Posts Tagged ‘government’

Is our political regime fated to whither away?

Are political regimes fated to decay and die away, as everything in nature is?

Back in the eighteenth century, men in England, France, and the United States conceived of a new type of regime that would prevent the tyranny of the absolutist monarchies that reigned at the time. They put their hopes in a balance of power between various institutions of government, and in the periodical recourse to election to purge the system of excessive corruption and entrenched power. The democratic form of government established on those principles would work wonders for over two centuries.

But now, in its third century of existence, it is producing dysfunctional and potentially self-destructive forms of governance. The United States has been deadlocked in the monumental issue of its budget deficit and entitlements, unable to cut spending or raise taxes. . . .

Read more by Camille Pecastaing at Hoover.org

When you’ve got a guy like Senator John McCain who says “The battlefield is the United States of America,” it tells you that almost nothing is safe in the Land of the Free.

Whatever remains of civil liberties is going to feel the full brunt of the state’s boot heel.

They’re already regulating some of the most fundamental aspects of life, from how we are allowed to educate our children to what we can / cannot put in our bodies to the very nature of money.

Read more by Simon Black at SovereignMan.com

Yeah, it’s going to do you a lot of good….

President Obama’s budget, to be released next week, will limit how much wealthy individuals – like Mitt Romney – can keep in IRAs and other retirement accounts.

…

Under the plan, a taxpayer’s tax-preferred retirement account, like an IRA, could not finance more than $205,000 per year of retirement – or right around $3 million this year.

Read more by Karl Denninger at market-ticker.org

I’ve laid this out before but it’s time to do it again, because it’s coming folks.

The recent ditty on how “nobody needs more than $3m for retirement”, defined as “whatever you need to get a $200,000 annuity”, is just one facet of how this will play out.

Since I started writing The Ticker I have been repeatedly asked where one should put their assets to evade confiscation, whether through outright acts of theft, devaluation or any other means.

Read more by Karl Denninger at market-ticker.org

Tax: a payment to government for doing something good
Fine: a payment to government for doing something bad
Fee: a payment to government for doing business

1. Rights belong to individuals, not groups; they derive from our nature and can neither be granted nor taken away by government.

2. All peaceful, voluntary economic and social associations are permitted; consent is the basis of the social and economic order.

3. Justly acquired property is privately owned by individuals and voluntary groups, and this ownership cannot be arbitrarily voided by governments.

4. Government may not redistribute private wealth or grant special privileges to any individual or group.

5. Individuals are responsible for their own actions; government cannot and should not protect us from ourselves.

Read more by Ron Paul at LewRockwell.com

“Find Out Just What Any People Will Quietly Submit To And You Have The Exact Measure Of The Injustice And Wrong Which Will Be Imposed On Them”

Constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald notes:

It is always the tactic of governments that seek to abuse power to select the most marginalized and easily demonized targets in the first instance (Anwar Awlaki): because they know that once the citizenry cheers for that power on the ground that they dislike the target, the power then becomes institutionalized and impossible to resist when it expands outward, as it always does.

That’s what Thomas Jefferson meant when he wrote: “In questions of power . . . let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.” It’s also what Frederick Douglass meant when he warned:

Read more at Washington’s Blog

Rage over the waste and injustice of agents sent by the federal government to bang on doors of law-abiding citizens to ask probing, creepy questions is normally something that bubbles up only every 10 years. But ever since the federal government became a cancerous leviathan, the outrage is now an annual occurrence.

Read more by Charles Hurt at WashingtonTimes.com

If you can get arrested for hunting or fishing without a license, but not for being in the country illegally … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If you have to get your parents’ permission to go on a field trip or take an aspirin in school, but not to get an abortion … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If the only school curriculum allowed to explain how we got here is evolution, but the government stops a $15 million construction project to keep a rare spider from evolving to extinction … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If you have to show identification to board an airplane, cash a check, buy liquor, or check out a library book, but not to vote who runs the government … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If the government wants to ban stable, law-abiding citizens from owning gun magazines with more than ten rounds, but gives 20 F-16 fighter jets to the crazy new leaders in Egypt … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

If, in the largest city, you can buy two 16-ounce sodas, but not a 24-ounce soda because 24-ounces of a sugary drink might make you fat … you might live in a country founded by geniuses but run by idiots.

Read more at http://www.economicnoise.com/2013/02/27/founded-by-geniuses-and-run-by-idiots/

This is all over the Web:

You know you live in a Country run by idiots if…

You can get arrested for expired tags on your car but not for being in the country illegally.

Your government believes that the best way to eradicate trillions of dollars of debt is to spend trillions more of our money.

A seven year old boy can be thrown out of school for calling his teacher “cute”, but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable.

The Supreme Court of the United States can rule that lower courts cannot display the 10 Commandments in their courtroom…while sitting in front of a display of the 10 Commandments.

Children are forcibly removed from parents who appropriately discipline them while children of “underprivileged” drug addicts are left to rot in filth infested cesspools of a ‘home’

Read more by Gary North at The Tea Party Economist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAxKAzpGmVA

Monday night’s meeting of the Milwaukee South branch with Dr. Yuri Maltsev was impressively entertaining to say the least. Dr. Maltsev gave a wonderful talk and left many thankful for having attended. For those of you who were not able to make the meeting, here is Dr. Maltsev at the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s conference in Naples, Florida where he presented the same talk. Enjoy!

In Liberty,

Michael S. Murphy
Chair, RPMC-South Branch

The Most Absurd ‘Loophole’ in the Tax Code

And I mean absurd in the most literal sense. We all know that the U.S. tax code is riddled with “loopholes”, exemptions and deductions intended to incentivize certain activities. Many of these are of dubious provenance and questionable utility. But, there is one that is particularly ridiculous. As in, how can this possibly be thought of as a loophole? But, to the technocrats in the federal government, the tax you don’t have to pay on the value of rent you don’t have to pay because you own your home is a loophole.

Read that last sentence again. Its called “The Imputed Net Rental Income on Owner-Occupied Housing” and the feds include it in their annual list of “tax expenditures.” That term is how Washington officially refers to credits, deductions and exemptions. Here’s how the federal government describes it:

Read more by Mike Flynn at Breitbart.com

At least 79 elected officials have been convicted of wrongdoing since 1972

Illinois’ official slogan is the “Land of Lincoln,” but an equally apt descriptor would be the “Land of Greased Palms.”

The state, Cook County and its governmental seat, Chicago, have a long history of corruption by elected and appointed officials.

Read more at MSNBC.com

Personal responsibility has become about as rare as a lion’s dinner. There once was a time in which people did self-assessments, following unfavorable occurrences or outcomes. People had no problem looking at themselves in the mirror, and accepting some blame where it was due. Prior generations actually TOOK PRIDE in owning up to shortcomings, while striving to correct such self-caused problems. But this concept has been gone longer than Karrine Steffans’ virginity. We now live in a society that takes solace in the idea that they can place responsibility (for THEIR actions) on society as a whole. You can live without consequence, since we have a system in place which allows you to pass the buck like generous exotic dancers sharing with one another. You do not have to fess up to any contributions you made to your own mess, financial or otherwise. You can simply say that OTHERS are responsible. Especially the government.

Posted by Marquis “Motionn” Campbell at KiraDavis.net

This morning, the CBS-News producer of the show I’ll appear on tomorrow emailed me. He asked, “Is it okay if the host asks you, “What should government do to create jobs?”

Here was my response:

I worry that my answer will ruffle the feathers of too many Bay Area viewers and even of the hosts:

Government-created fixes will ultimately COST jobs.What will most help is to teach ethical entrepreneurship from elementary school through college. Ethical entrepreneurs not only create more good, permanent jobs, but add new products and services we benefit from. That argument is made better than I could make it in this article by Ryan Streeter, former Special Assistant to the President in the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Read more by Marty Nemko