Category: too much government

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insider corruption too much government

Get Real, Mr. Rael

Political ads are not much different from normal, commercial ads. Effective advertisements usually make it pretty clear what the hoped-for outcome is.

Buy a widget? Patronize a business? In politics, it’s “Vote for X” . . . or A, B, or C.

Last political season, in New Mexico’s Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Valencia counties, ads ballyhooed a Rio Metro expansion project. They very clearly concluded by telling voters to “Make a Difference on November 4th,” and offering up a certain website that also promoted voting for the tax increase to expand the transit system.

So why did Lawrence Rael of the political entity responsible for Rio Metro deny the obvious? “We’re not saying ‘vote for the tax’ as an advocacy committee would do,” he explained. “We’re just simply saying, ‘Look, this issue is on the ballot . . . Here’s what it’s about.’”

Oh, get real, Mr. Rael.

The reason for his reticence? Governments in a republic aren’t supposed to influence voters but be influenced by voters. That’s the point of an election, where our tax dollars ought not be on either side.

Paul Gessing, of the Rio Grande Foundation, wrote in the Albuquerque Journal, “Having advocates for these proposals working on the taxpayer dime obviously tilts the advantage in the direction of higher taxes. But giving the pro-tax side the additional advantage of a significant advertising budget is simply too much, and is truly unfair.”

No wonder government keeps growing, eh?

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Common Sense general freedom national politics & policies too much government

Santa Speaks Out

Oh, sure, he’s a jolly old elf most of the time. But just ask Mrs. Claus: He’s got a temper.

Not long ago, I compared Congress to Santa Claus, because both hand out lots of goodies. Well, Santa was not amused.

“How in the name of the North Pole can you compare me with the politicians in Congress?” he wanted to know. “My elves and I produce our presents ourselves and we make a list so they go to the nice people. The Congress takes from others and often gives the loot to folks who are naughty.”

He’s got a point. And who wants to argue with Santa this time of year? Then there was the flap in Kensington, Maryland, where the long tradition of Santa lighting the town tree was ended after complaints from families who don’t celebrate Christmas.

Santa called and I was ready for an earful. But Santa wasn’t mad at the families who complained or the town officials. “Christmas is my holiday,” Santa said calmly, “and I’ll not let anyone turn it into something that’s forced on people. That’s not my style. I don’t want anyone forced to pay taxes against their will to celebrate Christmas. And that’s what’s been going on in this little town.

“I don’t need any government mandates; after all, hundreds of people in Santa suits brought their own holiday cheer to the Kensington tree lighting. The spirit of Christmas is something you give, not something you take. Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!”

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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too much government

The Living Daylights

The Daylight Savings idea was one of Ben Franklin’s worst. He thought we’d all save candles if, in the summer, we started the day earlier on the clock, leaving more sunshine for the evening.

Politicians made it official: Move the clock one hour forward in the summer, to hoodwink people to get up earlier and leave more daylight hours for after work.

In our lifetimes, most Americans have suffered through Daylight Savings Time each summer. Courtesy of George Bush, the period was extended.

I object to the policy primarily on grounds of, well, honesty. Once you set up a basic system, don’t fiddle with it. If you want to save money, you get up with the sun rather than the clock — and leave me alone.

But technocrats dismiss that kind of thinking. They see human beings as radically imperfect and their laws as extraordinarily clever.

But now it turns out that Daylight Savings Time doesn’t save energy. Matthew J. Kotchen and Laura E. Grant, writing in the New York Times, report on their recent study in Indiana, where implementation of Daylight Savings has been county-by-county, a perfect statistical testing ground.

They found that Daylight Savings cost one percent extra. Franklin didn’t figure on morning heaters and daytime air conditioning.

So they suggest nixing the practice. Add that to the case against cumbersome meddling, and the time to treat time by one standard is now.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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free trade & free markets too much government

Wicked Trimmers of Cost

Robberies. Corruption. Furious government-enabled debt expansion in the name of curing the effects of prior furious government-enabled debt expansion. Murders. War.

And now, carpooling.

Yes, just when you think maybe it really is time to move to Canada to escape American insanity, you hear about how our neighbors to the north are harassing people for daring to save money on gas.

The alleged villain is an online startup called PickupPal.com. This is a website enabling people going places to hook up with other people going places. The site actively fosters collusive cooperation among travelers. My blood boils! Grr!

Two problems with this, if you live in Ontario.

First, Ontario strictly regulates ridesharing. Ontario riders can carpool only to and from work; must ride with the same person every day; may pay that person for their trouble only once a week; may not cross municipal boundaries during the ride; etcetera.

Second, Ontario bus companies are huge fans of these regulations. So the bus companies sued PickupPal. And the Ontario courts have just fined PickupPal over $11,000 Canadian dollars for making possible a $60 ride from Toronto to Montreal. PickupPal must also somehow enforce the Toronto regulations on their website.

Finally, the world is safe again for Ontario bus service.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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free trade & free markets national politics & policies too much government

Obaminableonomics

There’s a new school of economic thought: Obaminableonomics.

Come to think of it, though, maybe there’s nothing so very new about this Obaminable economic school — after all, it just combines typical big-government redistribution with a few nominal nods in the direction of fiscal self-discipline.

You can get a concise idea of the Obaminable approach to economics from a headline that floated into my In Box the other day. I quote: “Obama Promotes Fiscal Restraint, Big Spending.” According to the reporter, the president-elect “wants to project fiscal restraint even as his economic team assembles a massive recovery package that could cost several hundred billion dollars.”

Huh?

Well, President-Elect Barack Obama thinks he erases the contradiction by contrasting his short-term plans with his long-term plans. Short-term, government must spend like there’s no tomorrow, because this is what we allegedly need to see happening if we are to regain confidence in our future. Yes, we absolutely must see an endless parade of babbling bureaucrats going hog-wild with taxpayer dollars on a wide array of ludicrous, unworkable schemes. Absolutely.

After that, though, will come the line-by-line budget review, the ruthless cutting out of bloat.

Well, any alcoholic will tell you that he can stop whenever he likes. Just so, our rulers keep putting off the restraint of fiscal restraint.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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free trade & free markets too much government

What About the Roads?

The classic political study Crisis and Leviathan, by Robert Higgs, argues that the state often exploits the sense of urgency that attends a crisis to enlarge itself as the way to “solve” the problem — even when government itself created the problem.

The federal government’s profligate credit policies, which fueled the now-busted housing bubble, come to mind. The government’s “solution” here is to lard some failed companies with subsidies and nationalize others. Why? Oh, no time to think, just hurry up and do it before investors get even more jittery.

Sometimes, though, officials scrambling for a solution consider solutions that might actually help. Crumbling infrastructure is on the minds of many city and state politicians. But the tough economy is also on their minds. Many are therefore more open these days to the idea of private financing of roads
and bridges. As Norman Mineta, former transportation secretary, puts it, ”Budget gaps are starting to increase the viability of public-private partnerships.”

I don’t know about the “partnership” part of it. Too often such ”partnerships” mean that a business is prevented from making good decisions, or is protected from the costs of bad decisions.

If we’re going to delegate a train or road to a private company, let them take full responsibility for it. Companies that succeed will get us from here to there just fine. And taxpayers won’t have to cough up money for the ones that fail.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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too much government

Al Gore Reinvents the Internet

Former Vice President Al Gore wants a “purpose-driven Web.”

See, cyberspace isn’t purpose-driven . . . yet. It only helps us access all the information in the world, communicate instantly at no cost with people on the other side of the globe, find true love, shop, download books and movies and lectures, elect presidents, refute environmentalist alarmism, save lives, and other such trivia.

A New York Times article reports that in Al Gore’s view, “we” haven’t done enough to spread his vision of the imminent doom of the earth.

Gore can’t be held accountable for anybody else’s understanding of his views, of course. So let’s find a direct quote from this article about how “we” must do more with the Web than just trade party photos on Facebook.

According to Gore, speaking at an Internet conference in San Francisco, “Web 2.0 has to have a purpose.”

What purpose?

Nothing less, he declares, than “bring[ing] about a higher level of consciousness about our planet and the imminent danger and opportunity we face because of the radical transformation in the relationship between human beings and the Earth.”

Sounds quite grand, as long you don’t try to divine what the words actually mean.

In my online world, individual lives and individual purposes matter quite a lot, despite a lack of overarching purpose. Offline too.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Second Amendment rights too much government

Second Amendment Foundation Hits Target

Better late than never.

It was one of the most laborious and disgusting clean-up jobs that had to be done after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005.

Finally the Second Amendment Foundation has achieved satisfaction in its “clean-up” lawsuit against the city of New Orleans for using the hurricane as an excuse to grab guns from law-abiding citizens.

In September of 2005, the Foundation teamed up with the National Rifle Association to sue the New Orleans government for violating the right of innocent residents to bear arms. In the wake of Katrina, guns were grabbed without warrants, without even any probable cause or reasonable suspicion of crimes.

Just when people and their homes were at their most vulnerable, the forces of alleged law enforcement made it even harder for them to protect themselves against looters and other criminals.

It has taken three long years for New Orleans to agree to return the stolen weapons to their rightful owners. Alan Gottlieb, the founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, says he is glad the suit is finally settled. But he adds that it should never have been necessary.

Gottlieb hopes the permanent injunction will “[send] a signal to mayors and police chiefs everywhere that we live in a nation of laws, and those laws are not subject to their whims.”

Natural disasters are no excuse to crumple the Constitution.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
free trade & free markets too much government

Unintended Consequences!!!

Here’s a revelation: A story headlined, “Bailout funds being spent in ways Congress never foresaw.”

What? Our omniscient congressmen failed to forecast the fate of their latest multifarious munificence?

You know, whenever I myself spend hundreds of billions on random questionable socialistic takeovers of the economy, I always demand an itemized account of exactly what I will get in return. Always.

It seems that the $700 billion just authorized by Congress is not only being spent on buying up troubled mortgages but is changing into a “broader bailout of all sorts of troubled businesses.” Some banks used the money to buy other banks instead of to “spur more lending.” And other recipients are paying dividends to stockholders.

Apparently, various central planners of our economy expected those receiving the money to use it in more publicly spirited fashion.

Such caviling ignores the real problem, which is more basic. You can’t cure the effects of gignormous debt creation and gignormous subsidizing of unwise enterprises with even more gignormous debt creation and gignormous subsidizing.

If massive intervention in markets caused the economy to curdle, roll back the massive intervention. Let investors take risks with their own money.

But don’t get drunk all over again, faster and harder, and expect that this time there won’t be any hangover.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
free trade & free markets insider corruption nannyism too much government

The Boomers’ Bust

Remember when Bill Clinton ascended to the presidency? There were hurrahs. At last the Baby Boom generation had its own president!

We’ve gone through another Baby Boom president, and now we — and I’m talkin’ ’bout my generation, here — have our very own economic bust. Call it the Boomers’ Bust.

John Kass, writing in the Chicago Tribune, notes how different things look for Boomers, now. “In the ’70s,” Kass writes, “the slogan was ‘Do your own thing.” But today’s slogan might be ‘Washington, please save us.’”

Kass attributes some of the difference merely to age. When we were young, we took risks. Now that we’re older, we simply want to keep our houses and our cars and our TV sets, and our retirement plans.

The ominous marker in all this is the transfer of power. In our desires, demands, for security, we’ve given up a lot. Kass says we are giving up “liberty for all” and exchanging it with “power in the hands of a few.”

We can see it is who gains most: people and corporations on the inside track. But, as Kass points out, look who loses: “The casualty will be the entrepreneurs, those on the outside. . . . Such men and women will be on the outside for decades now.”

Since it was entrepreneurs who accomplished the most enduring good during the last 40 years, this will be tragic.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.