Must Reads For The Week 12/7/13

Posted December 7, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week

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The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Fast-Food Workers Plan Strikes In 100 Cities This Week, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Unions are trying to increase their membership by preying on the economic ignorance of young people, promising them a minimum wage of $15 dollars an hour. Minimum wages laws don’t work! Read here.

One Of These Is The “Real” Economy, at zerohedge.com. The Fed’s counterfeit money is creating a bubble in the stock market, and  misallocating  scarce resources in the private sector.

Obama Doesn’t Understand Income Inequality Either, by Michael S. Rozeff, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Incomes are unequal because individuals are unequal, it’s that simple. Individuals have different skill sets, work ethic, and desires. Lebron James and I have different incomes because people value his skill set higher than mine as evidenced by the fact that they will voluntarily pay him more to perform his skill than they will pay me to perform my skill.

Cartoon Of The Day: People vs. Government, at aei-ideas.org. This cartoon says it all.

Clueless Krugman Speaks Out Of Both Sides Of His Mouth, by Chris Rossini, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Krugman laments the idea that the poor and middle class are finding it harder to move up the economic ladder while at the same time cutting their chance to climb the ladder by proposing raising the minimum wage.

San Francisco Considers Banning Butterfly Releases, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Why do we even consider stupidity like this.

Obama’s Plan To Snatch Your Savings, by Jeffery Folks, at americanthinker.com. Government bureaucrats have their eyes on your retirement accounts. Where ever there’s a pile of money, bureaucrats will try to figure a way to get their hands on it. They will pass a law to make their theft legal.

Confiscation Begins In NYC: “Immediately Surrender Rifle and/or Shotgun, by Tammy Bruce, at tammybruce.com. Nothing more to  say.

Observations From The Margin

Posted December 3, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Observations From The Margin

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Observation Tower

Observation  (Photo credit: mooglet)

– How can William P.White the D.C. insurance commissioner get fired by the D.C. Mayor for telling the truth about Obamacare, while everyone who lied about Obamacare gets to keep their job.

– Politicians never cease to amaze me. John McCain called Ted Cruz attempt to repeal or defund Obamacare, “not rational”, and to attempt it during the Gov. shutdown was considered “a fool’s errand”. Six weeks later in an appearence on the Greta Van Susteren show McCain said Obamacare should be repealed. Most politicians live in a zero sum moment that they think can never change. McCain was acting on the polls at the time of Cruzes filibuster, while Cruz was trying to educate people about the problems concerning Obamacare, in an attempt to move public opinion toward repeal. Cruz succeeded with the help of the predictable debacle that the Obamacare roll out has become.When public opinion shifted, McCain found himself in a “new” zero sum moment. Seeing the parade of public opinion coming down the street, he grabbed the conductor’s baton and jumped in front of it in an attempt to look as if he was leading it. This is the reality of politics and politicians, and why I lothe it and them.

– The free market, not Government regulation, has allowed the production of the highest quality and quantity of healthcare possible. Over the years, Government intervention has worked to slow the progress of healthcare while driving up the cost, at the same time that new technological discoveries have worked to advance healthcare, and make it less expensive. We have no idea how advanced and less expensive healthcare would be if the free market would have been allowed to work unimpeded by Government regulations.

– Obamacare is the attempt by central planners to move healthcare toward a single payer system, aka socialized medicine. These central planners simply don’t like the results produced by individuals making voluntary decisions in a free market. They think their superior wisdom can produce better healthcare at an “affordable” price. Unfortunately for the planners Obamacare increases demand for healthcare, while at the same time constraining the supply of healthcare, which will result in less healthcare at higher prices. Their superior wisdom can’t veto the economic law of supply and demand.

– Politicians and bureaucrats can mandate that healthcare be provided to everyone, but if there is nobody to provide healthcare, what good is the mandate. They are promising you access to something that they don’t produce. Individuals produce healthcare, and if an individual decides the payment for his production isn’t enough, he will produce some other good or service for a payment he thinks is enough.

– How can the President, seemingly every week, get away with making executive orders that change Obamacare, which is the law of the land? Is it because the opposition party is pusillanimous. Tyrants become more bold when their power grabs are not challenged.

– Let’s see if I have this right. 1) Obamacare mandated that everyone purchase health insurance, even if they don’t want it. 2) If they already had a voluntary contract with an insurance provider, the Government arbitrarily nullified the mutually agreed upon contract, because it didn’t meet Obamacare’s arbitrary standards. 3) The President then decided that insurance companies reinstate the insurance plans that Obamacare mandates outlawed. 4) The insurance companies have said they can’t or won’t reinstate the policies that were outlawed under Obamacare. I guess being King is a lot easier in theory than it is in reality.

– Experts from Google and Oracle have been brought in as part of the “tech surge” to fix the problems with the healthcare.gov website. Why didn’t the “all-knowing” Government bureaucrats let these experts set up the website in the first place?

– The books Atlas Shrugged, Animal Farm, and 1984 were categorized as works of fiction when each was published. If they were published today they would be categorized as history books.

I got these cartoons from the burningplatform.com.

140590 600 Better on the Inside cartoons

140655 600 Obama Promises cartoons

Must Reads For The Week 11/30/13

Posted November 30, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

If You Like Your Plan You Can Keep It: ( The Rap w/ Remy), by Remy and Meredith Bragg, at reason.com. A short rap video to start your day.

Watched Cops Are Polite Cops, by Ronald Bailey, at reason.com. Lets go to the replay official! Having small cameras attached to an officers glasses, hats, or uniforms is a good idea as these three stories,( read 1 here, 2 here and 3 here) show.

Hospital Holds Teen For 9 Months, Won’t Let Parents Take Her Home, by Kristin Tate, at benswann.com. If you think parents rights are being violated now, just wait until Obamacare is fully implemented.

Price Controls Don’t Work, And Team Obama Doesn’t Like Market Solutions That Save Lives, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Here’s a quote from the article, “The Obama administration cannot accept a market approach to rationing a scarce resource like bone marrow, and insists on a government price control of $0.00 for a scarce, lifesaving resource.” Just wait until Obamacare is fully implemented.

Full List Of Obamacare Tax Hikes, by Nick Sorrentino, at townhall.com. Politicians can always claim they haven’t raised taxes if, 1)the tax hikes can be hidden in thousands of pages of legislation, and 2) the mainstream media won’t do their job of being a check on political power.

Pope Francis: Free Market Hater, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Understanding how free markets really work takes much deeper analysis than the shallow thinking enjoyed by utopian central planners, Marxists, and even well meaning Christians.

The Three Metro Areas In The US That Have Larger Economies Than Sweden, at econoimicpolicyjournal.com. Central banks are printing a portion of these GDP numbers. Since all central banks are counterfeiting at the same time, than the GDP differences between countries represent some sense of reality.

Do you believe this guy, David Stockman Fears “Panic” When The “Lunatic” Fed “Loses Control”, at zerohedge.com, or do you believe this guy.Greenspan- “Dow 16,000 Is Not A Bubble”, at zerohedge.com.

Our View: Ethanol Was Mistake Then, It Still Is One Now, at delewareonline.com. Ethanol mandates are,  a) An environmental boondoggle, b) A subsidy for farmers, c) Politicians buying votes, d) All of the above.

Thomas Sowell’s Random Thoughts

Posted November 29, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Miscellaneous

Tags: , , ,

I try to read everything Thomas Sowell writes. His random thoughts articles (read most recent article here),  always makes me think.

Here are some excerpts.

-“Don’t you love it when a politicians says, “I take full  responsibility”? Translated into plain English, that says, “Now that I have admitted it, there is nothing more for me to do (such as resign) and nothing for anyone else to do (such as fire me).” Saying “I take full responsibility” is like a get-out-of -jail-free card in the Monopoly game.”

– “If you believe in equal rights, then what do “women’s rights,” “gay rights,” etc., mean? Either they are redundant or they are violations of the principle of equal rights for all.”

– “One of the painfully sobering realizations that come from reading history is that utter incompetence that is possible among leaders of whole nations and empires — and the blind faith that such leaders can nevertheless inspire among the people who are enthralled by their words or their posturing.”

– “The one thing that the national debt ceiling does not do is put a ceiling on the national debt. It just provides political melodrama when the existing ceiling is repeatedly raised to accommodate ever higher spending.”

Related ArticleThomas Sowell’s Random Thoughts, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleRandom Thoughts And Other Thoughts By Thomas Sowell, by austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleThomas Sowell Explains How Democracy And Freedom Are Not The Same Thing, by austrianaddict.com.

Must Reads For The Week 11/23/13

Posted November 23, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week

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The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

This first article and video is a must!

The War Against Achievement, by Thomas Sowell, at jewishworldreview.com. When individuals achieve at a higher level than you, are you envious and try to tear them down, or do you use their achievement as motivation of what is possible if you work hard? Watch this video about Richie Parker, the young man Thomas Sowell is talking about in his article.

Mother Charged $10 dollars After Lunch Of Pot Roast, Potatoes, Carrots, And An Orange Deemed “Unbalanced” By Daycare, by Liz Klimas, at theblaze.com. If you want to look where the road we’re traveling leads, look at countries who are farther down this road. Oh yeah I forgot, “this can’t happen here”.

The Obamacare Time Bomb, by Marc A. Thiessen, at economicpolicyjournal.com. In the words of the great F. A. Hayek, “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”

Census “Faked” 2012 Elections Jobs Report, by John Crudele, at nypost.com. Most of us knew the number was fudged when it came out.

I Can’t Call You Sugar, Cause Sugar Never Was So Sweet, by Angus, at mungowitzend.blogspot.com. This is what we mean when we talk about crony capitalism. In a free market, unhampered by Government regulations, businesses will succeed or fail based on their ability to sell a good or service at a price that covers the cost of production.

Nancy Pelosi Doesn’t Think She Said Anything Wrong About Keeping Health Plan, by Robert P. Murphy, at consultingbyrpm.com. My apology for wanting you to watch a video of Nancy Pelosi. I don’t know what is more amazing, watching Nancy try to spin her way out of her own pile of #%&*, or watching David Gregory try to act like a journalist asking tough questions.

The Treasury Federal Reserve Naked Tango, by Lawrence Kotlikoff, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Counterfeiting and money laundering are legal activities for Government, but not for us. Counterfeiting is theft whether it’s legal of illegal.

School Heaves Obama Lunch Menu, at ohiolibertycoalition.org. Students force Obama’s school lunch program to face economic reality. Read this post from a year ago titled, Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, Doesn’t Work As Planners Planned, at austrianaddict.com.

California Rejects Proposed One-Year Plan Extension, at zerohedge.com. The pesky free market won’t cooperate with the central planner and chief’s plans concerning Obamacare.

Guest Post: The 5 Economic “Big Lies” The Government Is Telling You, by Micheal Snyder, guest post on zerohedge.com. This post is so

The President and Vice President Don’t Support Ending The Filisterbuster Rule

Posted November 21, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Government and Politics

Tags: , , , ,
President Barack Obama and Vice President Jose...

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TWO MEN OF GREAT CHARACTER

The move by the Senate Democrats to end the filibuster rule on Presidential appointees isn’t even supported by the leaders of the Democrat party, President Obama and Vice President Biden. President Obama and Vice President Biden are righteously indignant about the ending of the filibuster rule because it would take away a constitutional check on the majority. I applaud these staunch defenders of the constitution against the tyranny of the majority, and the fact that their own party is in the majority shows real courage. Watch the videos below and be prepared to be inspired by the tough stance these two intrepid leaders take.

THE CAPED CRUSADERS FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE

I’M SORRY I GOT THIS WRONG. MY BAD

I want to sincerely apologize for getting this post wrong. I thought these two videos were responses to todays vote in the Senate which ended the filibuster rule for appointees. These videos are actually from 2005 when both men were in the Senate and both were righteously indignant over the Republican controlled Senate talking about getting rid of the filibuster. Why would anybody believe anything a politician says after what has gone on the last two months?

Related ArticleThe Most Recent Arbitrary And Unrestrained Exercises of Power By The Federal Government, by austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleWhat Is Tyranny? The President Should Know The Definition, by austrianaddict.com.

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

Related ArticleThomas Sowell Explains How Democracy And Freedom Are Not The Same Thing, at austrianaddict.com.

Must Reads For The Week 11/16/13

Posted November 15, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Obama Translated, at zerogedge.com. You need your political speak to english dictionary to understand what politicians say.

The Biggest Threat To Minimum Wage Restaurant Workers Everywhere?, at zerohedge.com. When the minimum wage is set above the value produced by the worker, businesses will find a lower cost substitute for the labor.

The Mirical Cure…? zerogedge.com. You can’t counterfeit your way to prosperity.

This Is How The President Plans To Un-Cancel Insurance Policies, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Unintended consequences happen when central planners try to plan what is still a qusi free market activity. It’s the same concept as trying to raise the minimum wage law above the market price.

The Economics Of Obamacare, by Robert P. Murphy, at mises.org. The laws of economics are always in play no matter what plans Governments make.

Top Sectors That Throw Money At Congress, economicplicyjournal.com. They all pay both sides of the aisle, it is called hedging their bets. When the difference is 65% or above, you have a good idea what that which party the better thinks will deliver the goods.

U.S. Oil Production At Highest Level Since January of 1989, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Free markets work in spite of government plans to make drilling for oil more difficult.

Progressive Government Fails, by Daniel Henninger, at online.wsj.com. Quote from the article, “The essence of modern Democratic progressivism is: “You will participate in what we have created for you, and you will comply with the law’s demands.”

Does Washington Know Best? by Walter E. Williams, at jewishworldreveiw.com. The amount of knowledge needed to centrally plan an economic activity is impossible for Government to know. No one individual or bureau of individuals knows this knowledge in a free market. Prices convey and coordinate this knowledge. When Government messes with prices through regulation, taxes, and subsidies, well just look at the Obamacare mess. It will get worse as they try to fix it through more “planning”.

Must Reads For The Week 11/9/13

Posted November 9, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week

Tags: , , , , , , ,
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Feds Threaten To Prosecute Merchant For Selling “Department Of Homeland Stupidity, at tammybruce.com. The bureaucratic state thinks it should be admired instead of ridiculed.

Who’d a-thunk it? ‘Cash For Clunkers’ was an epic failure in Keynesian Style Stimulus..., by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. The only way to determine if vehicles have outlived their usefulness is if they can’t be sold for more than scrap. Cash for clunkers is a version of the broken window fallacy.

Is This Why Bitcoin Is Surging?, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article, “So why is bitcoin seemingly minted on Teflon?  Limited supply….  There will never be more than 21 million bitcoins, and there are only 12.0 million currently.  In the 4-ish minutes it has taken you to read this far, the most new bitcoins that might have been issued is 25, or $6,250.  In the same timeframe, the Federal Reserve has pushed another $7.8 million into the financial system with Quantitative Easing.

“If You Like Your Healthcare Plan, You Can Keep It”, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Video of the President peddling snake oil.

Big Unions May Get Their Obamacare Exemption After All, by Micheal Lotfi, at benswann.com. The makers of the laws and their friends don’t have to abide by the same rules that we serfs have to abide by. That’s not quite the definition of equal protection under the law.

Freedom: Along With booming Oil And Gas Business, The IT Sector Is Another bright Spot In The Subpar  Obama Economy, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. Excerpt from the article, “The serendipitous, experimental search for a business model is a great advantage that the free marketplace enjoys over centrally planned socialism or crony capitalism…..Presuming to know what is good for customers, regardless of their personal preferences, is how you end up with ObamaCare.”

Jury Duty Gives Us Power To Decide The Law, by Jonathan Carp, at posttrib.suntimes.com. We have to use the tools available to fight back against tyrannical Government.

No Child Allowed Ahead- It Might Damage The Self Esteem Of The Dumbasses, by Fred Reed, at burningplatrorm.com. A theory of why we have a low T society. Buckle your seat belt for this one.

Watch this insane dunk by a  junior college basketball player here, and this violent college football collision here. Listen to the oohs of the crowd in both videos.

Observations From The Margin

Posted November 8, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Observations From The Margin

Tags: , , ,
Observation Tower

Observation  (Photo credit: mooglet)

– We shouldn’t get so fixated on the “glitch” with the Obama care website, that we lose focus on the real problem, which is the obamacare regulations. It’s as if someone tells you he is going to inject you with a syringe full of poison, and you object because the syringe is broken or the needle is dirty or dull.

– If a Government populated by the “best and brightest, with access to unlimited funds, didn’t have enough knowledge or tax dollars to set up a website in three years, how could it possibly have enough knowledge, dollars, and time to set up a one size fits all healthcare system for 300 million constantly changing individuals.

– Intellectuals in the media are worried that the Presidents misrepresentation of the truth, (aka lie), will lead to a loss of Governments credibility with the people. I’m trying to figure out how being suspicious toward people in positions of power is a bad thing.

– Watching the President try to spin his way out of the, “…if you like your plan you can keep your plan…” lie, makes me yearn for the days of President Clinton, “…it all depends of what the meaning if the word is, is”. When it comes to spinning and lying, the President is a rank amateur compared to Clinton who was the Babe Ruth of spinning and lying.

– The administrations mouth pieces say you can replace your “crummy” plan with a plan that meets the new standards of Obamacare. I have two questions: 1) After you become and an adult and your parents don’t make decisions for you anymore, who decides what’s “crummy” or not? You or a politician. If both of you are looking after his own self interest, who would you trust with a decision concerning you? At least your parents loved you.  2) Who pays for the increased cost of the higher standard  plan? Either the tax payer, the healthcare provider through lower compensation, or you through higher deductibles and premiums, not “benevolent” Government.

– If a dope like me knew that Obamacare would force individuals to give up their plans, how could the smartest President to ever hold the office not know it?

WEB SITES FOR DUMMIES!

OBAMACARE ISN’T SINKING. OBAMACARE IS THE ICEBERG THAT’S SINKING WHAT’S LEFT OF OUR FREE MARKET HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.

Related ArticleThe Economics Of Health Care vs. The Right To Health Care, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleThe Reality Of Obamacare, at austrianaddict.com.

Must Reads For The Week 11/2/13

Posted November 2, 2013 by austrianaddict
Categories: Must Reads For The Week

Tags: , , , , , , ,
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Austrian Economics Hits Mainstream Media, at zerohedge.com. Great, but don’t let the media define what Austrian economics is.

Why Government “Care” Will Never Work, by Ilanna Mercer, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Don’t get fixated on the problem with the website. The website is just a vehicle to purchase unaffordable health insurance, the real damage will be done to health care.

Obama Crony: Michelle Obama’s Princeton Classmate Is Executive At Company That Built Obamacare Website, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Theft of our tax dollars through crony capitalism, nobody should be surprised.

Dad Makes Son A Prosthetic Hand With 3 D Printer For Only $5 vs. $20,000 For Traditional Prosthetic Hand, by Mark J. Perry, at aei-ideas.org. The only way to make healthcare affordable is to go back to a free market in health care. Repeal ALL laws and regulations related  to healthcare and health insurance and step back and watch what happens.

Why The State Likes To Frighten You, by Chris Rossini, at economicpolicyjournal.com. Fear works because most people are ignorant about basic economics. It’s our job to educate people concerning economics, because they aren’t getting it through public education.

Top Hospitals Opt Out Of Obamacare, at usnews.com. and Docs Resisting Obamaccare, by Carl Campanile, at nypost.com. Unintended consequences happen when you try to impose socialist policies on a relatively free society.

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix: How To Distinguish Between Urgent And Important Tasks, by Brett And Kate McKay, at artofmanliness.com. Understanding what’s urgent and what’s important helps maximize your most scarce resource, time.