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Where to Cut the Federal Budget? Start by Killing Corporate Welfare | Doug Bandow | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Imagine how Americans would suffer if, for instance, ethanol producers didn't receive multiple subsidies. Imagine the national hardship if homeowners had to pay the full cost of buying their houses. Imagine the mass weeping and gnashing of teeth if companies had to pay for their own research!"
"Although liberal Democrats often are perceived as anti-business, they usually are more pro-government. Which means that many support corporate welfare as enthusiastically as do Republicans, who usually are pro-business even if perceived to be anti- (or at least not quite as pro-) government."
"hile participants in the marketplace are imperfect and make mistakes, the marketplace involves people and institutions from across the nation and even world. Their collective judgment will almost always be better than that of ambitious and self-interested politicians and apparatchiks who control government."
"while the Left tends to rail against special interests and their role in election campaigns, its support for ever larger government inevitably enhances the role of special interests and their role in election campaigns. If government is actively enriching and destroying companies and entire industries, they have a right to influence government. The more booty that is available for political winners, the more business will spend and the harder it will fight to achieve victory."
Thursday, September 20, 2012
The Bipartisan Imperial Presidency | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
The Bipartisan Imperial Presidency | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "[Paul Ryan is ] one of "only six Republicans who voted yes on the auto bailout and both bank bailout votes," "
"in areas where the president has much more discretion than he does over the budget — there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two tickets. Among those questions: Can the president launch wars at will, subject American citizens to military detention and assassinate them via drone strike?"
"You can't expect the American presidency to operate as the Supreme Warlord of the Earth while abroad and remain a constitutionally constrained chief magistrate at home."
"A government big enough to whack its citizens with drones is big enough to make them buy health insurance."
"in areas where the president has much more discretion than he does over the budget — there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two tickets. Among those questions: Can the president launch wars at will, subject American citizens to military detention and assassinate them via drone strike?"
"You can't expect the American presidency to operate as the Supreme Warlord of the Earth while abroad and remain a constitutionally constrained chief magistrate at home."
"A government big enough to whack its citizens with drones is big enough to make them buy health insurance."
Stop Global Economic Malpractice | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary
Stop Global Economic Malpractice | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Politicians tend to like bigger government because it gives them more power — so they have a natural inclination to try to increase taxes rather than cut spending. The problem is the type of tax that does the least damage to economic growth and job creation is a tax on consumption that hits everyone. Politicians know the greatest chance of public approval for a tax increase is aiming at relatively few people and, particularly, people who can be characterized as evil — such as "the rich." "
Monday, September 17, 2012
Hyperinflation Is Not Inevitable (Default Is) - Gary North - Mises Daily
Hyperinflation Is Not Inevitable (Default Is) - Gary North - Mises Daily: "[Government] has made specific promises to the entire working population. These promises have the force of law. They also cannot be escaped by means of short-term monetary expansion. It is possible for the government for a brief period of time to get its hands on money that is depreciating, but there are cost-of-living escalators built into Social Security payments."
"The total obligation of the federal government to voters that is not funded at the present time is now $222 trillion."
"This is a problem created by every group of politicians in the world who have overpromised what each national government is going to be able to deliver in the future."
"What possible incentive is there for the Federal Reserve System to hyperinflate the money to zero value, when the political obligations of the old-age retirement system will survive the time of hyperinflation?"
"The government is going to have to renege on promises made to the vast majority of people who are now dependent on the federal government for their retirement income, and it will also default on the workers who are still in the workforce, who are paying each payday into Social Security and Medicare."
"The total obligation of the federal government to voters that is not funded at the present time is now $222 trillion."
"This is a problem created by every group of politicians in the world who have overpromised what each national government is going to be able to deliver in the future."
"What possible incentive is there for the Federal Reserve System to hyperinflate the money to zero value, when the political obligations of the old-age retirement system will survive the time of hyperinflation?"
"The government is going to have to renege on promises made to the vast majority of people who are now dependent on the federal government for their retirement income, and it will also default on the workers who are still in the workforce, who are paying each payday into Social Security and Medicare."
Friday, September 14, 2012
Eliminate Impediment to Growth | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary
Eliminate Impediment to Growth | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary: "The usual objection to eliminating taxes on capital income is that it would largely benefit high-income households, who get much of their income from interest, dividends and capital gains.
The fairness objection is not convincing, however, because American taxation of capital income leads capital to countries with lower rates of taxation. The big losers are then the people who might have earned wages and salaries in the businesses using that capital. "
The fairness objection is not convincing, however, because American taxation of capital income leads capital to countries with lower rates of taxation. The big losers are then the people who might have earned wages and salaries in the businesses using that capital. "
Teachers strike carries risks for young athletes | Fox News
Teachers strike carries risks for young athletes | Fox News: "he and his football teammates have been holding daily practices on their own, without coaches, who are almost all union members."
Thursday, September 13, 2012
MediScare Returns | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary
MediScare Returns | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "the most optimistic estimate puts Medicare's future unfunded liabilities at more than $38.6 trillion. More realistic projections suggest the shortfall could actually top $90 trillion.
To put this in perspective, the total wealth of every American earning more than $1 million totals roughly $11 trillion. So we could confiscate every penny belonging to every millionaire and billionaire in America and still cover less than a third of Medicare's red ink, even using the lowest estimate for its unfunded liabilities. There is no way to fix Medicare's finances just by raising taxes on the rich."
"The Congressional Budget Office recently pointed out that virtually none of the president's proposed Medicare reforms actually saved money in practice."
To put this in perspective, the total wealth of every American earning more than $1 million totals roughly $11 trillion. So we could confiscate every penny belonging to every millionaire and billionaire in America and still cover less than a third of Medicare's red ink, even using the lowest estimate for its unfunded liabilities. There is no way to fix Medicare's finances just by raising taxes on the rich."
"The Congressional Budget Office recently pointed out that virtually none of the president's proposed Medicare reforms actually saved money in practice."
Obama's Overreaches | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary
Obama's Overreaches | Michael D. Tanner | Cato Institute: Commentary: "an even bigger concern is the president's assertion that he has the power to waive those requirements in the first place, especially since the law clearly appears to prohibit such waivers."
"On issue after issue, the president insists that "we can't wait." He won't wait for a Congress that may not agree with his ideas for remaking America; he will simply act all by himself."
"On issue after issue, from immigration to housing to presidential appointments, the president has claimed the power to make law unilaterally without congressional action or approval. This is not a question of policy — I actually agree with the president on some of these issues — but of the usurpation of legislative authority. President Obama is dangerously weakening the separation of powers that is at the core of our system of government.
We are, after all, a government of laws and not of men. That should be true even when the president can't wait."
"On issue after issue, the president insists that "we can't wait." He won't wait for a Congress that may not agree with his ideas for remaking America; he will simply act all by himself."
"On issue after issue, from immigration to housing to presidential appointments, the president has claimed the power to make law unilaterally without congressional action or approval. This is not a question of policy — I actually agree with the president on some of these issues — but of the usurpation of legislative authority. President Obama is dangerously weakening the separation of powers that is at the core of our system of government.
We are, after all, a government of laws and not of men. That should be true even when the president can't wait."
California's Prop 37: A Feast for Lawyers | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary
California's Prop 37: A Feast for Lawyers | Walter Olson | Cato Institute: Commentary: "California's fabled Proposition 65, enacted in 1986, requires the labeling of products that expose consumers to substances linked to cancer. That's a pleasant-sounding idea too, but 26 years later the law has benefited almost no one but litigators. Even as cancer remains just as much of a problem in California as elsewhere, a cadre of lawyers in the state have made many, many tens of millions of dollars filing inadequate-labeling suits against purveyors of such products as candles, fireplace logs, Christmas lights, hammers, billiard cue chalk, matches, grilled chicken, life-saving drugs, brass doorknobs, car exhaust in parking garages, and on and on. (Most of the money in the resulting settlements goes to the lawyers, which is one reason defendants often describe Prop 65 litigation as legalized extortion.)"
Paul Ryan: Don't Believe the Hype | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary
Paul Ryan: Don't Believe the Hype | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Ryan was a loyal soldier throughout the free-spending George W. Bush years, voting for No Child Left Behind and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, among other debacles. At the dawn of the Tea Party, Ryan lent his support to the auto and bank bailouts. He voted for TARP and gave "one of the most hysterical speeches" demanding others do the same"
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