On April 20, 1657, freedom of religion was granted to the Jews of New Amsterdam, which was later renamed New York City.
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New Amsterdam
Author: Redactor
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William Graham Sumner
Certain ills belong to the hardships of human life. They are natural. They are part of the struggle with Nature for existence. We cannot blame our fellow-men for our share of these. My neighbor and I are both struggling to free ourselves from these ills. The fact that my neighbor has succeeded in this struggle better than I constitutes no grievance for me.
William Graham Sumner, What Social Classes Owe to Each Other (1883).
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The Revolution Begins
On April 19, 1775, the American Revolution began when the “shot heard around the world” was fired between the 700 British troops on a mission to capture Patriot leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock and to seize a Patriot arsenal and the 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the Lexington town green. The Battle of Lexington ended with eight Americans killed and ten wounded, along with one wounded British soldier.
In Concord, a couple of hours later, British troops were encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots. The British commander ordered his men to return to Boston without directly engaging the Americans, but on the 16-mile journey they were constantly attacked by Patriot marksmen firing at them Indian-style from behind trees, rocks, and stone walls. By the time the British reached the safety of Boston, nearly 300 soldiers had been killed, wounded, or were missing in action. The Patriots suffered fewer than 100 casualties.
On April 19, 1782, John Adams secured the Dutch Republic’s recognition of the United States as an independent government.
There are long-standing debates among those who oppose big government. One is whether we should promote every budget cut and any tax cut, or whether we should more-or-less carefully support only some cuts — on the grounds that some possible cuts might scuttle future reforms.
This came to mind upon hearing Michigan Governor Gretch Whitmer’s plan to reduce the budget of one of her state’s bureaucracies by
Hooray!
But wait a moment: the department to be cut is the Office of the Auditor General!
Whitmer’s proposal is to take the $30 million budget and bring it down to a lean
The point of an auditor is to make sure that government does not misuse the money taken from taxpayers, allegedly for the public benefit. Take that away, and what do you have?
Waste. Corruption — a recipe for it, anyway. Maybe an engraved invitation for it.
Is there any merit to this reduction? Democrats are not known to love budget cuts.
They say Michigan’s auditor’s office has been “too partisan” — and certainly said things about Democrat programs that don’t make those programs
“If there is ever a place in Lansing where we should rise above petty partisan politics, it should be oversight and ethics,” Rep. Tom Kunse (R-Clare) said, expressing a perspective I share.
So what’s really going on here? Well, the state is facing a $418 million surplus. That’s a lot of money to play with. What’s the likelihood that the party in charge wants to reduce the Auditor’s Office for any other reason than to reduce scrutiny of how they plan to spend that money?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Charles T. Sprading
It is not the difference in taste between individuals that Libertarians object to, but the forcing of one’s tastes upon another.
Charles T. Sprading, Liberty and the Great Libertarians (1913), preface.
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David Ricardo
April 18 marks the 1772 birthday of David Ricardo, English political economist and one of the most influential thinkers in economic theory. An advocate for free trade and the abolition of slavery, Ricardo’s most famous work is his Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (1817).
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William Graham Sumner
We throw all our attention on the utterly idle question whether A has done as well as B, when the only question is whether A has done as well as he could.
William Graham Sumner, “The New Social Creed,” Earth-Hunger and Other Essays, p. 210 (1913).
April 17 marks the 1937 birth of Ronald Hamowy, Canadian historian, who first came to international prominence for his writings in the short-lived but influential New Individualist Review. Hamowy died in 2012.
April 17, 1907 — The Ellis Island immigration center processed 11,747 immigrants, more than on any other day.
April 17, 1942 — French prisoner of war General Henri Giraud escaped from his castle prison in Königstein Fortress.
April 17, 1969 – Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček was deposed.
Yesterday, a whole lot of people paid a whole lot of taxes. It was Tax Day — filing day — for most Americans.
Truth is, American workers pay income tax with every paycheck. And they pay other taxes too.
Somehow, though, Pfizer — one of the world’s most profitable companies — did much better than we did. “Drugmakers make big profits in the U.S.,” explains Sydney Lupkin at NPR. “But many pay taxes far below the 21% corporate tax rate. Pfizer’s effective tax rate is so low it’s getting a big refund despite booking $59 billion in revenue.”
Did you get a big refund on top of a huge wage hike? No?
Well, you should lobby
Now, Pfizer’s long had a cushy/pushy relationship with the U.S. Government. The company’s had to pay loads of legal penalties for malfeasance, but it’s also received subsidies, immunities, and government-forced clientele — in the rollout of its most famous product. But through thick and thin it faces our byzantine tax code with ease, for it’s that tax complexity that really gives Big Pharma the advantage, compared to
I have never argued for more taxes. I wonder if corporations should even be taxed based on income, which gets complicated to figure since it’s based on profits and losses and investments etc., thus opening the door to corrupt insider politics. Plus, those taxes simply get passed on to us.
But if corporations are taxed, how indecent that small companies tend not to get huge refunds on years in which they make stellar returns.
Though I suppose if Congress keeps on awarding more to the bigger, that’s a problem that sort of solves itself.
With the smaller companies just dying out.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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William Makepeace Thackeray
The sense of capitalism sobered and dignified Paul de Florac: at the age of five-and-forty he was actually giving up being a young man, and was not ill pleased at having to enlarge his waistcoats, and to show a little grey in his moustache. His errors were forgotten: he was bien vu by the Government. He might have had the Embassy Extraordinary to Queen Pomaré; but the health of Madame la Princesse was delicate. He paid his wife visits every morning: appeared at her parties and her opera box, and was seen constantly with her in public.
William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family (1854-1855), Chapter XLVI: “The Hotel de Florac.” Perhaps the very first use of the word “capitalism” in English literature.