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The Minimum Wage Delusion, and the Death of Common Sense | Cato Institute: "Workers who retain their jobs are made better off but only at the expense of unskilled, mostly young, workers who either lose their jobs or can’t find a job at the legal minimum."
Monday, May 20, 2013
Electoral College Was Framers' Antidote to Popular Vote | Cato Institute
Electoral College Was Framers' Antidote to Popular Vote | Cato Institute: "The Framers meticulously crafted an electoral model that reduced sectionalism and reinforced minority rights. Instead, popular voting would favor regions with high voter density and large states over small. “One man, one vote” may be the rallying cry of a democracy; but that is not our form of governance.
We are a constitutional republic; political outcomes are not always determined by majority rule. … For example, it takes two-thirds of Congress to override presidential vetoes, approve treaties, impeach a president, or expel a member of Congress."
We are a constitutional republic; political outcomes are not always determined by majority rule. … For example, it takes two-thirds of Congress to override presidential vetoes, approve treaties, impeach a president, or expel a member of Congress."
At Last, Justice for Locked-in Juveniles? | Cato Institute
At Last, Justice for Locked-in Juveniles? | Cato Institute: "Children who end up in juvenile courts often do not get due process protections like written complaints presenting the charges against them … or meaningful assistance of counsel"
“They languished over long weekends without proper hearings, were not read their Miranda rights and received crucial court documents just before hearings, if they received them at all …”
"students were jailed for infractions as minor as talking back to teachers or wearing socks that violated school dress codes.
“Some students had been shipped 80 miles to a juvenile detention center without probable cause or legal representation.” "
“They languished over long weekends without proper hearings, were not read their Miranda rights and received crucial court documents just before hearings, if they received them at all …”
"students were jailed for infractions as minor as talking back to teachers or wearing socks that violated school dress codes.
“Some students had been shipped 80 miles to a juvenile detention center without probable cause or legal representation.” "
More than 85,000 veterans treated last year over alleged military sex abuse, report says | Fox News
More than 85,000 veterans treated last year over alleged military sex abuse, report says | Fox News: "More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness stemming from sexual abuse in the military,"
"It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they've had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care. There's no documentation required. They don't need to have reported it at the time,"
"The VA says 1 in 5 women and 1 in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma"
"It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they've had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care. There's no documentation required. They don't need to have reported it at the time,"
"The VA says 1 in 5 women and 1 in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma"
Friday, May 17, 2013
Woman stung by mom's 29-year-old Social Security debt
Woman stung by mom's 29-year-old Social Security debt: "I'm not the one that received these checks. I'm not the one that cashed the checks, and I am the one that is being punished for it"
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Documents: Miss. ricin letters suspect tried to evade law enforcement days before arrest | Fox News
Documents: Miss. ricin letters suspect tried to evade law enforcement days before arrest | Fox News: "They say Dutschke hid under blankets in a friend's truck on April 24 and "appeared to attempt to elude law enforcement."
They say the friend and Dutschke drove "an evasive route" that took two hours to go 22 miles to a house.
Dutschke slipped away and was located the next day about 70 miles away in Ashland."
Maybe he thought he was being followed?!?
They say the friend and Dutschke drove "an evasive route" that took two hours to go 22 miles to a house.
Dutschke slipped away and was located the next day about 70 miles away in Ashland."
Maybe he thought he was being followed?!?
Businesses Should Have the Right to Make Their Case | Cato Institute
Businesses Should Have the Right to Make Their Case | Cato Institute: "Imagine a legal system that presumed you guilty until you prove your innocence. Imagine you not only had to prove the accusations against you false, but also to disprove other, unspecified charges, which prosecutors thought about filing against you but didn’t.
Imagine further that when the trial was over, the judge could decide your fate by inventing his own theory of how you might have committed the crime, and convict you merely because he could imagine that you did wrong.
Finally, imagine that when you tried to prove yourself innocent, the government could force you to stop simply by telling the judge—without any proof—that it thought you were guilty."
"Because he milked his cows and bottled the milk himself, Hettinga was exempt from federal regulations that forbid the sale of milk below certain minimum prices. That exemption enabled Hettinga to sell milk at much cheaper prices than large national dairy conglomerates could, and they didn’t like the competition. They got Congress to pass a law aimed solely at Hettinga’s company, forcing him to raise his prices and squeezing him out of the market.
But when he sued, arguing that singling him out in this way violated his right to due process of law, the court dismissed the case without trial—not on the basis of any evidence, but simply because the government claimed that the law was reasonable. That alone was enough, the judge said, because Hettinga, as a businessman, came within the “rational basis” test; evidence was beside the point."
"Dr. Mark Baumel, a Delaware physician, wanted to start a chain of clinics to screen patients for colorectal cancer, a disease that costs 50,000 American lives every year. Yet when he tried to set up a shop in Virginia, he found that the state’s “certificate of need” law makes it illegal to buy the necessary scanning equipment without government permission—and the government won’t give permission if another nearby clinic already has a scanner, even if that clinic doesn’t offer the same screening services."
Imagine further that when the trial was over, the judge could decide your fate by inventing his own theory of how you might have committed the crime, and convict you merely because he could imagine that you did wrong.
Finally, imagine that when you tried to prove yourself innocent, the government could force you to stop simply by telling the judge—without any proof—that it thought you were guilty."
"Because he milked his cows and bottled the milk himself, Hettinga was exempt from federal regulations that forbid the sale of milk below certain minimum prices. That exemption enabled Hettinga to sell milk at much cheaper prices than large national dairy conglomerates could, and they didn’t like the competition. They got Congress to pass a law aimed solely at Hettinga’s company, forcing him to raise his prices and squeezing him out of the market.
But when he sued, arguing that singling him out in this way violated his right to due process of law, the court dismissed the case without trial—not on the basis of any evidence, but simply because the government claimed that the law was reasonable. That alone was enough, the judge said, because Hettinga, as a businessman, came within the “rational basis” test; evidence was beside the point."
"Dr. Mark Baumel, a Delaware physician, wanted to start a chain of clinics to screen patients for colorectal cancer, a disease that costs 50,000 American lives every year. Yet when he tried to set up a shop in Virginia, he found that the state’s “certificate of need” law makes it illegal to buy the necessary scanning equipment without government permission—and the government won’t give permission if another nearby clinic already has a scanner, even if that clinic doesn’t offer the same screening services."
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Same Sex Parenting: What Do the Children Say?
Same Sex Parenting: What Do the Children Say?: "Those who contacted me all professed gratitude and love for the people who raised them, which is why it is so difficult for them to express their reservations about same-sex parenting publicly.
Still, they described emotional hardships that came from lacking a mom or a dad. To give a few examples: they feel disconnected from the gender cues of people around them, feel intermittent anger at their “parents” for having deprived them of one biological parent (or, in some cases, both biological parents), wish they had had a role model of the opposite sex, and feel shame or guilt for resenting their loving parents for forcing them into a lifelong situation lacking a parent of one sex."
Still, they described emotional hardships that came from lacking a mom or a dad. To give a few examples: they feel disconnected from the gender cues of people around them, feel intermittent anger at their “parents” for having deprived them of one biological parent (or, in some cases, both biological parents), wish they had had a role model of the opposite sex, and feel shame or guilt for resenting their loving parents for forcing them into a lifelong situation lacking a parent of one sex."
No More Tax-Paid Presidential Pyramids | Cato Institute
No More Tax-Paid Presidential Pyramids | Cato Institute: "Though the libraries’ construction is privately funded, they’re managed by the National Archives and Records Administration, using federal tax dollars.
Last year, it cost the American taxpayer some $75 million to keep them open."
Last year, it cost the American taxpayer some $75 million to keep them open."
Why Is There a Dole for Farmers? | Cato Institute
Why Is There a Dole for Farmers? | Cato Institute: "most of the federal budget has nothing to do with the poor. In fact, Congress favors middle-class and corporate welfare, plus a plethora of lesser special interests."
"Even today two-thirds of American farm production, such as meat, fruit, and vegetables, is not subsidized. New Zealand got rid of all farm supports in 1984, and its farmers prospered."
"Uncle Sam manages to simultaneously keep prices up, drive prices down, generate massive surpluses, and create terrible shortages. Washington pays dairy farmers to add milk cows and then to slaughter milk cows."
“Subsidies are intended to compensate farmers for low prices that result from an oversupply of crops, but granting larger subsidies to farmers who plant the most crops merely encourages them to plant yet more crops, driving prices even lower and leading to calls for larger subsidies. Furthermore, while paying some farmers to plant more crops, the Conservation Reserve Program pays other farmers to plant fewer crops.”
“If we can’t eliminate the least valuable spending, then we will be condemned to perpetually large deficits, huge tax increases or indiscriminate cuts in many federal programs, the good as well as the bad.”
"Even today two-thirds of American farm production, such as meat, fruit, and vegetables, is not subsidized. New Zealand got rid of all farm supports in 1984, and its farmers prospered."
"Uncle Sam manages to simultaneously keep prices up, drive prices down, generate massive surpluses, and create terrible shortages. Washington pays dairy farmers to add milk cows and then to slaughter milk cows."
“Subsidies are intended to compensate farmers for low prices that result from an oversupply of crops, but granting larger subsidies to farmers who plant the most crops merely encourages them to plant yet more crops, driving prices even lower and leading to calls for larger subsidies. Furthermore, while paying some farmers to plant more crops, the Conservation Reserve Program pays other farmers to plant fewer crops.”
“If we can’t eliminate the least valuable spending, then we will be condemned to perpetually large deficits, huge tax increases or indiscriminate cuts in many federal programs, the good as well as the bad.”
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