Stealth Wealth Tax | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary

Stealth Wealth Tax | Richard W. Rahn | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made it worse by imposing a tax on nominal savings income, not just on inflation-adjusted income. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution gave the federal government the right to impose a tax on "incomes." A change in the price level caused by inflation is not income by any economic or sensible definition of the word. The IRS, in fact, recognizes that inflation is not income because it adjusts the individual income tax brackets each year to offset inflation. Yet it tries to impose a tax on the "imaginary income" of those who receive interest and capital gains. It cannot have it both ways. The Constitution does not grant the federal government the right to impose an individual wealth tax, which is what a tax on imaginary income is, nor has Congress legislated such a tax.'

'We have a situation in which tens of millions of American retirees are receiving real negative returns on their hard-earned savings yet the federal government, whose primary job is to ensure liberty and protect person and property, is, in essence, stealing from them.'

'Burden-Sharing' Basics | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

'Burden-Sharing' Basics | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'What Obama and Buffett ignore is the fact that people like Buffett go to great lengths to keep much of their money "invisible" to the taxman.'

'The average income-tax rate of those earning between $1 million and $10 million was 29.5 percent in 2009, according the same IRS data that Buffett cites.

Now, raising income-tax rates, as both Obama and Buffett propose, would barely affect Buffett: His actual salary is only $100,000 (which also explains how he pays less than his employees do in payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare).'

'In 1977, the capital-gains tax was 39.9 percent — and realized gains amounted to less than 1.57 percent of GDP. From 1987 to 1996, when the tax was 28 percent, realized gains rose to 2.3 percent of GDP. Since 28 percent of 2.3 is larger than 39.9 percent of 1.57, the lower tax rate clearly raised more tax revenue.

From 2004 to 2007, when the cap-gains tax was 15 percent, realized gains amounted to 5.2 percent of GDP — so again, the lower tax rate raised more tax revenue.'

'It is easy to advocate a higher tax rate on capital gains, but it is even easier to avoid paying that higher tax rate. Choosing to pay tax on capital gains and dividends is usually voluntary — and when the rate gets too high we run short of volunteers.'

Hitler’s Best Kept Secret?

Hitler’s Best Kept Secret?: 'Adolf Hitler had a huge reason to kill Jews, because they helped him to finance his war-machine. Every time he seized the assets of wealthy Jewish families, it meant money in his bank. Big money. Cash, adding up to many billions of dollars came directly from their murder. According to those who have access to the details, he financed a massive 30 per cent of the German war effort by killing Jewish families and stealing their wealth.'

Gas against wind | The Rational Optimist…

Gas against wind | The Rational Optimist…: 'Wind turbines slice thousands of birds of prey in half every year, including white-tailed eagles in Norway, golden eagles in California, wedge-tailed eagles in Tasmania. There’s a video on Youtube of one winging a griffon vulture in Crete. According to a study in Pennsylvania, a wind farm with eight turbines would kill about a 200 bats a year. The pressure wave from the passing blade just implodes the little creatures’ lungs. You and I can go to jail for harming bats or eagles; wind companies are immune.'

'The wind farm requires eight tonnes of an element called neodymium, which is produced only in Inner Mongolia, by boiling ores in acid leaving lakes of radioactive tailings so toxic no creature goes near them.'

Abolish the Department of Homeland Security | David Rittgers | Cato Institute: Commentary

Abolish the Department of Homeland Security | David Rittgers | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Shockingly, the cost of the new headquarters roughly equals what we've averaged annually on homeland security grant programs to cities and states. That's part of the political appeal of "homeland security." It allows politicians to wrap pork in red, white and blue in a way not possible with defense spending. Not every town can host a military installation or build warships, but every town has a police force that can use counterterrorism funds to combat gangs or a fire department that needs recruits or a new fire station.'

'A study by professors John Mueller and Mark Stewart found that in order to survive a cost-benefit analysis, the past decade's increased homeland-security expenditures "would have to deter, prevent, foil or protect against 1,667 otherwise successful [attempted Times Square car bomb]-type attacks per year, or more than four per day."'

Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme? - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily

Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme? - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily: It's possible for everyone in the entire community to "live below his means," that is, to consume less than his income and to save. The economy is then physically capable of reducing the output of consumption goods (TVs, sports cars, steak dinners, etc.) and increasing the output of investment or capital goods (drill presses, fertilizer, MRI machines, etc.). In the future, the larger quantities of various tools and equipment make the workers more productive than they otherwise would have been. That's why the standard of living can rise; the community is physically capable of cranking out more goods and services because of the past investments.

A Teachable Moment Courtesy of Solyndra | Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary

A Teachable Moment Courtesy of Solyndra | Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'The fact that federal loan guarantees were even necessary for Solyndra tells us that few, if any, lenders thought that giving the firm money was a very good idea. Given the fact that lenders who bet "right" on companies with strong prospects but insufficient capital are lenders who will make money, we can rest assured that hundreds if not thousands of bank loan officers took a long, hard look at Solyandra and said ... no thanks. Are we to believe that President Obama knows more than all of these profit-hungry capitalists about Solyndra's real prospects in global solar energy markets?'

'systematic evaluations of federal programs find no evidence that 60 years of federal energy tech spending have produced more benefits than costs.'

The Real Solution to the Debt Problem - David S. D'Amato - Mises Daily

The Real Solution to the Debt Problem - David S. D'Amato - Mises Daily: 'within a fiat-money system, public debt increases "at a much faster rhythm" than even the distended money supply. Pointing to the United States since 1971 as an example, Professor H�lsmann notes that while the money in circulation "increased by the factor 6," the federal government's debt grew by a factor of 20.'

Taking Liberties: Bright Lights, Big Trouble | Fox News

Taking Liberties: Bright Lights, Big Trouble | Fox News: '“It's illegal because you're warning someone,” he explained. “It's the same thing as saying, 'run, here comes the cops,' You're obstructing a cop from doing his lawful duty.”'

It's illegal to warn someone?!?

Job-Killing Politicians, Modern Military Hawks, and Hapless Central Banks | Edward H. Crane | Cato Institute: Commentary

Job-Killing Politicians, Modern Military Hawks, and Hapless Central Banks | Edward H. Crane | Cato Institute: Commentary: 'Someone did a review of the employment growth during the tenures of the various GOP presidential candidates who have been governors. That would include Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry, and Gary Johnson. You remember Johnson, don't you, the former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, a dark blue state? Well, it turns out that the highest percentage increase in employment was in New Mexico!

When asked to take credit for this, the libertarian Johnson demurred. I didn't do anything, he said, other than get out of the way and let the entrepreneurs create jobs.'