Quote of the Day
Failure is only the opportunityStossel on Chase Oliver
tragedy at the GAY crosswalk
Tackling Robert Reich's First Two "Economic Myths"
Choose Life
Musical Interlude: Duos
Steely Dan, "Deacon Blues"
A minimalist approach to essential, transparent, accountable, flat, adaptable, responsive, solution-based government, rooted in virtuous individual autonomy, traditional values and free markets, with a bias towards reduction of government functionality, cost and scope
Quote of the Day
Failure is only the opportunitySteely Dan, "Deacon Blues"
Quote of the Day
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging onSteely Dan, "Peg"
Quote of the Day
Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong,"RIKKI DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER ", Steely Dan, A personal favorite.
Quote of the Day
I know of only one bird -Steely Dan, "Reelin' in the Years"
Quote of the Day
I am never afraid of what I know.Steely Dan, "Do It Again"
I do realize given the status quo, my strongly pro-immigration views are highly unpopular. And I don't view this essay as a vehicle of being a strident blast against the wind. Even a significant number of libertarians belong to the Rothbard/Kinsella/Hoppe wing of libertarians justifying immigration restrictions. In fact, Rothbard had a more orthodox pro-liberty perspective during his earlier years, consistent with the principles of free trade, against the corrupt protectionist special interests abusing general government authority. [Some libertarians also oppose open borders as exacerbating the unsustainable welfare state or trespassing/private property concerns.] For example, in my short 5-year career as a university professor, I worked in 3 different states (WI, TX, IL) and I went on campus visits (sponsored on-campus visits/interviews) in a mumber of others (AL, OH, UT, CA, LA, NY, and RI). I didn't need a visa or passport to migrate between states. The same thing hols true of my post-academic career in IT: I've also lived and,or worked in FL, MD, CA, SC, MO, VA, DC and AZ and seriously pursued jobs in NC, PA, DE, NH. and KS, not to mention busibess travel to OK, UT, MI, MN, NY, and GA. Going from interstate freedom of movement to international is a natural progression in principle.
I've been particularly critical of the Milton Friedman welfare system lure argument. We had strong free immigration throughout the largely uncapped nineteenth century, a key factor that made us the world's largest economy. There was no general government welfare system. The federal government had a small budget largely funded by tariffs. My Franco-American ancestors were part of the Quebec diaspora, largely motivated by a growing population outstripping province resources (e.g., available farm land). They were religious with a strong blue-collar work ethic, not unlike the recent-generation Latinos I befriended in high school and college. My maternal grandmother was proud of her weaving skills working the tough life in Fall River's textile mills. My maternal grandfather ran a mom 'n pop grocery store, somehow surviving the Depression with scores of customers never fully paying off their accounts; he talked to me about opening up his store at night for customers needing say a quart of milk or loaf of bread. My dad spent his teen summers working on a relative's farm. My relatives had a lot of pride and would never go on the government dole--and I think that's the same for millions of new immigrants and their descendants.. (Both sets of grandparents were American by birth.)
But arguing that migrants are risking their lives and savings for a bleak life afforded on government subsistence programs, which many of us consider a permanent underclass og general government dependency? Actually, blog source Peter St Onge, not exactly pro-immigrant, has pointed to employment gains which he largely attributes to migrants, presumably provided with a work permit. Why would they choose to work?
Under PRWORA, unauthorized noncitizens are not qualified aliens (see the Appendix) and thus are not eligible for most federal benefits. PRWORA defines federal public benefits as (A) any grant, contract, loan, professional license, or commercial license provided by anagency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States; and (B) any retirement, welfare, health, disability, public or assisted housing, postsecondary education, food assistance, unemployment benefit, or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual, household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States.12
The federal public benefits that meet this definition includes programs such as non-emergency Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),13 Supplemental Security Income (SSI),14 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),15 and most housing assistance programs, 16 among many others. Unauthorized noncitizens are also ineligible for Federal Pell Grants for student financial aid as well as Affordable Care Act (ACA) health care subsidies, and they may not purchase unsubsidized health care on ACA exchanges. Additionally, PRWORA prevents unauthorized noncitizens from receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) by requiring that the Social Security numbers of recipients (and spouses) be valid for employment in the United States.17
When Lincoln won the presidency in 1860, this new civil rights party stated that the GOP was “in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad.” During the darkest days of the Civil War, the Republican Party was ardently in favor of a free‐market immigration policy. The party platform of 1864 read, “[F]oreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth, development of resources and increase of power to the nation, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.”...After World War II the GOP returned to its pro‐legal immigration, anti‐illegal immigration stance–a position it has generally held throughout the past 50 years. The Eisenhower administration, with opposition from congressional Democrats, supported the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 that allowed the admission of those fleeing the aftermath of WWII. The 1950s saw more immigrants arrive in the United States than had the 1930s and 1940s combined. “The Republican party,” stated the 1956 platform, “supports an immigration policy which is in keeping with the traditions of America as a haven for oppressed peoples.”
Nov. 27, 2012-- Billionaire Donald Trump is the latest in a string of Republicans to criticize the party for failing to recognize the increasing diversity of the country."Republicans didn't have anything going for them with respect to Latinos and with respect to Asians," Trump told Newsmax.He told the site that Republicans appeared hostile toward minorities this election cycle."The Democrats didn't have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them is they weren't mean-spirited about it," he said. "They didn't know what the policy was, but what they were is they were kind."Trump also told the site that Romney's suggestion that people "self-deport" gave Hispanics the impression that Republicans do not care about them."He had a crazy policy of self-deportation, which was maniacal," Trump said. "It sounded as bad as it was, and he lost all of the Latino vote. He lost the Asian vote. He lost everybody who is inspired to come into this country."
Mexico is not our friend. They are beating us at the border and hurting us badly at economic development. They are sending people that they don’t want—the United States is becoming a dumping ground for the world.
[T]he 2007 bill died amid a confluence of hard-right opposition to legalization, union opposition to new guest worker programs, and the decision of the new Congressional Democratic majority not to prioritize the issue, despite support from a Republican president and many of his allies in Congress.
By the end of 2020, the Trump administration had reduced by more than 80 percent the number of green cards issued and drastically cut refugee arrivals by 92 percent. Some of that can be attributed to the pandemic, but the numbers of green cards and refugees started to decrease the moment Trump came into office. Additionally, he reduced the whole of the legal immigration system by half by July 2020... Starting in January 2017, our already failing immigration system faced an assault unlike any in American history … For the first time since the Refugee Act of 1980, an administration unilaterally nullified asylum law to send people back to persecution and torture.” :
Reducing legal immigration most harms refugees, employers and Americans who want to live with their spouses, parents or children, but it also affects the country’s future labor force and economic growth. “Average annual labor force growth, a key component of the nation’s economic growth, will be approximately 59% lower as a result of the administration’s immigration policies, if the policies continue,” according to an analysis from the National Foundation for American Policy. “Economic growth is crucial to improving the standard of living, which means lower levels of legal immigration carry significant consequences for Americans.”
In 2020, the removal of illegal immigrants from the interior of the United States was the lowest as an absolute number and as a share of the illegal immigration population since ICE was created in 2003 (Figure 3). Trump failed to increase removals because local jurisdictions refused to cooperate with his administration, continuing a trend begun during the Obama administration in response to their deportation efforts. As a result, the population of illegal immigrants remained about the same as when he took office
During the Trump administration, DHS made 1.4 million arrests—what it calls “encounters”—in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 (24 months). Of those people arrested, only 47 percent were removed as of December 31, 2021, which includes people arrested by Trump and removed by Biden, and 52 percent were released into the United States.Under Biden, DHS made over 5 million arrests in its first 26.3 months, and it removed nearly 2.6 million—51 percent—while releasing only 49 percent. In other words, the Trump DHS removed a minority of those arrested while the Biden DHS removed a majority. Biden managed to increase the removal share while also increasing the total removals by a factor of 3.5.
Quote of the Day
My home is not a place,Karen Carpenter, "If I Had You"
Musk seems sympathetic to the Trumpkin talking point that Navarro and Bannon were unfairly prosecuted for defying Congressional subpoenas unlike AG Garland. The fact was Trump, unlike Biden, was trying to cover up criminal behavior and used privilege to block accountability, https://t.co/OYMKGLp9ay
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 16, 2024
Leftists are so confused this is happening without "common sense gun control". https://t.co/P5oM8Zzwpd
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 16, 2024
Granted, the Biden Administration is abysmal, but there are other reasons for the bad housing market including zoning laws and Fed Reserve policy. Trusting a dude who tried to get an old woman's house condemned for limo parking at his casino is not the answer. https://t.co/jxcgAIQZ1I
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 16, 2024
I'm not saying Trump will do these things, but Biden doesn't have a clue. For one thing, we need to end the GSE corrupt domination in the mortgage market and/or other federal programs. We need more privatization of public assets, including forestry. We need reform of the Fed.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 17, 2024
That's all we need: 78-year-old Trump arguing 81-year-old Biden is an old man.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 17, 2024
Just a reminder: LP nominee Chase Oliver is 38. Don't vote for a uniparty geezer. We need a real change, new policies in the general government.
"Biden FREEZES"
Even a teenager priced out of a part-time job by Schumer's minimum wage knows to grill a burger before melting a slice of cheese over it
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 17, 2024
"Chuck Schumer"
Well, if Statist-enabler Mark Cuban is so enthusiastic over general government theft, why did he stop at $288M? He can give it all if he wants.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 17, 2024
The fact is that investment in the private sector is far more productive than in leftists buying votes through bread and circuses. https://t.co/Z3RpyFr88L
Just my periodic reminder to patriotically correct conservatives in name only that the pledge was authored by a socialist. https://t.co/fvyIoegLfD
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 17, 2024
Well, Bannon is right in one semse that Election Day is Judgment Day: when Trump loses reelection again, no one is going to pardon his ass out of prison. Not only that, but he may soon have company in his prison cell.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 17, 2024
Trump has Bush Derangement Syndrome. All Trump needed to know is GHW shunned Duke out of the GOP. No doubt Trump counted Duke among the "very fine people" on the far right side.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
"David Duke"
Trump has Bush Derangement Syndrome. All Trump needed to know is GHW shunned Duke out of the GOP. No doubt Trump counted Duke among the "very fine people" on the far right side.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
"David Duke"
I'm not saying WWE is predictable but did anyone doubt for a second Pearce was going to choose Strowman as Gable's match opponent?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
Wow, is the Drew McIntyre quit moment a work, like a parody on CM Punk's walk out of the company with the title all those years back?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
Congratulations to the NBA Champ Boston Celtics! I thought the Mavericks' blowout win in game 4 might spark a series comeback, but the Celtics dominated their 4 wins and were clearly the better team.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
I don't necessarily oppose to protect the residency rights of unauthorized alien spouses of Americam citizens but when did Congress or the Constitution empower Biden to do this? It seems to be Biden's variation on DACA
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
I'm sure a tax-evading rich man like Trump would prefer being taxed on his avoidable foreign goods purchases. Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban proudly paid a $276 M tax bill recently. Do you think he buys enough crap to pay that much in consumer surtaxes?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
I'm sure a tax-evading rich man like Trump would prefer being taxed on his avoidable foreign goods purchases. Fellow billionaire Mark Cuban proudly paid a $276 M tax bill recently. Do you think he buys enough crap to pay that much in consumer surtaxes?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
Onviously not a "real" conservative. The general government not doing harm is a blessing. https://t.co/4NRgOo7Xla
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
The issue I have with Juneteenth is its timing, not its merit. The Emancipation Proclamation was not constitutional. The 13th Amendment was ratified in Dec. 1865, several months after the "Civil War" ended and Lincoln was murdered.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
Biden/EU theft of interest earnings on Russian frozen assets and redirecting them to Ukraine loans is not only immoral and exacerbates tensions between Russia and the West, but it erodes confidence in the dollar as the world's reserve currency. https://t.co/VFb4NOZmKp
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
No, the issue is not with the fact of withdrawal. But this partisan troll implies it was Biden's initiative, when in fact Trump agreed with the Taliban to a phased withdrawal by May 2021. The issue is Biden's incompetently executed withdrawal. https://t.co/gb46qYYMFv. https://t.co/lpxTEgFR7Z
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
I'm not sure why, but I'm reminded I need to buy a new mop.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 18, 2024
"Karine Jean-Pierre https://t.co/T5yCIrUnK8
This is Soft Rock America. Sadly, baseball great Willie Mays has passed. I remenber watching him late in his career. I remember he was mentioned in my favorite anti-war song, "Broomstick Cowboy".https://t.co/JQbNe7i252
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 19, 2024
RIP to the GOAT Willie Mays. As a lefty, when I played youth baseball, the options were usually pitcher, first base or the outfield. One of my proudest moments was making a basket catch on the dead run playing center, one of Mays' signature plays. I thought Mays would be proud.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 19, 2024
As I write, Congressman Good is leading by nearly 1% over Trump's endorsed challenger. Trump, always a petty asshole, is pissed because Good initially endorsed DeSantis. I love it when Trump's endorsements fail, like when he tried to cancel Massie.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 19, 2024
Anyone thinking the 1860's Northern states were a race-blind egalitarian utopia is in a state of denial. Many of the people looking at the western territories didn't want to compete against black labor, slave or free.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 19, 2024
This leftist political whore is historically illiterate and and at best confused. He is trying to justify an unprovoked illegal war against fellow Americans, over 1 million dead, in contradiction of a VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION among free states, a right they never lost or surrendered https://t.co/eH16qFuZ6R
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 19, 2024
Trump has his own version of the Ten Commandments, including:
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 19, 2024
- Thou shalt not vote for fake politicians over me
- Thou shalt no disseminate fake news against me
- Thou shalt not covet people, goods or services beyond our borders.
- Others can't kill people on Fifth Avenue https://t.co/9gxPxxjhI2
Actually, Trumo added nearly $8T to the national debt. Trump was not the COVID-19 virus which has killed many Americans. And the states, not Trump, shut down the economy. Trump's record on the pandemic is mixed; he expedited release of life-saving vaccines but testing botched.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
O'Reilly was always an economic illiterate populist. No, neither Trump nor Biden has maintained GDP growth of at least 3% growth. I personally lost a third of my retirement savings when the stock market crashed during the early pandemic https://t.co/h6khtKe9bR
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
I don't think so. Melania is 5'11" and she appears to be wearing heels in this photo; she looks about the same height as Trump in this pic, which I would expect from your typical high heels.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
Oh, seriously, dude? Trumpkins are seriously contrasting a wasted Hunter Biden to teenager Barron Trump. If Barron is a decent kid, it reflects the efforts of his mother, not some womanizing asshole who cheated on his mother with a porn actress.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
"Barron Trump"
Gingrich would have you think that the NY gag order restricted Trump's rights to comment on the convictions & the trial. This is an intentional lie. Keep in mind Trump has always been a petty, vindictive bastard, possibly targeting witnesses, jurors, etchttps://t.co/68h7ROi0iP https://t.co/GVGfxqgfEn
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
The Beatles' red and blue albums
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
No, it was NOT the Democratic Party that founded the KKK.https://t.co/VnGrWKwK0T
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
reparations https://t.co/RWOoaXKgmQ
This meme is factually false. Lincoln not only admitted he had no constitutional authority to end slavery but supported the Corwin Amendment to perpetuate it in the South. Lincoln's unconstitutional war was against secession, not slavery. There were slave states in the Union https://t.co/PqmIBVVyvk
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
Donald Trump can't even spell Ayn Rand; he's still waiting for the comic book versions of her novels.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
Trump is beyond economic illiterate. Yes, before the income tax, LOW tariffs served as principal funding of the general government. Protectionist tariffs were highly controversial. And the dumbass doesn't realize Smoot-Hawley started a global trade war, made the Depression worse. https://t.co/xlViRPuPaG
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
Very cool to see Fox carrying the SF/St. Louis game at Rickwood Field. (The old Alabama field was once home to a young Willie Mays and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues.)
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 20, 2024
I don't know where Maria shops , but you can buy a 20 oz. loaf of white bread for 79 cents, regular price at Lidl. For dietary reasons I get whole wheat bread for $1.97/loaf. Now I can recall buying it for $1.49 https://t.co/EmlqWL9Fym
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 21, 2024
This is beyond stupid. Trump has never had self-discipline. He got fined by the judge during the business fraud trial when all he had to do is keep his mouth shut. Trump is vain. Trump is repetitive. A skilled debater can exploit these weaknesses.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 21, 2024
Newt Sean Hannity https://t.co/1WIhxQ7oBu
I can just hear the world's most incompetent debater, Trump, the first time they cut his mike for rule violations: he'll call them all little Judge Merchans, trying to strip away his freedom of speech.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 21, 2024
Trump has Paul Ryan Derangement Sybdrome and wants FNC to dismiss him from its board; Ryan has announced he won't support Trump. Trump is trying to set expectations for the upcoming debate, claiming Biden "destroyed" Ryan.https://t.co/lXpKEPpcyk
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 21, 2024
Trump mocking Biden when we had Trump's mind-boggling stupidity during those COVID-19 pressers? Do you remember his suggestions to leading scientists whether we might find some application of virus-killing cleaning products inside the human body?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 21, 2024
Truth Social https://t.co/6vKfXkN4kV
Wales reportedly is set to criminalize politicians who lie. You know what that means: Trump can't afford to visit there either.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 22, 2024
REAL leadership from a REAL POTUS:
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 22, 2024
Fauci: "Luckily, the president of the United States, in the form of George W. Bush, felt that way. And we put together the PEPFAR program. ... We spent $100 billion in 50 countries and it has saved 25 million lives"
Seriously, stop. I happen to like Madonna, but comparing her to McCartney? McCartney has written and performed more timeless hits than any songwriter in history. Madonna has never sung anything on the level of "Yesterday". https://t.co/zBUI4cYdig
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 22, 2024
I'm not in favor of special-interest mandates, especially one that does zero to reform failing public education. But gimmick mandates go beyond the Louisiana law. I recall having to recite the (socialist) Pledge of Allegiance.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 23, 2024
Trump also sucked at being an entertainer. No one seriously believes "Six Bankruptcies" Trump is a competent businessman. Seriously, who wouldn't have fired Omarosa in a heartbeat?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 23, 2024
Paul Ryan https://t.co/ysoe5VZPDx
No, Paul Ryan and his aide Jonathan Burks did not directly receive the Steele dossier. This idiot Trumpkin doesn't know the meaning of "treason". Unconfirmed political dirt on a Presidential candidate. Political mudslinging has been a part of US politics for over 200 years https://t.co/kMgYLFly7Q
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 23, 2024
You literally have to have a death wish to want to be Trump's VP. Trump sicced his mob on Mike Pence when Pence refused to violate the 12th Amendment on Jan. 6. You know he's going to scapegoat you when he loses again.
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 23, 2024
"Trump's VP"
Trump has always been an inept communicator. Remember Trump's extortion phone call to Zelensky?
— raguillemette (@raguillemette) June 23, 2024
He called Ukraine's corrupt Solicitor General Shokin "very good". I think he got very confused when Michael Jackson sang "Bad".
"very fine people"
Quote of the Day
Originality is nothing by judicious imitation.Dusty Springfield and Richard Carpenter, "Something In Your Eyes"
The latest CDC weekly stats:
Anecdotally we still hear of celebrity infections, like Orioles' Hall of Fame pitcher/broadcaster Jim Palmer. Even in my extended family:one of my nephews and his then pregnant wife, who has since given birth to a second grandnephew, caught COVID late in the pregnancy; all report themselves to be in good health now
The latest news items of interest include:
Quote of the Day
A moment's insight is sometimes worthThe Carpenters, "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore". Karen died in early 1983, and these last 2 embedded hits in the adult contemporary chart were released posthumously. I'll finish the series with later solo efforts, but this hit was theit last charting hit together.
Quote of the Day
A man may fall many timesCarpenters, "Make Believe It's Your First Time"
Quote of the Day
What is morality she asked.The Carpenters, "Beechwood 45789"
Quote of the Day
A real friend is one who walks inCarpenters, "Those Good Old Dreams"
Quote of the Day
The greatest pleasure I know isThe Carpenters, "[Want You] Back In My Life Again"