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Must Reads For The Week 7/9/16

July 9, 2016

We Will Comment On Hillary and The Shootings In Dallas In A Few Days

Thinking Beyond Stage One, by Walter E. Williams, at jewishworldreview.com. The unintended consequences of tariffs and trade restrictions (please read this Mr. Trump). Excerpt from the article: The question that should be put to those calling for restrictions on imports is: In an effort to save jobs in one industry, do you care about or even know of its cost and disastrous effects in other industries? When Congress enacts a miracle for one group of Americans, such as steel producers, it creates a non-miracle for another group, such as steel- using producers.

What The World Looks To Someone Who Doesn’t Understand Economics, at cafehayek.com. Here are some excerpts from the article: “.….defense of the minimum wage is strong evidence that the world does indeed include people who really do believe that government-officials’ stated intentions determine the outcomes of government actions.” Always remember the limiting factor of any central planning by government, the amount of knowledge the bureaucrats can bring to bear on any situation isn’t even one tenth of the knowledge brought to bear by millions of individuals competing in the free market.

Smashing The Minimum Wage: robot Made Burgers Coming To San Francisco, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When the cost of labor is mandated to be higher than it would be under normal market conditions, Employers (economic forces) try to correct the intervention in a couple of ways. Since they have to pay more, why not pay even more to a person who can produce as much as two people. Another is to use automation to replace the now too expensive employee. Mandates don’t happen in a vacuum. Two Of The Worlds Largest Employers Are Replacing Workers With Robots.

But Why Aren’t People Buying Electric Cars? at theburning platform.com. The auto industry can’t figure out why ‘stupid’ consumers won’t buy electric cars. Could it be because the cost of owning and operating an electric car (even with all the Gov. subsidies) is higher than owning and operating a gasoline powered car? Maybe the consumer is smarter than people think. Read – Electric Car Sales Crash Into Economic Reality.

Brexit Shows Why Central Planning Won’t Work, by Jason Morgan, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “As Ludwig von Mises demonstrated in Human Action, it isn’t that economic interventionism and central planning might not work, it’s that they cannot work. Why? Because we simply do not have the ability to predict human action in the future, either in the immediate future, or in a more intermediate future.” Unfortunately for us the solution to the failure of these tyrants politicians and bureaucrats plans is more of the same thing that failed.

Here We Go Again: An August 2007 Redux, by David Stockman, at mises.org. When central banks try to stop market corrections by printing money via credit expansion, they end up creating bubbles that will eventually have to be liquidated. Of course they will try to stop the market correction that was a result of their attempt to stop the first market correction. The dog chasing it’s tail.

Murray Rothbard vs. EU 1989, at economicpolicyjournal.com.

 

Americas Radical Revolution, by Murray Rothbard, at mises.org. Rothbards take on the American Revolution.

“This Is A Toilet” US Rowing To Use Sewage Proof Suits At Rio Olympics, at zerohedge.com. People have asked me why the Olympic committee would have the games at a place like this. Why? Because the Olympic committee is probably just as corrupt as FIFA was with the world cup. The pollution at the Beijing Olympics four years ago was probably just as bad.

Sharp Shooting Army Vet Saves Bald Eagle Stuck Upside Down In A Tree, at tammybruce.com. A young eagle was caught in a rope dangling from a tree. An army vet shot the rope and freed the eagle. The army vet was initially worried he might get in trouble for shooting at an eagle if he attempted to shoot the rope. With the way the legal system is today, I think his fears were justified.

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Must Reads For The Week 7/2/16

July 2, 2016

THE BREAKDOWN OF THE RULE OF LAW

Why Did Bill Clinton & Loretta Lynch Meet Privately On Her Airplane On Phoenix Tarmac, at tammybruce.com. Loretta Lynch said she didn’t discuss Hillary’s  E-Mail case with Bill. Of course it can’t be considered a discussion when Bill did all the talking and Loretta just listened. He told her about the unpleasant things that might happen to her if she indited Hilary.

Bill Clinton Appointed Loretta Lynch to the US Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York in 1999, at justice.gov. If it wasn’t for Bill Clinton, Loretta Lynch wouldn’t have had the same career path. I’m sure Bill reminded her about this when they met on the tarmac in Phoenix. Politics is rife with incestuous political relationships.

Hillary Clinton Nets Big Bucks From Justice Dept. Employees During Server Investigation, at washingtomes.com. The justice Department is becoming more and more politicized. I thought Justice was supposed to wear a blindfold.

Clinton’s Official State Department Calendar Missing Scores Of Names And Events, at theblaze.com. The AP has been seeking Clinton’s calendar and schedules from the State Department since August 2013. She wanted her meetings with possible donors hidden because of what it looked like. Mrs. Clinton, what do the 4 articles above make you look like?

Troubled Ex-UN Official Dies After Barbell Falls On Neck, at nypost.com. Do you think Bill told Loretta that something like this might happen to her or a member of her family if she didn’t play ball?

The breakdown of the rule of law starts when government politicians and bureaucrats aren’t made to follow the same rules we have to follow. That’s when the people push back.

THE REST

The Left’s Anti-Gun MADNESS In One Cartoon, at thefederalistpapers.org.

liberal gun control madness

Concealed Carrier Stops A Nightclub Shooting, And The Media Ignored It, at dailycaller.com. No shock here. They push their agenda with the stories they don’t cover as much as the ones they do cover.

Al Qaeda Urges Lone Wolf Terrorists To Target White Americans, Cites A Specific Reason, at theblaze,com. When minorities are targeted the US government will call it a hate crime instead of blaming it on Islamic terrorism. That takes away from the impact of the acts.

Alito: Value Religious Freedom? You Should Be Worried, dailysignal.com. From the article: “The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear a case challenging a Washington state law that forces a family owned pharmacy to dispense emergency contraceptives is an “ominous sign: for those who value religious freedom, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said.”

“Where Ya From?” Now An Act Of Microaggression, at wnd.com. Microaggression is another way of saying to young people, you have a right to be a capital P woosy.

15 EU Laws We Will Miss In Post-Brexit Britain, at independent.co.uk. Check out some of these edicts from the EU.

High Profile Socialist French Economist Quits As Advisor To UK’s Labour Party, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When I talked this week  about the UK getting rid of the central planning socialists in their Parliament, I wasn’t name calling, I was serious. If a socialist economist is advising the Labour party, there must be socialists in the labor party!

Top Chinese Official Responds To Trumps Charges That China Manipulates Its Currency, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Does Mr. Trump realize the Fed has manipulated the US dollar to the tune of printing over 4 trillion counterfeit dollars in the last 8 year?

An Economy Is Not A Business, at cafehayek.com. As we’ve stated many times before: Just because you are successful in business doesn’t mean you know a thing about how economics works.  Excerpt from the article: “Trump, like many a business person, judges an economy as he judges his business: he asks ‘By how much are our production and sales expanding relative to our purchases?’  This question is the wrong one to ask about an economy, whose performance should be judged only by how much ordinary people’s ability to consume improves over time (rather than by how much the economy’s sales grow relative to its purchases).  So when Trump sees Americans buy imports, he sees money flow out of what he mistakenly imagines to be America, Inc.  Thinking of the American economy as being one gargantuan business, Trump mistakenly sees imports as costs that drain this ‘business’ of resources rather than as goods and services made possible because the economy is successfully fulfilling its ultimate purpose – namely, to improve people’s standard of living by giving them ever-greater access to goods and services for consumption.”

CARTOONS:  from theburningplatform.com.

Political Cartoons by Bob Gorrell

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

Political Cartoons by Lisa Benson

 

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Must Reads For The Week 6/25/16

June 25, 2016

Democrats “Gun Control” Sit In Continues Into Its Second Day On House Floor, at zerohedge.com. In my post three days ago titled The Breakdown Of The Rule Of Law, I said we are acting like third world countries when it comes to settling differences. The way our democrat party aristocracy acted when they did not get their way on gun control is exactly how protesters acted in Wisconsin when Gov. Scott Walker’s agenda got passed into law. Most people can’t relate to people acting like this because most of us have dealt with spoiled kids who don’t get their way. “I want my bottle now!”

Why Terrorists Target Gun Free Zones, by John Lott, at nypost.com. John Lott is the go to guy when it comes to guns and crime. Terrorists are logical thinkers. They will attack targets that provide little or no resistance. They want more bang for the buck and a gun free zone means law-abiding citizens will not bring a gun to these places. Only law breakers will.

Rangle Says His constituents Shouldn’t Have To Carry A Gun, However Congress Needs To Be Protected By Them, at theblaze.com. Do as I say, not as I do. Another example of our ruling aristocracy playing by different rules than the ruled. How can anyone take this man seriously after hearing what he said?

Higher Education’s Academic Monoculture, by Loyd S. Perregrew and Carol A. Vance, at mises.org. Colleges indoctrinate their students into one way of thinking about economics. In a classic bait and switch tactic they call our current crony capitalist system free market capitalism and then trash it. They push central planning by Government as the fix for our current economic problems. The students don’t understand that intervention in the free market by central planners is what caused our problems in the first place. In this article by Tom Bemis titled, Karl Marx Is The Most Assigned Economist In U.S. College Classes, he shows the economists colleges pick for their students to read. I don’t care if students read Marx, Keynes, or Krugman. I just want them to also read equal amounts of Mises, Hayek, and Adam Smith. I trust the logic of free markets will win our over the illogic of central planning. This is the reason Socialist central planners don’t want their theories challenged. They want a monopoly on the material that is presented.

New Site Tries To Give Colorado Degree-Seekers A Return On Investment On Their Degrees, at denverpost.com. Launchmycareercolorado.org is a site that tells students what they are likely to earn from their college degree. Just a guess but an engineering degree will probably return more than a women’s studies degree. Shockingly colleges aren’t happy with this site. They worry that: “…reducing the college experience to solely a monetary payoff sells short a higher ed experience. It could be a useful tool. But the value of a college education can’t be measured by a simple RIO. Part of the reason people go to college is to become well-rounded individuals.” I agree! How can you put a price on spending 4 or 5 years becoming a well-rounded partier. And of course the indoctrination that takes place can’t be measured.

Austin Goes Undercover In Sting Operation Targeting Underground Ridesharing, at keyetv.com. Two points. 1) I love the spirit of the American Revolution that is represented in the black market operating in Austin. Austin got rid of Uber, but the market for ride sharing didn’t go away. It went underground. 2) It is going to get more difficult for central planners to control what people do. Why? Because technology has made it possible for individuals to go around through and over the road blocks the planners put in our way.

Uber Is Progress, So Why Aren’t Progressives On Board, by Steven Horwitz, at fee.org. Progressives only see the status quo that’s in front of their nose. They are also central planners. Since Uber wasn’t planned by them, it can’t be good.

Obama’s Open Borders and Surging Deadly Disease In America, by Matthew Vadum, at frontpage.com. This is not a shock. I went on the Ellis Island tour years ago and I learned that immigrants were quarantined and sent back if they had diseases. All the talk of fixing our broken immigration system can be fixed is two things were done. 1) enforce the laws currently on the books. 2) Streamline and lower the cost of the process for immigrants to legally become Americans. Unfortunately politicians want the issue and not a solution. They can make political hay if there isn’t a fix.

Deadlocked Supreme Court Blocks Obama’s Immigration Plans, at zerohedge.com. The President usurped power that the presidency doesn’t have. The office of the president is not allowed to legislate in this area. This is another example of the breakdown of the rule of law. The president said he didn’t have the power to do what he did and went for it anyway.

State Department Disabled Security Software To Allow Hillary’s Private Server EMails, at zerohedge.com. Upon further review that private server wasn’t a very good idea was it? But it doesn’t matter when the rules don’t apply to the ruling aristocracy.

Europe’s Robots To Become ‘Electronic Persons’ Under Draft Plan, at reuters.com. I thought this was from the Onion. Never underestimate central planners desire to grab as much power and money as they possibly can. Why do we continue to let foolishness like this stand?

America In Free Fall, at victorhanson.com. Victor Hanson gives an historical perspective of countries who have gone through social and economic turmoil. What lies ahead for America?

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Must Reads For The Week 6/18/16

June 19, 2016

 

Dealing With An Active Shooter, at targetforcetraining.com. After hearing about the shooting in Orlando last week I wondered how 320 people could let one individual with two guns inflict so much damage. The first thing people have to understand is each person is a first responder in these types of situations. The police are the second responders. I think it is important to have an understanding of what to do in a situation like this. Here’s a video that can help you be prepared for a situation that 99.9% of us will never have to deal with. Always be prepared.

You Never Let A Serious Crisis Go To Waste, at austrianaddict.com. Whenever there is a mass shooting this article I wrote after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 gets many views. It covers how politicians use every “crisis” to advance their political agenda. They have been trying to politicize mass shootings to advance their agenda to make the second amendment obsolete. The process on how they deal politically with a crisis is explained in this article.

After Terrorist Attack In Orlando, Bigoted U.S. Gun Owners Everywhere Offering FREE Shooting Lessons To Gays, at burningplatform.com. No comment necessary.

Five Alligators Killed And Opened Up To Find Signs Of Boy Who Was Attacked By Alligator, at reuters.com. The 2-year-old getting killed by an alligator shows the tragedy of the human condition. It is sad indeed. But as I look at this situation I can’t find any outrage by animal rights activists because the 5 alligators were killed and cut open to look for the boys remains. I conclude that 5 alligators aren’t equal to the 1 gorilla. Remember the outrage over what happened to the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo two weeks ago. Not a peep from these groups this week.  Would it have taken 10 alligators being killed to bring the outrage? All we can say is 5 wasn’t enough.

“Allah Knows Best” Child Sex Grooming, Prison Brainwashing And A Month Of Islam In Great Britain, at zerohedge.com. Mark Steyn’s book “America Alone” published in 2006 predicted this. Read this book. It is probably too late for Europe to turn the trend around, but it is not too late for America.       A Short Coarse On Understanding Muslims, at theburninngplatform.com. When do the actions of members of a particular group cross the line of being an outlier activity to being an observable pattern of behaviour?

Obama Legacy Will Be Power Blackouts, at cfact.org. 1) Producing electricity from”green” energy is more costly than producing it from carbon based fuels. Why would we want to replace a more expensive way of producing electricity with a more expensive way of producing it? 2) Producing electricity from wind and solar can’t be done when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. Where as electricity can be produced from fossil fuels every second of every day. Why would we replace a constant flow of electricity with an intermittent flow of electricity? Because of power and politics.

Supreme Court Delivers A Second Defeat To EPA’s Agenda In Last 7 Days, at cfact.org. Excerpt  from the article, “...the decision re-affirms that property owners across the country can hold overzealous federal bureaucrats immediately accountable in court for erroneous assertions of control over wetlands,…..”  We will take any victory we can against the federal governments use of force against the individual.

Three Facts Prove Climate Alarm Is A Scam, at cfact.org. Unfortunately there is no convincing the environmental extremists that they may be wrong no matter how much evidence you show them.

Police: Rancher Lassos Bike Thief Outside Oregon Wal-Mart, at tammybruce.com. Being a cowboy is a compliment.

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

Political Cartoons by Chip Bok

More cartoons from the burningplatform.com.

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Must Reads For The Week 6/11/16

June 12, 2016

Why Politicians Hate The Sharing Economy, and Why Millennials Love It, at thefederalist.com. The millennials understand the sharing (Uber) economy. Politicians have no choice but to prop up the status quo because of the incentives created by what exists at the moment.

How The FAA Shot Down ‘Uber For Planes’. Hat Tip Mark J. Perry, at carpediemb.blog. Flytenow, was bringing passengers and pilots together in a Uber type app until the FAA decided to stick its nose where it doesn’t belong.

In Alaska, Transgender Rights Trample All Over Women’s Rights, by Larry O’Connor, at hotair.com. Male places 2nd and 3rd in girls 200 and 100 meter dashes at the Alaska High School Track Championships. A couple of comments about this. 1) As I like to point out; the transgendered are now on the top rung on the ladder of grievance. What do other protected classes of people like, gays, women, Latinos, and blacks think about being supplanted on this ladder. 2) Why would there be complaints? I grew up being told that women were equal to men and the only reason they were behind athletically was because our culture pushed them away from doing boy things and toward doing girl things. 3) If these people truly believed that women and men are equal in athletics they would do away with women’s sports and have women and men compete together and the best person wins. 4) In the Ohio  H.S. Track Championships, a boy ran 110 meters over 39 inch hurdles faster than any of the girls who ran 100 meters over 33 inch hurdles. (XY =/= XX). 5) Why have we put up with such foolishness?

In an unrelated story…..! Infants Show A Preference For Toys That Match Their Gender Before They Know What Gender Is, at digest.bps.org. Does this shock anyone who is an observer of life?

U.S. Based Westinghouse To Build 6 Nuclear Power Plants In India, at indiatimes.com. From the article, “President Obama and Indian leaders noted the intention of India and the US Export-Import Bank to work together toward a competitive financing package for the project,… Once completed, the project would be among the largest of its kind, fulfilling the promise of the US India civil nuclear agreement and demonstrating a shared commitment to meet India’s growing energy needs while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.” Some observations about this excerpts. 1) Competitive financing means India couldn’t get financing from capital markets at an interest rate that they could make work. Now the US tax payer will not only subsidize the project but back the loan with our tax dollars. 2) Why didn’t the President push wind and solar power on the Indian government like he is doing to us in America? Is nuclear power cleaner and less costly power than wind and solar? Why hasn’t the President pushed for nuclear power plants in the US if it’s good for India? 5) The President is ‘creating jobs’ in the economy of India while destroying the jobs of coal miners in his home country (yes the United States). 6) This is an example of crony capitalism/socialism.

Half Of Washington DC Employers Have Cut Jobs, Hours Due To Minimum Wage Increases. And It’s Going To Get Worse, at zerohedge.com. This city is booming because it is where the Federal Government dispenses it’s 4 plus trillion in tax dollars, debt, and electronically printed counterfeit money. Even with all that government money market forces say raising the minimum wage reduces the amount of labor. Simple supply and demand.

State Department Would Need 75 Years To Compile Clinton EMails, at thehill.com. This is one way of getting around FOIA requests. I actually do believe that it would take government this long to compile the EMails without the feet dragging. A tech savvy teen could probably do in a week.

Obama Tries To Pretend The 2nd Amendment Doesn’t Exist, at thefederalist.com. People who try to tell me that ‘Obama doesn’t want to take your guns away’, should read this.

Spain’s 2016 Election: Is There Any Hope For Liberty, by Enrique Clari, at mises.org. When I saw this title I thought they meant the US.  Excerpt from the article: “The Dangerous animosity that free-market ideas nowadays rouse in my country is not an inherent feature of Spanish culture, but rather an extended – quoting Mises – “mentality” in the EU. Therefore, the best we can do is to keep striving against the ideas of mainstream populists. the outcome of the ballot might be a very bitter disappointment, but we must continue upholding the teachings of the Austrian school if we really have any social conscience.”  They are talking about the US!

The Keynesians Stole The Jobs, by Ron Paul, at mises.org. Central planning can’t produce the results they claim they can produce. Individuals react to the incentives created by their policies differently than the planners think hope they will.

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 6/4/16

June 4, 2016

Payrolls Huge Loss: Only 38,000 New Jobs Added In May; Worst Since September 2010, at zerohedge.com. The number crunchers used to figure that 150,000 jobs become obsolete every month because of the creative destruction of the market. So there has to be 150,000 jobs created every month just to start at zero. So 38,000 jobs created means there was a net loss of 112,000 jobs last month. Also the last two months job numbers have been revised down. So how robust is the “recovery”

These Are The 9 Zero Hedge Charts Showing The “Obama Recovery” That Angered The Washington Post, at zerohedge.com. The labor participation rate is the one chart that can’t be spun. The percentage of working age people is lower than at anytime since the early 70’s. If fewer people are working, and many work fewer hours because a lot of the newly created jobs are part-time, how can we possibly be producing more? The GDP supposedly measures production. Even though government spending (financed by borrowing and central bank money printing), is added into the GDP number, growth has averaged around 2% over the last 8 years. We can’t even counterfeit our way to robust growth. We haven’t even found a bottom to the 2008 recession because the Fed has propped up all the misallocations that it produced with the money it printed in the first place.

Allan Greenspan: “We’re Running To A State Of Disaster”, at zerohedge.com. Greenspan says: “Entitlements are crowding out savings, and hence capital investment. Capital investment is the critical issue in productivity growth, and productivity growth in turn is the crucial issue in economic growth…….Unless and until we can rein in entitlements, which have been rising at a nine percent annual rate in the US and comparable levels throughout the world. We are going to find that productivity is going to maintain a very low rate of increase.”

I think it is interesting he is blaming it on congressional spending when it is his Federal Reserve that printed the money that the government borrowed which led to the increased spending. He also fails to mention all the misallocation of resources that were the result of the Feds credit expansion policy.

Lessons From Cyprus: Spending Restraint Is The Pro-Growth Way To Solve A Fiscal Crisis, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.com. Cyprus bit the bullet and cut spending. This has led to a recovering economy. Greece did the opposite, and is still in the toilet.

GM, Ford Us Auto Sales Tumble In “Bellwether” Month Of May, at zerohedge.com. Sub-prime lending brings future demand into the present. Once future demand has run its course, there is nothing behind it to keep demand propped up. Ergo a mismatch of supply and demand. Intervention distorts economic reality.

A Visual Lesson About Economic Freedom, by Dan Mitchell, at freedomandprosperity.com. When governments take off the interventionist shackles, even in a limited amount, their economy grows.

Black Market Ride Sharing Explodes In Austin, by John Daniel Davidson, at thefederalist.com. Austin forced Uber and Lyft out of the market. But the demand for rides is being supplied by black market ride sharing apps. This is the spirit of the American Revolution. Don’t Tread On Me!

Private Restrooms Are Private Property, by Patrick Barron, at mises.org. Respect for private property would solve the made up transsexual bathroom problem. Allow the owner of the bathroom to make the decision how his bathroom will be used. There won’t be a one size fits all to down cluster fox trot. “No Shirt No Shoes No Service.” “No Vagina, Go Across The Hall.”

Eleven Measles Cases In Arizona Traced To Inmate At Immigration Detention Center, at tammybruce.com. People think rules are arbitrary. Most rules have a specific purpose. If you’ve taken the tour of Ellis Island, you would understand that part of our immigration policy was to keep out diseases, like measles, that were under control in the US. but not everywhere else.

Texas Man Pays For $212 Speeding Ticket…In Pennies, at tammybruce.com. People have different levels of tolerance for government regulations. Many have had enough.

 

I Hate To Do it Again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSxo9-Z5Ki0

Have you seen this on mainstream media outlets? All I want is for both Democrats and Republicans to be covered the same by the media. I wish they would show every politicians screw ups. Can you spell P-O-T-A-T-O-E? Who doesn’t know what I’m referencing?

 

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Must Reads For The Week 5/28/16

May 28, 2016

How The TSA Kills Hundreds of People Every Year, by Joseph T. Selarno, at mises.org. Regulations aren’t implemented in a vacuum. People have options on how they will deal with any particular regulation. In this case, instead of putting up with the screening process at airports, people are deciding to drive instead of fly. This means a certain percentage of these people are dying in traffic accidents instead of arriving safely via air travel. It’s not possible to know the exact number, but we don’t need to know the exact number to know that more are dying. Another example of the unseen consequences of regulations.

New Poll 9 in 10 Native Americans Aren’t Offended By Redskins Name, at washingtonpost.com. Once again the left makes up a fake crisis in order to dictate their vision of the world on the rest of us. Ever since the Indians sold Manhattan for $24 and some beads, the left doesn’t trust Indians to make good decisions for themselves, so the left will make the decisions for them.

Former McDonald’s CEO Crushes The Minimum Wage Lie, at zerohedge.com. When you raise the price of labor above what it can marginally produce, it will go away. In this case automation will take the place of minimum wage workers. I always ask proponents of the minimum wage this question: What is 15 dollars an hour times zero hours a week? (That which is seen and that which is not see).

EPA Mandates Renewable Fuel Levels Above 10% Blend Wall, at instituteforenergyresearch.org. Government ethanol mandates do three things. 1) Increase the cost of gasoline. 2) Decrease fuel efficiency. 3) Decrease the life of engines. The ethanol industry profits (that which is seen), and the consumer pays the cost of the regulation (that which is not seen).

Bill To Allow 9-11 Victims to Sue Saudi Government Turns Out To Be A Chuck Schumer Led Scam, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Schumer stuck an amendment into the bill at the last minute which allows the Secretary of State and/or The Justice Department to stop any litigation. Who would have thought the Chuckster was capable of something like this?

VA Sec. Compares Wait Times At VA To Waiting For A Ride At Disney, at tammybruce.com. This can’t be true! I thought when Obama got rid of the VA Secretary two years ago, and replaced him with Bob McDonald, everything would get fixed? In my post “Incentives Matter” written when the change was made (2014) we explain why changing the person in charge without changing the incentives wouldn’t make a difference.

Elizabeth Warren: Uber Hater, at economicpolicyjournal.com. She said, “Uber and Lyft fight against local rules designed to create a level playing field between themselves and their taxi competitors.” Mrs. Warren (aka Pocahontas), these rules were put in place to tilt the playing field in favor of the existing cartel. A level playing field would be one with no regulations. Of course there is no role for politicians on a truly level playing field.

India’s Government Just Went Into Overdrive In Its Harassment Of Apple, at economicpolicyjournal.com. This is protectionist regulation that will marginally help the local businesses and hurt the consumers. (that which is seen and that which is not seen).

Why Aren’t Female Soccer Players Paid More? by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. Just because you work as hard as someone else doesn’t mean you will get paid the same wage. You get paid on the value you produce, as judged by the evil consumer, regardless of how hard you’ve work. In this case, consumers don’t value watching female soccer. If they did, women would get paid more. There’s a difference between merit and value. Merit is me working as many hours as Bill Gates and thinking I should get paid as much as him. Bill Gates produces more value for more consumers than I do, and gets paid for the value he produces, as do I.

Cash Banned, Freedom Gone, by Thorsten Polleit, at mises.org. The recent talk about negative interest rates only works for central banks if they get rid of cash and make everything an electronic transaction. If every exchange is seen by the state: Do you have freedom?

BILL CLINTON COSBY

Freud would have a field day with this!

Sorry I couldn’t help it.

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Must Reads For The Week 5/21/16

May 21, 2016

POLITICIANS AND BUREAUCRATS KNOW BEST

Higher Minimum Wage Causes Wendy’s To Have Self-Service Ordering Kiosks At Its 6000-Plus Restaurants, by John R. Lott, at johnrlott.blogspot.com. This is not a surprise to us who have read, “That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Not Seen,” by Frederic Bastiat, the French economist from the mid 1800s. Quote from Bastiat, “the bad economist pursues a small present good, which will be followed by a great evil to come, while the true economist pursues a great good to come, – at the risk of a small present evil.”

Huge Increases In Health Insurance Premiums To Hit Right Before The November Election, by John R. Lott, at johnrlott.blogspot.com. Because of all the government regulations, health insurance really wasn’t insurance before Obamacare. But with all the new Obamacare mandates on health insurance we can say without a doubt that health insurance today isn’t really insurance. It has turned into a pay as you go system like social security. Read this short article written in 1996 titled, “The Insurance Scam” by Michael Levin, to get an understanding that we haven’t had real health insurance in this country for a while. The progressives want Obamacare to be the penultimate step to a government-run single payer system.

Obama’s Overtime Rule Tried At IBM, And It Didn’t Work, by James Sherk, at dailysignal.com. Obama mandates overtime to be paid to salaried employees. What will be the unintended consequences of these new rules? Where does the Executive branch get the power to legislate in this area? Nowhere, according to the constitution. The employer agreed to pay x amount of dollars for y amount of labor, and the employee agreed to supply y amount of labor for x amount of dollars. Why do politicians and bureaucrats always feel the need to interfere with the voluntary exchanges made by individuals in the free market? Because they have power, and we allow them to use it.

Judge Clears Way For San Francisco Soda Pop Warnings, by Nathan Bomey, at usatoday.com. More nanny state regulations. This is our fault. We’ve allowed government to get so big that they can intervene into every aspect of our lives. It is going to take a lot of hard work to roll back big government. When you don’t discipline your dog when he pisses on your carpet, he will keep doing it.

NYC Mayor Wants To Fine Businesses That Don’t Use ‘Transgender Pronouns‘, at tammybruce.com. People either have an xx sex chromosome and are female, or a xy chromosome and are male. If a person “feels” they are a different sex than what their sex chromosomes say they are, that’s their problem to deal with not mine. I guess politicians are going to make it my problem. Remember when we didn’t discipline the dog? This kind of nonsense is our fault.

IRS’s Lois Lerner Speedily Approved Exemption For Obama’s Brother’s Charity, at thedailycaller.com. She approved this while at the same time dragging her feet on allowing the exempt status of conservative and liberty groups.

What’s Behind The Incredible Long Security Lines At Airports, at targetliberty.com. You mean besides the usual lack of incentives to be customer friendly? From the article: “one reason…..Homeland Security wanted to force more travelers to become “known” to the government via PreCheck programs. Another reason was the TSA’s revolt at the government cutting its funding. According to AP, “in the past three years, the TSA and Congress cut the number of front-line screeners by 4,622 — or about 10 percent — on expectations that an expedited screening program called PreCheck would speed up the lines. However, not enough people enrolled for TSA to realize the anticipated efficiencies.” In other words, PreCheck has been in a failure.”

Venezuelan Apocalypse: Some Updates On The Epic Failure Of Socialism In Oil-Rich Venezuela, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. In Venezuela there is day long lines to get food and medicine. We only have to wait 3 hours in line to get through airport security. I know we are not going to end up like Venezuela, but look where you end up when you allow government to intervene in the free market.

FIGHTING BACK AGAINST THE STATE

Regulations Force Uber, Lyft Out Of Austin, Arcade City Moves In, Hat Tip to LaissezFaireCapitalism. Ride sharing service, Arcade City, is a step ahead of the regulations in Austin. I love the fact that government moves slower than the market. Christopher David CEO of Arcade City, said:  “this is the beginning of a new wave in business and technology that regulators will be unable to effectively stop…Highly connected peer-to-peer ecosystems that harness the wisdom of crowds can self-organize and self-govern better than some arbitrary third-party ever could. We really will ‘decentralize all the things’. The only question is whether the centralists will stand aside of actively resist the change.” Hope springs eternal.

Federal Judge Hammers DOJ Lawyers For Lying About Obama’s Immigration Order, by Phil Shiver, at conservativereview.com. DOJ lawyers lied about the fact that implementation of Obama’s immigration orders was already in progress when the law suit against these orders was going on. In order to get a federal judge to sanction these DOJ lawyers, you know they were beyond breaking the law. For their lies, these lawyers must attend “a legal ethics course”. I don’t think this punishment is enough to keep these dogs from pissing on the carpet. “The law is intended to retrospectively judge behaviour and to prospectively guide it“, Thomas Sowell. This punishment is not harsh enough to make some future lawyer think twice before breaking the law.

Texas To Ignore Iran Nuclear Deal And Maintain Sanctions, at tammybruce.com. States fighting back against the Federal government is a good thing.

Whole Foods Anti-Gay Lawsuit Dropped After Apology, at cnn.com. Fighting back against politically correct groups. A pastor complained about a gay slur on a cake from Whole Foods. The story was a complete fabrication, aka a lie. I wish Whole Foods wouldn’t have dropped the lawsuit against the gay pastor who made up the story. Remember what Thomas Sowell said about prospectively guiding future behaviour. I have a final comment. If you have to make up a story about gays being slandered, you must not be able to find much “homophobia” in America. Try buying a gay wedding cake in a country where the state religion is Islam. Let me know how that turns out for you.

 

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Must Reads For The Week 5/14/16

May 14, 2016

8th-Grader Investigated For Forgery After Using $2 Bill , at tammybruce.com. When a girl tried to pay for lunch using a 2 dollar bill, school officials confiscated the bill, said it was fake, and sent her to the police office. The officer said she could be in big trouble. Why would these “authorities” think that anyone would counterfeit a 2 dollar bill? If someone was going to counterfeit money, wouldn’t you think they would get more bang for their buck, so to speak, by picking a higher denomination bill? Also when you see a 2 dollar bill, doesn’t it catch your eye because you don’t see one that often? Why would someone counterfeit something that brings that much scrutiny? I wish the Fed would have gotten this much scrutiny for printing trillions of dollars over the last ten years.

Wyoming Welder, Facing $16M Fines, Beats EPA In Battle Over Stock Pond, at foxnews.com. Andy Johnson obtained a state permit to build a stock pond on his land in 2012. After it was constructed, the EPA claimed he needed the agencies permission to build it. The Pacific Legal Foundation represented Mr. Johnson in his fight against the EPA. The federal government has agreed to resolve the case. When the full force of the Federal government is used against individuals, organizations like Pacific Legal Foundation are their only chance to fight back, because the monetary cost is so high. This is just another example of tyrannical individuals using the power of their position in government.

Increase in CO2 Is Literally Making The Planet Greener,at libertarianrepublic.com. Who would have thought that increasing the amount of plant food would increase plant growth? Maybe CO2 isn’t really a pollutant, even though the EPA says it is.

Ohio Cities Pre-Sale Home Inspections Unconstitutional, at ohiolibertycoalition.org. This is tyranny at the local level. Some Ohio cities are attempting to collect inspection fees and impose fines by mandating inspections on home sales. This is a warrantless search and is therefore unconstitutional.

How Uber And Lyft Were Driven Out Of Austin, at thefederalist.com. The taxi cartel and special interests colluded with local government to protect their monopoly status. Only government has the power to stop individuals from entering the market. Monopolies can’t exist in a free market. Monopolies are created by Government forcing competitors out of the market. Just another example of government tyranny.

Uber Ends Ride-Sharing Service In Sweden, at economicpolicyjournal.com.  Swedish central planners force out Uber. Uber said “Sweden needs a modern and clearer regulatory framework for the emerging sharing economy.” Actually Sweden is a modern socialist state. What Uber needs is old-fashioned free market capitalism, not the modern day crony socialist or crony capitalist system that exist in todays world.

Raw Venezuela: Looters Burned Alive, While Streets Filled With People Killing Animals For Food, at zerohedge.com. Here is your socialist paradise. I know all you Bernie (and Hillary) supporters think that the only reason socialism didn’t work in Venezuela is because the right tyrants people weren’t in charge of centrally planning the Venezuelan economy. Planning an economy might be a little more difficult than just promising free stuff. Who is going to produce all the free stuff that you want to give away?

Obama Lawsuit Against N.C. Isn’t About Civil Rights. It’s About Crushing Dissent, at thefederalist.com. You never let a serious (or not so serious) crisis go to waste. The President’s Justice department is using the power of the Federal Government to force a one size fits all decision onto 300 plus million Americans. This is simple. Allow property owners to make the decisions on their bathroom policy. Allow state and local governments along with schools to make their own bathroom policies. The Federal government should not be sticking their nose into the business of the people and the states. Tenth Amendment anyone.

“What Could Have Possibly Raised Your Costs”, Hillary Clinton Can’t Answer Why Obamacare Costs Are Soaring, at zerohedge.com. I thought we all knew that adding another layer of Government bureaucracy and regulations to an industry that already had massive bureaucratic and regulatory intervention wasn’t going to bring the cost down. The only question was how would the blame for the increased cost be shifted away from the government and on to the private sector.

California Tax Revenues Miss Projections By $1 Million As Residents Flee The State, at zerohedge.com. At some point people decide the cost of staying in California is greater than the benefit of remaining there. Think of how bad it would have to be for most people to make the decision to leave their state and settle somewhere else? Government regulation and taxes have consequences.

RECENT TORNADO FILMED IN OKLAHOMA

 

 

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Must Reads For The Week 5/7/16

May 6, 2016

Government Busybodies

300 Hours Training Required To Shampoo Hair In Tennessee, by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, at reason.com. Licensing laws to shampoo hair! Shouldn’t individuals contracting in a free market make these decisions on who should and shouldn’t shampoo hair? No say the busybodies.

California The Ultimate Nanny State, by David Harsanyi, at thefederalist.com. Go to the article and look at the list of activities you are not allowed to do. Here are a few examples: “No one can use foam takeout containers or plastic carryout bags or play online poker. You can’t purchase raw milk or caffeinated beer, and E-cigarettes are treated as if they were tobacco even if they are not.”

FDA Imposes A Slow-Motion Ban On E-Cigarrettes, by Jacob Sullum, at reason.com. I haven’t understood why the powers that be have a problem with e-cigarettes. This is just a way of getting your nicotine fix without inhaling the carcinogens that are present when smoking cigarettes. It’s safer. What’s the problem.

The FDA’s New Tobacco Rules Will Be Terrible For Cigar Smokers Too, by Jacob Greer, at reason.com. There is nothing that government won’t try to regulate out of existence.

Airbnb: Regulation Without Government, at fee.org. Most people think that if there is not government regulation through the political process, there is no regulation at all. Not true. There is private regulation through the free market if there is no government regulation. This private regulation is less contentious and costly than government regulation.

Economic Reality

Puerto Rico Says Will Default Tomorrow, Begs Congress For Help, at zerohedge.com. You do know that Congress means you and me the U.S. tax payer. When you incur more debt than you can pay off, you have to default and start over. Getting “Help” (more money), will only make the eventual default more costly. Take your medicine sooner rather than later.

This Is The End: Venezuela Runs Out Of Money To Print New Money, at zerohedge.com. This socialist paradise has printed so much money they don’t have enough money to pay for printing more money.

Elon Musk Crony Capitalist, by Veronique de Rugy, at reason.com. Musk’s Tesla Motors, Solar City, and Space X are subsidized by the government (you and me). In a true free market, these companies either made it on their own or they cut their losses and went out of business. Musk has said in the past that these companies would be profitable without the subsidies. How do we know unless they actually try to make it on their own? Could you be a successful businessman if the government gave you enough money?

Federal Bureaucrats Are Paid 78% More Than Private Workers, at fee.org. We are paying high salaries to people to do not just nonproductive work, but  in most cases it is destructive work. When these people make it more difficult for free market businesses to be productive, that is destructive. We would be better off if we paid these people to do absolutely nothing every day.

It Finally Happened: 500 Euro Notes, Will No Longer Be Produced, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When central banks artificially set interest rates it leads to this. Central banks can only implement negative interest rates if they get rid of cash. Rational people will hoard cash rather than pay to have it kept in these banks. Central bankers can’t let this happen.

U.S. Jobs Growth Slows Down In April, at marketwatch.com. I think it is amusing to here it reported that 160,000 jobs were created in April. In reality there was only a net of 10,000 jobs created. There are 150,000 jobs lost every month under normal economic conditions because of the creative destruction of the free market. So each month there has to be 150,000 jobs created just to break even. The starting point for counting jobs is 150,001. That is one job.

Is Donald Trump The Second Coming Of FDR?, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Just because you know how to make money in your chosen field, doesn’t mean you know anything about economics. Now that Donald Trump is the Republican nominee I suggest that he read Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell. That’s just for starters. I can suggest other books after he gets a base of knowledge from Dr. Sowell’s book.

 

 

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