Clipmarks | Rustee's 'government' clips

Government True-isms

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:11:03 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress... But then I repeat myself.
-Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.
-James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
-Ronald Reagan (1986)

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free!
-P.J. O'Rourke

A government big enough to give you everything you want,
is strong enough to take everything you have.
-Thomas Jefferson

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
-Winston Churchill

Tags: government, quotes

Leftist Economic Nonsense

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:42:42 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

It was astonishing to hear Maxine Waters openly discuss nationalizing the oil industry. She was talking to the heads of America’s oil companies, and she was a little worked up, so it was also possible to say that it was just one person, speaking impulsively in a moment of anger, and easily dismissed.

What left most conservatives and libertarians staring in slack jawed wonder was when Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) stood before the press and advocated nationalizing the oil refineries. While most have known about the socialist beliefs of the left, what surprised them was the matter of fact manner in which they were suggesting socialist controls over the oil industry.

Finally, the socialist trifecta was complete with Obama supporter Malai Lazu, of the non-profit group Oil Change International calling for “price controls” on Neal Cavuto’s “Your World.” As she simply put it, “When Congress can set prices, Congress can set prices.”

Clip Source: www.allamericanblogger.com

For thousands of years, governments have attempted to set the price of different products with disastrous results.

This was all done for the “salvation of the people.”

Throughout history, it has been shown that price controls are good for creating three things:

Shortages

In the free market, a producer knows what it takes to create a product.

When government enters the picture, they don’t consider the creation cost.

Rationing

The government now enters the scene again and tells people how much of a product they are allowed in a specific time. So, if the Democrats nationalize the refineries and shortages follow, it is likely to see them tell you how many gallons of gas you can have per month.

If the government’s allotment isn’t enough, there is only one place to turn.

Black Markets

The black market is created as a result of the state. Always.

Setting prices on gasoline and oil will not do what the socialists in Congress claim it will do. History shows it never has, and never will.

Tags: economics

No Tax Increase Needed for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid...

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 02:39:55 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

If Congress were to act responsibly (yes, an oxymoron), it would hold down the growth of spending, as was done in the late 1980s and late 1990s, and eliminate those government programs that do not meet a reasonable cost-benefit test. As has been shown before, such actions would quickly eliminate the deficit.

Clip Source: washingtontimes.com

Many of those who insist that tax increases are needed argue that the entitlement programs will grow more rapidly than the economy and they must be funded. The problem with this argument is that tax increases will slow economic growth, and that no amount of tax increase can fund these programs if they are allowed to continue to grow faster than the economy.

Other countries have solved, or are solving, the social security problem through privatization. The renowned economist, Jose Pinera, developed the world's first, major, privatized social security system when he was labor minister in Chile. The Chilean program has been in effect for 29 years, is fully phased in, and has provided the workers with a rate of return exceeding 10 percent per year compounded, resulting in many Chileans having a very large investment portfolio for retirement. The Pinera system has been so successful that more than 30 countries have now adopted it.

This program would be real constructive "change."

Tags: taxes, government

Chavez - More Like Castro Everyday

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:44:36 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Nevertheless, Mr. Chávez appears pleased with the circumstances, illuminating another way in which he resembles Castro: Both men are narcissists above all else, and both have been driven by an intense desire to rule as the omnipotent caudillo. The welfare of the nation is beside the point.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

It is no secret that Hugo Chávez wants to be just like Fidel Castro someday. And last week he took a step closer to that goal by laying down 26 new decrees designed to eviscerate property rights and further consolidate economic power in the presidential palace. He also nationalized the third-largest bank in the country.

What has been less publicized is the Venezuelan president's expanding collection of political prisoners, and his other sinister methods of neutralizing opponents.

Last week, his handpicked supreme court ruled that 260 aspiring candidates for the November municipal and gubernatorial elections -- most of whom oppose him -- will be barred from the ballot because they have been accused of corruption

Of course this doesn't quite work under Venezuelan law, because an individual may only be barred as a candidate if he is convicted. But the Chávez government got around that problem: None has been tried but the National Controller -- a chavista -- has declared them guilty by fiat.

Tags: venezuela, government

More on Obamanomics

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:50:45 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Obama's economic plan also calls for mandating a "living wage." He plans to saddle retailers with a $10 minimum wage indexed to inflation, along with a mandate to provide seven days of paid sick leave to workers.

Obama assumes business owners will just eat the added costs.

Clip Source: www.ibdeditorials.com

Barack Obama the lawyer-organizer could use a crash course in economics.

In arguing for a heavier mix of government, he assumes that capitalism unfairly favors the rich, almost exclusively so, and fails to spread prosperity.

Obama cites data showing a yawning gap between the income of the average worker and the wealthiest 1%. He thinks it's government's job to step in and close it — "for purposes of fairness" — by soaking the rich, among other leftist nostrums.

But such a snapshot comparison would be meaningful only if America were a caste society, in which the people making up one income group remained static over time.

Of course that's not the case.

Few are "stuck" in poverty, or have a "lock" on wealth.

Obama would discover this if only he'd put down his class-warfare manuals and look closely at the IRS' own data.

He also fails to understand how taxes change behavior.

Forget growth and revenues. Let's just punish those "greedy" investors.

Even TV news anchor Charlie Gibson knows better.

Tags: economics, politics, class warfare

New Record Deficit, Same Old Politics

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 06:28:39 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.cnsnews.com

Earlier this week the White House announced that the projected Fiscal Year 2009 deficit will be $490 billion, an amount much higher than originally anticipated and also a record for the national deficit. The deficit for the current fiscal year is expected to reach $410 billion.

As usual, politicians and many of the major media outlets explicitly or implicitly have blamed President George W. Bush’s tax cuts for much of the problem.

The problem is not his tax cuts, though. Bush’s tax cuts stimulated tremendous economic growth. History and most economists inform us that a reduction in the tax burden almost always stimulates growth.

The problem is that our elected officials lack the fortitude and wisdom to make the necessary cuts in spending that budget realities demand.

Congress must make some difficult decisions and cut the Federal Government’s expenditures.

Tags: taxes, economics, government, politics

Obama's Tax Redistribution

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:28:18 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

...Obama's plan would greatly accelerate the decades-long trend toward a federal government that depends for tax revenue almost exclusively on a few high-income people.

I guess you can call greatly accelerating in the same direction, "change".

Hodge acknowledges that some Americans may cheer this dramatic dependence on the highest earners, but he says the shift should be part of a larger national discussion asking questions such as:

* What is the long-term effect on the economy if so few households shoulder such a large share of the tax burden?
* When a majority of Americans are paying so little for government, will that majority then demand even more services than they would have otherwise?
* Can a tax system so focused on redistribution be compatible with economic growth?

The new study, "Hard Numbers on Obama's Redistribution Plan," is available online at www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/23319.html.

Clip Source: www.taxfoundation.org

In Tax Foundation Fiscal Fact, No. 132, Tax Foundation president Scott Hodge uses revenue estimates from the Tax Policy Center to show that Obama's plan would greatly accelerate the decades-long trend toward a federal government that depends for tax revenue almost exclusively on a few high-income people.

As a result, the top 1 percent of households would pay more federal taxes of all kinds than the bottom 80 percent of households. That lopsided distribution under Obama does include payroll taxes and other federal taxes, but it excludes the new payroll tax hike that Obama plans to levy on people making more than $250,000 because details about that plan are currently unclear.

"In other words," says Hodge, "it is at this point a cautious estimate to say that in 2009, under Obama's plan, 1.13 million Americans would pay more in all federal taxes than 128 million of their fellow citizens combined."

Tags: taxes, politics, government

Independence in 1776 to Dependence on 1,776

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:02:05 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.cato-at-liberty.org

I recently updated data I presented last year on the total number of federal subsidy programs.

As the chart shows, the number of subsidy programs has increased 25 percent since 2000.

It turns out that the federal government currently operates 1,776 subsidy programs. These include subsidies for states, cities, individuals, non-profit groups, and businesses.

Tags: government, taxes

Canadian Healthcare Architect Abandons His Own Creation

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:02:07 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

If Claude Castonguay is abandoning ship, why should Americans bother climbing on board?

Clip Source: www.ibdeditorials.com

Back in the 1960s, Castonguay chaired a Canadian government committee studying health reform and recommended that his home province of Quebec — then the largest and most affluent in the country — adopt government-administered health care, covering all citizens through tax levies.

Castonguay's work triggered a domino effect across the country, until eventually his ideas were implemented from coast to coast.

Four decades later, as the chairman of a government committee reviewing Quebec health care this year, Castonguay concluded that the system is in "crisis."

"We thought we could resolve the system's problems by rationing services or injecting massive amounts of new money into it," says Castonguay. But now he prescribes a radical overhaul: "We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice."

Years ago, Canadians touted their health care system as the best in the world; today, Canadian health care stands in ruinous shape.

Tags: government, healthcare, canada

U.S. Confidence in Various Institutions

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:50:59 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, come on down! You've made history.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

At the bottom of the heap, displacing HMOs as our worst institution, one finds the second branch of government, our Congress, at 12%. The Gallup folks noted it is "the worst rating Gallup has measured for any institution in the 35-year history of this question." Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, come on down! You've made history.

Hard to miss as well is that just below the military's high-confidence interval comes, of all things, the cops.

What the U.S. military and the police have in common is successful self-reform of their institutions.

Many institutions are caught between a divided politics pulling hard at opposite ends of the rope. The public's sourness is just a symptom of this tension. Peace of mind – assuming people truly want that – won't come until voters decide whether the future direction of their country should be set mainly by the institutions of the private sector or by institutions of the public sector.

Tags: economy, government, polls, opinion

What's Wrong with Republicans?

Thu, 08 May 2008 04:28:41 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

To the degree McCain can articulate the above, he will win; to the degree that he either cannot or believes the latest gurus that he must abandon them, he will lose. Moving toward a lite version of the Obamian/European "bipartisan"and socialist view of government and calling it a new conservatism is a prescription for utter disaster.

No one can out-Obama Obama.

Clip Source: corner.nationalreview.com

What the Republicans need is not an abandonment of conservative principles, but a smarter, more articulate defense of even more conservativism, not less.

In short, low taxes, secure borders, moral governance, sober government spending, ethical leadership, exploration and conservation of petroleum, and strong defense is what the American public wants — but those core principles have to be articulated hourly and can't be compromised. In an honest debate, Obama's alternatives to the above would be to turn toward more government, higher taxes, more bureacracies, more dependence of the individual upon the state, etc.

I think in their depression, the Republicans fail to see that their problems were not in their principles, but rather in the sometimes sleezy and sloppy way they advanced them — and even more often in the manner that they abandoned them — and as a result, they are apparently eager to compromise on them.

Shocker: Audit Reveals Abuse of Government Credit Cards

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:45:19 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

In the fraudulent category, a longtime employee of the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon, Debra K. Durfey, wrote convenience checks worth more than $640,000 from 2000 to 2006 to a live-in boyfriend, who used the money for gambling, car expenses and mortgage payments

In a case the GAO deemed "abusive," the Postal Service spent $13,500 in 2006 on a dinner at a Ruth's Chris Steak House in Orlando, including "over 200 appetizers and over $3,000 of alcohol, including more than 40 bottles of wine costing more than $50 each and brand-name liquor such as Courvoisier, Belvedere and Johnny Walker Gold." The tab came to more than $160 a head for the 81 guests, the report said.

The GAO found that 41 percent of the transactions it examined did not follow government purchasing rules. The problem was worse with larger purchases: Forty-eight percent of transactions over $2,500 were in violation of federal rules, the report said.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

April 9, 2008

Federal employees used government credit cards to pay for lingerie, gambling, iPods, Internet dating services, and a $13,000 steak-and-liquor dinner, according to a new audit from the Government Accountability Office, which found widespread abuses in a purchasing program meant to improve bureaucratic efficiency.

The study, released by Senate lawmakers yesterday, found that nearly half the "purchase card" transactions it examined were improper, either because they were not authorized correctly or because they did not meet requirements for the cards' use. The overall rate of problems "is unacceptably high," the audit found.

The GAO also found that agencies could not account for nearly $2 million worth of items identified in the audit -- including laptop computers, digital cameras and, at the Army, more than a dozen computer servers worth $100,000 each.

Tags: government, taxes

Are You Smarter Than an Immigrant?

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:50:13 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: A small sampling of questions on the new citizenship test. Here's the current test.

Clip Source: usgovinfo.about.com

1. What is the supreme law of the land?

2. What does the Constitution do?

3. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?

7. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

20. Who is one of your state's U.S. Senators?*

21. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

36. What are two Cabinet-level positions?

39. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?

40. Who is the Chief Justice of the United States?

41. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the federal government. What is one power of the federal government?

42. Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states. What is one power of the states?

49. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?*

50. What are two rights only for United States citizens?

62. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

66. When was the Constitution written?

67. The Federalist Papers supported the passage of the U.S. Constitution. Name one of the writers.

Tags: immigration, culture, government, history

Traits of National Health Care Systems

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:17:08 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: www.cato.org

Health insurance does not mean universal access to health care. In practice, many countries promise universal coverage but ration care or have long waiting lists for treatment.

Rising health care costs are not a uniquely American phenomenon. Although other countries spend considerably less than the United States on health care, both as a percentage of GDP and per capita, costs are rising almost everywhere, leading to budget deficits, tax increases, and benefit reductions.

In countries weighted heavily toward government control, people are most likely to face waiting lists, rationing, restrictions on physician choice, and other obstacles to care.

Countries with more effective national health care systems are successful to the degree that they incorporate market mechanisms such as competition, cost sharing, market prices, and consumer choice, and eschew centralized government control.

Tags: government, healthcare

Federalist No. 45 - James Madison

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 04:05:28 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks: The vision of the proper roles of the state and federal governments.

Clip Source: www.foundingfathers.info

Was, then, the American Revolution effected, was the American Confederacy formed, was the precious blood of thousands spilt, and the hard-earned substance of millions lavished, not that the people of America should enjoy peace, liberty, and safety, but that the government of the individual States, that particular municipal establishments, might enjoy a certain extent of power, and be arrayed with certain dignities and attributes of sovereignty?

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.

The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments, in times of peace and security.

Tags: government, history, federalism