Posted tagged ‘Civil Asset Forfeiture’

Must Reads For The Week 8/11/18

August 12, 2018

US Spending On Interest Hits All Time High As Budget Deficit Soars To $684 Billion, at zerohedge.com. Government spending and debt go up no matter which party is in control. The government confiscates over $4 trillion a year from the real economy. You would think that would be enough money to run are government, but you would be wrong. The problem is government spends too much. Government’s ability to borrow and print money allows it to fund its growth above what it can confiscate from its citizens in taxes. Our debt will never get paid off unless government spending is cut. What are the chances of that?

Scientist Blast Media “Misinformation” Linking Wildfires To Global Warming, at zerohedge.com. Environmentalists and their accomplices in the media blame global warming for everything. In this case it is wildfires. If you dig a little deeper into the issue you will find other factors could be possible causes of these fires. Global warming has all the trappings of science without all the rigor. Here is another article about the wildfires. You decide. Destructive Forest Fires Are Do To – What? by Paul Driessen at townhall.com.

New York City Approves Cap On The Number of Uber And Other App Based Companies, at zerohedge.com. Does the NY Taxi and Limousine commission ever consider the fact that their previous restrictions on the number of taxi medallions (licenses), was the reason for the artificial rise in the price of one medallion to over $1 million. This artificially high price created the conditions for Uber and other ride-sharing apps to enter the market. The bubble price of over $1million for a medallion has collapsed to under $200 thousand. Why?  Because the ride sharing apps could provide cheaper and better service. The market eventually corrected the artificial bubble price for taxi services, by allowing unforseen competitors to compete for market share. Simple supply and demand tells us that restricting the number of Uber, and other ride sharing drivers, will increase the price consumer will have to pay for rides. When you restrict supply the price moves higher. Read about the history of NY taxi monopoly in this article, ‘CAR WARS’ Return Of The Jitneys, at austrianaddict.com.

Visualizing The Print-pocalypse Of American Newspapers, at zerohedge.com. This is an example of the creative destruction of the market. The internet has changed the way we get information. Do you think news papers like the NY Times will ask for a government bailout on the basis that they are protected by the first amendment?

Worlds Biggest Toilet-Building Spree Is Under Way In India, by P.R. Sanjai, at bloomberg.com. We take the flush toilet for granted. While San Francisco is literally turning into a $#!t hole (read here), India is making a push to install more toilets. Excerpt from the article: “India accounts for more than half of the world’s 1.1 billion people who practice open defecation. Open defecation contaminates food and drinking water, and spreads diarrheal diseases that cause chronic malnutrition and childhood stunting. India’s push for more toilets is the biggest, most successful behavior-changing campaign in the world,” Many U.S cities, like S.F., are allowing open defecation. What are city leaders thinking?

Mob Targets Portland ICE Workers, Police Ignore Calls For Help – Under The mayor’s Orders, at theblaze.com. This is an example of the break down of the rule of law. The mayor allowed this siege to go on for 38 days. The mayor’s fidelity to his job was overridden by his politics. It is hard to believe this went on in the US. Or is it?

Angry White Atifa Mob Attacks Black Social Activist, Shouts, F^*+ White Supremacy!, at theblaze.com. They are shouting F^*+ your white supremacy to Candice Owens! Can anyone relate to the actions of the people in this mob? Let them keep doing things like this. It does nothing to help their cause. Whatever that cause is.

Federal Judge Rules That Albuquerque’s Asset Forfeiture Created An Unconstitutional Profit Incentive, at reason.com. Is anyone shocked that police would react this way to the incentives created by asset forfeiture laws?

Colleges Offer To Take Percentage Of Future Income As Alternative To Student Loans, at zerohedge.com. Students who got hooked into student loan debt now have a choice. Heads they win, tails I lose.

“Free, Independent” Boston Paper Urges Collusive National Media ‘War’ Against Trump, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “Marjorie Pritchard, who oversees the Boston Globe’s editorial page, said the decision to seek the coordinated response from newspapers was reached after Trump appeared to step up his rhetoric in recent weeks. “I hope it would educate readers to realize that an attack on the First Amendment is unacceptable,” she said. “We are a free and independent press, it is one of the most sacred principles enshrined in the Constitution.”

Does a free and independent news paper collude with other free and independent news papers? The press wraps themselves in the First Amendment. I bet most journalists have probably never read the first amendment.

Here is the First Amendment: “CONGRESS shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof: or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

One quick question. Does freedom of the press rank behind freedom of religion and freedom of speech in importance because it is listed third in the First Amendment?

This amendment doesn’t protect the press from criticism. Every citizen, including the President, has the right of free speech. Every citizen, including the President, can criticize the press. Most citizens don’t have a big enough platform for the press to even worry about when criticized. But the President has a big platform if he so chooses to use it. The press has their panties in a wad because they have always been able to bully Republican Presidents. Trump doesn’t play that game, and the press doesn’t know how to deal with someone who stands up to their bullying. Although the press thinks that Trump is the bully and they are standing up to him. It will be interesting to see how this street fight turns out. Because Trump shows no signs of backing down from this fight and the press doesn’t seem to know how to handle it.

West Hollywood Passed Resolution To Remove Trump’s Star On Walk Of Fame, at zerohedge.com. Did they vote to get rid of Bill Cosby’s star?

500+ Renowned Scientists Jointly Share Why They Reject Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, by Arjun Walia, at lewrockwell.com. Darwin’s theory is not standing the test of the passage of time.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES.

Che Guevara Honored With Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame, at thebabaylonbee.com. Mass murderer Che is lionized by the left.

Liberals Remind Nation Satire Only OK When Mocking Conservatives, at thebabaylonbee.com. This is how the rules of the political game used to be. No more.

World Health Organization Warns Against Eating Fish and Keeping Active Following Death Of World’s Oldest Woman, at theonion.com. Correlation is not causation.

Millennial Drops Support For Socialism After Learning How Hard It Is To Ge Avocado Toast In Venezuela, at thebabaylonbee.com. Socialism is only cool when it hurts someone else.

CNN To Launch Real News Spinoff Site, at thebabaylonbee.com. No comment necessary.

CARTOONS

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Political Magic Conceals The Reality Of Government

July 27, 2016

We’ve all seen Las Vegas style magic shows live or on television. Most of us understand that the person performing the magic is attempting to trick us into believing that what we are seeing is real. Some people actually believe that what they are seeing is real and not an illusion. Fortunately most of us know that what we are seeing is a trick.

Politics is a magic show. Politicians are performers who are constantly perfecting their craft of verbal sleight of hand. The Republican and Democrat conventions are elaborate Las Vegas type magic shows. Politicians are attempting to use the magic of politics to hide the simple truth that Government is force. Some of us know that what they are seeing is an illusion. Unfortunately most people believe that what they are seeing is real.

GOVERNMENT IS FORCE

George Washington“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force, like fire it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.”

Let’s show you the reality of Government that politicians try to hide through political magic. These videos are from the Institute For Justice. They show the force of Government, that politicians and bureaucrats can bring to bear against individual citizens.

IRS Threatens Prison For Depositing Cash In Wrong Amounts.

4th and 5th Amendment Violation

Police Take $53k Using Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws.

4th and 5th Amendment Violation

City Zones Popular Mechanic Shop Our Of Business. (Backdoor Eminent Domain)

4th Amendment Violation

Politicians Sue Mom Into Silence Over Newspaper Ads.

1st Amendment Violation.

 

CONCLUSION

These are not isolated incidents. Things like this are happening all over the country and at every level of government. This is the reality of what government is all about. Politicians use political magic to get control of the levers of power. Neither party wants to shrink the power of government because they know that at some point they will be the ones in charge. The message coming out of the Republican and Democrat conventions is that the size and scope of government will increase. Very few politicians want government power to shrink.

People have to understand that politics is a magic show put on for the purpose of tricking you into believing that what you are hearing is real. If we continue to be fooled by the illusion of politics, government will continue to intervene in every aspect of your life.

 

Related ArticlePeople Want A President Who Will “Get Something Done“, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleGovernment Is It Ever Big Enough, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleHillary vs. Trump: Seriously?, at austrianaddict.com.

Must Reads For The Week 11/28/15

November 27, 2015

A New Social Engineering Mission Won’t Save Postal Service, by Andrew Quinlan, at freedomandprosperity.org. Even with a government sanctioned monopoly, and billions of tax payer subsidies, the U.S. Postal Service has lost money every year since 2007. The losses are in the billions. The waste of scarce resources wouldn’t have been allowed to go on this long in a free market. These resources would have been allocated to a more productive use based on consumer demand. Propping up losses hurts the economy as a whole which means it hurts all of us.

New Tax Payer Bailout To Cover Up Obamacare’s Failures, by Betsy McMaughey, at nypost.com. Insurance companies are losing money selling Obamacare policies. (This is not a shock to people who understand that Obamacare is not insurance, but a pay as you go system). I don’t feel bad for these companies because they were all for Obamacare because they thought it would provide them with 30 million new government mandated customers. They are looking to get out of the “health insurance” business, but the Obama administration is promising them tax payer funded bailouts. This is a move to a single payer (you the tax payer) system which is what Obamacare was about in the first place.

Obama’s “Clean Power Plan” Should Be Called The “Costly Power Plan“, at instituteforenergyresearch.org. New EPA regulations would only reduce CO2 emissions 1% world-wide by 2100. The cost of this is in the multiple of billions of dollars that will be paid by American electricity users. The reliable lower cost electricity that is produced by fossil fuels will be replaced by unreliable higher cost electricity produced by “green energy”. We are chasing infinitesimal decreasing amounts of a gas that is not a pollutant (CO2), at an ever-increasing cost. It doesn’t make sense unless you’re President Obama.

Cuomo Orders Censorship Of ‘Man In The High Castle’ Ads, by Mollie Hemingway, at thefederalist.com. “The Man In The High Castle” is a new show about what 1960’s America would look like if the U.S. had lost the second world war. Ads for the show depicting Nazi imagery were taken off of NYC subway system by Governor Cuomo. Money quote from the article, “Fascism is so bad that the ruling authority needs to decide what commercial speech is acceptable in public spaces? The governor ordering the ads pulled is exactly the kind of government control the show warns about.

“Carbon Charge”: Yale Plans To Institute Global Warming Fee, by Rebecca Downs, at redalertpolitics.com. I thought this might be from the Onion.  Can anyone say increasing student loan debt. There is nothing like paying interest on a global warming tax over a 15 to 20 year period.

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Slam Pfizer Moving To Ireland For Lower Taxes, by James O’Shea, at irishcentral.com. The high cost of doing business in America because of taxes and regulations incentivizes companies to move to more business friendly places. To stop this kind of activity, Hillary and Trump want to pass more regulations. Even though it is the original regulations that forced these companies to leave in the first place. Why don’t they want to get rid of the regulations that created the incentives in the first place.

Eliminating Cash Makes It Easier Silence Critics, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. Every transaction can be monitored in a cashless society. Access to money can be stopped by freezing bank accounts and credit cards. This is a  constraint on peoples actions. Its another way government can coerce people to do what they want.

Letter To Philadelphia Inquirer About Article On The Fed Helping Teachers Learn Finance, by Patrick Barron, at mises.org. “Pushing back on the frontiers of economic ignorance”.

Emails Show DOD Analysts Told To ‘Cut It Out’ On ISIS Warnings, IG Probe Expands, by Catherine Herridge, at foxnews.com. No comment needed.

DC Police Chief Who Advocated Taking Down Mass Shooters Has Approved Few Gun Permits, by Cody Derespina, at foxnews.com. I applaud the police chief for saying your best option is to try to take the gunman down because the  cops can’t get there in time. But on the other hand she won’t allow individuals the means to take the shooter out.

At Least 40 School Districts In Ohio Allow Teachers To Carry Permitted Concealed Hand Guns, by John Lott, at johnrlott.blogspot.com. If the only thing that stops a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun. The logical thing to do is make sure the good person is allowed to have a gun in the first place.

American Cops Now Steal More Property Than All US Burglars Combined, by Matt Agorist, at thefreethoughtproject.com. Civil Asset Forfeiture laws allow the cops to legally steal from American citizens in violation of their fourth amendment rights.

Cartoon.

Political Cartoons by Henry Payne

 

Must Reads For The Week 10/31/15

October 31, 2015

Cops Now Use Prepaid Card Readers To Rob Motorists Of Digital Funds On Roadside, at targetliberty.com. Another example of asset forfeiture. Government bureaucrats are always trying to find ways to get their greedy hands on our assets.

Judge Dismisses Charges For Man Who Shot Down Drone, by Ryan Cummings, at wdrb.com. Where does someones right stop and the other persons right begin. Example: Your right to free speech stops at my ear.

Gett Is Going After Uber, at businessinsider.com, Gett is a new ride sharing app that is trying to undercut Uber. If Gett gains traction, it will cut into the taxi cartel even further. Isn’t the free market great for the consumer?

Who’d A-Thunk It? Higher Minimum Wages Actually Affect A Companies Plans On Where To Expand, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. More unintended consequences. Why don’t individuals act to planners plans like the planners want them to? Subjective value in a world of scarcity is a bitch.

Throwing Many Billions Down A Dark Tunnel For Bullet Train, at ocregister.com. Hard to believe that this project would end up costing more than the Government “experts” said it would.

Electric Car Sales Crash Once The Feds Are No Longer Helping, at thelibertarianrepublic.com. Government subsidies (your tax dollars) lowered the price (but not the cost) of electric cars. Subsidized sales artificially boost demand. When these subsidies go away the true market demand for electric cars is revealed.

Irony Of The Day: EU Reports Greenhouse Gas Emissions Way Down In 2014 (Guess Why), by Doug Powers, at michellmalkin.com. Because of an unusually warmer year less energy was used. Which means greenhouse emissions were down. So global warming lowered greenhouse gasses that cause global warming. I’m confused!

Ted Cruz Solid On Money, at economicpolicyjournal.com. All candidates should understanding what money is, its role in the economy, and what happens when the Fed electronically prints counterfeit money.

Williams College Students Revoke Invitation To Speaker Who Criticizes Feminism, at insidehighered.com. Wouldn’t want the students to hear an opposing view and let them to make up their own mind. They may not choose the politically correct view. Colleges don’t want a dialogue on issues, they want a monologue on issues.

House GOP Begins Impeachment Against IRS Chief, at tammybruce.com. Impeachment is the only constraint on unelected bureaucrats and judges when they act unlawfully. Unfortunately this is probably being done for political gain because it’s election season and everybody hates the IRS.

U.S Plans To Sell Down Strategic Oil Reserve To Raise Cash, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Federal Government is always looking for more money to fund itself. Why don’t they sell some of the oil rich land they own?

Pew: Homicide Rates Cut In Half Over Last 20 Years (While Gun Ownership Soared), by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. With all the stories that are hyped by the media, you would think homicide rates are soaring.

THE DEVIL ON MY SHOULDER MADE ME DO THIS.

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Must Reads For The Week 4/4/15

April 4, 2015
The pen is mightier than the sword...

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

Electric Cars Are Doing More Harm Than Good, at zerohedge.com. Electric cars charged by electricity produced from coal, generate more CO2 emissions over their lifetime than gas-powered cars.

Does California Need Rain, Rationing, Or Prices, by Daniel Bier, at fee.org. Water is a scarce resource and has to be rationed in one of two ways. 1) By prices in a free market system. 2) By bureaucrats in a centrally planned system. Price controls and subsidies lead to water being used in activities that wouldn’t be cost-effective if market prices prevailed. Agriculture accounts for 80% of water usage but only 2% of economic activity. Market prices would get rid of inefficient agricultural activities, as well as curb industrial and residential usage. There is no chance that prices will be allowed to work their magic in California.

Stop Policing For Profit In New Mexico, at santafenewmexican.com. A house bill would get rid of civil asset forfeiture in New Mexico. The fifth amendment is back in vogue. Lets hope other states will follow New Mexico’s lead.

Cop Federally Charged For Paralyzing Indian Grandfather Visiting America, by Cassius Mythel, at theantimedia.org. Click on the article and watch the video of this incident. Excessive force? You decide.

Methods Police Use On Mentally Ill Are Madness, by Conor Friedersdorf, at theatlantic.com. Watch the first three minutes of the video. A mother called police and said her son was off his meds, and needed help to get him to the hospital. She probably wishes she would have called an ambulance instead of the cops, because her son would still be alive today. The cops immediately escalate the situation and the rest is history. Read the whole article it has some excellent points.

Kshama Sawant’s Next Planned Attempt To Destroy Free Markets, at economicpolicyjournal.com. The Seattle council woman who lead the passage of a job and business killing 15 dollar minimum wage law, now has her sights set on destroying the housing market by pushing rent controls. This central planner is hurting the very people she is claiming to help. Is she ignorant about the results of her policies, or is she doing this on purpose? It doesn’t matter, the result is the same either way.

Parents Must Sign Permission Slip Before Kids Can Eat Oreos, by Lenore Skenazy, at reason.com. This is on the permission slip, “the ingredients of the oreo is on the back of this sheet and on my e-board....”. We are going to raise a generation who are not curious, will never take a risk, and are easily manipulated.

North Dakota Vote Puts The U.S. One Step Closer To A Convention Of States, by Pete Kasperowicz, at theblaze.com. Cutting back big government is going to happen from the bottom up.

Cal State U. Deactivates Christian Group…For Seeking Christian Leaders, at tammybruce.com. When you try to micromanage every decision with excessive rules, there is no sphere of freedom left for individuals to make decisions. The result is this illogical, or insane, decision by some bureaucrat at Cal State U. Or is it anti Christian bias.

Local Indiana Station Ambushes Memories Pizza To Gin Up A Religious Freedom Restoration Act Story, by Tom Blumer, at newsbusters.org. Why would anyone think people in the media don’t have an agenda? Journalists got it wrong about hands up don’t shoot in Ferguson, the gang rape at University of Virginia, the Duke lacrosse rape case, Harry Reid Lying about Romney not paying taxes, the RFRA story in Indiana. Hard core progressive’s on the left and right, will lie, cheat, break laws, and destroy individuals in order to advance government power, and journalists play the role of the get away driver.

How To Win An Election? It’s About The Ice Cream, Not The Cow, by Steve Straub, at thefederalistpapers.org. Politicians understand that man is a self interested being.