The human mind treats a new idea
the same way the body treats a strange protein;
it rejects it.
PB Medawar
Were the Tsarnaev Brothers Acting Alone?
In yesterday's post, I inferred, based on what I had seen to date, perhaps the Boston Marathon bombing suspects were standalone, but some new details are emerging: the Mirror reports the FBI is targeting a 12-member sleeper cell, the older brother who died in a gun battle with police had links to radicalized Islamic sites on a video portal and recently traveled to Russia (training mission?), the US and Russia shared certain information after the attacks, and the bombs were more sophisticated than originally reported. Obviously identification of 12 members is unusually specific.
I am not surprised to hear Sen. McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Graham (R-SC) argue for the treatment of captured Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as "an enemy combatant". Everything I've seen, including the above cited piece, suggests that the brothers were more low-level operatives with limited right to know than masterminds. Tsarnaev is an American citizen and is entitled to full constitutional protections and a fair trial.
Neil Diamond in Post-Attack Boston Yesterday
Obama's Shameful Political Exploitation of the Newtown Tragedy, Gabby Giffords, etc.
I think that surviving family members have a right to express their opinions, however misguided under emotional duress; but let's not kid ourselves: progressive Democrats have been trying to manipulate the behavior of other people for decades, in this case gun control. To use survivors of national tragedies as props for selling bad, ineffectual policy on raw emotion vs. reason is ethically bankrupt; school safety is a local/state responsibility, not federal.
The best discussion I heard on the latter on Sunday talk soup where Chris Wallace pointed out there were other soft targets like school buses, malls, etc.: where do you draw the line? First, on public property like school sites, government has a specific safety responsibility. Second, we must look at the overall trend of violent crime, not anomalous events (see above Cato interview). Short of a police state, it's difficult in life to eliminate risk; I had a classmate in a philosophy class back at OLL whom died in an auto accident. One of the coeds in an adjoining women's dorm had a fatal accident in the shower. Some private-sector vendors (obviously with a vested interest) offer safety audits and related products/services (e.g., here). For a more comprehensive critique on all of the parties using the Newtown tragedy see this blog rant.
Stand With Rand and Other ProLiberty Candidates
The Liberty Candidates website identifies 5 fundamental policy positions:
A Liberty Candidate will Defend the Great American Principles of
- Individual Liberty
- Constitutional Government
- Sound Money
- Free Markets
- A Non-interventionist Foreign Policy.
Some Tax Friendly States
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| States Without Sales Tax Courtesy of Kiplinger |
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| States Without Income Tax Courtesy of Kiplinger |
First of all, HT to Kiplinger, which has published comparative state tax summaries for retirees. There are nuances in taxation by source, e.g., private vs. public pensions, social security, 401K/IRA distributions, etc.
There are reasons why I've brought up these two charts; first we have the Internet sales tax kerfuffle and a bill seems likely to be passed by the Senate over the days ahead, based on an earlier vote. Current law since a 1992 SCOTUS ruling allows state sales tax collection if the Internet vendor has a physical presence in the state. If the customer is from another state, the vendor does not need to collect sales taxes relevant to the customer's location. States often provide self-reporting mechanisms for consumer vs. vendor payment of sales taxes, often called a "use tax". (For example, suppose I lived near the PA border and Maryland just raised taxes on beer and cigarettes (which I never buy) higher than in PA; I might go across the border and stock up on those items. Maryland would not be happy about my cutting them out of the purchase, because they figure I'll bring my purchases home to use or consume--hence consumption tax.) The amount of voluntary self-paid use taxes tends to be modest.
Amazon, curiously enough, supports the current legislation, which requires vendors to collect use taxes; the effort to force the largest online retailer Amazon to collect use taxes led this effort to be called by some sources the "Amazon tax".
I have a nuanced position on this issue. The intent of the tax is clearly anti-competitive; it effectively constitutes a tariff on out-of-state purchases. Of course, local/state government (and, needless to say, public sector unions) are looking as revenue windfalls to avoid making painful spending cuts. If I purchase something long distance, I have to pay a delivery charge; if the item is defective or damaged in shipment, it's more difficult to get a replacement or refund; I often have to wait to receive my shipment, and if I'm not home to sign for the purchase... Yet the vendor transaction is made out of state; Maryland provides no services for that vendor. All the vendor is doing is having the item delivered. Delivery services pay their fair share of local/state taxes.
So I would oppose the Internet sales tax as proposed, at least as a local/state issue. It's especially unfair to vendors of the 5 states not charging sales taxes since their local vendors are being forced to process differing taxes for their out-of-state customers, something not required for brick-and-mortar stores.
The intent of the Constitution is to set up a free market among the states, and the power of tariffs is reserved for the Congress; hence I see the proposed law as unconstitutional in principle. Now if the Congress was to propose, say, a flat 5% online purchase consumption tax which it optionally shared with transaction states, I might be more receptive.
The no-income tax "Gang of 9" may soon have new members: Louisiana, Nebraska, Kansas, and North Carolina are considering related tax reform. How can they do that? Some states get by with higher property and/or sales taxes. North Carolina is looking at extending the sales/use tax to services.
Summarizing, I oppose the convoluted Internet sales tax as anti-competitive and discriminatory in effect, designed to discourage Internet commerce, a growing enterprise. Noncompetitive local businesses need to compete better on price, service, and selection. Local/state governments need to live within their means. Among other things, they need serious collective bargaining and pension reforms, privatization efforts, "true cost" user fees (e.g., transit fares, public park admissions, etc.), etc.
Some conservatives might disagree with the idea of a federal VAT or sales tax, which I hinted at just above. I see it as a way of balancing revenues, from anti-growth progressive income taxes, of providing more of an incentive to save and invest, while making the income tax flatter, i.e., as part of comprehensive tax reform.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Glenn Foden and Townhall |
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Temptations, "My Girl"
