June 13th, 2010
Job creation, government style, is a splashy, photo-op filled, nice-sounding program that makes politicians sound clever and seem proactive. The Boise Valley Economic Partnership is a taxpayer and private money example of the process. They are now four years into this five-year, $5,000,000 government program.
The planned $650,000,000 private/taxpayer investment has fallen short of the goal, but only by $530,000,000. The planned 5,000 new jobs has fallen short by 3,194 jobs. But the Boise area did get 1,806 new jobs (… while losing 10,000 – oops). Those new jobs only cost $66,445 each!
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Posted in economics, politics | 1 Comment »
June 12th, 2010
Mercantilism is where the merchants own the power in government. It protects the merchants from competition and increases the costs to customers of their goods and services. It comes about because a handful of people have a great deal to gain from investment in legislation while society’s individuals have little to gain or lose with each law. In extreme examples, governments go to war to protect and foster merchants’ interests.
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Posted in economics, law / legislation, politics | 1 Comment »
June 6th, 2010
Sometime after 40, the human eye loses much of its ability to focus up close and far away at the same time. My rifle match scores are deteriorating because I can either see the front sight clearly without prescription lenses or the target clearly with my prescription lenses but I can no longer do both well enough to plant my bullets around the bull like I used to. Several competitors have suggested I get shooting glasses that are half-way between plain safety glasses and my distance prescription… or “half a diopter less” than that prescription.
After discussing this idea with two local eyeglass sellers, both told me it is against the law to do that … without first hiring them to re-examine my eyes and write a fresh prescription.
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Posted in drugs / medicine, firearms, law / legislation | 1 Comment »
June 3rd, 2010
I couldn’t say it better myself, so I’ll let Charlie Reese speak for himself:
545 PEOPLE–By Charlie Reese
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them..
Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
May 23rd, 2010
One of my insurance companies just sent my annual statement. I can see the thousands of dollars I paid in, and the thousands my employers sent them instead of paying me more for my labors. The pretty little charts show how much I should expect to get paid back, in monthly installments, if I decide to ask for it a few years from now.
The bad news is that those with even the most crude understanding of accounting have discovered this insurance company is bankrupt. Yep, their liabilities far exceed their income. They spent my money instead of investing it safely to insure repayment as contracted.
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Posted in economics, politics | No Comments »
May 17th, 2010
The farmer learns to read nature from nature herself. Similarly, his knowledge of economics, society, politics and current events comes from self-directed study that led him to Mises .org, Lew Rockwell .com, The Daily Reckoning .com, The Mental Militia .com, Rational Review Digest .com and an extensive library of economics, history, politics and sociology books.
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Posted in culture, economics, education, politics | 2 Comments »
May 14th, 2010
While quite startling to those who haven’t spent a great deal of time studying and understanding real (Austrian school) economics, the following quote out of the middle of a Doug Casey interview states the best of two unsettling choices very well.
“…back to the present global economy: do you think Greece will default?
Doug: First, you shouldn’t talk about “Greece” like that. We’re talking about the Greek government’s debt. And my view is that not only will they default, but that they should default. Generations of future Greek taxpayers should not be turned into serfs in order to pay for the excess of today’s Greek politicians. And the people who lent the Greek government all that money to do stupid things with should be punished for both their lack of foresight and their collusion with corruption. And it would be doubly good if this happened, because it would greatly hamper the ability of the Greek government to borrow money in the future, which would limit how much it could spend on all the disastrously stupid things governments spend money on.
I’ll go further and say that all of these struggling governments, including the U.S. government, should default on their debts and punish the people foolish enough to lend them money. The world would be a better place if governments around the globe were unable to borrow money.”
That tidbit, of course, is not a complete argument, nor is it done justice standing here alone. Please go read the whole interview on this page of LewRockwell.com
Posted in economics | 1 Comment »
May 10th, 2010
The great ship of state is steaming full-speed-ahead towards a colossal iceberg. When it goes down, everyone aboard and anyone nearby will get sucked down into an icy totalitarian tomb along with it.
Unconstitutional usurpations of liberty and property are getting signed by the president of the USA so fast it is hard to keep track – and the mainstream media isn’t even trying (mostly because the legislative sponsors also own the media, but that’s another story altogether).
Just about the time I think I need to strap on my life jacket and swim away from impending doom, I find more people than I imagined launching lifeboats. This is wonderful news. I am thrilled to share bits of it with you.
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Posted in law / legislation | 1 Comment »
April 11th, 2010
Obama may well be the best thing that has happened to this country in 100 years. Lemme explain. But first, the latest outrage from Washington DC.
You just spent $179,000,000 in foreign aid to Haiti, but are the only country involved who is hiding their flag. This is a very important fact – and you probably know by now that I’m not your regular fan-in-the-stands flag waver.
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Posted in culture, education, politics | 2 Comments »
April 10th, 2010
I come from such a normal mother. How did this happen to me? How did I get so far out of whack?
I catch a cold. It gets bad enough that I miss work. I frustrate Mom because I don’t go to an AMA- and state-licensed physician.
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Posted in culture, drugs / medicine | 1 Comment »
Job creation, government style, is a splashy, photo-op filled, nice-sounding program that makes politicians sound clever and seem proactive. The Boise Valley Economic Partnership is a taxpayer and private money example of the process. They are now four years into this five-year, $5,000,000 government program. 