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Must Reads For The Week 5/4/19

May 6, 2019

“The coordination of men’s activities through central planning or through voluntary cooperation are roads going in very different directions, the first to serfdom and poverty, the second to freedom and plenty.” – F. A. Hayek

 

Freedom Or Government Control – There Is No True “Third Way“, by Bradley Thomas, at mises.org.  The above quote by Hayek begs the question; Which direction are our politicians attempting to force us? On the one side you have the new socialists in the Democrat party who aren’t afraid to tell us the direction they want to take America. Along with the establishment of the Democrat party who won’t admit the direction they want to take America. Along with the establishment of the Republican party who tell us they want to go in the direction of freedom, but whose policies take us in the opposite direction. Along with citizens who work for the administrative state and citizens who receive the largess of the administrative state. On the other side are citizens and some politicians who want to shrink the size and scope of government which would take us in the direction of freedom and plenty.

The middle of the road third way is chaotic. As we are witnessing in the America today.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

“The defining difference between socialism and capitalism, as described by Ludwig von Mises is “the substitution of public control of the means of production for private control.” More properly understood, socialism would eliminate the private ownership of the means of production by capitalists.”

“So efforts to impose “more aggressive regulation of markets” – which typically amount to more confiscatory taxes and stricter government regulations – may fall short of actual socialism, but erode the defining characteristic of capitalism, namely private ownership over the means of production.”

“It is important here to note that ownership implies the right to utilize, trade or otherwise dispose of property as the owner sees fit, as long as his actions don’t infringe on the rights of others.”

“Any restrictions on the owner’s use, therefore, represents an erosion of private property rights over the means of production, and a step in the direction of centralized, or public, control over those means.”

The First Taste Of Freedom, by Eric Peters, at ericpetersautos.com. Excerpt from the article:

“A bicycle was once upon-a-time a kid’s first taste of real freedom. This appetizer tended to instill a hankering for more. An expectation. An awakening.”

“Those who grew up before the era of helicopter parenting commenced in the ’90s will remember it because they lived it. Saturday morning came and as soon as you were finished with breakfast, you bolted outside, got on your bike – without putting on a helmet-  and took off.”

“Cycling is mostly an adult activity now. It’ rare to see kids out riding their bicycles – especially by themselves.”

Venezuelan Socialism Victims Send Message To American Socialists, by Cabot Phillipps, at campusreform.org. Video of people from Venezuela telling what the socialist paradise is really like.

Why Social Democracy Is Failing Europe, by Alastair Macleod, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article:

“The point missed by most analysts is that social democracy is failing because of the contradiction between personal freedom and state control.”

“As a form of mild socialism, it fails for the same reason as did communism. It all plays into the hands of the communists, for whom the failure of social democracy is an opportunity. They encourage the rank and file to blame capitalism. The collapse of capitalism is inevitable, as Marx wrote. And its collapse hastens full-blooded communism. Communism is a broken philosophy, as has been clearly demonstrated. But ruthless leaders still see it as the means of obtaining power over their fellow humans.”

Postmaster Warning: The United States Postal Service Is In A “Death Spiral“, at zerohedge.com. Even with a monopoly position and tax payer funding, Government bureaucrats can’t make the postal system pay for itself. Does this surprise anyone?

Pope Joins Soros In Funding Immigrant Caravan Invasion Of US Southern Border, at zerohedge.com. This shouldn’t surprise anyone either. The Pope is a Marxist (read my post here).

Endgame: Starting In 2014, All US Debt Issuance Will Be Used To Pay Interest On Debt, at zerohedge.com. Is this sustainable?

 

YOU MUST AGREE. OR ELSE!

China’s Mass Surveillance App Hacked: Code Reveals Specific Criteria For Illegal Oppression, at zerohedge.com. The technology exists. Why wouldn’t we think that petty tyrants (politicians and bureaucrats) in the US wouldn’t use this?

US Searches Of Phones, Laptops At Airports Rising, Suit Says, by Deb Reichmann, at apnews.com. Wait a minute! Are government bureaucrats already abusing their power and crushing our fourth and fifth amendment rights?

Coming To America: The Complete De-Platforming Of All Non-Establishment Voices, at zerohedge.com. Excerpt from the article: “Free Speech is a myth. Technically we’re allowed to say what we want and won’t get arrested for it, but we constantly have to self-censor our speech, including our political opinions, for many reasons. You’re allowed to express some opinions, son long as they’re the right opinions.”

Google Dumps Black, Female Leader For Believing Men Can’t Be Women, by Natasha Chart, at thefederalist.com. Black female sacrificed on the alter of identity politics. No more guessing. Transgenders are now on a higher rung of the identity politics ladder than black females.

Homeschooling Produces Better-Educated, More-Tolerant Kids, Politicians Hate That, at reason.com. No comment needed.

Open Air Absurdistan, at theburningplatform.com. Politicians are taking positions that are insane Absurd.

Child Abuse, at theburningplatform.com. This video is ……. I don’t know if there is a word that describes what this is. But ultimately this is child abuse.

Planned Parenthood Supporters Dance On ‘Graves’ Of Aborted Babies, at lowderwithcrowder.com. Watch this short video and ask yourself: Can anyone relate to these protesters?

Preferred Pronouns Or Prison,

Do you have a right to choose the words you use? Or do people have a right to force you to use the words they choose for you?

 

 

MEDIA NARRATIVES

How Media Narratives Become More Important Than Facts, Sharyl Attkisson, at theepochtimes.com. Excerpt from the article: “I believe I was among the first to really pay attention to the increasingly effective operations to shape and censor news – the movements to establish narratives rather than follow facts – and to see the growing influence of smear operations, political interests, and corporate interests on the news.”

“It’s not that I’m smarter than my peers …. but my particular brand of off-narrative reporting happened to draw the intense attention of the smear operators and propagandists, so I began to study it.”

Attkisson v. DOJ And FBI For The Government Computer Intrusions, by Sharyl Attkisson, at sharylattkisson.com. Here is what happened to Sharyl Attkisson when she started to look into Fast and Furious.

Son, It Was Obama We Journalists Had To Fear, by Jack Cashill, at americanthinker.com.  You will remember these incidents during the Obama administration. Excerpt from the article: “…President Trump is at least open in his hostility toward the press. The First Amendment gives him the same rights as it gives us. It was President Obama’s dirty, covert war on the media that had me worried.”

You Think You Have It Tough?  at theburningplatform.com. When you are against the political establishment (deep state if you will), you have no rights.

Lara Logan Cheers Ted Koppel’s Comments On Media Bias: Finally, I’m Not Alone

 

MUELLER / RUSSIA POST GAME REPORT

About The Letter That Mueller Wrote To Barr, at zerohedge.com. The media only showed the part of the letter that fit their narrative.

Grassley Truth Bomb, at theburningplatform.com. No comment needed.

NYT Confirms Obama Admin Used Multiple Spies Against Trump In 2016, by Mollie Hemingway, at thefederalist.com. The New York Times ran this story. So it should be Gospel to the left.

And The Winner Of The Robert Mueller Sweepstakes Is – Putin, by John Solomon, at thehill.com. As usual here is great analysis by John Solomon.

Checkmate, by Will Chamberlin, at humanevents.com. This is interesting analysis about the left losing the chess match against Bill Barr.

 

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Dem Candidates Promising Relief To Americans Sick And Tired Of Working All These Plentiful Jobs, at babylonbee.com.

Progressive Parents Devastated After Son Comes Out As Straight, at babylonbee.com.

Man’s Baptism Overturned Afterr Instant Replay Reveals He Was Not Flly Submerged, at babylonbee.com.

Democrats Call Upon Nation To Unify Against Other Half Of Nation, at babylonbee.com.

Women Wearing MAGA Hat Makes It Home From Store Alive, at babylonbee.com.

Dems Promise To Do A Better Job Of Hiding Their Support For Infanticide In The Future, at babylonbee.com.

 

CARTOONS

From theburningplatform.

Equality Act

Biden Obama Baggage

 

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Must Reads For The Week 11/3/18

November 4, 2018

Demotivational Thursday, by theburningplatform.com. This is really good. Here are a few examples of what is in this post from theburningplatform:

Meetings

Poster

Mistakes

Procrastination

 

Social Justice begets Poetic Justice – Be Careful What You Wish For. by Mark Shupe, at centerforindividualism.org. Excerpt from the article: “Poetic justice is the consequence of reality. It rewards rational behavior and long-term thinking, ethics being a primary building block for civilization.”

“Social justice is the opposite. Virtue is sacrifice, reality is different for everyone, and none of it is spontaneous…..social justice is irrational meaning it is a dishonest insinuation that one ought to agree to a demand of some special interest which can give no real reason for it. Instead of self-determination the governing elites believe it is in their power to design and determine future outcomes.”

“Social justice is top down, forced, and contrived for the benefit of identity groups. Poetic justice is bottom up, organic, and derived. Like English common law, poetic justice is an emergent phenomenon, and about the individual.”

“The most prolific social justice warrior of 21st century America is President Barack Obama; and in an extraordinary example of poetic justice, he handed the keys to the White House over to President Donald Trump.”

“But President Trump is not a poetic justice warrior, he’s a pragmatist. So who is? Or as Nassim Taleb might ask, who has skin in the game? In Trump’s case, it’s the average citizen who voted for him. People who were tired of being patsies for the political, media, banking, and education elites. People who take care of their families, their customers, and their communities. They think long-term and generally don’t get involved in the activism of politics unless reality beckons. For them, poetic justice is not immediate, only inevitable.”

“While bureaucracies separate unaccountable decision makers from the consequences of their mediocrity and hubris, decentralization and networks keep risks and rewards where they belong.”

Western Media Make One Death A Tragedy, Millions A Statistic, at zerohedge.com. The main stream media picks to cover what is “important” and what “is not important”. Since the MSM has decided the death of Jamal Khashoggi is important, they think all of us should think it is important. But I have some “news” for the MSM. Since time is a scarce resource and value is subjective, I (and probably many other people, although I can’t speak for others) don’t have enough time to spend on something that is near the bottom of (or not on) my value scale. But wait a minute? I did spend a little time writing about this, so did I value this over something else I could have done with this time? Or could it be that writing this weekly post is what I value over something else I could be doing with my time? And this particular article has no value outside of writing this post? Hmmmmmmm……?

How Public Schools Indoctrinate Kids Without Almost Anyone Noticing, by Auguste Meyrat, at thefederalist.com. Excerpt from the article: “While indoctrination involves pushing a certain opinion, it is also much more. It is the comprehensive effort of passively disseminating a particular viewpoint. The passive aspect is key. People who are indoctrinated with a certain narrative or ideology do not arrive at the intended conclusions through their own thinking, but hear the same thing repeated in a million different ways until they finally take it as unquestionable truth.”

“Because indoctrination happens in the absence of thinking, many teachers who engage in indoctrination do so unconsciously. They themselves take what they’re given and pass it along without thinking.”

“Thoughtlessness is essential. As the fictional demon Screwtape, from C.S. Lewis’s “The Screwtape Letters,” states in his letters to Wormwood, “It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.” A person who really thinks will eventually reason himself out of the things he heard at school.”

“The only real solution to indoctrination, then, is good teachers. Good teachers (which include parents, mentors, and other knowledgeable adults) train students in methods of thought while supplying the stuff of thought. They teach a person to evaluate an argument properly, find actual solutions to problems, and determine what is true and what is false.”

Paul Volcker’s New Memoir: A Broadside Against His Successors?, by Jeff Deist, at mises.org. The individuals who get their hands on the Feds printed money first receive the benefit, while the rest of us pay for that benefit in higher prices down the road. People who don’t have access to the counterfeit money are having their wealth redistributed to the first receivers of the Feds counterfeit money.

Here is an excerpt from Volcker’s new book: “More recently, a remarkable consensus has developed among central bankers that there’s a new “red line” for policy: A 2% rate of increase in some carefully designed consumer price index is acceptable, even desirable, and at the same time provides a limit.”

“I puzzle about the rational. a 2% target, or limit, was not in my textbooks years ago. I know of no theoretical justification. It’s difficult to be both a target and a limit at the same time. And a 2% inflation rate, successfully maintained, would mean the price level doubles in little more than a generation.”

Exposing The Fed’s Mandate To Pick Your Pocket – The Real Price Of Inflation, at zerohedge.com. Here is a great article related to the one above. It explains, in more detail, who pays for the cost of the Feds inflationary counterfeit money printing policies.

“Your Pet Will Be Confiscated!” : A Shocking Glimpse Inside China’s New Social Credit System, at zerohedge.com. This could never happen in America? Could It? Oh yes it can. And probably is to some extent. It is bad enough that we trust Google with information about us. What happens when these companies voluntarily get into bed with individuals in Government, or individuals in Government force these companies to get into bed with them?

On an unrelated topic:  CIA Secretly Intercepted Congressional Communications About Whistleblowers, by Sharyl Attkisson, at sharylattkisson.com. The things that are happening in China are already happening here. Only on a smaller scale. I hope!

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Don Lemon: “I Apologize If Any Evil White People Were Offended By My Remarks’,at thebabylonbee.com. This is actually supposed to be satire. But it turns out it is real. To find out Read here.

Opinion: How Do These Elections, Which Pit Us Against Each Other In Win/Lose Scenarios, Keep Leading To Division? at babylonbee.com.

Bernie Sanders Cheerily Greets Trick-Or-Treaters Before Stealing Their Candy For Redistribution, at babylonbee.com.

Data Suggests Democrats’ Rhetoric May Be Inciting Violence Against The Unborn, at babylonbee.com.

Media Congratulates Meghan Markle On Meaningless Blob Of Tissue Developing In Her Womb, at babylonbee.com.

 

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Steve Kelley

Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez

Political Cartoons by Pat Cross

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carbon-tax-sign-550px.jpg

 

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Must Reads For The Week 10/27/18

October 30, 2018

How The Media Encourages (And Sustains) Political Warfare, at zerohedge.com. Since bias is unavoidable. And everything is political. Most of us should realize that main stream media news reports have inherent and varying degrees of political bias. This article gives great insight into what to look for so you don’t get duped by media bias.

UN Climate Change Report: A Choice Between “Mad Max and Hunger Games, at zerohedge.com.  Weather and climate has become politicized. The article above about media bias also pertains to climate change politics.   Warning! Civilization At Risk, Crisis By 2040, And Other Nonsensical Climate BS, at zerohedge.com.

The Next Generation Of Ridesharing Is Giving Uber A Run For Its Money, by Brittany Hunter, at centerforindividualism.org. People are amazing. Arcade City is a ridesharing app that differs from Uber and Lyft. The creators of Arcade City have figured out a way to get around the regulations that cities passed to outlaw Uber and Lyft. Almost like a black market in ridesharing.

Amazon Prime Killed Sears And Consumers Should Be Grateful, by Brittany Hunter, at centerforindividualism.org. Sears started out as a mail order warehouse. It was essentially a slower version of Amazon. Once suburban malls became popular, Sears became anchor stores for these malls, while getting out of the mail order business. When the market changed, as it always does, Sears was too slow to realize its original roots. The fact that Sears is going bankrupt shows us the creative destruction of the free market. Losses are just as important as profits in a market economy. Profits tell us what activities should be continued, while losses tell us what activities are wasting scarce resources and should be liquidated.

The Public-Sector Pension Crisis, by John Stossel, at reason.com. Cities and states across the country have underfunded public pensions for decades. At some point someone will have to give something up. Whether it the pension recipients giving up benefits, or taxpayers being forced to pay for the a government created problem.

More Than Half Of America Gets More IN Welfare Than It Pays In Taxes, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “The CBO report reminds us that a great many voters receive government welfare checks of various types, and the perception is that any true cuts in spending will bring a high cost to those who have become accustomed to their taxpayer-funded benefits. Ultimately, the effects on voting patterns and public policy will be very real.”

Understanding America’s Enormous 19.5 Trillion Dollar Economy By Comparing US Metro Area GDPs To Entire Countries, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Even with the amount of government intervention as we have in our economy we are still blowing other countries. Free people producing and exchanging in free markets works best for creating the highest standard of living for the most people.

In Defense Of Payday Lending, by Tom Lehman, at mises.org. Payday lenders do not force anyone to use their services. They are not exploiting people. Consumer advocates want Payday lenders regulated by government, even we all know that government regulation is the sure-fire way to screw up the process of exchange  between individuals. Excerpt from the article: “In a twisted irony that only a collectivist could love, payday lending firms have cropped up, as a response to government regulations that have distorted conventional consumer lending markets, and are now under attack from the very same political class that pressed for these regulations”

Science Wins – Trump Administration Proposes Transgender Policy Based On Biology, at zerohedge.com. Finally someone realizes that gender and sex are two different things. Gender is a function of grammar. There are three genders in the English language (he, she, it). There are two sexes in biology. Females have an XX chromosome and a male has an XY chromosome. Nothing can change the XX or XY chromosome that exists in every cell of your body. So are people who think a person can change their sex a “science denier”.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES

Caravan Of Liberal Americans Makes Way Toward Socialist Paradise Of Venezuela, at babylonbee.com.

Study: 100% Of Events That Contradict Your Narrative Are False Flag Conspiracies, at babylonbee.com.

Anti-Science Trump Administration To Revert Definition Of Gender To Objective, Scientific Standard, at babylonbee.com.

Hillary Clinton Makes ‘Get Out The Vote’ Tour Stop In Tijuana, at babylonbee.com.

Democrat Leaders Announce Brief Moratorium On Calling For Political Violence, at babylonbee.com.

 

CARTOONS

Political Cartoons by Michael Ramirez

Political Cartoons by Chip Bok

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F9zeD1l.jpg

 

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Must Reads For The Week 12/2/17

December 3, 2017

FAKE NEWS?

ABC news reported early Friday an unnamed source said Flynn is prepared to testify that then candidate Trump instructed him to contact Russian officials during the campaign. But this wasn’t true. Either the story was reported this way as an “honest mistake” or it was reported this way because it confirm the Russian collusion bias the main stream media has been hoping to prove since the election. ABC retracted the story 8 hours later. Read about the retraction in this story ABC Makes “Epic Mistake”, Retracts Bombshell Flynn Story, at zerohedge.com, and this story ABC News Corrects Bombshell Flynn Report, at cnn.com.

The Truth is: shortly after the election, not during the campaign, President-elect Trump, not candidate Trump, instructed Flynn to contact Russia to see if they could work together to fight ISIS in Syria. I went to zerohedge and read the full statement in this article, “Statement Of The Offense”: Here is Mueller’s Full Case Against Flynn, to find the truth behind the initial story because I knew from experience the media’s initial story or headline has resemblance to the truth. They are trying to push their narrative.

So what is this all about? The insiders in the media and D.C. don’t want an outsider in a position that is reserved for insiders. Since the election insiders have been trying to get rid of our undermine Trump. Trump colluding with Russia during the election is the narrative they think will serve their purpose. Special Council Mueller is investigating “Russian collusion”. He was the FBI Director appointed by Bush and retained by Obama. Serving under Republican and Democrat presidents shows that he is a true insider. New he has an unlimited budget. His search is not limited to Russian collusion. He is going to set perjury traps for everyone he questions in an attempt to get them on a process crime which has nothing to do with collusion.When he charges them with the process crime of perjury, he can then pressure them to give up Trump or go to jail, even if there is nothing to give up. He wants them to make up something in exchange for a lesser penalty, or use their admission of quilt about perjury to push the narrative of collusion. (Here is some friendly advice. If you are ever questioned by the FBI, plead the fifth. Don’t answer any questions because they are trying to set a perjury trap. They to find somebody to hang, and they don’t care if the charge has anything to do with their investigation. Remember Scooter Libby read here.)

The insiders are trying to get us to believe that collusion is illegal. Collusion is not illegal. Colluding to break the law is illegal. Ohio State football coaches and players colluded last week to beat Michigan. But beating Michigan is not illegal. Is colluding with a foreign country to win an election illegal? only if the specific actions taken are illegal.

Conclusion: If you are not an outsider you are the enemy of the insiders and must be taken down. Insiders will use the full force of the Federal Government and their allies in the media to get rid of outsiders. Trump is a big threat to the insiders and their power. This is why insiders in both parties, the media, entertainment, and education seem so unhinged by everything Trump does. I think it is hilarious. Of course I see the R and D insider game for what it is, pitting us against each other so insiders can maintain their positions of power and wealth. (And remember this, never talk to the FBI.)

INSIDERS VS OUTSIDERS

Over-Reaching Prosecutors Run The Country, at bigleaguepolitics.com. Individuals in positions of power can never be trusted. Remember Mike Nifhong and the Duke Lacrosse case.

Obama-Appointed Federal Inspector Threatened By Clinton Campaign Over Email Investigation, at zerohedge.com. Another example of insiders using threats to protect their status quo position.

DNC Lawyer Scrambles To Block Evidence From Hidden Laptop Tied To Wasserman Schultz, at zerohedge.com. Democrat insiders trying to cover up their pile of crap so outsiders don’t figure out what is going on.

Fight Over CFPB Director Shows – Again! – How Powerful Government Entities Backfire On Their Creators, by Eric Boehm, at reason.com. Insiders created a position of power to implement their agenda. When it looks like an outsider may take over the position they created they don’t like it.

 

Net Neutrality And The Resistance To Restoring Internet Freedom, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Net Neutrality is an example of government insiders trying to reign in the freedom of outsiders by disguised their regulations as helping outsiders. Excerpt from the article: “Net Neutrality was sold as a solution to problems that did not exist (problems being hypothetical cases of Internet service providers blocking content they don’t like). Predictably, it hasn’t worked out well for consumers. As FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has noted, investment in broadband networks has declined for two years in a row for the first time in the history of the Internet, not counting recessions.” Why does government think it has to get involved in industries that are doing just fine without them?

Net Neutrality: Government Can’t Know The “Correct” Price For Internet Service, by Nicholas Freiling, at mises.org. The economic realities of insider intervention into the free market (aka outsider milieu). Excerpt from the article: “A pure net neutrality view is difficult to sustain if you also want to have continued investment in broadband networks. ….If you have these pure net neutrality rules where you can never charge a company like Netflix anything, you’re not ever going to get a return on continued network investment – which means you’ll stop investing in the network. And I would not want to be sitting here 10 or 20 years from not with the same broadband speeds we’re getting today.”

Tax Bill Attacked For Loss Of Electric Car Subsidy – But Most Americans Don’t Want Electric Cars, at masterresource.com. Government subsidizing electric cars with outsiders tax dollars is another example of insiders thinking they know what is bets for outsiders.

Conyers Lawyer Hints Racism As Pelosi Asks Conyers To Go – But Not Franken, at politico.com. Excerpt from the article: “Nancy Pelosi is going to have to explain what is the discernible difference between Al Franken and John Conyers,” Arnold Reed Conyers’ attorney, told reporters after the House Minority leader Said Conyers should resign.” I get a feeling of shadenfreude when people like Pelosi are hoist on their own petard.

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Is The Recent Georgia Run Off Election A Portent For The 2018 Midterms?

June 29, 2017

Infographic model of USA congressional votes. Editable Sample.

The recent Georgia 6th district win by (R) Handel over (D) Ossoff was spun as a good omen by each side for their chances in the 2018 midterm congressional elections. We’re not going to make any predictions about 2018 because the election is a year and a half out and a lot can happen in an instant which can change the political landscape. So let’s analyze some numbers that exist today, and also look at some possible situations which may, or might not, influence 2018. Do you like the words may and might? These words suggest a subjective opinion. But the numbers are objective.

ANALYZING SOME NUMBERS

-A party needs 218 seats in the house to gain control. The D’s hold 193 seats. The D’s need to defeat 25 incumbant R’s, and win all 193 seats they presently hold to win control of the House.

-The D’s will need 51 seats to gain control of the senate because the Vice President (Pence) is the tie breaking vote. 34 senate seats are being contested in 2018. Of the 34 seats, 25 are held by D’s and 9 by R’s. So the D’s need to defeat 3 incumbant R’s and win all 25 seats they presently hold to win the House.

-The D’s thought they had a chance to flip the congressional seat in Georgia. They spent a record amount of money for one congressional seat. ( Democrats Get Crushed In Georgia Election Despite 7x Spending Advantage.) If they need to flip 25 seats held by the R’s in the House and 3 seats in the Senate, are they going to have enough money to fund each of these campaigns? But in order to win the minimum number of seats to win back the House and Senate they are going to have to target more than the minimum number (25 & 3), because losing just one seat spells doom.

-The D’s think that Hillary winning the popular vote by 2.86 million shows the majority of people agree with their vision for America. But if you look at California, New York and Massachusetts you get a different view of the numbers. Hillary won California by 4.27 million votes. She won New York by 1.74 million votes. She won Massachusetts by 1.0 Million votes. That is a 7.01 million vote advantage in three states. But it also means she lost the other 47 states by 4.15 million votes. If you take the .8 million advantage the R’s had in Texas the number shrinks to 3.35 million. Still the R’s have a broader base of support, while the D’s support is concentrated.

-The D’s hold a total of 193 house seats. Of those 39 are in California, 18 are in New York and 9 are in Massachusetts. So 66, or 34%, of their house seats are from these three states. This means they have 127 seats spread across 47 states. In most of these house seats the incumbant has an advantage because these districts have been gerrymandered. It may be difficult for the D’s to find enough competitive seats to win back the house.

-R’s control both chambers in 33 states, while D’s control both chambers in 13 states with 4 state chambers being split. (The R’s also have 33 state governors) The party in power in each state will be able to redraw the house districts after the 2020 census. The D’s have to win back control of some of these state chambers or it will be  more difficult to win control of the house after 2020.

-What about the senate? I’ve read (here) that R’s Flake from Arizona, Heller from Nevada and Cruz from Texas are vulnerable. But if the D’s don’t win all 25 of the seats they are defending, it doesn’t matter if they win these three seats. Of the 25 seats D’s have to defend, 12 are listed as vulnerable. But 10 of these are in states that voted for Trump in 2016. They are Nelson-Fla, Connelly-In, McCaskill-Mo, Tester-Mt, Heitkamp-ND, Brown-Oh, Casey-Penn, Manchin-WV, Baldwin-Wi and Stebenow-Mi.

CONCLUSION

Mathematically the D’s have an uphill battle to regain control of the house and the senate. But the unknown future is what will ultimately decide 2018. What are some of these unknown events that could affect political change? We can only speculate what they will be. Here are some of my speculations.

BIASED SPECULATION ABOUT UNKNOWN FUTURE EVENTS

(AKA MY BEST GUESSES)

-The economy will be the most important issue. As we know from history the economy, or the perception of how good or bad the economy is, will be at the top issue for each individual voter. The economy is not healthy right now. The financial bubble created by the Federal Reserve is over leveraged with a mountain of debt. The Fed is in the process of raising interest rates. It is also in the process of reducing Its balance sheet. This means it is not rolling over (refinancing) as much previous debt. Money is not being pumped into the financial market like it was when the Fed was in QE mode. This will eventually lead to a correction (recession). A recession is needed to correct the previous monetary interventions by the Federal Reserve over the last ten years. The Fed would like this correction to happen during Trump’s presidency because it thinks it will be able to deflect the blame away from its previous monetary policies and push the blame on Trump. They know the mainstream media will help with the blame game. The other thing that will help the Fed get away with this is the ignorance of the citizens when it comes to Fed policies.

The quote by Keynes on the top right of my web site says it all: “There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.“

-Will Healthcare be an issue in 2018? Yes. But the people who got hammered under Obamacare because of the increased insurance costs, didn’t vote for Trump, as much as they voted against continuing Obamacare under a Clinton presidency. do you really think these voters will, 2 years after the fact, go back to the party that crushed them financially? I don’t think these voters will, 2 years after the fact, go back to the party that crushed them financially even if the R’s don’t repeal Obamacare, or pass a bill that is spun as a repeal of Obamacare, but really isn’t. These voters know the D’s have destroyed our healthcare system with Obamacare. They also know the D’s want to implement a single payer government run system. These  voters in the other 47 States know their only hope is to try to force the wimps in the R party to get rid of the policy that raised their health premiums higher than what they could afford. These people have been backed into a corner. And when an individual has been backed into a corner he will will fight because he has no other choice.

-The mainstream media has lost, and is continuing to lose, credibility. They don’t have the power they, and we, think they possess. If they had this kind of power, Trump wouldn’t have won the election. They won’t be successful in pushing the big government progressive propaganda of the left. I don’t think they realize what people outside of California, New York, Massachusetts and D.C. think of them. Many people see them as biased. There is enough access to information that most people don’t have to be propagandized anymore unless they want to be. They won’t be successful in pushing the big government progressive propaganda of the left as they were decades ago.

CONCLUSION

Your guess is as good as mine!

 

Related Article – New Gov. Healthcare Regulations Will Not Cure The Results Of Previous Gov. Regulations, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – 0% Interest Rate x Eight Years = The Fed’s ZIRP Doesn’t Work, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article – Bias In The Unbiased Mainstream Media, at austrianaddict.com.

 

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Must Reads For The Week 11/19/16

November 19, 2016

To Our Readers, From Publisher And Executive Editor Of The New York Times, at nytimes.com. This is all you need to know about the mainstream media. Here is an open letter to the readers of The New York Times from Arthur Sulzberger Jr. the publisher of the Times. This letter was published in the Times the Sunday after Trump was elected President. Sulzberger Jr. admits dishonest reporting by the Times. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

“As we reflect on the momentous result, and the months of reporting and polling that preceded it, we aim to rededicate ourselves to the fundamental mission of Times journalism. That is to report America and the world honestly, without fear or favor, striving always to understand and reflect all political perspectives and life experiences in the stories that we bring to you. It is also to hold power to account, impartially and unflinchingly. You can rely on The New York Times to bring the same fairness, the same level of scrutiny, the same independence to our coverage of the new president and his team.”

If you say you are going to “rededicate” yourself to do a specific thing, doesn’t that mean you weren’t dedicated to doing that specific thing in the first place? This letter proves what growing numbers of people already know, and that is the mainstream media is biased toward big government central planning. Freedom of the press was supposed to check government power, not promote the increase of government power.

It’s good to know the Times has miraculously found the religion of honest reporting just as a Republican President is about to be sworn in. Does anyone think their reporting on Trump during his upcoming Presidency will be any different from how they reported on Trump during the Presidential campaign?

The MSM has lost all credibility.

Mainstream Media Goes Full McCarthyite, by Hunter Lewis, at mises.org. Excerpt from the article: “Senator Joe McCarthy perfected the technique in the United States: whenever you disagree with anybody, don’t debate ideas, go right into name calling. In McCarthy’s day, the epithet of choice was  “Communist.”  In recent years, it has morphed into  “racist, sexist, homophobe, latinophobe, Islamophobe, xenophobe etc., etc“. If you want smaller government you are a racist, sexist, bigoted, homophobe……….

Who’s Behind The Portland Riots? 60% Of Arrested Anti-Trump Protesters Were From Out Of State, Didn’t Vote, at zerohedge.com. All these rent a mob riots are happening in cities that are controlled by Democrats. Which means I don’t care.

Soros And Liberal Mega-Donors Plot For War With Donald Trump, at zerohedge.com. Should we believe anything we read in the MSM about Trump?

Ryan Slams Brakes On Vote To Bring Back Earmarks, at cnn.com. This article is why I really don’t want to defend Trump and the Republican party. There are a bunch of status quo elites in the Republican party who want  government to grow. This vote was postponed, which means it probably will be brought up again. We have to hold their feet to the fire.

Profs, Students Want UVA President To Stop Quoting Jefferson: It Creates A Hostile Environment, by Robbie Soave, at reason.com. Two points. 1) Do they know Jefferson  founded the University of Virginia? 2) How is their inability to handle opposing views our problem? Isn’t it their problem?

GM Slashes 2000 Jobs, Suspends 3rd Shift On Bloated Inventories, Slowing Sales, at zerohedge.com. And in an unrelated story: A Record 25% Of Used Car Trade-Ins Are Under Water, at zerohedge.com. Using sub prime loans to stimulate demand doesn’t end well. Look at the housing bubble. As false signals are sent to car manufactures, they ramp up production to meet the false demand. When the bubble pops, jobs and hours are cut. The increased inventory has to be sold off before production is ramped up again. The coordination between production and consumption that happens naturally in a free market is distorted in a hampered market. Scarce resources, time, labor, and capital are wasted in the hampered market. In a free market this waste is kept to a minimum.

Four States Vote To Punish Low-Skilled Workers With Minimum Wage Hikes, by Ryan McMaken, at mises.org. How many ties do we have to show the folly of minimum wage laws? Here is an excerpt from the article: “..the only way to sustainably increase the wages of workers is to increase their productivity. If a worker’s wages are to go up, there must either be an increase in the demand for that worker’s services, or the worker must be able to produce more in less time.” This is a great article.

Cartoons

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The Election Is Over! What Happens Now?

November 17, 2016

United States of America elections 2016 word cloud

Now that the dust has settled, or is settling, after the presidential election, lets look into the crystal ball and see what the future brings.

FOUR THINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN

1) We will see a true opposition party to the party in power. The democrat party will use every parliamentary tool available to them, in the House and Senate, to stop everything the majority party, lead by Trump, wants to pass. They will also use every political and rhetorical trick (lying) for the same purpose. There is nothing wrong with this. The  minority party is supposed to be a check on the power of the majority party.

The Republicans should take notes on what the Democrats will do, because they certainly didn’t use their power and political rhetoric to thwart the agenda of Obama and the Democrats the last eight years.

2) The leaders in the Democrat party will do everything politically and rhetorically to chip away at the Trump Presidency. Even though they may talk about the parties coming together, they don’t mean it. How can a party lead by people who want to centrally plan every aspect of peoples lives, agree with people who want to cut the size and power of government? Government gives central planners their power. These planners don’t want that power taken away. Of course I’m assuming that the Republicans want to cut the size and scope and government. We all know that there many big government Republicans. Many of Trumps stated policies will expand government power and the debt. In fact some of these policies will not work because they disregard the laws of economics. But more on this some other time.

3) Being anti-war will be back in vogue. Where has code pink been for the last eight years? Obama has intervened in Egypt, Libya, and Syria. He has ordered 10 times more drone strikes than Bush. We are still in Afghanistan. Gitmo remains open. Where have the protesters been? Or are these groups purely political?

4) Investigative journalism will make a come back. After taking an eight year break, the main stream media will again start doing their job of being a check on government power and corruption. They will do this because their vision of the world doesn’t coincide with the party in power, not because of some new found fidelity to their job. I wish the MSM would treat every President, Senator, Congressman, and bureaucrat like they treat Republican Presidents. If you thought they hammered Trump during the election, you haven’t seen anything yet.

WILL IT WORK?

One of the most important things that has happened because of this election is the MSM has cut it’s own throat. This election has pulled back the curtain on the MSM. People have finally witnessed what they thought was true all these years. The MSM has discredited itself in the minds of enough people, that no one trusts them. The propaganda they use to advance their world view doesn’t have the effect that it used to, because they don’t have a monopoly on information anymore. The marginal straw has finally broken the camels back when it comes people trusting the MSM. And that’s a good thing.

Keeping government power in check is the job of the opposition party, the press, and the people. Unfortunately this doesn’t happen when the Democrats are in power. Why? Because the MSM is biased toward the world view of the Democratic party, people are too busy with the daily grind to stay informed, and the Republicans are too afraid of the media and the Democrats to mount any real opposition. Presidents, Senators, and Congressmen of both parties should be treated like the MSM treats Republicans. People not trusting people in positions of power is a good thing for individual liberty.

 OBAMA HAS CREATED MORE REPUBLICANS THAN THE GOP HAS CREATED

At the start of the Obama presidency the Democrat party had 57 Senators plus two Independent Senators caucusing with Democrats. The Republicans had 41. Democrats had 255 congressmen. The Republicans had 179. Democrats had a lock on all three branches of government. Democrats also had 29 Governors. The Republicans had 21. Democrats had control of 27 State legislatures. Republicans had control of 14, with 8 split.

As Obama tried to push through the Affordable Care Act (what an oxymoron), tea party and liberty groups started to organize politically. After the last 4 election cycles, 2010, 2012. 2014, and 2016, we are seeing the fruits of their labor. Here is how the score card reads now. The Republican party now controls the Presidency, 52 Senate seats, 239 house seats, and 34 Governorships. The Republicans control both the senate and house in 32 states, 3 states are split (read here).

Candidates who want smaller government have been beating establishment Republicans in primary elections since 2010. The Republican party is slowly turning more libertarian in its thinking. What’s left of the old establishment Republicans will eventually loose in a primary or retire. Their replacement will be a more liberty minded candidate. Purging the Republican party of leaders who think solutions come from big government takes time.

The Democrats can blame their losses on Obama and themselves. Obama pushed his big government central planning agenda (namely the Affordable Care Act) and the Democrats helped get it passed. They are now reaping their just rewards.

CONCLUSION

We know the Democrats and the main stream media will oppose Trump and the Republican majority in congress. It is our job as followers of Austrian economics to oppose Trump and the Republicans when they try to pass legislation that expands the size and power of Government. We don’t want Republicans to “get something done” if that “something” goes against the laws of economics, takes away individual liberty, and increases the power of Government.

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Bias In The Unbiased Mainstream Media

May 12, 2016

I was talking to my friend, an admitted liberal (not the classic liberal, but the modern-day liberal), about main stream media bias. He didn’t think there was media bias. When I told him that over 80% of journalists vote for democrats, he still didn’t think that made a difference in their reporting. I asked him; if 80 plus percent of journalists thought like me, would the news be reported differently? He said yes it would be reported differently. I said I guess in his unbiased opinion, only liberal journalists can be unbiased observers.

Human beings have a bias toward their particular world view. Since journalists are human beings, they are biased. There is nothing wrong with admitting it. Full disclosure of a journalists world view should be mandatory. It would help people handicap the stories they read from biased journalists.

Most of the bias is not just what they write. A bigger part of a journalists bias is what he leaves out of a story, or what story he decides not to report. Sins of commission and omission so to speak.

Here are a few recent articles that show blatant journalistic malpractice. Of course I’m only putting in the stories that favor my view that journalists are biased.

I pull back the curtain, you decide what to think about what you see.

 

–Ben Rhodes Reveals How Obama Duped America On Dangerous Iran Deal, by David Reaboi, at thefederalist.com. Even this headline missed the main point of the story. It should read “…How Obama Duped A Complicit American Media Into Carrying The Water On Iran Deal”. Politicians trying to push their narrative through the press isn’t anything new. Unfortunately the narrative gets no scrutiny when a Democrat is doing the spinning as compared to a Republican. I’m not here to defend Republicans. All I wish is that Journalists would treat all politicians like they treat Republicans. I just want a level playing field (Did I just say that. Please shoot me.) I want every politician and bureaucrat to be treated as if they are lying every time they open their mouths.

–Former Facebook Workers:We Routinely Suppress Conservative News, at tammybruce.com. Facebook workers, in the “trending” news section, are dictating what news items 167 million Facebook users in The U.S. have access to at any given moment. I thought this listing of news stories was generated by an unbiased algorithm?

Sheriff Rips Media For Concocting A Racial Narrative Into Crime Report, at lawnewz.com. Here is a sin of omission. A 17-year-old black male is arrested for sexting. The media story makes it seem like there was racial overtones in his arrest. CBS affiliate KSLA in Shreveport failed to mention that a 16-year-old white female was  arrested, pertaining to the same case, before the black male. Sheriff Julian Whittington held a press conference and called KSLA on the carpet for their bias. In my opinion, this story fit the world view of the journalists. It confirmed their bias, and they went with it.

This kind of action by journalists has happened too many times in the past to simply be considered an isolated mistake and swept under the rug. There is a pattern here. Do you remember the George Bush National Guard Story, The Duke Lacrosse Case, Trevon Martin, The Cambridge Police Acting Stupidly, Hands Up Don’t Shoot, The UVA Rape Case, just to name a few off the top of my head. A wise man once said “trust but verify”.  I say verify and remain skeptical.

 

Related Article – The Media Slowly Being Dragged Into Covering Abortion Doctor Kermit Gosnell’s Murder Trial, at austrianaddict.com.

 

 

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