Aim at the sun and you may not reach it;
but your arrow will fly far higher than
if you had aimed at an object on a level with yourself.
F. Hawes
Yet Another JOTY Nominee
Remember Ray "Chocolate City/School Bus" Nagin, the former New Orleans mayor during the Katrina disaster, not carrying out a preexisting evacuation plan (in fact leaving the school buses in low-lying areas where they flooded out unused during the crisis). In what I consider one of the most incredulous election results ever I remember, Nagin went on to be reelected. It turns out that the Feds are charging Nagin with 21 corruption counts, including alleged post-Katrina kickbacks.
The Nanny of Prince George
I remember heading north on the Metro Green Line one afternoon when a lady of color asked me about the PG stop. I was confused--parental guidance, until I saw her get off the Prince George Plaza stop in Hyattsville, MD. I don't suffer fools gladly; this city councilwoman seems to believe she was elected to limit other people's choices about what and where to eat. (No doubt if it was up to this lady, Little Caesar's would have to reduce their tagline from "Pizza! Pizza!" to one "Pizza!") Weight is a complex, personal issue including activity level; for example, I have had a weight problem for much of my adult life, and I almost never eat out. Then you see the great Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps whom is the spokesman for a national fast food chain. When I go out to lunch (typically fast food) with work colleagues, most of the customers I see are at a healthy weight: what's the purpose? Should the healthy people in line be deprived of a preferred eatery because a few patrons like me are overweight?
We need to focus on what Elton John sang: "Philadelphia Freedom". (I'm embedding Hall and Oates' version because the video displays the lyrics; Darryl Hall delivers a good interpretation.) The Reason video features a spokesperson for the Center for Consumer Freedom. I have also embedded a tongue-in-cheek cartoon imagining how the Center for Science in the Public Interest (which advocates food and nutrition policies) might approach perennial Girl Scout cookie fundraisers (I think I'll pass on Broccolian Bonanza or, say, Zucchinian Doublestuff Horseradish.)
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| Courtesy of ConsumrrFreedom |
We all believe that no one who serves our country should have to fight for a job once they return home.I hate with a passion the Obamas' rather transparent pandering to military personnel and their families. Michelle Obama commented on retail giant Walmart's new HR gimmick of guaranteeing honorably discharged veterans jobs. First, Walmart is a key favorite target of their fellow leftists as the soulless destroyer of small town businesses. Second, the government also provides preferential hiring bonus points in civil service.
I don't like government intervention in hiring decisions. Employers need to hire workers based on intrinsic merit (e.g., work ready, experience, productivity, etc.) If an employer hires lesser qualified workers, it affects the bottom line It may well be that military experience is ideal for Walmart purposes, although that's not obvious to me; I could see how that supply line experience might dovetail with Walmart's legendary logistics operations.
But from a first principles approach, i.e., equal protection, I don't see why a military person is or should be "more equal"; they may fight guerrillas for their very lives, but they should get hiring consideration over, say, a father of four whom has been mostly unemployed for 3 years? When I left the military, I didn't seek or want special treatment; all I wanted was a fair shot to prove myself, nothing more, nothing less, not cuts in the hiring line. (No, I did not serve in a war zone, and I do not identify myself as a veteran on job applications.)
If I was a manager at Target or Costco, I might worry Walmart is getting ready to invade my sales territory...
Laurence Kotlikoff on the Fed Reserve
(HT to Gary North whom featured the clip in a post). I did not realize this Boston University economics professor actually ran for President last year for third-party efforts but ended his candidacy in the late spring when one of the parties decided against fielding a ticket.
I have not read much of Kotlikoff yet (I have some objections to his social security plan (which I see as too redistributive for my tastes)), but I like how he shifts on finance and Medicare reforms to a less statist solution and his version of a fair tax reflects my concern shifting some of the tax burden to consumption.
A recent Yahoo Finance op-ed on the trillion dollar coin kerfuffle is priceless; he basically points out the Fed has been monetizing the debt through bond purchases. (I will point out these "trillion dollar coins/bonds" took place under the debt cap and were not intended to work around it, but I do object to de facto monetizing the debt, which is not only corrosive to the currency but morally hazardous: why should this Congress (particularly the leftist-controlled US Senate and Presidency) engage in serious fiscal reform?)
Some other key insights:
Our country is completely, entirely, and thoroughly broke. In fact, we’re in worst fiscal shape than any developed country, including Greece. We have fantastically large expenditures coming due in the form of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid payments to the baby boom generations – I.O.U.s, which we’ve conveniently kept off the books.
In 2007, the monetary base – the amount of money our government printed in its 231 years of existence totaled $800 billion. Today it totals $2.8 trillion. And it increased by this amount via the process just described – the Treasury’s effective minting out of thin air two $1 trillion platinum coins; all this money loses purchasing power. So we are effectively taxed $2 trillion.
What the advocates of the $1 trillion coin are, therefore, proposing is to tax us in a hidden way. This is not just taxation without representation. It’s also taxation with misrepresentation. The fact that a Nobel Laureate in economics would propose this without making clear this fact raises the question of whether his prize should be revoked.
Today, 12 cents out of ever dollar being spent by our government is being printed. As indicated, the money supply has more than tripled. While inflation, let alone hyperinflation, has not yet occurred, everything is in place for this outcome.I think Krugman's Nobel Prize will get revoked after Obama's. It'e often difficult to see the stealth decline in purchasing power but I would say in part we see it in the health care system where government policies are exacerbating prices for goods and services. I think we are also seeing some anomalies because of Fed policies, e.g., stocks at a 5-year high in a tepid growth economy. I love Kofilkoff's pointing out the hidden tax of inflation; the Fed is indeed indirectly taxing us without representation.
Political Humor
Happy birthday to first lady Michelle Obama. She turned 49 years old today. She told a reporter she’d like a nice gift from Barack, but nothing extravagant. Oh, don’t worry. Obama is very responsible when he's spending his own money. - Jay Leno
[Jay, Sasha and Malia actually bought the gift, but Daddy O got all the credit (pun intended).]
Cirque du Soleil just announced that it is cutting 400 jobs. So on the downside, hundreds of clowns will lose their jobs. But on the bright side, it’ll free up, like, two spaces in the parking lot. - Jimmy Fallon
[On the plus side, lots of clowns are able to find work in this economy. Consider, for instance, the Congress...]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Stylistics, "You Make Me Feel Brand New". This concludes my Stylistics series. Next up: the Cars.
