Monthly Archives: January 2010

Israeli columnist asks forbidden question

There’s a question we Israelis won’t ask ourselves about the Palestinians, especially not about Gaza. The question is taboo. Not only won’t anyone ask it out loud, but very, very few people will dare ask it in the privacy of their own minds.

However, I think it’s time we start asking it, privately and in public. If we don’t, I think there’s going to be Operation Cast Lead II, then Operation Cast Lead III, and each one is going to be worse than the last, and the consequences for Palestinians and Israelis are going to be unimaginable.

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: If anybody treated us like we’re treating the people in Gaza, what would we do?

We don’t want to go there, do we? And because we don’t, we make it our business not to see, hear or think about how, indeed, we are treating the people in Gaza.

All these shocked dignitaries, all these reports, these details, these numbers – thousands of destroyed this and tens of thousands of destroyed that. Rubble, sewage, malnutrition, crying babies, humanitarian crises – who can keep up? Who cares? They did it to themselves. Where to for lunch?

IT’S NOT that we can’t imagine life in Gaza. It’s that we are determined not to try to imagine. If we did, we might not stop there. Next we might try to imagine what it would be like if our country were in the condition in which we left Gaza. And sooner or later we might try to imagine what we would do if we were living over here like they’re living over there. (Read more from jpost.com)

Chertoff Lobbying for Government purchase of full body scanners

Michael Chertoff, Former Department of Homeland Security, is the head of the Chertoff Group, the lead cheerleader for what is being called the Full Body Scanner Lobby, reports the Washington Post and the Washington Examiner.

Ever since the Christmas Day Bomb Scare, Chertoff has been making the rounds championing the Full Body Scanners as a way to detect hidden explosive devices.

Here is a Chertoff quote from the New York Times on December 29th.“If they’d been deployed, this would pick up this kind of device,” Michael Chertoff, the former homeland security secretary, said in an interview, referring to the packet of chemicals hidden in the underwear of the Nigerian man who federal officials say tried to blow up the Northwest Airlines flight.

A few days later the Washington Post revealed that Chertoff represents Rapiscan – a maker of full body scanners drawing criticism of groups who oppose full body scanners (Read more from nowpublic.com)

The crooks have been in charge for a long time.

Fed Attempting the Impossible

Fed Chief Edges Closer to Using Rates to Pop Bubbles
Bernanke Sees Monetary Policy as Potential Antidote, but Blames Lax Regulation — Not Central Bank Policies — for Housing Crisis

ATLANTA — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke cracked the door open a bit more to the idea of raising interest rates if a new financial bubble emerges.

He also mounted a vigorous defense against critics who say it was the Fed’s low-interest-rate policies over the past decade that caused the last housing bubble. Instead, he said, the problem was lax regulation, which permitted banks to issue a slew of exotic mortgages that households later had trouble paying.

We must be especially vigilant in ensuring that the recent experiences are not repeated,” Mr. Bernanke said in a speech Sunday at the American Economic Association’s annual meeting here. Better regulation is his first line of defense against future crises. (Read more from online.wsj.com)

Commentary by Patrick Barron: The Fed is trying to do the impossible–pump massive amounts of money into the economy without causing another bubble. So, it thinks it can regulate away bubbles and malinvestment. This is possible only if its regulations are so onerous that they destroy production. The Fed should stop monetary inflation, stop monetizing the debt, and abolish financial regulations.

The Case Against Protectionism

As a general concept, free trade has many supporters. Most of us agree that trade with other nations is a good thing. We get stuff that we would not otherwise have and/or it is much cheaper. Examples include many food items that grow only in special climates, such as fruits and vegetables. Some foodstuffs cannot be grown here, or they can be grown only in special climate-controlled facilities. If the U.S. prohibited the importation of these foreign foods, we would not have them at all or they would be very high priced and, therefore, not available on the mass market. Therefore, it is not difficult to advocate free trade in these items, although even here the U.S. shamefully prohibits the free importation of sugar cane from poor Caribbean nations and corn from poor African nations, just to name two of the most egregious protectionist policies. These are nothing more than gifts to mostly rich American sugar and corn producers, at the expense not only of the American consumer but also, perhaps more importantly, at the expense of poor farmers in the Caribbean and Africa. (Read more from patrickbarron.blogspot.com)

Recovery Propaganda

The surge in commodities “is a reflection of extremely strong demand in the emerging world, and growing hopes of stronger demand in the developed world,” said Jim O’Neill, head of global economic research at Goldman Sachs in London. It is “encouraging so long as it isn’t too persistent.” (From online.wsj.com)

Conspicuously absent is any mention of the gigantic quantities of money being printed all around the word.

German Business Journal Questions 9/11

“FOCUS Money”, is presenting most of the crucial arguments and contradictions on five glossy pages. Among other questions the article suggests that the collapse of the World Trade Center could have been a controlled demolition.

In addition, the article suggests serious doubts about the “madness” of the critics, which are usually called “conspriracy theorists”.

The magazine states, that it is “not only serious politicians who do not want to believe the official version any more “, but also, “there are also thousands of scientists, who question 9/11″.

Author of the article is Oliver Janich. He works as a freelance journalist for the Financial Times Germany, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Euro& Finance and is a regular columnist in Focus Money.

Focus-Money is a weekly business magazine and is currently the second-popular business publication with a weekly circulation of 145,788 copies sold. However, the actual range is much higher and amounts to approximately 450,000 to 720,000 readers. The magazine is published by the Burda-Verlag in Munich.

The first page of the article shows pictures of 9/11 skeptics: Charlie Sheen, Sharon Stone, Rosie O’Donnell William Rodriguez (next to GW Bush), former Governor Jesse Ventura, Richard Gage, Federal Judge Dieter Deiseroth and many others.

The rest of the article is packed with information. Evidence of controlled demolition of the buildings, criticism of the fire theory, the questions on the interceptors, WTC 7 and the Pentagon. There is talk of the “impossible flight maneuvers,” the resignation of Senator Max Cleland who is quoted as saying “It’s a fraud, a national scandal” and of the myriad of lies to the Commission, hindering the investigation. The mysterious death of Barry Jenning, a former Deputy Director of Emergency Services Department of the City of New York is also mentioned. He had saved many people from WTC 7 , and covered in dust gave a live interview on ABC and then much later for “Loose Change” maker Dylan Avery. (Read more from dprogram.net)

The Myth of European Socialism

Euro Zone Grapples With Debt Crisis
The European Commission warns that public finances in half of the 16 euro-zone nations are at high risk of becoming unsustainable

Governments will spend the next year and beyond balancing the urgent need to fix public-sector debt and deficits — without imperiling what appears to be a feeble economic recovery.
(Read more from online.wsj.com)

Commentary by Patrick Barron: Many people support increasing social welfare programs in the U.S. by citing the experience of Europe; that is, that Europe has far more generous welfare benefits than the U.s. and seems to be doing “just fine”. Well, the European Commission itself disputes the long-term viability of many of Europe’s finances.

[But] None of the welfare plans in any of the Eurozone countries are financially sound. They are simply state-sponsored Ponzi schemes that must crash when the demographic reality of a declining birthrate makes their payment impossible.

Three Cheers for the Swiss People

In this great article, Paul Green discusses how Switzerland remains resolutely free and prosperous.

Guns and the military are yet another example. Guns are everywhere – and crime is nowhere. In fact they have at least two of the most peaceful, crime-free cities in the world – according to various online authorities. Zurich even has a half-holiday in October for the “boy shooting” contest and American-style fair where young boys – and girls too – compete with assault rifles at targets.

Chilling quote from an American socialist

Norman Thomas was an American socialist and frequent presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America. He said the following:

The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of ‘liberalism’ they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.

Edit: Did he really say that? www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/socialism.asp

Notes from the Tax Prof. Blog

The Tax Prof[essor] Blog is one of a collection of blogs by law professors. I love the way Tax Prof Blog exposes the shamelessness with which the tax code is abused to favor the privileged, and the incompetence of our vast government bureaucracies.

Two recent posts:

IRS Cannot Verify Taxpayer Eligibility for 2/3 of $325 Billion of Stimulus Tax Benefits
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today released Evaluation of the Internal Revenue Service’s Capability to Ensure Proper Use of Recovery Act Funds (2010-41-011):

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration today publicly released its review of the IRS’s ability to verify taxpayer eligibility for tax benefits and credits provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Recovery Act contains 56 tax provisions with a potential cost of more than $325 billion that are intended to provide tax relief for individuals and businesses. These include 20 provisions for individuals that provide tax relief to working or retired Americans and their families. Thirty-six additional provisions provide tax relief and incentives for businesses, including provisions that encourage investment in sources of renewable energy and promote the hiring of unemployed veterans. They also allow for the sale of bonds to provide for construction, financing, environmental and manufacturing improvements.

TIGTA found that the IRS is unable to verify taxpayer eligibility for the majority of Recovery Act tax benefits and credits at the time a tax return is processed.

My thoughts: This is further evidence that government “help,” doesn’t. In pandering for support, our overlords have created an unwieldy bureaucracy that mostly helps only the privilege people who have the time, money and power to navigate it. It also keeps armies of tax lawyers and consultants employed in what Bastiat called rent-seeking, and rent-avoidance. If the gargantuan tax code was thrown into the garbage can, more people would employ their talents in the production of goods and services that society actually wants. Instead, time, talent, capital, creative energy is employed in fighting and manipulating the forceful hand of government.

***

Over 275,000 Federal Workers Are Tax Deadbeats

Over 276,000 federal workers and retirees owed more than $3 billion in back income taxes in 2008 (up from $2.7 billion owed in 2007).

The cabinet departments with the largest percentages of employee/retiree tax deadbeats are:

1. Housing & Urban Development: 4.05%
2. Veterans Affairs: 3.91%
3. Health & Human Services: 3.86%
4. Army: 3.76%
5. Education: 3.60%
6. Air Force: 3.25%
7. Defense: 3.16%
8. State: 3.14%
9. Navy: 3.01%
10. Commerce: 3.00%

The agencies and commissions with the largest percentages of employee/retiree tax deadbeats are:

1. National Capital Planning Commission: 10.42%
2. Advisory Council on Historic preservation: 9.26%
3. U.S. Office of Special Counsel: 8.65%
4. U.S. Election Assistance Commission: 8.51%
5. Federal Labor Relations Authority: 7.20%
6. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: 7.14%
7. Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission: 6.82%
8. Government Printing Office: 6.29%
9. Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board: 5.33%
10. Court Services & Offender Supervisors: 5.23%

Other departments and agencies:

* Federal Reserve Board: 4.32%
* U.S. House of Representatives: 4.17%
* U.S. Senate: 3.19%
* SEC: 2.56%
* U.S. Tax Court: 1.43%
* Treasury Department: 0.98% (the lowest delinquency rate among cabinet departments)

My thoughts: I wonder how these rates compare to national average for the 5/6th of us who don’t work for government. There is a class struggle, but it isn’t between laborers and owners of capital, it is between government workers and those of us who produce goods and services that society voluntarily consumes.