive in such a dubious manner — I call it a "unicorn tax," a creature of no known constitutional provenance that will never be seen again — Roberts undermined the trust people have that courts are impartial arbiters rather than political actors."
"What had I (and everyone else) missed? The possibility that the ruling would be based on something other than competing legal theories. That is, eight justices decided the health care caseson the law — four finding that the Constitution limits federal power, four that constitutional structure must yield to "Congress' capacity to meet the new problems arising constantly in our ever-developing modern economy" — and one had other concerns on his mind."
"the whole reason we care about the Court's independence and integrity is so it can make the tough calls while letting the political chips fall where they may. Had the Court struck down Obamacare, it would have "merely" been a high-profile legal ruling, just the sort of thing for which the Court needs all that accrued respect and gravitas. Instead, we have a strategic decision dressed up in legal robes, judicially enacting a new law."
"What had I (and everyone else) missed? The possibility that the ruling would be based on something other than competing legal theories. That is, eight justices decided the health care caseson the law — four finding that the Constitution limits federal power, four that constitutional structure must yield to "Congress' capacity to meet the new problems arising constantly in our ever-developing modern economy" — and one had other concerns on his mind."
"the whole reason we care about the Court's independence and integrity is so it can make the tough calls while letting the political chips fall where they may. Had the Court struck down Obamacare, it would have "merely" been a high-profile legal ruling, just the sort of thing for which the Court needs all that accrued respect and gravitas. Instead, we have a strategic decision dressed up in legal robes, judicially enacting a new law."
Romney's Other 47% Problem | Harvey Sapolsky and Benjamin H. Friedman | Cato Institute: Commentary
Romney's Other 47% Problem | Harvey Sapolsky and Benjamin H. Friedman | Cato Institute: Commentary: "But if he still wants to attack those who freeload off of U.S. taxpayers, there is a better target: Our wealthy overseas allies.
Forty-seven percent is also roughly the U.S. share of global military spending. Our annual $700 billion-plus military budget exceeds the next 10 biggest military budgets combined. Much of that money buys forces needed to defend allies against threats they could afford to meet themselves. Alliances that once served the U.S. national interest have become a subsidy to rich allies."
"while Americans spend about $2,700 per capita annually on the military, NATO allies average around $500.
More than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, Europeans sit in cafes while over 80,000 American service personnel still help guard Europe against Russia, which now has a GDP around the size of Spain and Portugal combined."
Forty-seven percent is also roughly the U.S. share of global military spending. Our annual $700 billion-plus military budget exceeds the next 10 biggest military budgets combined. Much of that money buys forces needed to defend allies against threats they could afford to meet themselves. Alliances that once served the U.S. national interest have become a subsidy to rich allies."
"while Americans spend about $2,700 per capita annually on the military, NATO allies average around $500.
More than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, Europeans sit in cafes while over 80,000 American service personnel still help guard Europe against Russia, which now has a GDP around the size of Spain and Portugal combined."
Big Bird's Fuzzy Defenders March on Washington | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary
Big Bird's Fuzzy Defenders March on Washington | Trevor Burrus | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Big Bird, All Things Considered, or NOVA. Those things will almost assuredly continue to exist if federal funding, which is only 15% of public broadcasting's budget, is taken away."
"Nevertheless, if we cannot cut funding from something that doesn't even need federal funds to exist, then we are truly unprepared to meet the serious budget challenges that lie ahead."
"Each side has its sacred cows and, between the two, it seems that nearly all the federal government's budget is off-limits from serious cutting."
"Before the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, non-commercial broadcasting thrived. Because it took no federal money, National Educational Television was able to run hard-hitting documentaries that challenged the status quo with titles such as Who Invited US?, The Poor Pay More, Black Like Me and Inside North Vietnam."
"What would remain is a fully independent, non-commercial entity that depends on the generosity of people to keep going, which, save 15%, is essentially what we have now."
"Nevertheless, if we cannot cut funding from something that doesn't even need federal funds to exist, then we are truly unprepared to meet the serious budget challenges that lie ahead."
"Each side has its sacred cows and, between the two, it seems that nearly all the federal government's budget is off-limits from serious cutting."
"Before the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, non-commercial broadcasting thrived. Because it took no federal money, National Educational Television was able to run hard-hitting documentaries that challenged the status quo with titles such as Who Invited US?, The Poor Pay More, Black Like Me and Inside North Vietnam."
"What would remain is a fully independent, non-commercial entity that depends on the generosity of people to keep going, which, save 15%, is essentially what we have now."
Drone-War Double-Think | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
Drone-War Double-Think | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "as the death toll from drone warfare over Pakistan approaches 3,000, "the number of 'high-level' targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low — estimated at just 2 percent." "
"What's happening is that we're using the technology to target people we never would have bothered to capture."
"What's happening is that we're using the technology to target people we never would have bothered to capture."
The Coming Regulatory Tsunami | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary
The Coming Regulatory Tsunami | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "During the 13 quarters after the bottom of the recession Reagan inherited, the economy grew at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent. In the 13 quarters since the bottom of the recession Mr. Obama inherited, the economy has grown at just an average rate of 2.2 percent, or just a little more than a third of the Reagan recovery. Could it be that their different attitudes and actions toward regulatory burdens had anything to do with this difference in performance?"
Price Gouging Saves Lives in a Hurricane - David M. Brown - Mises Daily
Price Gouging Saves Lives in a Hurricane - David M. Brown - Mises Daily: "If we expect customers to be able to get what they need in an emergency, when demand zooms vendors must be allowed and encouraged to increase their prices. Supplies are then more likely to be sustained, and the people who most urgently need a particular good will more likely be able to get it. That is especially important during an emergency. Price gouging saves lives."
"If the price is kept at $4.39 a bag because the drugstore owner fears the wrath of State Attorney General Charlie Crist and the finger wagging of local news anchors, the first five people who want to buy ice might obtain the entire stock."
"Indeed, under this second scenario—the market scenario—vendors are scrambling to make ice available and to advertise that availability by whatever means available to them given the lack of power. Vendors who would have stayed home until power was generally restored might now go to heroic lengths to keep their stores open and make their surviving stocks available to consumers."
"Rationing of price-controlled ice would still maintain an artificially low price for ice, so the day after the storm hits there would still be no economic incentive for ice vendors to scramble to keep ice available given limited supplies that cannot be immediately replenished. And while it is true that rationing might prevent the person casually purchasing four bags of ice from obtaining all four of those bags (at least from one store with a particularly diligent clerk), the rationing would also prevent the person who desperately needs four bags of ice from getting it."
"If the price is kept at $4.39 a bag because the drugstore owner fears the wrath of State Attorney General Charlie Crist and the finger wagging of local news anchors, the first five people who want to buy ice might obtain the entire stock."
"Indeed, under this second scenario—the market scenario—vendors are scrambling to make ice available and to advertise that availability by whatever means available to them given the lack of power. Vendors who would have stayed home until power was generally restored might now go to heroic lengths to keep their stores open and make their surviving stocks available to consumers."
"Rationing of price-controlled ice would still maintain an artificially low price for ice, so the day after the storm hits there would still be no economic incentive for ice vendors to scramble to keep ice available given limited supplies that cannot be immediately replenished. And while it is true that rationing might prevent the person casually purchasing four bags of ice from obtaining all four of those bags (at least from one store with a particularly diligent clerk), the rationing would also prevent the person who desperately needs four bags of ice from getting it."
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