Archive for the ‘Must Reads For The Week’ category

Must Reads For The Week 3/22/14

March 22, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

The Philosophy Of Liberty, at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. You have a responsibility to be able to articulate why the philosophy of  liberty is better for individuals and society as a whole, than Government planning. This short video does a great job of explaining why.

France’s Reckoning: Rich, Young Flee Welfare State, at cbn.com. Great video showing what lies ahead if we keep going down the central planning road. Oh I forgot, it can’t happen here! I saw this at libertasfound facebook.

ObamaCare’s Secret Mandate Exemption, online.wsj.com. Did the administration delay the individual mandate until 2016? Looks like you can fudge the truth to get out of the individual mandate, just like the President fudged the truth to get Obamacare passed. I saw this at libertariangirl facebook.

Muray Rothbard On The Only Way To Truthfully Regard Minimum Wage: Compulsory Unemployment, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Brief explanation in typical Rothbardian brilliance. The money quote, Remember that the minimum wage law provides no jobs; it only outlaws them; and outlawed jobs are the inevitable result.”

Top Ten Reasons It Makes Sense Not To Enroll In Obamacare, by Elizabeth Lee Vliet M.D. at eonomicpolicyjournal.com. Who would you listen to concerning Obamacare,  Dr. Vliet, or Lebron James. Lebron James Spreading Propaganda For Obamacare, at economicpolicyjournal.com. I think Lebron James is a good person and a great team mate, but I wouldn’t follow him if he jumped off a cliff.

Warning Russia, Biden Says US Will Defend Allies, by Josh Lederman, at news.yahoo.com. Do you think Lithuania and Latvia are feeling reassured. Bidens threats are more laughable that Obama threats. If you’re not willing to follow through on a threat, don’t make it.

General Motors CEO Apologizes For Deaths Tied To Recalled Cars, by Tom Krisher, at detroit.cbslocal.com, Will the DOJ come down as hard on crony capitalist Obama Motors as it did on Toyota. Toyota Reaches $1.2 Billion DOJ Settlement Over Sudden Acceleration Issues, by Matthew Rocco, at foxbusiness.com.

China’s Housing Problem In One Chart, at zerohedge.com. China’s housing bubble, watch video here, is bigger than ours was in 2008.

Must Reads For The Week 3/15/14

March 15, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Obama Would Like To Tell You How To Budget, at chicksontheright.com. Where do you start with this video? The fact that the guy who has added 1 trillion dollars to the deficit on average every year since he became President is telling someone who makes 36 thousand dollars a year how to budget his money to afford health insurance is completely laughable. His Affordable Care Act has made health insurance more expensive instead of “affordable”. But what is more unbelievable about this video is when he chastises people for not budgeting money to get health insurance before they get sick because the cost of paying after they get sick is greater. Doesn’t the smartest man to ever become president realize that Obamacare creates the incentive for people to do the exactly what he is chastising them for doing. When an insurance company has to insure a person in spite of preexisting conditions,what does he think people will do. He is either ignorant, or just a politician.

NSA -Fan Feinstein Slams CIA Spying And Intimidation, at zerohedge.com. Senator Feinstein doesn’t like the CIA spying, and by default, intimidating congress, but she didn’t have a problem with the NSA intimidating all of us through data mining {spying}. She said the CIA appears to have violated the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as various federal laws and presidential executive order that prevents the agency from conducting domestic searches and surveillance. It’s not OK when her constitutional rights are violated by Government, but it’s fine when yours and my constitutional rights are violated by the NSA.

The Devil Lurking In The Retail Store Closure Details, at zerohedge.com. 1) Technology has been a part of the decrease in the need for brick and mortar stores. 2) Spending on consumer goods doesn’t grow an economy. Consumption is an act of destroying what has been produced. Production is what allows us to consume. With the work force participation rate at its lowest since the late 70’s, less is being produced, therefore less can be consumed. 3) Stimulating consumption through Government spending, the Fed electronically printing counterfeit money along with a zero interest rates policy, created a false economic reality. Brick and mortar stores were built on false information transmitted through the economy by Government stimulus and Fed printing. Under normal market conditions these stores wouldn’t have been built. Because economic forces are always trying to correct Government interventions, these stores, which should have never been built, are being liquidated. 4) Fed counterfeiting money through QE’s and zero interest rates can only give legs to a false reality for so long before economic forces eventually bring production and consumption back in balance.

Police Use Of Force Drops 60% When Officers Required To Wear Video Cameras, by Jay Syrmopoulos, at benswann.com. Complaints against police have dropped by 88% and use of force by police has dropped by 60% in one year since officers started wearing cameras. So let me see if I understand this, monitoring people in positions of power keeps them from abusing that power. The founders gave the press constitutional protection to monitor politicians and bureaucrats for the purpose of protecting us from their abuses of power. When the vast majority of the mainstream press believes in big Government, they move from being a watchdog, and toward becoming a propaganda arm of the very entity they are supposed to monitor.

Lights, Camera, Arrested: Americans Are Being Arrested For Filming Police, by John Whitehead, at rutherford.org, and How Are Lois Lerner’s Emails Not Front Page News, at gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com. These are examples of people with Government sanctioned power not wanting to be monitored, in the first article, and not being monitored by the press in the other.

Venezuelans Marked With Numbers To Stand In Lines At Government Supermarkets, by Linette Lopez, at businessinsider.com. I saw this at aei-ideas.org. This is the result when you move toward central planning, whether it is socialism, communism, crony capitalism, fascism etc, and away from free market capitalism. Look at this Graphic Of The Day: Socialism vs. Capitalism, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.com.

Liberals Protest $100 Million Donation To Hospital Because David Koch Gave The Money, by Robby Soave, at dailycaller.com. Would these leftists be protesting if the Government had given the hospital a grant of 100 million dollars, money that was not donated to the Government by taxpayers, but was taken under the threat of force by the IRS.

Articles like the ones below tell me people are starting to understand the Federal Government is not just too big but should be rolled back. Idaho Legislators Vote On Emergency Bill To Nullify Federal Gun Laws, by Michael Lofti, at benswann.com, Tennessee Legislators Vote To Nullify Some Federal Roadside Checkpoints, by Michael Lofti, at benswann.com, South Carolina Democrats and Republicans Vote To “Nullify” NSA, by Michael Lofti, at benn swann.com, and Oklahoma Legislators Pass Bill Legalizing Gold and Silver Tender: Nullify The Fed?, by Michael Lofti, at benswann.com. This last article about legalizing gold and silver as payment of debt is the one the Government will fight against the hardest. The Government wants the Fed to maintain its monopoly on money creation because the growth of the U.S. Government is financed through the Feds ability to create counterfeit money and buy Government debt. They will fight this if it passes just like they are fighting against virtual money like Bitcoin.

Must Reads For The Week 3/8/14

March 8, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

By Increasing The Minimum Wage, Will We See An Increase In Labor- Saving Technology Like This, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Do politicians realize their policies hurt the very people they intend to help.

Two Unrelated (?) Videos, at consultingbyrpm.com. We have moved so far away from individual freedom and much closer to Government control in the last 50 plus years. These videos are just a reminder.

Georgia Residence Threatened With $1000 Fine For Renting Out Rooms To Tourists, by Kristin Tate, at benswann.com. News like this makes me pessimistic about keeping our freedom.

Oklahoma Legislatures Vote To Nullify Agenda 21, by Michael Lotfi, at benswann.com. News like this makes me optimistic about keeping our freedom. It’s a roller coaster ride everyday.

Fed’s Fisher Admits Stocks Are At “Eye Popping Levels”, at zerohedge.com. In a speech in Mexico City, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said, “he was concerned about “eye-popping levels” of some stock market metrics”, warning that “…the Fed must monitor the signs carefully to ensure bubbles were not forming.” He’s worried about bubbles forming! Doesn’t he see that a stock market bubble not only has formed, but is being blown up every month when the Fed electronically prints roughly 80 billion counterfeit dollars.

JP Morgan’s Biggest Concern Is That Bitcoin Will Succeed, by JP Morgan CIO Michael Cembalest, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article, ” …my biggest concern is not that Bitcoin will fail, but that it or one of its many virtual currency competitors will one day succeed……In the extreme, Bitcoin may lead to economic activity moving from the regulated economy to the underground shadow economy.” The Government and businesses like JP Morgan benefit from the Federal Reserves monopoly on money printing.  A virtual currency would shrink Government and force crony capitalists like  JP Morgan to compete in a free market. It’s no wonder they are both trying to torpedo virtual currencies like Bitcoin.

It’s Official: New School Lunch Rules Get A Grade Of F-, by Shifra, at tammybruce.com. Government makes rules, and individuals don’t comply. Related article, Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, Doesn’t Work As Planners Planned, by austrianaddict.com.

Teacher Follows All The Rules, And Student Gets Frostbite, by Alain 41, at tammybruce.com. This can’t be true can it? These teachers decided this student wasn’t as important as what would happen to them if they got caught breaking a rule. The teachers acted in their own self interest, or in the words of President Obama, these teachers “acted stupidly”.

Video Of Eight year Old Son of Fallen Soldier Goes Viral, by oualdeaux, at tammybruce.com. Lets end with this.

Must Reads For The Week 3/1/14

March 1, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

How To Identify Economic Zombies, at economicnoise.com. This is a short article with a great explanation about producing, consuming and borrowing. Here is an excerpt, “Income for a period determines the amount you can spend that period…But borrowing is nothing but advancing consumption that otherwise would occur in a later period. Whatever is borrowed raises consumption this period but reduces it next period when some of the income earned then cannot be spent because it must be used to service the prior debt. Total consumption for both periods is lower than it would have been without the borrowing. That is due to the paying the carrying cost of debt, interest.”

Mortgage Applications Plunge Most In 3 Months Purchases Collapse To 19 Year Low, at zerohedge.com. We still haven’t recovered from the 08 housing bust. The Fed and the Governments policies  created the housing bubble which produced a much bigger supply of housing than demand will support. Since the collapse they have been trying keep the market from bringing supply in line with demand, because they don’t want the price of housing to collapse any farther. Do they understand the simple law of supply and demand which is, more will be consumed at a lower price than a higher price and more will be produced at a higher price than a lower price. By keeping the price artificially higher they are working in reverse of the law of supply and demand. Related article, A Housing Recovery, Or Just Another Bubble?

Government Lies About The IRS Scandal, at economicnoise.com. Government bureaucrats and politicians use their power to target and intimidate opponents. These abuses are never seriously investigated and hardly ever prosecuted. The IRS is the most intimidating agency in the Government because everyone deals with them. When you get a letter from the IRS you don’t open it like a kid opening a present on Christmas morning.

Senator Rubio Responds To Senator Harkin Praising Cuba’s Socialist Health Care System, by Jason Howerton, at theblaze.com. Senator Harkin must have been taken to Cuba’s version of a Potemkin village. Who do you trust to tell the truth, Senator Harkin who is a true believer in socialized medicine, or Senator Rubio whose parents came from Cuba. Both may have a degree of conformation bias, but whose side does history support?

Surgeons Reconstruct Baby’s Skull With 3D Printing Technology, by Loren Grush, at foxnews.com. and Shale Boon Is Only In The First Inning, at bizjournals.com. I say these at aei-ideas.org. Even though Government tries to control health care and stop carbon based fuel production, technology combined with whats left of the free market is finding new, better, and less expensive ways of doing everything. What would exist today if Government had stayed inside of its Constitutional restraints?

Trouble In Paradise? …Fed’s Fisher Blames Congress And Voters, by Chris Rossini, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Here’s an excerpt from the article, “Bottom line? We don’t need the elected “regulatory authorities”. The free market is the ultimate regulator It plays no favorites, bails out o one, and tilts in no one’s direction. There is no tougher regulator than the free market. We also don’t need the non-elected central planners at The Federal Reserve. What we need is Liberty.”

Revised Q4 GDP Tumbles 26% From Initial Estimate To 2.4%; Personal Consumption Hit, by economicpolicyjournal.com. The 2013 4th Quarter GDP was cut from 3.2% to 2.6% because,  “the consumer was not as strong as had been initially expected”. I’m sorry but the truth is production was not as strong, because you can only consume what has been produced. Keynesian indoctrination has us believing that consumption drives the economy when in reality production is what drives the economy and allows us to consume.

This is from a site called thisisindexed.com, by Jessica Hagy. She uses charts to, as she says, “make fun of some things and sense of others.”

Her graph below tells me that people who receive largess from Government, whether it’s a welfare recipient or a crony capitalist, are more willing to give up their freedom and be a slave of the State. They have less of a desire for individual freedom as their needs are increasingly met by Government. It’s sad but true.

card4050

Must Reads For The Week 2/22/14

February 22, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Boston Hospital Takes Custody Of Multiple Children Against Parents’ Will, by Kristin Tate, at benswann.com. Don’t trust people with power, they will abuse it.

New Jersey Police Chief Speaks Out About Town Council, Is Placed On Leave, by Joshua Cook, at benswann.com. Don’t trust people with power at any level of Government.

Unions Use Bullying Tactics, Intimidate Workers, Burn Down Churches For Using Not-Union Labor, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. People with power will abuse it.

Workers At Tennessee Volkswagen Factory Reject UAW, at foxnews.com. Excerpt from article, “VW wanted a German-style “works council” in Chattanooga to give employees a say over working conditions. The company says U.S. law won’t allow it without an independent union.”  Unions are Government protected monopolies on labor. Of course monopolies can’t exist in a true free market, they can only exist through Government sanction.

Thousands Of Connecticut Residents Commit Felony By Failing To Register Firearms, by Kristin Tate, at benswann.com. As the Government passes more ever expanding laws, law abiding citizens will become criminals, either through ignorance or through willful noncompliance.

Concealing Evil, by Walter E. Williams, at jewishworldreview.com. Individuals in Government coerce, confiscate, and intimidate individual citizens in order to bring about outcomes they deem noble.

An Unconscionable Silence, by Judge Andrew Napolitano, at creators.com. When politicians and Government bureaucrats don’t follow the law, individual citizens will decide not to comply with the law. This eventually leads to the breakdown of the rule of law. This is where we are headed if we don’t use the political process to roll back government.

This Is What’s Happening In Venezuela Right Now, by Matt Essert, at policymic.com. The cost of keeping individual freedom before it is lost is lower than the high cost of getting individual freedom back once it is lost. More people have to be awakened to the fact that not only can these things, listed above and in previous posts, happen here, they are happening here. There is still time to pay the lower price.

Related ArticleJuly 4th, Declaring Independence From Tyranny, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleWe’re All Born In The Middle Of The Story, at austrianaddict.com.

Must Reads For The Week 2/15/14

February 15, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Suicide Bomb Instructor Accidentally Blows Up His Class, at economicpolicyjournal.com. I wonder if Iraq’s version of OSHA will fine the terrorist training camp for unsafe working conditions?

More Evidence Of Employers Fighting Back Against The Possibility Of Higher Minimum Wages, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Do central planners ever consider the possibility that employers will react differently to these interventions than the planners thought they would?

WaPo Columnist: The Austrians Are Winning, by economicpolicyjournal.com. I’ll bet the WaPo columnist, E.J. Dionne, has never read anything  by Hayek, Mises, or Rothbard. Mr. Dionne I have a suggestion, start with Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. Baby steps, baby steps.

Europe Considers Wholesale Savings Confiscation, Enforced Redistribution, at zerohedge.com. This can’t happen here, can it? The EU is talking about using the savings of the people of Europe to fund long-term investments in order to boost the economy. I thought all that electronically printed counterfeit money was supposed to boost the economy.

Retail Sales Slide Across The Board, Post Biggest Miss Since June 2012, at zerohedge.com. This is a symptom of not having enough people producing. The more our Government tries to use the spending of electronically printed counterfeit money to stimulate the economy the less will be produced. Spending counterfeit money is theft. It is consuming what has been produced, without any corresponding production to back up the counterfeit money. It is the consumption of wealth not the production of wealth.

Initial Jobless Claims Miss; Back Above 8-Month Average, at zerohedge.com. Government interventions, including the Fed electronically printing counterfeit money and keeping interest rates artificially low, lead to fewer people producing. This is just another symptom of the real problem, which is , say it with me, Government intervention into the free market. If we cure  Government intervention, these symptoms will go away.

Video: John Stossel – In Praise Of Fossil Fuels, at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. Carbon based fuels are the least expensive way to power the world economy. Subsidizing and mandating “green” energies isn’t the answer to lower cost energy. The market will reveal a lower cost form of energy if or when one exists. The Government has chosen Green energy and the market has rejected it. Think of all the wasted resources, including human capital, that could have been used to make carbon based fuels more abundant and less expensive. When it comes to green energy our Government is literally Don Quixote tilting at wind mills.

The Mafia State Of Mind, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. I like reading CHS’s articles because they make me think.

Must Reads For The Week 2/8/14

February 8, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

11-Year-Old Boy Suspended Under “Dangerous Weapons” Policy For Voluntarily Turning In A Non-Firing Toy Gun, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Are these school officials examples of  “smart people” with no common sense, “smart people” with an agenda, or stupid people

Where The Hell Is Germany’s Gold? by Paul Rosenberg, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Fed won’t let the Bundesbank (Germany’s central blank) see the gold the Bundesbank has stored in the vault at the Federal Reserve. Is the gold gone, or has it been used as collateral for thousands of loans through rehypothecation. Rehypothecation is similar to a grain warehouse storing peoples soybeans for a receipt (a promise) which can be redeemed on demand, and then selling thousands of receipts on the same soybeans. There are not enough soybeans to fulfill the promise of redemption created by the counterfeit certificates issued by the grain warehouse. Rehypothecation is a version of fractional reserve banking

Schoolteacher Cheating, by Walter E. Williams, at jewiehworldreview.com. It isn’t hard to believe that, yes, even teachers act in their own self interest. Excerpt from the article, “Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, identifies the problem as district officials focusing too heavily on test scores to judge teacher performance, and they’ve converted low-performing schools to charters run by independent groups that typically hire nonunion teachers.”  Students are being sacrificed on the altar of teachers unions.

An Overselling Of Global Warming, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. It isn’t hard to believe that, yes, even scientists act in their own self interest. Excerpt from the article, “Science changed dramatically in the 1970s, when the reward structure in the profession began to revolve around the acquisition of massive amounts of taxpayer funding that was external to the normal budgets of the universities and federal laboratories. In climate science, this meant portraying the issue in dire terms, often in alliance with environmental advocacy organizations. Predictably, scientists (and their institutions) became addicted to the wealth, fame, and travel in the front of the airplane (quoting Garth Paltridge, one of the world’s most respected atmospheric scientists):” Tax payers being sacrificed on the altar of Global warming.

Julie Borowski Video: The Minimum Wage Hurts The People It Is Suppose To Help, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. I’ve written about the minimum wage in these articles, Income Inequality Part II: Increase The Minimum Wage, and Minimum Wage Jobs Create Unemployment.

Censorship By Example: Payback For Dinesh D’Souza, by Edward Cline, at capitalismmagazine.com. I found this at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. Bureaucrats and leaders using Government power to silence people who disagree or criticize them is nothing new. Our second President John Adams used the Alien and Sedition Acts to silence critics. What do you think the IRS targeting Tea Party and Liberty groups was about? When you are losing the argument on the facts you have to find another way to win, and using force is effective, ask the mafia.

Justice Scalia On WWII Camps: “..Kidding Yourself If You Think The Same Will Not Happen Again“, by Jay Syrmopoulos, at benswann.com. In the words of F. A. Hayek, “…The battle for freedom must be won over and over again…”

I saw this at theburningplatform.com.

Michael Ramirez Cartoon

Must Reads For The Week 2/1/14

February 1, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

In Defense Of The Mises Institute, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When the New York Times is trying to fudge the truth, ( lie), about the Austrian school of economics, you know you are making progress in educating people about the economic reality of Government intervention into the economy. Keep spreading economic truth and let it work its magic.

Thanks To Capitalism All These Things Fit Into Your Pocket, at Turning Point USA. Thank you Libertarian Girl for sharing this. Look at the photo and think of the cost of all the devices you would need to replace your smart phone. The good news is Government hasn’t found a way to intervene in the technology market and screw it up. Technology changes quicker than the Government can react. Will the technology side of our hampered health care system progress farther and faster than Obamacare can drag it backward?

Video: Free Americans Exercising Their Rights, at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. This is part of the push back by Americans against the growing police state, at the federal, state and local levels.. The rattle of the rattle snake is the warning to the intruder that it is too close, the bite comes when the intruder doesn’t heed the warning. This video is the rattle of the rattle snake, lets hope Government understands these warnings so the  bite never has to happen.

Video: Fox News- NSA Is Illegal and Ineffective, at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. Judge Napolitano’s segment on this video is really good. This is just another reason why people are saying enough, you’ve gone too far.

LA Cop Punches Special Needs Girl, at getholistichealth.com, and Cop Goes Psycho Waiting For McDonald’s, Pulls A Gun On Teen In Drive Thru, at thelibertarianrepublic.com. Thank you Libertas Found for posting these short videos. If we people who have power over you can’t be trusted at the local level, why would you trust people with power at the Federal level?

Video: Get Konnected With The Kronies Action Figures, at kronies.com. Creative spoof of a commercial for krony kapitalist action figures.

76,000 Pounds Of Ribs Burn In Truck Fire, Smell Wonderful, by Tammy Bruce, at tammybruce.com. Nothing smells better than meat cooking over an open flame.

Ted Cruz ‘s Comments Edited Out Of “Face The Nation”, by Shifra, at tammybruce.com. Media bias isn’t shocking anymore, it’s just the reality we live under. But in the information age it’s less of a problem.

Government Schools Are Dinosaurs, by Chris Rossini, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The information age is the biggest threat to the brain washing monopoly Government schools have enjoyed. You don’t have to set one foot in a school or college to receive an education. The bigger point that Gary Vaynerchuk makes in this short video is how technology is going to bring about a big cultural shift that will be difficult for us to see because we are living inside of it. This shift will give power back to the individual with a corresponding decrease in the power of Government. We are living in interesting times.

Romney Care Result: It Takes More Than Two Months To See A Specialist In Boston, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When the Government tries to make something more affordable, the result is a longer wait for worse service at a higher price. Isn’t that the exact opposite of how it works in the free market?

Must Reads For The Week 1/25/14

January 25, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

Teen Employment And The Minimum Wage Over 60 Years, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. The chart in this post shows the decline of teen employment after minimum wage increases.

With Paperless Ticket, Ticketmaster Owns Your Ticket, Not You, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Just another case of crony capitalism. If Government hadn’t usurped the power to legislate in these areas, businesses wouldn’t try to lobby politicians to make laws that hurt competitors to these businesses.

Chasing The Dream Of Half-Price Gasoline From Natural Gas, by Kevin Bullis , at technologyreview.com. I got here from aei-ideas.org. Unlike  solar, wind, and ethanol , this company will succeed or fail on their own, without being subsidised by our tax dollars. Government didn’t pick this winner, but it sure subsidised those other losers.

Fish Who Are Almost Glad To Be Caught In The Net, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Since the war on poverty started in the 60’s, more and more people have been caught in the net of Government assistance, whether it’s people on food stamps or crony capitalists receiving subsidies.

Moody’s Downgrades Health Insurers Over Obama Care Uncertainty, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Central planners always assure us that their plans will work in order to get us to go along with these plans. Unfortunately the certain uncertainty of the real world always gets in the way of their ability to bring about the certain utopian world that is just around the corner. If individuals would just act as the planners want them to, all problems would be solved. Unfortunately for the planners, and fortunately for liberty, individuals act, well, like individuals, which is why central planners are for the power of the state circumventing the rights of the individual.

Pope Tells Davos Attendees To Go Socialist, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Pope is ignorant about how wealth comes about. It doesn’t just magically appear and then someone decides how it shall be dealt out . Wealth is produced it is not distributed. He needs to read F.A. Hayek”s book. Prices and Production, before he pontificates about anything economic.

Google Glass Wearer Interrogated, Removed From Easton Movie Theater, by Allison Manning, at Dispatch.com. The police state is getting out of hand.

Parents Call Cops For Help, Cops Shoot Their Nonviolent Schizophrenic Son Dead, by Kristen Tate, at benswann.com. Just another example off our of control police. Here is a suggestion, don’t call the cops try to take care of the situation yourself, you might get a better result.

Must Reads For The Week 1/18/14

January 18, 2014
The pen is mightier than the sword...

The pen is mightier than the sword… (Photo credit: mbshane)

What You Were Never Told About Obamacare, by Joseph Salerno, at economicpolicyjournal.com. We, the tax payer, are going to subsidize Health Insurance Companies, who would go bankrupt because of the rules under Obamacare. This is going to be a defacto single payer system.

Seven Nobel Laureats Indorse Increase In Minimum Wage, at economicpolicyjournal.com. When someone says, “economists say……” , ask what economist? Just because they are an “economist” doesn’t mean they are smarter than you about economics.

X Marks The Spot Of The Death Of Monetary Policy, at zerohedge.com. The Fed can’t even print their way to a good GDP number.

Leno: “Now That Christie Is Denying Everything He Sounds Even More Presidential”, at economicpolicyjournal.com.

Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse Takes Away Right To Be Presumed Innocent, by Ken Braun, at mlive.com. Just another example of the erosion of individual liberty.

Beijing Citizens, Shrouded In Pollution, Flock To Giant  Screens To View Artificial Sunrise, at zerohedge.com. And the Government tells us we’re the biggest polluters on the planet. Capitalism creates enough wealth to clean up after ourselves, socialist countries don’t.

Who Has The Time And Motivation To Comprehend The Mess We’re In: Almost Nobody. by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. This is some heavy lifting but it makes you think. Here is an excerpt from the article, Very few people are willing to work hard enough to figure things out on their own. It’s so much easier to join Paul Krugman dancing around the fire of the Keynesian Cargo Cult, chanting “aggregate demand! Humba-Humba!” while waving dead chicken….”

I saw this cartoon on the burningplatform.com.

142922 600 Obama vs Christie cartoons