Favorite Quotes

Since this is MY blog, I've decided to keep some of MY favorite quotes here. It's an ongoing project.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. -- Winston Churchill

A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. -- Thomas Jefferson

I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. -- James Madison, Father of the Constitution

It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one tenth part. -- Benjamin Franklin

I didn't say it would be easy, Neo. I just said it would be the truth. -- Morpheus

Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. -- Samuel Adams

Posterity, you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it. -- John Quincy Adams

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! -- Patrick Henry

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. -- John Adams

The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination. -- Ronald Reagan

The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. -- Albert Einstein

When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny. -- Thomas Jefferson

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. -- Thomas Jefferson

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help little men by tearing down big men. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence. And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves. -- William J. H. Boetcker, but commonly misattributed to Abe Lincoln

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin

No One Should…

No one should lose their freedom because someone else cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke paying other people's bills.  If you agree, please post this as your Facebook status for the rest of the day.

The Kennedys and Egalitarian Force

A good friend of mine expressed his view that the Kennedy family are “givers, not takers.”  That’s only partly true, I responded. The elected Kennedys are takers of my wages. Big time. Teddy is essentially a Euro-style socialist opposed to my freedom.

What I bothers me about Ted Kennedy et al is the forced altruism inherent in egalitarian ideology. The Kennedy family has established numerous helpful private sector charities, and I've contributed to several of those myself. Good job!

But the progress of civilization is measured in freedom and individual rights, not entitlements and income redistribution. The ideological right tends to force morality on people, while the secular left tends to force their own "religion" of egalitarianism through government confiscation of the fruits of people's labor.

As none of that social engineering force is authorized by the US Constitution, it's a form of theft and oppression. So left wing forced egalitarianism is no better than right wing quasi-theocratic authoritarianism. In both cases, Americans lose their liberties. I just want to be free.

Obama Sets Back Race Relations

President Obama inappropriately injected himself into a Cambridge, MA, incident involving the local police and Obama’s friend, Professor Henry Louis Gates.  Due to race-related comments by Obama and Gates, the situation was transformed from a routine police response to a reported break-in into a race issue.

Most reports I've seen say Professor Gates behaved badly, and he pursued the policeman as he was leaving the scene. Sgt. Crowley did not take kindly to that.  The black officer accompanying Crowley agreed with the arrest. It could have been handled quietly until Obama and Gates imagined a racist angle, which made the whole thing spiral out of control. This was an ordinary police response to a reported break-in until Gates, then Obama, imagined a racist angle.

There are some calling President Obama and Professor Gates “racists” for jumping to conclusions against a white cop.  I think "racialist" is a better way to describe their controversial attitude.  They have a tendency to frame many issues in terms of race, but they're not necessarily racial bigots.  They just imagine racism where there is none. Racism in America won’t end until racialists of all skin tones let it end.

As we now know, Sgt. Crowley is an expert police trainer in racial profiling. This is only a case of racism in the imaginations of Gates and Obama, and their inappropriate behavior can only delay our path to a post-racial society. Fortunately, Obama now recognizes his huge blunder and is taking an apologetic approach. What beer did they choose?

President Obama seems to forget that he is now president, not a private citizen, but that's a competence issue, not a racial one. Obama wasn't ready for the presidency. He had rather meager political experience, almost no practical professional background, and zero executive experience coming into the job. Unfortunately, the media and political powers ordained him as “The One,” and so now he is.

President Obama has been stumbling since even before the inauguration. My 13 year old daughter is even in disbelief over his clumsiness and apparently inability to speak without a teleprompter.  Well, President Clinton had a rough first year, too, then eventually got his bearings.  Maybe President Obama will, too.

Government Burden on Small Business

I own two small retail stores and a piece of commercial property. Here's what Big Brother requires me to file: annual IRS, CA, and MA personal and business income tax returns (total of 60-90 pages); annual corporate reports; annual renewal applications for common victualler, tobacco, lottery, liquor licenses; semi-annual business fixtures excise tax; quarterly IRS, CA, and MA estimated tax payments; quarterly US and MA wage reports and unemployment reports; monthly withholding (both US and MA), sales tax, tobacco tax.

There are 3 business entities, so some of the above must be filed multiple times. Then, my tax return is so complicated, the IRS conducts mail audits at least once a year - even though I use a CPA who specializes in small business.

Is this the way to run a productive economy? I can guaranty Americans would have a far higher standard of living if we simplified this absurd system of guilty-until-proven-innocent taxation. And all that is independent of the rate of taxation.

Misrepresenting the Green Economy

In Tilting at Green Windmills, George Will shows how the Obama administration is either irrational or dishonest in promoting a “green jobs” initiative as making the US economy stronger.

[Spanish Professor] Calzada says Spain's torrential spending -- no other nation has so aggressively supported production of electricity from renewable sources -- on wind farms and other forms of alternative energy has indeed created jobs. But Calzada's report concludes that they often are temporary and have received $752,000 to $800,000 each in subsidies -- wind industry jobs cost even more, $1.4 million each. And each new job entails the loss of 2.2 other jobs that are either lost or not created in other industries because of the political allocation -- sub-optimum in terms of economic efficiency -- of capital. …Calzada says the creation of jobs in alternative energy has subtracted about 110,000 jobs from elsewhere in Spain's economy.

It would be more accurate and honest to just admit the facts:

Indeed, environmentalists with the courage of their convictions should argue that the point of such investments is to subordinate market rationality to the higher agenda of planetary salvation.

With that, voters and policy makers could better trade off the cost-benefit parameters and determine a balanced and reasonable plan for the environment and economy to coexist.

Union Tyranny

If workers have the right to form a union, then don't corporate shareholders have the right to reject the union? It seems like a huge violation of property rights to force business owners to deal with workers collectively (i.e., with socialistic force) rather than as individuals (i.e., with individual liberty).

The US should be a meritocracy, not a land of entitlement. If unions behave and work to improve sales, then companies will want to deal with them. Otherwise, unions will make all companies end up like GM and Chrysler.

California's Progressive Tax Problem

Part of California's tax revenue problem is due to the highly progressive nature of its tax code. When the economy slows or shrinks, high-income taxpayers get little or no income from bonuses, commissions, and capital gains on stocks and real estate. Tax revenues sink accordingly. Almost no one cries for the rich, and I'm not saying we should, but a tax system based on soaking the rich leaves you high and dry during economic downturns.

It would be more equitable and stable if all California workers paid a similar percentage of income tax, with capital gains taxed at the same rate. In addition to providing a more stable tax base, it would be fairer to have voters share the burden of any tax increases or rewards of any tax cuts. You shouldn't be able to vote for a tax increase on others unless you're willing to pay a proportional share yourself.

A proportional (i.e., "flat") tax is a reasonable compromise between what is fair and what is practical. However, a person's "fair share" would ideally be based on an average individual's burden / impact to society. There would be a head tax (i.e., per person), plus some taxation based on how much impact you have on roads, schools, public safety, etc.

That's what I'd call a "fair share" of the tax burden, although I make no claim such a tax system is practical. Poor people are unable to pay their "fair share." I just don't think it's "fair" to blame middle class and rich people for that; nor is it "fair" to say middle class and rich people must subsidize the poor through highly progressive tax schemes.

The Moderate Path to Liberty

A moderate, mainstream, approach is needed to influence Republicans and transform the GOP into a party of limited government.  Below is my contribution to a co-authored article posted on the national Republican Liberty Caucus website. 

“Keeping it mainstream” by David Johnson and Bob Giramma

Our core principle is limited government, as opposed to big government social conservatism or other forms of big government Republicanism. The limited government part seems pretty mainstream, if presented properly. Not so with social conservatism, which is controversial and divisive. Big government Republicanism is pretty much mimicking Democrats with a different (e.g., “kinder, gentler”) set of moral values.

Another aspect of getting mainstream support is presenting limited government solutions to the problems of greatest interest, rather than running off into the weeds that no one cares about. While advocates of limited government might obsess on gun rights, drug decriminalization, etc, it’s better to focus on a small set of issues that are of greatest interest to mainstream voters.

Recent polls show those issues are (in order): the economy, the federal budget, health care, the wars, education, terrorism, and energy policy. Those are mainstream issues for which we have limited government solutions that should appeal to mainstream voters.

Recent polls show self-described “conservatives” are the biggest voting block, exceeding self-described “liberals” by a huge margin and self-described “moderates” by a small margin. At the same time, self-described “Democrats” and “independents” are the biggest voting blocks, exceeding self-described “Republicans” by huge margins.

Something is seriously wrong when conservatives have turned against Republicans like that.

Tax Reform

My proposal for reforming the federal tax code:

1) The entire federal tax code shall fit on one side of a letter size 8.5 x 11 inch paper with Arial 10 (or Times Roman 12) font.

2) An individual tax return shall fit on one side of a 3 x 5 inch postcard with the same font.

3) A tax return shall be on an individual basis, i.e., no married filing jointly or similar collectivist filings.

4) There shall be no corporate income tax.

5) The tax rate shall be the same for all individuals, with no zero-bracket amount and no exempt income.

That should result in massive layoffs at the IRS -- and a better life for all productive Americans.

Conservatives are freedom-friendly; Liberals, not so much

A Rasmussen poll says:

59%of U.S. voters agreed with Ronald Reagan that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” ... Only 28% disagree, and 14% are not sure.

Middle class people are with us:

Middle-income voters are more likely to agree with Reagan than those who earn less than $20,000 or more than $100,000.

When looking for help from non-libertarians, we're much more likely to get support from conservatives than liberals, who basically love big government:

Political liberals strongly reject Reagan’s view by a 60% to 28% margin. Forty-seven percent (47%) of moderates agree, while 32% do not. Conservatives are overwhelmingly supportive.

Also interesting:

Although the Republican Party in Washington veered away from Reagan’s approach in the years since the 40th president left office, 83% of Republican voters around the country still agree with him. So do 40% of Democrats and 60% of those not affiliated with either major party.

See the full story for more interesting data. But libertarians should stop being mean to conservatives. They believe in freedom, while liberals do not.

California's Open Primaries Will Reduce Freedom

Doing some reading on primaries, I found the following in an article about the proposed open primary system for California:

The existing primary system, Nehring said, was another Progressive-era reform that shifted the power of nominating candidates from conventions and caucuses to all party members.

Then I saw this on Wikipedia:

In the 1952 presidential election, Kefauver decided to offer himself as a candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Campaigning in his coonskin cap, often by dogsled, Kefauver made history when, in an electrifying victory in the New Hampshire primary, he defeated President Harry S. Truman, the sitting President of the United States. Although Kefauver would go on to win twelve of the fifteen primaries that were held that year, losing three to "favorite son" candidates, primaries were not, at that time, the main method of delegate selection for the national convention. Kefauver, therefore, entered the convention a few hundred votes shy of the needed majority. In the 1952 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Kefauver received 3.1 million votes, while the eventual 1952 Democratic presidential nominee, Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson, received only 78,000 votes.

A political party is a private sector entity. The party membership should be able to nominate their candidate in whatever manner they choose. It looks like that's just another freedom the "progressives" have stolen from me. Now the process is owned by the collective and manipulated by the political class. The proposed open primary system for California will make that worse. Progress!

FDR and the Great Depression Myth

Let's dispel the myth that President Franklin D. Roosevelt saved America from the Depression.  The Depression would not have been so "Great" if not for bad policies from FDR and Herbert Hoover before him.

The New Deal Didn’t Always Work, Either

By TYLER COWEN

MANY people are looking back to the Great Depression and the New Deal for answers to our problems. But while we can learn important lessons from this period, they’re not always the ones taught in school.

The traditional story is that President Franklin D. Roosevelt rescued capitalism by resorting to extensive government intervention; the truth is that Roosevelt changed course from year to year, trying a mix of policies, some good and some bad.

<snip>

In short, expansionary monetary policy and wartime orders from Europe, not the well-known policies of the New Deal, did the most to make the American economy climb out of the Depression. Our current downturn will end as well someday, and, as in the ’30s, the recovery will probably come for reasons that have little to do with most policy initiatives.

Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

The Idiots You Elect

How many times have I said most ordinary people are smarter than government officials?

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

US officials flunk test of American history, economics, civics

Thu Nov 20, 2:24 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.

Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI).

<snip>

Asked about the electoral college, 20 percent of elected officials incorrectly said it was established to "supervise the first televised presidential debates."

In fact, the system of choosing the US president via an indirect electoral college vote dates back some 220 years, to the US Constitution.

The question that received the fewest correct responses, just 16 percent, tested respondents' basic understanding of economic principles, asking why "free markets typically secure more economic prosperity than government's centralized planning?"

Beware the Government Bailout

When your friends advocate a government bailout or other "help" from the federal government in response to the credit mess, refer them to the following article.  I've seen many economists say essentially the same thing on how the policies of Hoover and FDR lengthened the Great Depression and made it worse.  This is just another one, and it's from a reputable and well-known source.

FDR's Policies Prolonged Depression by 7 Years, UCLA Economists Calculate

Two UCLA economists say they have figured out why the Great Depression dragged on for almost 15 years, and they blame a suspect previously thought to be beyond reproach: President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

After scrutinizing Roosevelt's record for four years, Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanian conclude in a new study that New Deal policies signed into law 71 years ago thwarted economic recovery for seven long years.

"Why the Great Depression lasted so long has always been a great mystery, and because we never really knew the reason, we have always worried whether we would have another 10- to 15-year economic slump," said Ohanian, vice chair of UCLA's Department of Economics. "We found that a relapse isn't likely unless lawmakers gum up a recovery with ill-conceived stimulus policies."

In an article in the August issue of the Journal of Political Economy, Ohanian and Cole blame specific anti-competition and pro-labor measures that Roosevelt promoted and signed into law June 16, 1933.

"President Roosevelt believed that excessive competition was responsible for the Depression by reducing prices and wages, and by extension reducing employment and demand for goods and services," said Cole, also a UCLA professor of economics. "So he came up with a recovery package that would be unimaginable today, allowing businesses in every industry to collude without the threat of antitrust prosecution and workers to demand salaries about 25 percent above where they ought to have been, given market forces. The economy was poised for a beautiful recovery, but that recovery was stalled by these misguided policies."

Above is an excerpt.  Full article here.