Quote of the Day
If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts,he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming,
he will refuse to believe it.
If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason
for acting in accordance to his instincts,
he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.
The origin of myths is explained in this way.
Bertrand Russell
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
Chart of the Day: How the War on Immigration Leads to Organized Crime
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| Courtesy of Cato Institute |
The Plaintiff (Pam Harris) in Yesterday's SCOTUS Victory Against Forced Unionism
Immigration: Conservative vs. Libertarian?
I'm actually more towards John Stossel's older "more open borders" point of view. I'm disappointed that he's succumbed to Milton Friedman's "let's fix the welfare state first" nonsense; Friedman knew that this was impossible due to the Populist Freeloader Jackass Party; does it make sense to compound that policy error with the additional rejection or unconscionable restriction of win-win immigration? In the past, I've migrated among states primarily for economic opportunities (e.g., faculty appointments, new IT positions), not based on social welfare policies. Immigrants often face a higher cost of living, and they are leaving a support system and families; they are looking for opportunities to better their own lives and lives of their children and often come from a culture which prizes family values, hard work and academic accomplishment. Perhaps Stossel's tougher border protection preference is based on personal 9/11 experiences, but I see a lot of it as little better than the massively costly TSA system which is mostly a Kabuki dance to mollify travelers whom have been alarmed by predictable fearmongering propaganda by Statists justifying their empire-building. What we need is a vastly liberalized immigration system, rather than the unconscionable, self-defeating, anti-growth restrictions since the 1920's; we need a system that allows for more accelerated family-related migrations, liberalized temporary worker systems, and expedited immigration paths for professional/entrepreneurial workers, including those earning graduate degrees in the US or with credentials for in-demand professions like medicine/healthcare.
Facebook Corner
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| Via Libertarian Catholic |
You mean we shouldn't be forced to subsidize the cost of other people's licentious lifestyles and abortifacients... Say it ain't so, Joe...
(Independent Institute). "Instead of extracting qualified medical personnel out of the private sector to provide exclusive care at VA-operated facilities, the VA should provide vouchers that would allow veterans to directly receive general medical care from the multitude of private sector health care facilities where it is provided."
I also disagree. My care a the Sioux Falls VA hospital was ten times better than any Army hospital and the veterans get priority at VA facilities. Why would I want to compete with the general population? The OEF/IEF liaison is my advocate at the VA. Who is one my side in a public hospital- President Obama? Ya right.
Who the hell gave you the right to deprive other veterans the right to more timely, reliable, better quality private sector alternatives to the Procrustean alternative of a centralized, unresponsive pencil-pushing government bureaucracy?
Then there's the other side of the coin. I have received EXCELLENT care from the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in Muskogee, OK. They seem to be a very proactive, attentive and vibrant medical center, and I am thankful to have them as my primary care provider. They may be a lone instance of how the VA should operate, but, in my experience, they are a shining example of what was originally intended when the VA was organized.
An overpriced, failed federal bureaucracy that gives uneven quality care is not to be trusted; shame on you for promoting its corrupt management!
(Cato Institute). "Whether federalism enhances liberty depends on circumstances and institutional design." NEW Cato study, out today!
I haven't read the full piece yet, but we've seen a number of violations of free market principles between states embracing protectionist/mercantilistic policies (consider, for instance, unit banking and traditional state regulation of healthcare). Congress was granted interstate commerce authority to ensure a free market but instead we've seen majoritarian suppression of markets (e.g., Carolene Products), and centralized planning of agricultural products, among other perversions.
(National Review). Poor Obama, the press keeps calling him names.
Not a smidgen of integrity or self-awareness in the Oval Office. Really--Crybaby-in-Chief? Wah-wah-wah: the other kids I screw over are calling me names...
(Cato Institute). As immigration enforcement increases, the price remaining human smugglers can charge increases. Learn what that means for immigration policy: http://bit.ly/1r9pPwB
I think decreasing supply is the point!
If the idea of policy resulting in corruption and organized crime is your point.
(Cato Institute). "A ruling is expected from the D.C. Circuit in Halbig any day now."
Win or lose, this one goes to SCOTUS, and the question is how the Chief Justice will rule. I don't think Roberts will allow Obama to write subsidies into the law that weren't in the law. The Democrats explicitly put the bribe there to lure states into establishing exchanges. Since their plan didn't work, they want to unilaterally rewrite the legislation. To quote the infamous Wendy's ad from the 80's: "Where's the beef?" The President cannot rewrite legislation to his preference; it's lawlessness. Even a "progressive" DC circuit will be hard pressed to come up with a rationale for lawlessness, but if they do, it will be reversed.
(Cato Institute). NEW VIDEO: Crony capitalism, corporate welfare or corporatism -- whatever you call it, Ralph Nader believes he can assemble a coalition to end it. But, is there really broad agreement between libertarians, conservatives and progressives?
The only coalition Nader is capable of building is a majority that he should not get any closer to the White House than as a tourist. I listened to his recent Cato Institute book event, and it took patience just to listen through his leftist cliches and talking points. Cronyism is an artifact of politics; why should we be surprised that legal plunderers sustain their power through bread and circuses? The only true way to eliminate corruption is by design: limit the power and budget of government. Nader is a disingenuous, contemptible leftist; he wants to blame prostitution on business when politicians are the whores.
its silly. There is no real difference between corporate welfare and any other kind. Anytime the feds spend money it goes to a business. If they build a road, well that money goes to construction companies. Food stamps, well, that money goes to the retailers who are, get this, businesses.
Over two-thirds goes to individual benefits; also all taxes ultimately were stolen by government from businesses--so your point is some businesses may get some of their stolen loot back?
(Bastiat Institute). "'Tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities increased by 27% between 2008-09 and 2013-14...Obama proposes to make it easier for students to handle these costs...All of that debt assistance is chasing its own tail. It drives up the price of college, which increases the demand for student loans to pay the tab, which then inspires calls for 'steps to make student loan debt more affordable'"
This is just another rigged government-dominated market; you lower the apparent cost, you drive demand. In this case, taxpayers take the hit for artificially low interest rates that don't reflect actual risks (dropouts, unmarketable degrees, etc.), and we have guaranteed funding for top-heavy administrative staffs, various construction projects of little educational merit, and dubious overpaid, unproductive, overrated, senior professors (speaking as a former junior professor) and indulgent publications/research of little practical significance. There is no feedback loop that links objective graduate performance measures, no validated value metrics to academic compensation, employment prospects, etc. All the "progressives" intend is to expand "free" education empires, no matter the cost to the economy, building on their failed record of mediocre government monopolies of lower education with flatline performance measures and macro-outcomes (e.g., graduation; functional literacy) despite throwing trillions at the problem and corrupt, inflated, subjective schemes that bear no relationship to objective measures of incremental student performance gains.
(Mercatus Center at George Mason). The financial sinkhole swallowing Detroit is spreading throughout the country at an alarming rate. Here's one proposal that could turn things around: http://bit.ly/1pSOlyd
Economically illiterate trolls should keep their class-warfare crackpot opinions to themselves. Their pathological, morally corrupt Politics of Envy is not the answer. The economic fascists have controlled the White House and one or both chambers of Congress since 2009 and despite unprecedented Federal Reserve, we have the weakest, sputtering economy in decades. The only way to rise all boats is economic growth, and the best way to get there is to keep the fascists from screwing with the economy.
Now going back to the original topic, the problem I have with the Mercatus Center position, which I agree with, is that it won't help with the cash crunch association with the Baby Boomer pensions that aren't going away. Mercatus' position is fine 50 years from now, but the cash crunch is already hurting places in Michigan, California, and elsewhere. And all the crony unionists will be bitching for taxpayers to bail them out of grossly underfunded pensions. So, Mercatus Center, I think you've side-stepped the real problem, which will be oncoming over the next 3 or 4 decades.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Eric Allie via IPI |
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| Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall |
Dan Fogelberg, "Make Love Stay". Awesome song, one of my 3 favorites ("Same Old Lange Syne", "Rhythm of the Rain").
