Miscellany: 4/14/14

Quote of the Day
Life is too short. 
Grudges are a waste of perfect happiness. 
Laugh when you can, 
apologize when you should and 
let go of what you can't change. 
Love deeply and forgive quickly. 
Take chances. 
Give everything and have no regrets. 
Life is too short to be unhappy. 
You have to take the good with the bad. 
Smile when you're sad, 
love what you got, and 
always remember what you had. 
Always forgive, but 
never forget. 
Learn from your mistakes but 
never regret. 
People change, and 
things go wrong but 
always remember... 
life goes on!
Author unknown

Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day

You are "free" to believe as they do....

Remy is Back with Happy (Tax Day Edition)



3D Technology: From Body Parts to Guns to Pastries



Facebook Corner

(Cato Institute). In case you missed it, the IRS is punishing grown children for the alleged unproven sins of their long-dead parents.
If you think that's bad, just wait until Generation Next starts picking up the bills for Baby Boomer senior entitlements...

(IPI). Don't miss Sen. Rand Paul in Chicago on April 22. Tickets are going fast: http://illin.is/1m41tjf
calling all neo nazis, your hero is in town. He took money from Stormfront, who helped him get elected. If you don't know who stormfront is, it is the political arm of David Duke, of the KKK. You have google bright boy, look it up. Over and above his being a anti semite, he also is a conspiracy kook, and just like al sharpton, accused VP Cheney of pushing the Iraq war to benefit Haliburton. He's not a conservative, he is a neo fascist, and those who support him are rank ignorant, ill informed, and the reason moderate swing voters will vote for democrats, other than the GOP.
A troll calling Rand Paul a fascist is confusing his image in the mirror with Rand Paul's. Rand Paul is a more pragmatic version of his father, whom, like the Founding Fathers, is a non-interventionist in foreign affairs. Rand Paul, like his father, believes in limited government, not an expansionist State to which individuals rights are narrowly defined exceptions.and where the State tolerates the private sector provided they play by the State's rules.

I would have called you yet another dim-witted "progressive" except you seem upset over someone criticizing Saint Cheney, and Democrats would not object to voters crossing the line to vote for Hillary... No, I infer you are simply a pedestrian ill-bred neo-con. Let there be no mistake where I stand: I stand with Rand Paul, he is the best senator since Robert Taft; if he runs in 2016, I'll be the first in line to vote for him. The neo-cons have done more damage to the GOP brand except for maybe the "Know-Nothing" anti-immigrants.

(IPI). See Coolidge quote above.
Here is the example: a new road is necessary. The cost for the road is not in the funds. Is it better to borrow the money and build or save the money by taking in more than is necessary for current operations to build the revenue necessary to build the road? The problem for government isn't in taking in more than is necessary. The problem is the use of incremental budgeting instead of rational budgeting.
You buy into the nonsense progapanda that the preponderance of wasteful spending, an artifact of government monopoly, is an "investment", a conjecture that won't pass Accounting 101; even a college freshman knows the difference between period expenses and assets. As the current and previous legislatures have mishandled off-balance sheet unfunded pension liabilities, the state is incapable of honest accounting. The private sector can handle just about everything the public does faster, cheaper, and better.

(Reason). Rand Paul responds to Jeb Bush on ‪#‎immigration‬: "People who seek the American dream are not bad people.…However, we can’t invite the whole world."
Quite frankly, Rand Paul's pragmatic fusion politics I feel reflect a similar attempt by George W. Bush to learn from his father's political lessons. We have had nearly a century of failed restrictive immigration policy. The last thing we can expect is an open immigration policy from this Congress and President. (Obama has always taken his cue from his labor-protectionist crony unionist bosses.)

We need radically liberalized immigration laws that don't stand in the way of aspiring entrepreneurs and businesses with a need for willing hard-working, qualified workers. Whereas Paul is clearly trying to posture himself to the right of potential 2016 rival Jeb Bush by citing populist strawman talking points, I would prefer to hear him push the win-win economic story behind immigration, its part in our melting pot culture, etc. There's already too much negative rhetoric on immigration in the GOP. We need less political posturing and more positive leadership, like Reagan.
We can encourage immigration - and we should - and at the same time ask our visitors and new residents to check in at the front door instead of sneaking in.  We have every right to keep the riff raff out while encouraging hard-working, virtuous, and talented people to become Americans. This is not racism, xenophobia, or any of that BS. 
Methinks the xenophobe doth protest too much. Only Statists and their gullible economically illiterate crony unionist/protectionist allies could argue the status quo is not the consequence of perverse government policy. Instead of trusting the people, the elitists chose to declare war on alcohol and drugs; the government tries to restrict immigration, which I call the War on the Economy; should we be surprised that organized crime is looking to profit on huge profit margins?

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Series

Lee Ann Womack, "I Hope You Dance"

Miscellany: 4/13/14

Quote of the Day
A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, 
but only a fool trusts either of them.
P.J. O'Rourke

The Taxman Cometh...



Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day

Via the Libertarian Republic

Image of the Day

Via Independent Institute

  Three Beautiful Little Girls With Cancer

Via Inquisitr:  Little Rylie (3 yo) is battling kidney cancer while the older Rheann (6 yo) has brain cancer. The third girl (4 yo) Ainsley has leukemia (blood cancer).

My thoughts and prayers for your cure and a long, happy life, sweeties.

Facebook Corner

(IPI) We submitted a proposal to City Hall earlier this week that will solve Chicago's pension crisis without raising taxes.
IPI has made a promising first step to authentic reform by suggesting a private-sector defined benefit alternative to chronically underfunded public pension plans; life insurance companies have offered annuity plans for decades--plans that are far more secure than Illinois' poorly rated debt, balance sheet, and vast unfunded liabilities: would anyone with a modicum of common sense ever trust the spendthrifts in Springfield with their financial future?

I am, however, am sick and tired of those sanctimonious self-serving "progressives" whom want to steal/tax other people's money--other people not responsible for corrupt, unsustainable bargains--under the lipstick-on-a-pig phrase "their fair share". Is there no shame among among the morally corrupt purveyors of the Politics of Envy? There aren't enough rich people/companies to pay off the unconscionable political whores whom have attempted to dump the bulk of program expenses on future taxpayers, whom have their own bills to pay for. To any taxpayer sympathetic to "tax the other guy" rhetoric, even all of Bill Gates' $76B wouldn't make a good down payment on the federal deficit... Unless you get chronic overspending under control, you'll run out of rich people's assets very fast, and guess who the Statist tax monster comes after next? There is no easy solution to this problem; it built up over decades of chronic underfunding. Everybody, including public sector retirees, will have to make sacrifices.
we shall see what happens to pensioners in detroit. they had constitutional protection also.
Alexander Volokh had an interesting commentary on Reason. The bottom line is that bankruptcy is all about impairing contractual rights and the pension clause does not establish a "more equal" contract, bankruptcy is not a law but a process, and the supremacy clause trumps state courts once bankruptcy has started. He thinks the other side had a better argument on challenging the governor's authority to file but it became a moot point once the case was filed. http://reason.org/.../show/volokh-detroit-pension-protection.
I believe that going back to the Eisenhower tax rates on the rich would bring this country and this state out of the mess that it is in now. The rich then are still rich or richer.
The FDR/Eisenhower era upper-end tax rates (90% or more) were laughably absurd--almost nobody paid them. There is a reason JFK and LBJ chopped off rough 20 points off the top bracket. Why? Because they were worried about a stagnant economy, and they wanted to give the high income class the incentive of keeping more of their own money. When you increase tax rates, you shrink the tax base. What we have seen is after every major tax cut--Harding/Coolidge, JFK/LBJ, Reagan, etc.--is that aggregate revenues have actually increased. When the wealthy are focused more on theft/taxation-avoidance than wealth creation, the economy's response is suboptimal. The Politics of Envy--a vice--is pathetic, immoral and counterproductive.
The wealthy and corporations should pay their fair share, and stop attacking public workers.
The idea that government retirees should trump funding for essential services is immoral and unacceptable. Let's face it; you bought into a bankrupt Ponzi scheme, decades after most businesses, aware of the Baby Boomer retirement tsunami, shifted to a more sustainable defined contribution program. What were you thinking when politicians started extending funding windows or passing contribution holidays or adopted unrealistic pension fund returns (twice of that in the private sector), which allowed for smaller state contributions? What made you think if politicians couldn't or wouldn't pay their fair share on an ongoing basis, that future legislatures would not only have to find the money to pay their own fair share but make up for decades of chronic underfunding by the same corrupt politicians whom bought your support with knowingly unsustainable promises? It was YOUR responsibility to ensure your cronies didn't fritter away your program contributions with other funding priorities. "Attacks on public workers"? That is laughable: a special interest is demanding a public bailout by having the state steal from people not responsible for the unrealistic promises--and people whom can relocate if those taxes are unduly burdensome. Ultimately, because there aren't enough rich people to fund unrealistic promises, this burden falls on the middle class.
It was what was agreed to, you want to take away what was negotiated and promised to them?
No, the state never funded the pension on an ongoing basis in good faith. The unions helped elect corrupt, deal-making politicians making unsustainable commitments behind the taxpayer's back. You are only entitled to your prorated share of actual funding/pension assets. Taxpayers should not bailout special interest groups and make up for underfunding on an ongoing basis.

(IPI). Unfortunately, the political culture of Illinois has long favored cronyism over the competition that arises when markets are free — so instead of the taxicab industry demanding that lower regulations be imposed on their cut of the Chicago market, they took to the halls of the Statehouse in Springfield and pushed lawmakers to impose unnecessary burdens on their competition.
I though you guys were FOR cronyism. At least that's the impression I got last week when you supported the Supreme Court further legalizing bribery of politicians in McCutcheon v. FEC as a "victory for free speech." Our f***ed campaign finance laws are the reason our politicians have cronies in the first place. So which is it, IPL? You can't have it both ways here
Idiotic "progressive" troll: you are like a dog chasing its tail. What most of us pro-liberty believe is in much smaller government and streamlined regulations, a low, universally applicable tax scheme. There is no "conspiracy" by moneyed interests as per populist paranoia: what kind of moneyed interest came up with a budget where over 60% of the budget goes to fund individual benefits? We oppose all sorts of anti-competitive laws and regulations, including occupational licensing cartels. We have a totally consistent approach to government--by limiting its power and budget, we limit the incentive for corruption.

If you were serious about government reform, instead of tramping on the right of political expression, you would look at structural reforms, e.g., term limits, single-term Presidency, etc

(Independent Institute). "Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens." —John Maynard Keynes
In the 1920s Lenin favored adoption of a market system (which was overturned by Stalin). Too inflation is not necessarily bad. An economy with very little or no inflation will stagnate and develope sickness. Too much or too little is bad. A fair rate of inflation may be required to reprioritize and rebalance the economy, to promote creative destruction.
Absolutely false. When we had a convertible dollar, we had a remarkably stable currency and among the highest economic growth trends.

(Ron Paul). Should we eliminate all campaign finance regulations? Ron's opinion: http://bit.ly/1hqFHpj
Let's stop believing in all this urban legend nonsense of corporations buying elections. Corporations are just groups of people whom have had their voices arbitrarily and unconstitutionally restricted. In the era of economic fascism, the government essentially controls things because of its legal monopoly of force and private ownership is simply nominal. If you are truly committed to eliminating political corruption, you limit the resources, mission, authority and size of government, you limit political tenure, etc.

(LFC). "After a disabled special education child tried to record how bullies were tormenting him at school, the police in Pennsylvania responded by slapping him with the charge of felony wiretapping...he decided to use his school-issued iPad to record the bullying: 'I was really having things like books slammed upside my head.'" With government, there's either a shortage or oversupply of everything, including privacy.
The utter absurdity of charging the victim of harassment or abuse of wiretapping.with a felony. The idea that the victim is invading the "privacy" of the bully is frankly absurd; there was no reasonable expectation of privacy (contrary to the police) in a classroom where the teacher and other class members witnessed the incident. (There is a right to privacy, e.g., going to the restroom, a confessional, a conversation with your lawyer or doctor, your home, etc., but not to protect abusers.) And yet the bullies got away without so much as a slap on the wrist. His own parents seemed to be skeptical of his allegations of bullying; how is he supposed to prove it?

I have an experience which was in some respects similar to the boy's dilemma. In my last year of college teaching I was a visiting professor at a central Illinois university. The chairman of the department did something in the fall semester which I considered a brazen violation of my academic freedom. I felt strongly about the matter, but I was mostly preoccupied with securing a follow-up appointment elsewhere and the last thing I needed was a hostile reference at my current school. I never said or implied to anyone that I intended to appeal the wrongdoing. Early in the spring semester, the chairman made an unsolicited, unexpected visit to my office--the first time all school year. I didn't know what this was about, until he abruptly said that if I so much as filed a complaint against him over what happened in the fall, he would immediately strip me of my classroom responsibilities. Talk about unexpected; long story short, his attempt to intimidate me backfired. Although I was mostly vindicated, I took exception of the committee's conclusion that I had not met the burden of proof that the chairman had threatened me. Come on: why did they think I didn't file after it happened in the fall? Why did I go to the administration when I did? How do they explain the fact the chairman went apeshit when the administration said it would audit any adverse decision against me? What was I supposed to do--have secretly taperecorded a conversation with the chair in the hope he might say something incriminating? I'm certain if I had done so, the college might have made me a target for violating the rights of the unethical chairman....

Political Humor



Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Nate Beeler and Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Series

Michael Martin Murphy, "What's Forever For?"

Miscellany: 4/12/14

Quote of the Day
Ability is nothing without opportunity.
Napoleon Bonaparte

Morally Corrupt Cop



Instead of Adding Jobs, States Protect Crony Big Occupation Cartels

Notice one of the hypocritical "progressive" arguments was that ObamaCare unleashed people from being tied to their jobs by their health policies to, say, start their own companies. (We could in part address this issue by letting insurers to market across straight lines and for employers to fund existing employee health policies; that's another story except to point out this is a problem caused by government, not the private sector.) But a big issue is the states themselves restrain competition through occupational licensing cartels. As Rodriguez of Reason points out:

A 1990 study of occupational licensing for the Federal Trade Commission concluded that licensing contributed “little, if any, quality enhancement” and that “consumers are not necessarily better off” if licensing does enhance quality, as licensing is associated with higher prices. In further support of this latter claim, Table 3 of Adam Summers’ report lists 15 studies (thirteen American, two Canadian) that looked into the effect of licensing on prices. Thirteen definitively found price increases associated with licensing.

As Worstall of Forbes notes:

We would expect the rise in non-mutually recognised State occupational licenses to reduce labour mobility across State lines. We have had such an increase in recent decades, from perhaps 5% of all jobs in the 1950s to 30% now. We have also, over that same time period, seen a reduction in labour mobility across State lines. 

How many occupations? Back to Reason on California:

Over two million Californians must apply for permission to work in over 200 occupations from one of 42 government bureaus and boards. In the process, job seekers may have to spend thousands of dollars and spend years in government-mandated classes. And that’s just to become a tree trimmer....The state of California, through the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), spends a quarter of a billion dollars annually to regulate and license over 200 occupations ranging from tree trimmers to animal trainers to doctors. Funding comes from the litany of fees and citations issued by the licensing boards, and significant portions of licensing board budgets are directed toward enforcement (e.g. audits, sting operations) of board policies. Licensing generally requires submitting fingerprints, paying various application fees, and documentation of fulfilling certain educational and/or work experience explicitly outlined by board policies. For some occupations, the educational and work requirements may take years and thousands of dollars; for others, individuals may just need to submit fingerprints and a fee.

The Institute for Justice takes on economic liberty for a teeth whitener service which is being challenged by Big Dentists seeking to protect their exclusive profitable sideline business:



Kindness: One of the 7 Heavenly Virtues



Image of the Day

Facebook Corner

(IPI). Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan proudly announced a settlement that would allegedly ban the production of caffeinated alcoholic beverage called Four Loko. The announcement is extremely misleading, however; Four Loko, the signature drink of Phusion Projects, hasn’t contained caffeine or any other stimulant (including guarana or taurine) since 2010. So the agreement “bans” a product that, for all intents and purposes, no longer exists. Conspicuously missing from the press release is the fact that Madigan and other attorneys general were able to shake down Phusion Projects for a $400,000 fee as part of the settlement.
What are they going to do next--ban the sale of coffee or tea at bars? What about the freedom of those whom have self-control, whom know when to say when? Prohibition Lite is "progressivism" as usual--and a tacit admission any regulations on alcoholic beverages limiting or restricting sales to young adults aren't working. (We already know how that story works out in general: the market finds a way to satisfy consumer demand, in the open, grey or black markets.) 

One aspect not emphasized is the FDA's role in refusing to certify caffeine as "generally recognized as safe", apparently worried about "wide-awake drunks" whom underestimate their state of intoxication, and threatening a possible federal shakedown of producers. I think the FDA undermines its credibility when it blurs the line between science and politics.

Finally, I think IPI should have emphasized the point that affected Four Loko vendor Phusion Projects is Chicago-based. That AG Madigan proudly joined 19 other states in a crackdown on an Illinois-based economic success story in a sluggish economy reveals volumes about political leadership in Illinois: with friends like these, who needs enemies?

Via LFC

Gas taxes are hidden in Illinois — here's what a receipt would look like if taxes were transparent.
Death by a thousand cuts or creeping normality. Stealth taxation burden. Progressivism as usual. They are in a state of denial for unfunded liabilities that aren't included in the very visible public debt total, and they want to vest the middle class in unsustainable programs, while ignoring on the unseen unintended consequences of morally hazardous policies, the opportunity costs of not taking the other path. They want taxpayers to notice only that part of the iceberg appearing above the surface and try to minimize that through populist gimmicks like reimbursable tax credits, higher exemptions.

Via the Independent Institute

Teach your kids about regulation: the State plans production, and the only flavor left is broccoli.

the Super Rich Greedy s.o.bees only paid 16 % in TOTAL Federal taxes in 2012 BUT TOOK 70 % OF THE MONEY. I paid 43.65 % when I was an independent sub constractor.
First, you're mixing apples and oranges (federal taxes vs. all taxes and you are comparing earned income vs. unearned income), completely ignoring the double taxation problem. Almost every serious economist considers taxation of investment income counterproductive; it's investment that drives business and job growth. Second, you're ignoring the scale of income and related taxes, even on a flatter scale: the rich are still paying far more than you are in taxes. It's just the bulk of their income is so-called unearned.

Envy is a vice, not a virtue. You need to focus on the evil of government spending, which makes everybody's taxes too high. There aren't enough rich people to plug budget holes even if you stole all their money with taxes. And then who the Statist vultures come for next?
Your children are educated with tax dollars. The military is paid with tax dollars. The police and firemen are paid with tax dollars. The roads you drive on are paid for with tax dollars. On and on. You are going to teach your children that taxes are bad?
Your kid can't find a job despite a government-sponsored education. His older brother died serving in the middle of a foreign sectarian war. The city condemns your property to make room for a new shopping mall. The roads are congested and full of potholes. On and on. You are going to teach your kids that their own earnings are better invested in the hands of corrupt, profligate politicians trying to buy their reelection rather than invested, spent or saved in the private sector which anticipates consumer preferences?

(Reason). Why scrap a failing program when you can expand it instead?
The hubris of central planning. As if micromanaging a spartan, unappealing meal will result in favorable word of mouth at home, the propagandists' dream! Remember when in North Carolina, a preschooler's packed lunch of a turkey and cheese sandwich (whole wheat bread), banana, chips and apple juice was replaced with a 3-chicken nugget lunch for which her parents were charged? It's bad enough that the feds are looking to centralize education with politically motivated behavioral objectives; they also want to micromanage parenting. It's time for parents to stand up to judgmental busybody Statist bullying and arrogance. (See Political Humor below.)

(Libertarian Republic.) Texas teacher suspended for being transgender http://bit.ly/1jATbym
It's one thing if Klug was not performing her job, but she was being judged over her personal lifestyle, not promoting it in the classroom. For a public sector employer to discriminate is unconscionable and unconstitutional.

(Lew Rockwell). " 'Got Freedom? Thank a Vet.' That’s what the t-shirt read that I saw someone wearing last night. I thank God for any freedom I have. No veteran of Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan has anything to do with any freedom I have," says Laurence Vance.
More like "Got Any Diminishing, Enumerated Liberties Left? Thank SCOTUS." I have not feared invasion by Canada or Mexico in my lifetime; but meddling in regional disputes far from our shore does nothing but create motivated enemies and cost American lives and treasure.

(Reason). GOProud founder Jimmy LaSalvia gives 3 reasons why the GOP is in trouble. Surely, you can think of even more.
They fail to provides a cohesive, consistent, comprehensive critique against government intervention, both in economic and international policy, they run predictable campaigns, and they have been all too willing to waive individual liberties, e.g., the Patriot Act, immigration, the TSA. They lack the political courage to take on unsustainable unfunded liabilities. At best, they slow the rate of government spending.


Political Humor




Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Henry Payne and Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Series

Jewel, "Hands"

Miscellany: 4/11/14

Quote of the Day
Leaders are made, 
they are not born. 
They are made by hard effort, 
which is the price which all of us must pay 
to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
Vince Lombardi

Image of the Day

Via the National Review

RIP, Warrior!

One of my indulgences during my college days, getting away from the stresses of study and work, was the soap opera of professional wrestling. I realized very early the outcomes were staged, but it didn't matter; I liked creative storylines, like how they managed to get two babyfaces (good guys) to feud when Andre the Giant got a dinky trophy while champion Hulk Hogan got a huge trophy: Andre felt disrespected. I still recall the first time I saw the Blade Runners on TV; former bodybuilder "Flash" Borden was huge but fellow bodybuilder "Rock" Hellwig was massive, and I still remember the announcer calling him "the big one". The two eventually went separate ways with Hellwig taking on the Dingo Warrior character in WCCW and then emerging as the Ultimate Warrior in the marquee WWE. Borden as Sting migrated to the rival NWA/WCW promotion; Warrior made a brief appearance in WCW after his multi-stint, volatile relationship with WWE, but retired in 1998.

Hellwig truly lived his character, eventually taking on Warrior as his legal name. He became a motivational speaker and an outspoken conservative (in terms of conservative values, not common politics; I have to admit having an acquired taste for his unique blog rants). WWE and Hellwig had a stormy relationship, including compensation disputes, rights to the character, etc. And then in 2005 WWE released an unflattering retrospective of the Ultimate Warrior which seemed to me the point of no return.

But over the past year it seemed like a thaw was in the works when his character was added to a licensed video game. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as the headlining act, an event that precedes the annual signature PPV, Wrestlemania. There was talk he had signed a legends contract with WWE. While the rest of the country was watching UConn beat Kentucky for the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, I watched Monday Night Raw as Hellwig climbed into the ring to give a final kayfabe (in-character) promo. I had no idea that 24 hours later he would collapse and die in Arizona. When a co-worker mentioned at work the next day, I was shocked. He did more with his character in retirement than most active wrestlers do with theirs. I'm glad that he was able to reconcile with the WWE's McMahons. I'm going to miss his rants; my thoughts and prayers are for his surviving wife and darling daughters.

 Bladerunners Jim Hellwig (Warrior) and Steve Borden (Sting) via The Real Sting

Choose Life




Facebook Corner

(Cato Institute). Throughout history there has been a consistent fear of bank runs, particularly regarding large institutions during times of crisis. The financial crisis of 2007–09 was no exception. The interventions of the authorities in response to these runs, however, raise a number of questions. In this new paper, Vern McKinley considers the facts surrounding each of the runs, and assesses how the authorities responded
One predictable element of any crisis is the uncertainty caused by government intervention. Government policy is part of the problem, not the solution. Populist bashing of banks has been a constant throughout American history. There always the rallying cry of the Statists like Rahm Emanuel: don't waste a good crisis.

(Cato Institute). Does the presence or absence of federal research spending really determine an industry’s rate of technological progress?
Supercomputers, advanced batteries, the Internet, Google, cordless innovation, solar panels, fluorescent lights, optical digital recording, radar, Siri, satellites, advancements in bioengineering and astronomy, are all things that happened because of government funded research. There are a lot of other things that most of us take for granted as well. The problem is that most government funded research does not have immediate commercial applications. The author of this article takes advantage of this fact. He took three such examples and created a strawman argument to support his position.
Talk about lipstick on a pig; the idea that politicians and bureaucrats are able to allocate science funding fairly, effectively and efficiently is no less a fatal conceit than government can micromanage the economy. The idea that government invented, for example, the Internet has nothing to do with today's Internet economy. If anything, adoption of certain federal standards provided constraints on Internet expansion. The idea that applications for the federal government do not have a parallel in the private sector is pure hubris. I notice that the "progressive" cherry-picks his technologies and doesn't raise nonsense like shrimp on a treadmill and Robosquirrel.

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Steve Kelley and Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Series

David Cook, "Permanent". This is my favorite American Idol alumnus performance; it's a moving tribute to his then dying oldest brother Adam, suffering from brain cancer.

Miscellany: 4/10/14

Quote of the Day
Murphy's Third Law: 
In any field of scientific endeavor, 
anything that can go wrong 
will go wrong.

Yet Another JOTY Nominee

Illinois state representative Deb Conroy killed her own pension reform bill, which sought to eliminate a Greece-like annual bonus retirement check, when she got word from her displeased union bosses. Given Illinois' horrible public pension picture, this was a small first step towards genuine pension reform...

I Would Have Preferred It In the Original Latin....



How Precious the Sound--of Your Own Child's Voice




Facebook Corner

(IPI). The taxi lobby has been trying to get Chicago to destroy ridesharing services like UberX and Lyft, but it hasn’t worked because the services are just too popular in the city.
So now the taxi industry has turned to Springfield for help crushing the competition, and it looks like state legislators might be about to give them what they want.
These ride sharing services don't have to meet all the same regulations that Taxi's do. Either relax the regulations on Taxi's or toughen the regulations on ride sharing. Level the playing field!
This is cronyism as usual. It's not like the idea of ridesharing is unexpected (e.g., think of carpooling). Your argument could be made by any business made obsolete by improving technology, e.g., the USPS vs. email, video rentals, etc. Adapt or go out of business. But using the state to limit competition is immoral and fundamentally anti-consumer. The technology behind UberX and Lyft is like a genie out of the bottle; it's here to stay: deal with it.

Now if the Jackass Party thinks that the young people they consider a core constituency of their coalition will be won over by cutting a deal with a self-serving taxi cartel, they'll in a state of denial.

You set up an easy choice: high regulation is fundamentally anti-consumer because the effect is to limit consumer choices, increase the cost of doing business: the disparate burden falls on smaller businesses. We have literally thousands of unnecessary laws on the books, which makes our economy less efficient.

(IPI). Hundreds of protesters filled the rotunda of the Illinois State Capitol on Tuesday denouncing nearly a dozen bills that would curb the growth of charter schools—the latest scuffle over expansion of the independently run public schools, which are spreading nationwide.
The Illinois legislature is considering 11 bills that would, among other things, limit where charter schools can be located, ban them from marketing themselves to students, and abolish a commission that has the power to overrule local school boards and grant charter licenses.
Typical crony unionist playbook which seeks to perpetuate the horrific failed self-serving monopoly status quo, as alarmed parents with no realistic alternative see their kids' futures slipping away...

(Tom Woods.) "But we need to vote for Jeb Bush to keep Hillary out!"
I am seriously not looking forward to 2016, and hearing National Review tell me we need to hold our noses -- JUST THIS ONCE, you understand -- and vote for another imbecile who opposes everything I believe in.
I'm clearly tired after 20 years of Bush and Clinton. My preference is for Rand Paul, but other than some explaining he has to do on his Common Core advocacy, he's a decent, articulate, savvy politician whom is his own man. Jeb played a critical role in dethroning the senatorial ambitions of Charlie Crist, a true RINO if there ever was one, and was a key supporter of the Florida Tea Party Movement. Jeb is one of the more rational members of the GOP on immigration policy. Don't portray him as the clone of his father and brother; Robert Taft was one of the best senators in history but more principled than his Daddy President.

Whereas I agree more often with Tom than not and I share his disgust with desperate partisan rhetoric as quoted, let's not forget that Rand Paul lacks executive experience and Jeb has it. I still argue Romney's biggest problem in the 2012 campaign was not running against 12 years of Bush/Obama interventionist policies in the economy and internationally. I think Jeb Bush needs to find a way of posturing himself against his father and his brother's policies. I think the best way to win in 2016 is to seize the change theme. I think that plays to Rand's advantage.

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Series

Carrie Underwood, "Jesus, Take the Wheel"

Miscellany: 4/09/14

Quote of the Day
Life improves slowly and goes wrong fast, 
and only catastrophe is clearly visible.
Edward Teller

Chart of the Day

Via Cato Institute

Making His Beloved Daughter's Dream Come True

Via LifeNews.com:

A terminally ill father made his 11-year-old daughter’s birthday one to remember by walking her down the aisle in a surprise ‘wedding.’

Sadly, Jim Metz (62) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and won’t be alive to make it to his daughter Josie’s actual wedding.

For another story of a dad, T.J. Oshie, a Team USA's hockey star from the recent Olympics, whose beautiful newborn daughter was born with a serious health condition, see here. (I tried to embed the video, but it would not show in Blogger Preview mode.)

Equal Opportunity Jackasses

From Capitol Fax (HT IPI):

 [Illinois state] Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia was trying to make a point about minority parents. “So, listen to me minorities,” she said turning toward the Democratic side of the chamber. “I’m over here because we’re all over on this side, right?” The Republicans erupted. They have an African-American member, Rep. John Anthony. Responding to the HGOP outburst, Chapa LaVia said, “Wait,” and then, pointing her finger at the other side of the aisle, said “We have a half. We have a half.”

For playing the race/ethnicity card in a debate over her anti-charter school legislation and taking an unprofessional shot at a black Republican state representative, LaVia wins a nomination to this year's tongue-in-cheek JOTY.

Facebook  Corner

A follow-up on my response to the Reason thread on Jeb Bush, immigration policy:

Perfect. Glad someone gets it
Did that same government create the massive welfare state and government dependency that helps generate lazy and uneducated people? I have less of a problem with nearly open borders when all welfare goes away (individual and corporate). Watch existing lazy people step up or move out.
Not getting your point here. Liberalized immigration is part of the concept for free markets, which require less government intrusion and costs. It's government prohibitions--against alcohol, drugs, and/or immigration--which unleash organized crime and corruption, never mind the futile sinkhole of enforcement costs. Is it any wonder drug lords have found a profitable sideline transporting people, whom can't find a "legal" alternative, across the border? I also oppose unsustainable, morally hazardous social welfare programs, but why don't you see the same dysfunctional Big Government behind Big Welfare and Big INS? Stop blaming aliens for failed social programs. We need downsized government across the board, but let's face it: the Dems fought even a modest sequester tooth and nail and threw every populist trick in the book at maintaining, even extending unprecedented spending.

In the meanwhile, what do we do? In an economy with anemic growth, we continue to maintain the status quo restrictive immigration policies? Why are we throwing more money on fences and border personnel (treating symptoms) than liberalizing immigration policy (treating the disease)? Restricting immigration is anti-economic growth, abysmal economic policy.

(IPI). Rep. Chapa LaVia doesn't like bad press. And she's refusing to meet with us because we called her out for her war on school choice. Read about Chapa LaVia's war on school choice: http://illin.is/QMgb3X
Why do you advocate wasting taxpayer money on charters when they don't do a better job of educating kids? Do you hate teachers unions so much that you'd rather pay more and get less just to hurt them? "In fact, in 2013, CPS schools had a higher percentage of elementary students who exceeded the standards for state tests for reading and math than the schools that are privately run with Chicago taxpayer funds." There only thing that has proven effective at educating kids better is smaller class sizes. There's no magic bullet and "competition" doesn't change that fact. Instead wasting money on gimmicks school districts ought to be put their money into making that happen.
The resident "progressive" troll is as ignorant as usual in his predictable attempt to spout crony teacher union propaganda. In fact, if you look at our international competition, they spend LESS money on education, often have BIGGER class sizes, and yet our students do WORSE on educational achievement. I bet it doesn't have anything to do with the fact it's almost impossible to fire a bad, never mind mediocre tenured teacher or that our most talented college students generally don't major in education. Yes, idiot troll, competition does matter, and a number of studies show that Catholic school students on the whole outperform public school students, although up to a third or more cheaper (including lower-paid teachers), despite drawing kids from the same local community.

(IPI) It's ironic that Community Renewal Society, the group that protested our Springfield office yesterday, says taxes are too high. After all, they were a part of the coalition saying “raise my taxes” in 2010. They are now a part of the union-backed coalition led by A Better Illinois, which is pushing for tax hikes on the middle class.
Darn those union workers for making a living wage. All our problems have been caused by those evil union workers that had the nerve to expect a pension and a living wage. OH WAIT! What is that I see? Could it be something else that has contributed to our fiscal mess? Why yes, yes it is! http://www.dailykos.com/.../-U-S-Corporations-hold-2-1...
Daily Kos--the Toilet Paper of the Internet. Not good enough to line my birdcage. Economically-illiterate trolls can't distinguish fact from leftist propaganda. Public sector pensions are chronically underfunded, an artifact of bought-and-paid-for Dem politicians that made more commitments to other special interests than money stolen from productive Americans; they underinvested despite the retirement tsunami of Baby Boomers, living possibly decades in retirement. Most businesses saw the writing on the wall by the 80's and converted to more sustainable defined contribution/401K programs. Parasitic government thought that future generations would bail out head-in-the-sand public employees whom are undoubtedly the dumbest, most gullible people in the world to believe in anything a politician had to say when they likely will have retired from public office before the shit hits the fan. If "living wage" means paying workers more than the market price relative to their productivity, you're in a state of denial. You are not going to grow the economy with bad tax and regulation policy, and the best chance to grow jobs and better-paying jobs is by growing the economy. It has SQUAT to do with corrupt union monopolies.

It would extend this post to explain why a territorial tax system (where a company pays taxes only on the national/local income where it is earned) is far superior to the status quo. The biggest problem here is that US/state marginal income tax rates on corporations are uncompetitive among the world's largest economies. The US government charges effectively a deferred surfax on foreign-generated income--not that it provides any services for foreign operations. This makes foreign investment (and global growth) less feasible because a corporation has to earn more for that investment to pay off. This doesn't translate into more American investment, which reflects existing market saturation and costs (including high domestic taxes). But back-office expansion reflects global growth prospects.

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Nate Beeler and Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Series

Eric Clapton, "Layla". Not the lame unplugged version, but the one of the rock god with screaming guitar, all over a woman, of course.

MIscellany: 4/08/14

Quote of the Day
Murphy's Third Law:
In any field of scientific endeavor,
anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

Image of the Day

Courtesy of the artist via Independent Institute

Of course, they already flew past the White House.

Chart of the Day

Via IPI

Choose Life: Father and Son



Facebook Corner

(Reason). Jeb Bush made waves with his comments on ‪#‎immigration‬ because he took a strong position that seems to strike a chord with much of the American public. If other Republicans can sound the same note, maybe their political party will still be relevant after the Bush family has moved on to other endeavors.
Reading down this thread shows that the ugliness of "Know Nothing" anti-immigrants has continued to the present day. Although in other contexts they may be skeptical of Big Government, the fact is that lawmakers have counterproductively limited immigration at minimum since the 1920's as an accommodation to economically-illiterate populists. We have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, but these populists would have you believe hard-working people, regardless of where they come from, are "criminals". Any legitimate economist will note that immigration is win-win. We have employers finding it hard to find enough interested or qualified workers to do things from working farms to the high tech industry; yet these sanctimonious busybodies want to get in the way of successful American businesses competing on a global level.

(IPI). State Sen. Don Harmon’s progressive tax hike proposal would be a massive tax increase on Illinois businesses. A recent Tax Foundation report shows that 61% of Illinois employers are pass-through entities – meaning their earnings are taxed at the personal income tax rate instead of the corporate income tax rate.
All they know in Illinois is tax tax tax and more tax
Well, they also know how to spend, spend, spend, and kick the biggest bills down the road to the next generation...
I enjoy FREE healthcare, defined pension, 401k with company match, FREE legal services, defined senority, garunteed 40hr work weeks, garunteed 8hr workdays, 13 paid holidays, 2 wks paid vacation, 6 days of paid personal time (which i can take in 2 hr incurments), 2 wks of paid Christmas shutdown, dental benifits, vision benifits, etc. ALL backed by a legaly binding contract threw the UAW. How about you?
Oh, so the union troll reveals himself to be a member of the UAW--that corrupt organization that stole over $10B from the American taxpayer from GM alone. Then there's the fact that the bought-and-paid-for lawless Obama Administration unconstitutionally violated higher-standing creditors on behalf of crony unions. Maybe I shouldn't point out that GM is sitting on billions of subprime auto loans. If and when GM fails again, there will be no bailout.

(IPI). Tax hikers protesting outside our Springfield office. Fight back by calling (844) 668-2945 today and demanding that your representative go on record against another Illinois tax hike by supporting House Resolution 241.
Don Harmon's income tax brackets: first $12,500 of income taxed at 2.9% Income between $12,501 to $180,000 taxed at 4.9% Income above $180,001 taxed at 6.9%. Income of: $25,000 a year gets a $275 tax break, $50,000 a year gets a $300 tax break, $80,000 a year gets a $330 tax break, $100,000 a year gets a $350 tax break,$200,000 a year gets a $90 tax break. Do the math
The residential "progressive" troll thinks legal plunder means "you didn't earn that". Politicians are parasites; they add NOTHING of value to the economy; they didn't produce a single widget, an acre of crops, or bake a single loaf of bread. They did the "hard" work of casting a vote for other people to contribute more money at the point of a gun which the former would spend on all sorts of things the private sector would do faster, better and cheaper--if there was a real need to be serviced.

(IPI). Thanks to your hard work, we're winning the fight against the progressive tax. Now tax hikers want to silence you. SEIU has organized a protest targeting our Springfield office.
Yeah Martin Cosentino we will start by taking away what UNIONS have won for you first. Such as weekends, 40hr work wks, 8hr worldays, holiday pay, if you have children child labor laws, berheavment, defined senority, vacation, sick/personal days, and about a hundred other things. Dont be jealous of union members and try and take what they have. Fight for your own. We pay taxes just like you. Our dollars support the economy just like yours. Its all fun and games until someone comes after yours!
Are you gullible enough to believe this propaganda? Let's take ONE simple example. Ford signed its first union pact in 1941. Before the "progressive" troll celebrates, let's point out at least 2 inconvenient facts. In 1914, Ford more than doubled the hourly rate, going from $2.34 for a 9-hour day to $5 for an 8-hour day. (It turned out productivity increases offset the wage increase.) In 1926, Ford was the first major manufacturer to institute a now standard 8-hour day, 40-hour workweek, and other manufacturer followed suit to be competitive. Why did Ford do it? Workers were more rested and productive with 2 days off a week. The point, of course, is that unions had SQUAT to do with this. A company did it for what they considered their own best business reasons. I could go on and on. Do you think parents want their kids to have to contribute towards a tight household budget? What do you think happened when the head of household got a better-paying job in a growing economy that met the budget without his kids needing to work? The US had become the world's largest economic power long before FDR took power and the crony unions got monopoly protections.

Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Glenn Foden and Townhall

Musical Interlude: My iPod Shuffle Series

Elton John, "Blessed". Hands down, my favorite Elton John song. I love babies and little kids.