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national politics & policies responsibility

A Loan of Common Sense

If you give something that belongs to you, without expecting to get it back, that’s giving. You just hand over a gift and forget about it. Perhaps you would appreciate a “thank you.”

If you lend to someone, you expect to be repaid. Those who don’t repay are called deadbeats.

If you mug somebody on the street and grab his wallet, you are stealing. You are then a thief, a robber.

That’s all straightforward enough. This is not: Say that you steal from the productive citizens of one country or countries (Country or Countries A) and give the dough to the fiscally irresponsible government of another country (Country B), and you call it a loan. But when Country B can’t pay the installments, it is provided another loan originating in the wallets of the very same Country A citizens from whom was extracted the original loan.

What is this? You are not only stealing, you are shuffling IOUs instead of getting repaid. You are also misrepresenting the nature of the transactions, for it is clearly a gift of stolen money and not anything voluntary, like a loan.

Bill Wilson, President of Americans for Limited Government, goes into a bit more of the nitty and gritty of Greece’s tricky tranche of “repayment” on its “loan” from the European Union, and relates it to the similar finagling here in the United States . . . which all rests on credit expansion by the Federal Reserve. “The eggheads in Washington, D.C.,” he says, offer only one solution: “just keep digging.”

But how deep? At some point it gets too hot down there.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Thought

William Henry Harrison

The only legitimate right to govern is an express grant of power from the governed.

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Thought

President John Tyler

John Tyler, Trump, hated, leverage, elites, Ted Cruz, Paul Jacob, despised, term limits, unpopular

Patronage is the sword and cannon by which war may be made on the liberty of the human race.

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general freedom

Can Do America

Canning was revolutionary, in its heyday, soon after the process was perfected. Canned foods became an integral part of everyday American life. And still are: Canned soup, vegetables and beans, for instance — along with thousands of other items — still line the supermarket aisles, contributing to the quality of life in most American homes.

Home canning, on the other hand, became an even bigger deal early on, and during the Great Depression was the prime way many folks survived. At harvest time, housewives, grandmothers, and children — and even a few men — spent hours and hours canning enough fruits and meats and vegetables to carry the rest of the year.

But home canning went under a popularity eclipse with the rise of frozen foods and the improvements in mass production canning.

Now it’s back. Home canning is almost a craze, and has been since . . . the mortgage crisis implosion of 2008. It rocketed up 30 percent in the year immediately following. This is not exactly news. What’s news is that the trend continued, growing 10 percent the following year.

Hey, canning easy-to-prepare foods serves as insurance. Lose your income? Still have food. Lose the power grid in a possible future debacle? You still have food — and can heat something up with firewood or propane or . . . burning trash.

Or don’t heat it at all. Canned food is even good without re-cooking. I’ve had some exquisite home-canned foods, right out of the jar . . .

Tough times coming? We can meet them head on and survive. A “can” do attitude helps.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
political challengers too much government

Somewhere Short of Salvation

When I heard that Mitt Romney had chosen Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan to be his vice-presidential running mate, I thought, “Wow. It could have been worse.”

I like Paul Ryan. You know, for a politician.

Rep. Ryan, at least, appears to be serious about our country’s 16 trillion debt and the fact that yearly we’re still credit-carding a trillion more onto that tab. Ryan has crunched the numbers and written a budget blueprint that offers a more-or-less responsible way to restructure in-the-red programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security that drive the government’s debt.

The “professional left” will argue that Paul Ryan wants to throw grandma off a cliff by slashing Medicare, but I think the problem is that his budget doesn’t go far enough. Under Ryan’s own optimistic predictions of economic growth, his balanced budget is still a decade away. According to analyses by the Congressional Budget Office and others, the Ryan “Path to Prosperity” won’t bring the federal budget into balance for many decades – 30 to 50 years.

Which, the way Washington works, means never.

And that’s even before the plan goes through Congress, where far too few share Ryan’s hawkishness on budgetary matters.

Paul Ryan is a breath of fresh air compared to mealy-mouthed politicians such as Obama and Biden . . . and Romney. But even if the Romney-Ryan ticket wins, Ryan will only occupy what John Adams called “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”

Sounds like we’re still somewhere short of salvation.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Thought

Francis Hutcheson

Wisdom denotes the pursuing of the best ends by the best means.

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too much government

Don’t French-Fry Les Riches

French voters were in a mood to eject the incumbent, often a good idea. But, alas, the president they picked to replace Nicolas Sarkozy is an ardent socialist. And socialism, sanctified or not by centuries-old fealty to notions of French Revolutionary egalité, is always a très mauvaise idée.

President François Hollande has vowed to impose a 75 percent tax on all income over a million euros, or about 1.25 million dollars. Such a steep levy is supposed to be moral because making lots of money is per se morally suspect — at least according to the egalitarianism in which Hollande is steeped.

The tax gouge is also supposed to be practical in that it will supposedly help cure France’s debt crisis. Sure, looting les riches will cover but a smidgen of France’s debt pileup. But because even not-rich Frenchmen are also likely to pay higher taxes to appease the EU, it’s best to pave the way by first flogging the envious not-rich man’s favorite target.

Meanwhile, more sensible measures — like freeing up the French economy and slashing the government’s social welfare programs — don’t seem to rank very high on Hollande’s to-do list.

In response to the danger, many of the wealthiest and most productive Frenchmen are doing the only moral and practical thing. They’re packing their bags, just in case their new leader fulfills his vow. If so, they’ll flee to lower-taxing places like Belgium and Switzerland, where jobseekers will be delighted to have them.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Thought

Vannevar Bush

Mendel’s concept of the laws of genetics was lost to the world for a generation because his publication did not reach the few who were capable of grasping and extending it; and this sort of catastrophe is undoubtedly being repeated all about us, as truly significant attainments become lost in the mass of the inconsequential.

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Thought

Vannevar Bush

The pioneer spirit is still vigorous within this nation. Science offers a largely unexplored hinterland for the pioneer who has the tools for his task.

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video

Video: Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity”

“Washington has not been telling you the truth,” says Rep. Paul Ryan — Mitt Romney’s selection for his running mate:

Consider what he offers, following up with the rest of the video in its second and third installments.

But take caution. Rep. Ryan’s plan is very slow to take effect, if what you are aiming for is balanced budgets. And as David Boaz has argued, it’s a good example of Republican “me-tooism,” of offering Democratic policy at an allegedly discounted price.

Contrary to what we are often told, there’s nothing radical about Ryan’s plan. Indeed, it’s so non-radical, it makes him a perfect fit with Mitt Romney’s presidential bid. Of course, scuttlebutt has it that Romney will put forth his own, distinct plan, no doubt building on Ryan’s — and we will see what that is, whether it strengthens or weakens Ryan’s approach.