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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
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There is this mindset among liberals, "moderates," some conservatives and a majority in the mainstream press that believe that the welfare state is a national blessing and that it works and helps citizens meet their needs. They also believe that it is noble and that it can be sustained. With a report that was recently released by the government pertaining toward Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid showing that it will face financial difficulties sooner than expected, and with the nation's deficit projected to become $10 trillion soon, it is very clear that this belief is an illusion. However, these individuals are not deterred. They will continue to peddle this fantasy to the detriment of the nation and to the detriment of its citizens. Though I am an optimist, one must wonder when these individuals will hit bottom and face reality. The moment of truth may be coming soon.
Excerpted from The Tax Foundation:
The trustees of Social Security and Medicare put out their annual report this week on the financial status of the two government programs. Medicare will be in the red this year, paying out more in benefits than it receives in tax revenue. (All Americans pay a 2.9% Medicare tax on their wages, half remitted by the employer and the other half withheld from the employee’s paycheck.) Social Security is still in the black but is expected to enter the red in 2016. (Americans pay a 12.4% Social Security tax on their wages up to an inflation-adjusted cap each year, again half remitted by employer and half withheld from paychecks.)
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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In 1920–21, the United States faced a grave economic crisis, worse than the first year of the Great Depression. Double-digit unemployment and a 21 percent decline in production over the previous twelve months greeted the new president.
That president, the now-despised Warren G. Harding, told Americans that the bust following the artificial, credit-induced boom of the war years had to be faced up to, and that no government, however wise, could make it disappear:
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Not surprisingly, immigration warriors are using the swine flu outbreak to buttress their case for closing the borders to the outside world. In the process, they miss a big problem, however, one that I have raised for many years. If we’re going to have the government close the borders to people coming into the country to protect us from infectious diseases, then we’re going to have to also close the borders in the other direction, which means prohibiting Americans from traveling to other countries, where they can catch diseases and bring them back. And that necessarily will mean a lot of control and tyranny, as citizen of North Korea will attest.
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Political Scientist, David Easton, developed a formula concerning politics and government. It was called the "Input/Output Model." The "input" came when people demanded something from the governmental system and the "output" came when people got what they wanted. If the people of a state or country demanded so-called "Universal Health Care," for example, they usually got it. The same with other legislation designed to spend funds. The problem with this is that it evades very important questions It is here that that questions are never asked. People usually think it is "free" when the reality is that it is not. Someone pays for it.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
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When I was in college, I was taught that journalists were like Joe Friday from the television show “Dragnet.” All they cared about was “just the facts, madam” and nothing more. That may have been true once. It is no longer the case. Today many journalists put ideology ahead of the news and the profession has been the poorer for it. If one were to take a look at organs like the New York Times, The Star Ledger, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and other outlets, you can tell that there is very much of a liberal bias in how the news is reported. They will deny it and say that “bias is in the eye of the beholder,” as the late Peter Jennings did, but in surveys, in the journalists’ own words, in the choice of content, in the prominence of play, there is no denying this truth. It is because of this bias that people are going elsewhere to get their information whether on the internet, talk radio, other cable channels or elsewhere.
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It was Niccolo Machiavelli that wrote in "The Prince," that in order to do good you had to do evil. In the United States, and in the rest of the world, there have been politicians, dictators, judges, special interest group leaders and more, that have followed this teaching. They have justified wrong conduct in order to do, at least in their minds, "good works." For example, there have been many liberal and "moderate" politicians that have defended the growth and spending of government in order to "help the people." What they do not say, is that they are ignoring the Constitution and other laws with regards to limits on power. In order to justify this all, they say that the limits on power is "antiquated," "does not apply to today's society" or "belongs in the horse and buggy days." Franklin D. Roosevelt should be smiling on these folks.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
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There is nothing more intense and passionate than when men and women debate political, social, judicial, religious, philosophical and economic issues. Debates have a tenacity to raise voices, evoke feelings and raise the blood levels up a notch. They are also morally stimulating and, at least to me, morally fulfilling (what can I say, I like to joust).
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
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Over a period of years, I have witnessed the deterioration of the public discourse with regard to politics, social and economic issues and religion and so on. I have witnessed this with churches being attacked, because they oppose abortion or gay marriage; I have witnessed this in the colleges and universities, where invited speakers have been assaulted, heckled, spat upon, bum rushed and shouted down; I have seen this with the mainstream press, where if someone strays away from an individual, collective, editorial position, or even an ideological position, that person is tarred, feathered and personally attacked along with his or her family; and I have even seen this when a private citizen has been attacked and investigated solely because he or she dares ask a question of a politician regarding his or her position or policy.
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There have been politicians that have ran for executive offices such as governor or president, that have promised that they were going to deliver great changes to the state and to the country. Often times, the moment that these politicians are sworn in, is the moment that reality hits them. They find that it is difficult to bring about changes and reforms because the legislative branch is controlled by the opposition party with its own agenda, and because some of the executive branch's own party members may not be on board. This situation can not only be seen in Washington, D.C. but also in the northeastern states, in California and elsewhere.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
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Our current income tax system, inaugurated in 1913 with the adoption of the 16th Amendment, began with a 1 percent tax on taxable income above $3,000 ($4,000 for married couples). A series of surcharges of up to 6 percent were applied to higher incomes, with the maximum rate being 7 percent on taxable income over $500,000. Less than 0.5 percent of the population ended up paying income tax.
From these humble beginnings, the income tax soon blossomed, thanks to World War I, into a tax with a minimum rate that doubled and a maximum rate that reached 77 percent on income of over $1 million.
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Over a period of time, I been hearing this phrase that there are "businesses that are too big to fail." Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey stated that of the automobile industry with regards to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford when he wrote me in response to an online letter that I sent him. Now it seems like that is the case with regard to every industry, particularly the newspapers.
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On March 19th, two Chicago Alderman (Anthony Beale in the 9th Ward and John Pope in the 10th) announced plans to propose an ordinance that would deputize private security officers working on the south side and elsewhere, to write summonses and tickets from speeding on down. This ordinance was inspired by an experiment that occurred in Marquette Park, Illinois where private property owners paid security to secure and police their areas. The experiment has proved to be successful.
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- Written by: Sean Colon
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The Congressional Budget Office has projected that the deficit from 2010 to 2019 will be $9.3 trillion, 2.3 trillion higher than previously estimated by Pres. Obama's administration. What a big surprise, Obama underestimated his spending when he plans to increase the size government to the largest it has ever been in US history. This should have not been a shocking revelation to anyone. If you add up the costs of the bail out, continuing troop deployment, his universal health care plan, education reform, energy programs, blah de blah blah then it should be easy to understand why the deficit is going to be huge.
You can find the article here.
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- Written by: Sean Colon
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President Obama has finally done something right. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced yesterday that the Justice Department will no longer be raiding Medical Marijuana dispensaries. The bad news is that this is being done to focus more on other aspects of the drug war such as going after the dealers who are selling Marijuana illegally (as defined by state and federal law). Pres. Obama took a very small step in the right direction but for the wrong reason. He should not be stopping the raids because he needs to redirect his Justice Department resources but rather because it was a flawed policy to begin with.
You can find the article on here.
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- Written by: Sean Colon
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I know that this sounds like something The Onion would write as a satire in one of their articles but it is horrifyingly true. NJ officials are proposing to ban Brazilian wax jobs which are a waxing of the genital region. Why are they doing this? Because two clients were injured at a salon in NJ. Hmmmm... I guess that makes sense. I got cut shaving yesterday, they should ban that. I tripped over a curb a week ago, they should ban those.
The NJ Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling has stated that it has always been illegal though it is not stated in the current regulations. Is this a good excuse? No! That is not a reason for banning anything.
You can find the article here.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
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In New Jersey and elsewhere, if a person wanted to enter a profession or a field, one has to be licensed by the state or the federal government. If one wanted to get into, for example, the financial services industry or the real estate industry, one has to be licensed by the state. If one wanted to participate in the import/export business, one has to be licensed by the federal government. If one wanted to braid hair,one,in Washington, D.C., has to be licensed by the local government there. It goes on and on, ad infinitum.
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Over the years, on issues such as abortion, doctor-assisted suicide, euthanasia, infanticide, human experimentation and others, I have been struck by proponents arguments. I mostly been fascinated by the statements and arguments they use, particularly when they state that "You Should Not Legislate Morality," and "Society Cannot Impose Morality." I find these statements and arguments weak and flawed for the reality of the matter is that society and government legislate morality all the time. They legislate little else. The question becomes Whose Morality and What View Of Morality becomes dominant. What it all comes down to is the ideas and the pressure groups involved, and whether or not those pressure groups are strong enough to influence the legislative and executive branches of government.
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There are many politicians and others, liberal, "moderate," and conservative, that take the position that if a particular legislative action or policy has failed, the people should judge them by their "good" intentions and not if the action or policy is successful. They will say that their "motives" were "good," That their "idea" was "good,"That their "belief" was "pure," no matter if the policy or action has caused hardships and difficulties for individuals. It is a way to excuse it all and not do much else. This often causes problems for society at large.
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 Michael Beitler (pronounced Bite-ler), Ph.D., CPA, is the host of "Free Markets With Dr. Mike Beitler," a libertarian internet-radio talk show, and the author of Rational Individualism: A Moral Argument for Limited Government & Capitalism. Mike was the CFO of a profitable bank for more than ten years. |
Originally published at Campaign For Liberty
Fannie Mae reported a loss of $25.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008 (losses of $58.7 billion for full-year 2008). Total nonperforming loans were $119.2 billion at year-end. Fannie is requesting additional capital from the U.S Treasury. The other gargantuan government-sponsored enterprise, Freddie Mac is likewise running up billions of dollars in losses. Freddie is preparing to ask for additional capital from the U.S Treasury of $35 billion.
Why should you, the taxpayer, be concerned? Isn't the Federal government using bailout funds allocated by Congress to clean up the mess?
The problem is the Federal government is on the brink of bankruptcy itself. The U.S. government is $11 trillion dollars in debt. (That figure does not include tens of trillions of dollars of off-balance sheet, unfunded liabilities.) Congress has no "money to allocate" to Fannie, Freddie, or anything else. You, the taxpayer, are on the hook for these massive obligations.
Go back to the first paragraph and substitute "additional taxpayer money" for "additional capital."