Effort to Ax Tax-Delinquent Feds Draws Fire

Yeah, I'll bet it did.

Proposed legislation that would require the firing of federal employees with outstanding IRS tax liens drew a lot of criticism at a March 17 hearing on the bill before the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce.

Under the bill, any fed with an outstanding personal tax debt that has triggered a wage or property lien would be subject to termination. Prospective employees with tax liens would similarly be banned from federal employment.

Among those who took shots at the bill, H.R. 4735, was National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley, who said the bill would deny federal employees the due process rights enjoyed by other taxpayers. Kelley also noted that the issuance of a lien, which under the proposed measure could get a fed fired, is not necessarily a final determination of tax liability.

She also pointed out another obvious shortcoming—if anything, the bill would hinder feds from repaying those back taxes. “We believe that terminating their employment or preventing them from obtaining gainful employment would only serve to worsen their financial situation and lessen their ability to repay,” Kelley said.

J. Ward Morrow, American Federation of Government Employees assistant general counsel for legislation, concurred. “If an individual is unemployed, they will be in default for a far longer period of time and have less incentive to pay any payments,” Morrow said. “To erect a permanent barrier to any federal employment would be counter to the desire to get the debt paid.”

There are also potential technical problems with the proposed bill introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. Christopher Rizek, a tax expert and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said that credit and loss carryovers can erase existing tax liabilities. And, in certain instances, he said, litigation over the existence or amount of a tax liability may even be occurring at the time the IRS files an outstanding assessment or tax lien.

To see more, go to: http://tinyurl.com/ylnco4m.

How Real are the Defects in Toyota's Cars? - Business - The Atlantic

In which we, O Best Beloved, discover that there are some REALLY INTERESTING skews causing echos of the Audi Adventures of Ye soi-distant (*pun*) past:

In the original Sudden Acceleration Incident craze that afflicted America in the late eighties, the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration eventually ruled that the problem was "pedal misapplication", aka stepping on the gas when you meant to step on the brake. These incidents were highly correlated with three things: being elderly, being short, and parking (or leaving a parking space). The elderly are more prone to the sort of neuronal misfiring described in yesterday's New York Times. Shorter people have to hunt more for the pedals. And starting up from a complete stop is the most likely time to press the wrong pedal.

McArdle points out that there are three risk-increasers:

1. Being elderly
2. Parking
3. Being short

Repeat after me: correlation does NOT prove causation, and in fact correlation is not here demonstrated. But there are some really interesting data points.
How Real are the Defects in Toyota's Cars? - Business - The Atlantic

Robert J. Samuelson - Will Millennials become the chump generation? - washingtonpost.com

Money shot:

Millennials could become the chump generation. They could suffer for their elders' economic sins, particularly the failure to confront the predictable costs of baby boomers' retirement. This poses a question. In 2008, Millennials voted 2 to 1 for Barack Obama; in surveys, they say they're more disposed than older Americans to big and activist government. Their ardor for Obama is already cooling. Will higher taxes dim their enthusiasm for government?

Hah! One can only hope!
Robert J. Samuelson - Will Millennials become the chump generation? - washingtonpost.com

Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

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Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

Chickens, Turkeys, Deficits And the Future of America - Kiplinger

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PerhapstheBestFordCommercia.wmv (video/x-ms-wmv Object)

Yep, sometimes Dads aren't very good a saying things...
PerhapstheBestFordCommercia.wmv (video/x-ms-wmv Object)

The China Syndrome No More? - Political Punch

Michael Douglas, a founder of greenpeace, and the Prez: Coal-lee How!

Michael Douglas a supporter of nuclear power?

Yes, the star and producer of The
China Syndrome -- released less than two weeks before the incident at Three Mile Island -- told NPR that he "was against nuclear power for a long time, but have dealt with the realities of global warming, and what the alternatives are....I do support nuclear power now. I wish there were other alternatives, but I don't think there are."

The president is also pushing new nukes -- and a founder of Greenpeace, too.

The China Syndrome No More? - Political Punch

The Story the New York Times Won't Touch | The Big Money

Not that the Greatest Newspaper that Absolutely Ever Was would do something like this:

The Story the New York Times Won't Touch | The Big Money

Maritime Executive: Maritime Budgets Struggle as Obama Administration Tackles the Budget Deficit

Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Joan Bondareff, of Counsel Blank Rome LLP, offers MarEx readers an executive review of the requested 2011 MARAD budget.

On February 1, 2010, the Obama Administration submitted its FY2011 budget to Congress, thereby kicking off the year-long budget deliberations for the Federal government, including the key maritime agencies, the Maritime Administration (MARAD), and the Coast Guard.

The Administration’s budget highlights the difficult decisions that have to be made if the deficits are to be brought under control, and if the Administration is to succeed in getting its requested three-year freeze on discretionary spending. The President had fenced off the defense, national security, and VA budgets from this freeze, but this does not mean that the President did not intend to apply a scalpel to programs within these budget areas, including programs housed at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The President’s budget does not include funding for two new maritime programs that Congress authorized in last year’s Department of Defense Authorization Act (P.L. 111-84), the maritime highway grants program (also called short sea shipping), and the port infrastructure grants program. In fact, these new programs were to be administered by MARAD but are not mentioned in the budget documents. If the maritime and ports community ever want to get these programs funded, they will have to redouble their efforts on the Hill. The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has already lamented the lack of funding for maritime highway grants as well as the decline in funding for port security grants from the $400 million authorized level to the $300 million budget request. (AAPA press release, February 1, 2010, at www.aapa-ports.org.)

As for the rest of the MARAD budget, it reflects an overall decline of more than $10 million in discretionary spending from the FY2010 enacted levels. However, this does include a total of $100 million for the Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point, New York, including $31 million for capital improvements at this aging academy. The state maritime academies take a relatively small hit in the President’s budget, reduced from $18 million to $15 million. The Administration continues to zero fund the title XI loan guarantee program to finance commercial shipbuilding at U.S. shipyards (aside from $3.7 million to administer existing loans).

Jobs legislation is moving on a parallel track to the budget, and is expected to be finished well before the FY2011 appropriations bills are enacted. In the Jobs for Main Street Act, 2010, passed by the House in 2009, $100 million is authorized for title XI loan guarantees. As of this writing, the Senate has not yet decided what to include in its Jobs bill, or bills as the case may be.

The MARAD budget also zeroes out any new funds for the Small Shipyard Grant Program that was funded at $100 million in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (popularly called the stimulus bill). The grant program received $15 million in the FY2010 enacted budget. This small, but very popular, grants program has not met with the favor of the Administration and will have to be encouraged from Capitol Hill if it is to remain on the books and actively helping small U.S. yards.

Finally, the Obama budget requests $174 million for the Maritime Security Program (MSP) which defrays the cost of keeping 90 ships under the U.S. flag for deployment in times of war and national emergency. This is a decline of $13 million from the FY2010 enacted budget for MSP.

The FY2011 budget request for the Coast Guard (now housed in DHS) reflects what sources at DHS have called “difficult tradeoffs” between men and women and machine. (Reported in CQ.com on February 1, 2010.) The President’s budget places a priority on recapitalization of the Coast Guard’s aging assets, such as cutters, aircraft, boats, and C4ISR. A total of $538 million is allocated to construct the 5th National Security Cutter and $240 million to construct four more Fast Response Cutters. But, the cost for procuring these assets is a reduction of 1,100 personnel billets.

The personnel cuts are taken by decommissioning five Maritime Safety and Security Teams (MSSTs) and deploying the remaining seven MSSTs regionally to protect the most critical U.S. ports. Other reductions are derived from discontinuing two seasonal Coast Guard Air Facilities at Muskegon, MI, and Waukegan, IL. Finally, a reduction in several hundred billets is associated with decommissioning four High Endurance Cutters being replaced by the new National Security Cutters.

We have already heard complaints from Republican Members of Congress who are displeased with the Coast Guard cuts. For example, Congressman Hal Rogers (R-KY), Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, has called these reductions in “the ranks of our brave Coast Guard personnel” both “dangerous [and] indefensible”. (See www.halrogers.house.gov.)

It remains to be seen whether Democratic Members of Congress will toe the Administration’s line or continue to support their favorite programs and agencies. If the programs can be justified on national security lines and on the basis of creating more jobs for American workers, Congress will probably side with national security and jobs.

Director’s Blog » Blog Archive » The Obama Administration’s Health Care Proposal

Money shot:

"...materials that were released this morning do not provide sufficient detail on all of the provisions. Therefore, CBO cannot provide a cost estimate for the proposal..."

I 'spect a bunch of innumerate's sat 'round a-talkin'

Director’s Blog » Blog Archive » The Obama Administration’s Health Care Proposal

Healthcare Protestors Wield Pitchforks, Torches in CT

I left the title alone because it's not clear that the pitchforks-and-torches protesters were protesting lack of GOVERNMENT health care.
Healthcare Protesters Wield Pitchforks, Torches in CT

Why are there no Arab democracies?

Good question, that.
Why are there no Arab Democracies?

How the government fudges job statistics | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters

Ye flippin' stars, this is from Felix Salmon!
In the Marketplace letters segment yesterday, Representative Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) took issue with me saying that infrastructure investment is an extremely expensive way of creating jobs and “costs a good $200,000 per job”. Just as well I didn’t use the $1 million figure here, which I stand by, and which was fact-checked by the Atlantic!
How the government fudges job statistics | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters

Greg Mankiw: Thoughts about the Fiscal Commission

Here is a question I have been pondering. If you were a member of the fiscal commission, what would you try to achieve?

The answer for liberals is easy: They want to raise taxes to fund the existing, and even an expanded, social safety net, while politically insulating the Democrats as much as possible from the charge of being the "tax and spend" party. President Obama can then campaign in 2012 that he did not break his no-taxes-on-the-middle-class pledge, but rather a bipartisan group broke it. That is, the President wants to take credit for fixing the fiscal situation but duck responsibility for having imposed higher taxes.

But what if you are conservative? This is harder. You can try to stick to your no-tax-increase position. The problem is that doing so would require spending cuts larger than are politically realistic. If I were king, I bet I could find sufficient spending cuts. But I am not expecting to be anointed any time soon. If the fiscal commission is going to succeed, tax increases will have to be part of the deal.
the rest is here:
Greg Mankiw's Blog: Thoughts about the Fiscal Commission

McDonnell puts down a marker

Let’s see what the Legislative Branch does. I think he’s giving the legislature – especially the Ds – some potential cover: “I got back x% or the governor’s cuts”. But there’s got to be some serious cuts somewhere.

Another potential: "Sell the ABC stores and we can restore X.
McDonnell's Deep Cuts Send Shock Waves in Virginia | NBC Washington

Niall Ferguson - How to take Moral Hazard out of Banking

Finally, slowly, the issue is coming to the fore. Pity it didn't happen in 1974. Be a greater pity if it doesn't happen now.
Taxpayers are entitled to ask for a radical reform of banking regulation to ensure they will never again have to foot huge bills for financial folly. So far, there is only one credible proposal.

In a recent speech in Edinburgh, Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, called for “utility banking”, which would limit banks to their legitimate purpose – financial intermediation and payment facilitation – as opposed to gambling with taxpayers’ money.
Niall Ferguson - How to take Moral hHzard out of Banking

Big Government's Big Shortfall

Blow the trumpet louder. They're not listening
Big Government's Big Shortfall

Honesty thru a lack of grammar

one of the candidates for Frank Wolf's seat in the 10th congressional district (of Virginia) drops a comma and creates a level of honesty that's probably not intended:
Julien Modica (D) - Brain Injury Survivor, Navy Veteran, Felon & '08 US Sen. Candidate
Now I'm willing to bet that Modica doesn't think that US Senatorial Candidates are all felons, but...

State of The Union Address/GOP Response Word Cloud

http://www.bermanpost.com/2010/01/obamas-state-of-union-address-word.html

GOP reply word cloud:
http://www.bermanpost.com/2010/01/gops-response-to-obamas-state-of-union.html

Why the U.S. is Ungovernable, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

From Dr Arnold Kling: "The theory is that there is a discrepancy between trends in knowledge and power. Power in the United States is remarkably concentrated. We are creating increasingly specialized knowledge, which means that the information needed to make good decisions is located outside of Washington, D.C. And yet we have a central government attempting to do for 300 million people what governments in places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark, and Switzerland do for many fewer people.

I do not wish to contend that government is better in those countries than in the U.S. But if there were scale efficiencies in government services beyond the level of 10 million people, then we would expect governments in small countries to be much, much worse than in the U.S. The fact that Singapore, Hong Kong, Denmark, and Switzerland function at all is proof that a 300-million scale polity is not necessary to run an effective social insurance system, an effective education system, etc."

Why the U.S. is Ungovernable, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

change *I* can believe in!

Fishersville Mike: Best of the year - the Boob Czar

Sean Connaughton Chosen to be Virginia Transportation Secretary ::

There are a whole bunch of people who are expecting me to make a comment about Secretary-designate Connaughton's lamentable choice of undergraduate education. So I won't.
The Maritime Executive Magazine :: Sean Connaughton Chosen to be VA Transportation Secretary ::

Health Care Nation

Wisdom from Samuelson (no, not that Samuelson!): President Obama's critics sometimes say that he is engineering a government takeover of health care or even introducing "socialized medicine" into America. These allegations are wildly overblown. Government already dominates health care, one-sixth of the economy. It pays directly or indirectly for roughly half of all health costs. Medicine is pervasively regulated, from drug approvals to nursing home rules. There is no "free market" in health care. What's actually happening is just the reverse, which is more interesting and alarming: Health care is taking over government.
Health Care Nation

Why Computers Can't Mimic The Brain - Forbes.com

Why Computers Can't Mimic The Brain - Forbes.com

Up Against a Wall of Debt

Seems I was wrong when I told my classes that we can:
1. Raise Taxes; or,
2. Cut benefits; or,
3. Inflate the currency to get rid of debt.
There's another alternative, repudiate the debt: the US Govt defaults.
Quoth the maven:

"Governments of rich countries are borrowing so much that it's conceivable that one day the twin assumptions underlying their burgeoning debt (that lenders will continue to lend and that governments will continue to pay) might collapse. What happens then?"

read the rest:
Up Against a Wall of Debt

Every Time Congress Promises Future Savings, Its Nose Grows a Little Longer - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

Every Time Congress Promises Future Savings, Its Nose Grows a Little Longer - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine

Nobel Economics Prizes

Ostrom & Williamson. Good choices
Cafe Hayek: where orders emerge

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Let's hear it for the 9th & 10th Amendments!

Here's the 10th!
Enumerated Powers of States�|�Tenth Amendment Center

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Instapundit � Blog Archive � WELL, AFTER ALL, BUSH ISN?T PRESIDENT ANY MORE: ?Code Pink? rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullo?

Instapundit � Blog Archive � WELL, AFTER ALL, BUSH ISN?T PRESIDENT ANY MORE: ?Code Pink? rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullo?

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Information Dissemination

Information Dissemination

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President Obama Fudges Truth on Medicare - WSJ.com

Includes one of the world's great analogies:
It's like a variation on the old Marx Brothers routine: "The soup is terrible and the portions are too small."

It sure as hell is!
President Obama Fudges Truth on Medicare - WSJ.com

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Memorial post: America Attacked 9 1 1

America Attacked 9 1 1

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Obama changes talking points on uninsured - Yahoo! News

Presto! The 40+ million w/o medical insurance is now 30 million. Because (drum roll, please) about one third of the uninsured are illegals.
What the article -- from the AP, naturalemente, doesn't say is the income breakdown of the uninsured. I'll give you pretty good odds over 20% are at an income level that allows them to buy insurance, but they choose not to.
Obama changes talking points on uninsured - Yahoo! News

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E-Bomb Doomsday Conference Starts Today | Danger Room | Wired.com

Money shot: "It'll fry pace makers, destroy iPhones, and turn laptops into useless paperweights. It's the scariest thing most people outside the Washington Beltway have never heard of: electromagnetic pulse weapons."
‘E-Bomb’ Doomsday Conference Starts Today | Danger Room | Wired.com

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Mitch Daniels: The Coming Reset in State Government - WSJ.com

Emphasis is mine. Would have been really great if Mr. Daniels had successfully put a choker-chain around Bush 43's spendthrift ways.
State government finances are a wreck. The drop in tax receipts is the worst in a half century. Fewer than 10 states ended the last fiscal year with significant reserves, and three-fourths have deficits exceeding 10% of their budgets. Only an emergency infusion of printed federal funny money is keeping most state boats afloat right now.
Mitch Daniels: The Coming Reset in State Government - WSJ.com

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Red Ensign Day

Ten years after it was introduced, Merchant Navy Day continues to celebrate the British shipping industry as well as providing an opportunity to remember the sacrifices made by merchant seamen over the years.News : NDS

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Pyrrhic victory on health reform? - Washington Times

Money shot:
If Republicans really want to stem the expansion of government, they should participate in the health care reform debate before the health care system reaches the crisis that is surely coming without intervention. But if the Republicans effectively kill health reform again, it'll become another third rail, like Social Security - deadly if touched.<\i>
BURMAN: Pyrrhic victory on health reform? - Washington Times

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MONEY! The Sir John M. Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest

Undergraduate winners get up to $2500.
The Sir John M. Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest encourages college students and young college professors around the world to study the meaning and significance of economic and personal liberty.

Co-sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and the Independent Institute, the essay contest honors Sir John M. Templeton and is held annually with a different topic each year.
The Sir John M. Templeton Fellowships Essay Contest

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Exit, Voice, and Freedom: An Example, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Dr Kling, ponte quondam, ponte futurus:
Following up on this post and this one, let me try to offer a hypothetical example of freedom without democracy. Maybe Will Wilkinson can comment on the example in a way that sheds light on what he is thinking, because I am not following him.

Here's the deal: Suppose that a new non-territorial state is created. Call it Liberista! To become a citizen of Liberista!, you just pay an annual fee. You pay no taxes to the state. As a citizen of Liberista!, you can live anywhere that Liberista! has an embassy compound. Liberista! leases compounds in countries all over the world. Liberista! embassy compounds are as ubiquitous as Hiltons, but many of them have space for large sections of single-family homes, office parks, and so on.
Exit, Voice, and Freedom: An Example, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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The Dumbest Words I've Read Today, Health Care Reform Edition

Y'know, between Greg Mankiw and this young lady, I could get to really admire Harvard Econ!
And, yes, I agree. These are the dumbest words, even by the Daily Beast's standards. The fact that cell phones are ubiquitous in North America doesn't mean they're not restricted. Consider cell-phone usage of, say 15 years ago.
The Dumbest Words I’ve Read Today, Health Care Reform Edition…

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Lawyers on combatting antimicrobial resistance.

Cut to the chase: over 18,000 people per year die

Thomas Frank in the WSJ on the subject of gategate

Conservatives won this round in the culture wars, not merely because most of the facts broke their way, but because their grievance is one that a certain species of liberal never seems to grasp. Whether the issue is abortion, evolution or recycling, these liberal patricians are forever astonished to discover that the professions and institutions and attitudes that they revere are seen by others as arrogance and affectation.

Why Megan opposes coercive Health Care

One of the worlds greatest opening lines:
"In a nutshell, I hate the poor and want them to die so that all my rich friends can use their bodies as mulch for their diamond ranches."
A Long, Long Post About My Reasons For Opposing National Health Care - Megan McArdle

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Instapundit

Instapundit

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Essay - To Overhaul the System, 'Health' Needs Redefining - NYTimes.com

The NYT. The NYT! We might have lost the NYT!
Essay - To Overhaul the System, ‘Health’ Needs Redefining - NYTimes.com

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CBO deals new blow to health plan - Chris Frates - POLITICO.com

I could point out that this is one of the disadvantages of a crop of attorney's for whom numbers are a major mystery, but I won't.
CBO deals new blow to health plan - Chris Frates - POLITICO.com

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Peggy Noonan: Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare - WSJ.com

I suspect voters, the past few weeks, have been giving themselves an internal Q-and-A that goes something like this:

Will whatever health care bill is produced by Congress increase the deficit? “Of course.”
Will it mean tax increases? “Of course.” Will it mean new fees of fines? “Probably.” Can I afford it right now? “No, I’m already getting clobbered.”
Will it make the marketplace freer and better? “Probably not.”
Is our health care system in crisis? “Yeah, it has been for years.”
Is it the most pressing crisis right now? “No, the economy is.”
Will a health-care bill improve the economy? “I doubt it.”
Peggy Noonan: Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare - WSJ.com

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Health-Care Reform Would Cost Seniors and Young People Plenty - WSJ.com

And the officially designed screwees are:

• Small Businesses. Employers who don’t provide coverage will have to pay a tax up to 8% of their payroll. Yet those who do provide coverage also have to pay the tax—if the law says their coverage is not “adequate.” Amazingly, even if a small business provides adequate insurance but its employees choose coverage in another plan offered through the government, the employer still must pay.

• Health Savings Account (HSA) holders. Eight million Americans, according to the Treasury Department, are covered by plans with low-cost premiums and high deductibles that are designed for large, unexpected medical costs. Money is also set aside in a savings account to cover the deductibles, and whatever isn’t spent in one year can build up tax-free. Nearly a third of new HSA users, according to Treasury figures, previously had no insurance or bought coverage on their own.

These policies will be severely limited. The Senate plan says a policy deemed “acceptable” must have insurance (rather than the individual) pay out at least 76% of the benefits. The House plan is pegged at 70%. That’s not the way these plans are set up to work. Ray Ramthun, who implemented the HSA regulations at the Treasury Department in 2003, says the regulations are crippling. “Companies tell me they could be forced to take products off the market,” he said in an interview.

• Medicare Advantage users. Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats want to cut back this program—care provided by private companies and subsidized by the government. Medicare Advantage grew by 15% last year; 10.5 million seniors, or 22% of all Medicare patients, are now enrolled.
Health-Care Reform Would Cost Seniors and Young People Plenty - WSJ.com

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Kausfiles : Another Reason to Delay Orszagism

Wisdom from Kaus (a fan of a government plan, btw): "Everytime a politician calls his reform "comprehensive" I look for the dangerous part that doesn't have to be there..."
Kausfiles : Another Reason to Delay Orszagism

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Is Ann Althouse the perfect woman?

Alas, no. She's a lawyer. But she comes close!
Althouse: "It's time to stand up with the President and fight back against this disastrous brand of old-style politics."

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CBO Director's Blog The Long-Term Budget Outlook

Money shot: "Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path, because federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run."
Director’s Blog » Blog Archive » The Long-Term Budget Outlook

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OBAMA WILL REPEAL MEDICARE at DickMorris.com

Mickey Kause says Dick Morris is right twice a day. Fair enough; I think he's right on this one!
"Obama's health care proposal is, in effect, the repeal of the Medicare program as we know it. The elderly will go from being the group with the most access to free medical care to the one with the least access. Indeed, the principal impact of the Obama health care program will be to reduce sharply the medical services the elderly can use. No longer will their every medical need be met, their every medication prescribed, their every need to improve their quality of life answered."
OBAMA WILL REPEAL MEDICARE at DickMorris.com

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Glenn Reynolds on the hidden cost of national health care | OpEd Contributor | Washington Examiner

Glenn Reynolds on the hidden cost of national health care | OpEd Contributor | Washington Examiner

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In Retooled Health-Care System, Who Will Say no? - washingtonpost.com

Probably won't be Doctors. Obviously won't be the eeevvviiilll healthcare companies. I'm betting on my fellow bureaucrats. "I'm sorry to tell you that granny's going to die because a GS12 doesn't like the ROI on the proposed medical plan".
In Retooled Health-Care System, Who Will Set Limits? - washingtonpost.com

Money quote:
"The question came from a Colorado neurologist. "Mr. President," he said at a recent forum, "what can you do to convince the American public that there actually are limits to what we can pay for with our American health-care system? And if there are going to be limits, who . . . is going to enforce the rules for a system like that?" President Obama called it the "right question" -- then failed to answer it."
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Here's Mickey Kause of Slate on the same subject:

"WaPo's Alec MacGillis notes that Obama's health care reformers

are clearly spooked by the notion that they could be accused of denying, for example, hip surgery to an 80-year-old.

If so, they largely have themselves to blame. They brought it up! It wasn't the Republicans who billed health care reform as a cost saving, budget-balancing measure that would start to deny payments for treatments deemed "ineffective," or (as one acolyte put it) when "a person's life, or health, is not worth the price." And to think when they heard that people started to worry about rationing! Fancy that."[Yes, the emphasis is mine]

The 'acolyte' is Ezra Klein from www.prospect.org, arguably the most progressive of modern progressivists. This gets more distasteful, if this quote attributed to Justice Ginsburg,
AJSCOTUS, is correct:
"Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don't want to have too many of." --Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

If it is, the modern progressives are getting closer and closer to traditional progressives. Eugenics. Who'da thunk.

Public Engagement Forum on Healthcare Reform

As we Americans attempt to recover from the current economic crisis, another, more serious crisis looms on the horizon. With a national budget deficit of nearly 1.67 trillion dollars, an expanding aging population, and the already strained programs of Medicare, and Medicaid, Americans will be forced to make difficult decisions in the coming years regarding their health insurance. Health care costs are projected to rise to levels that will be unaffordable without major tax increases at federal, state and local governments. President Obama has led the Congress to the threshold of major reform, both to extend coverage to the uninsured and to reduce costs. The reforms on the table promise to significantly change health care for all of us in the future.
George Mason University, in conjunction with the Concord Coalition, is inviting the public to attend a public engagement meeting on health care reform. Local government leaders, business leaders, students, and community members will come together to discuss the future of health care reform.
What: Public Engagement Forum on Health care Reform
Where: George Mason University - Mason Hall, Meese Board Room, Fairfax Campus
When: - Monday, July 27, 2009 - 4:30pm – 6:00pm
Questions? Contact Jeremy Milliken –JeremyMilliken@gmail.com

The Big Public Pension Squeeze

The cost of public sector pensions is set to soar in coming years because the recent meltdown in the financial markets has worsened the health of systems that were already badly underfunded. Municipal and state governments across the country are struggling with massive budget shortfalls, leaving them in no position to fill the pension gap. As a result, public workers look likely to bear the burden through cutbacks in their salaries and benefits and increases in their pension contributions.
The Big Public Pension Squeeze

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The Big Public Pension Squeeze

The Big Public Pension Squeeze

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America's long-awaited fiscal train wreck is now underway

The money quote is actually the last sentence of this paragraph, "Not only will those factors steadily lower our standard of living, but they will imperil economic and financial stability. There are 'things' that happen when economic & financial stability goes down the drain. People start demanding a fix by, as the saying goes, any means necessary. In platonic terms, people call for a champion. And a champion will emerge. Think Lenin, think Mussolini, yes, think Hitler. And think of the effect on unpopular minorities when society implodes this way...
America's long-awaited fiscal train wreck is now underway. Depending on policy actions taken now and over the next few years, federal deficits will likely average as much as 6% of GDP through 2019, contributing to a jump in debt held by the public to as high as 82% of GDP by then - a doubling over the next decade. Worse, barring aggressive policy actions, deficits and debt will rise even more sharply thereafter as entitlement spending accelerates relative to GDP. Keeping entitlement promises would require unsustainable borrowing, taxes or both, severely testing the credibility of our policies and hurting our long-term ability to finance investment and sustain growth. And soaring debt will force up real interest rates, reducing capital and productivity and boosting debt service. Not only will those factors steadily lower our standard of living, but they will imperil economic and financial stability.
Morgan Stanley - Global Economic Forum

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Badges & Players - Tea Party WDC & March for Liberty Coalition

Badges & Players - Tea Party WDC & March for Liberty Coalition

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California'€™s Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics: Kevin Hassett - Bloomberg.com

Inasmuch as GWB is my second least favorite Republican Prez, AND I find it hard to disagree with Hassett...
"The federal picture is so bleak because he Obama administration is the most fiscally irresponsible in the history of the U.S. I would imagine that he would be the intergalactic champion as well, if we could gather the data on deficits on other worlds. Obama has taken George W. Bush’s inattention to deficits and elevated it to an art form."
href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aTKrn1jUJwdE">California'€™s Nightmare Will Kill Obamanomics: Kevin Hassett - Bloomberg.com

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Statistical vs. Material Significance, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Money quote:
"Statistical significance is not a measure of the importance of a relationship. Statistical significance is a measure of the unlikelihood that you got your results solely due to chance sampling error."
Statistical vs. Material Significance, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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The Ten Commandments Of Microeconomics

Two notes:
1. Jodi should be the economist in the commercial
2. Here's the list:
The Ten Commandments of Microeconomics:
1. Thou shalt not idolize a social planner
2. Thou shalt not take private property in vain
3. Thou shalt honor the opportunity cost
4. Thou shalt honor the unintended consequences
5. Thou shalt not use price controls to alter market outcomes
6. Thou shalt not use taxes or subsidies to alter international trade
7. Thou shalt not ignore the power of incentives
8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against the goodness of greed
9. Thou shalt not covet fairness without honoring efficiency
10. Thou shalt not always covet government solutions to externalities
The Ten Commandments Of Microeconomics…

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A Closer Look at Adverse Selection and Mandatory Insurance, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Bryan Caplan of -- of course! -- GMU.
A Closer Look at Adverse Selection and Mandatory Insurance, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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Troops Told To Stop Taliban Pursuit If Civilians Are At Risk

Assuming the news media has got this right, I do believe we've just telegraphed a successful strategy to the bad guys.

[McClatchy Newspapers, mcclathchydc.com, July 1, 2009]
Beginning Thursday, U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be under orders to back down when they’re chasing Taliban fighters whenever they think that civilians might be at risk.

Hit & Run Debt and Taxes: The CBO's Dire Projections - Reason Magazine

How bad is the CBO's latest report on the country's budgetary future? The Washington Post calls the office's numbers "dire." U.S. News says they're "off the wall." And in a post about the report on his blog, the CBO's director, Douglas Elmendorf, writes that "under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path."

What's the problem? In a word, debt: The Post's editorial board summarizes the CBO's findings as follows:

Debt is growing faster than gross domestic product. Under the CBO's most realistic scenario, the publicly held debt of the U.S. government will reach 82 percent of GDP by 2019 -- roughly double what it was in 2008. By 2026, spiraling interest payments would push the debt above its all-time peak (set just after World War II) of 113 percent of GDP. It would reach 200 percent of GDP in 2038.
Hit & Run Debt and Taxes: The CBO's Dire Projections - Reason Magazine

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Instapundit Blog Archive U.S. DEBTOR STATUS WORSENS DRAMATICALLY

Instapundit Blog Archive U.S. DEBTOR STATUS WORSENS DRAMATICALLY:Over the years, Americas status as a creditor or debto

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Global Warming - John Stossel's Take

Good rule: when the reply to a question is "Shut up", more questions need to be asked.
Global Warming - John Stossel's Take

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Fixing the Health Care System, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

I cannot improve on Dr Kling's observation:
"I love it when people who have never managed anything more than a government grant are convinced they can manage one sixth of the economy."
Fixing the Health Care System, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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Instapundit on IDB on Waxman-Malarkey

And recall that Smoot-Hawley knocked over European banks like ten-pins. Specifically, German banks. And the resulting social unrest led to a government led by and evil genie -- arguably the evilest genie -- that was very expensive, in both blood and bucks, to stuff back into the bottle.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY ON WAXMAN-MARKEY: “The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on an anti-stimulus package that in the name of saving the earth will destroy the American economy. Smoot-Hawley will seem like a speed bump.”

The Fundamental Economic Problem

The fundamental economic problem is related to scarcity. Humanity has limited resources and infinite demands. Who decides. My fellow bureaucrats? God? Philosopher Kings?
Economics Essays: The Fundamental Economic Problem

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Instapundit» Blog Archive » HEY WAIT, DIDN'€™T HE SLAM MCCAIN OVER THIS? Obama not closing door on possible health care tax.

There's still no such thing as a free lunch. Kudos to the CBO for their yeoman attempt to score this properly!
Instapundit » Blog Archive » HEY WAIT, DIDN’T HE SLAM MCCAIN OVER THIS? Obama not closing door on possible health care tax. W…

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quality adjusted life year (QALY)

There is always a cost for a QALY. Heck, there's always a cost for everything. Who decides what a QALY is worth?
Marginal Revolution

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I'm Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

I'm Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

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I'm Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

Gosh... a decrease in income after a tax increase. Who'da thunk.
I’m Guessing Rush Limbaugh Didn't Move To Maryland

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Robert J. Samuelson - Both Corporate, Public Welfare Are Endangered - washingtonpost.com

The U.S. welfare state is weakening; insecurity is rising. The sensible thing would be to decide which forms of public welfare are needed to protect the vulnerable and to begin paring others. Our inaction poses another dreary parallel with GM. It was obvious a quarter-century ago that GM the auto company could not support GM the welfare state. But the union wouldn't surrender benefits, and the company acquiesced. Inertia prevailed, and the reckoning came.
Robert J. Samuelson - Both Corporate, Public Welfare Are Endangered - washingtonpost.com

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Mobilizing World Opinion Against the Government: How the Irish Did It and Won

From the History News Network (HNN) comes an interesting post on the role of the Press in the 1919-1921 Irish revolution, along with a very timely query:

In his preface to Michael Massing's pamphlet on the American press and Iraq, Now They Tell Us, Orville Schell asks "what had happened to the press's vaunted role as skeptical 'watchdog over government power'?"

There is, however, a rather puzzling assertion:

"The Anglo-Irish war of 1919-1921 was an international historical landmark: the first successful revolution against British rule..."

Really? I coulda swored our late-18th-century dust-up with the Brits counts as a successful revolution.
Mobilizing World Opinion Against the Government: How the Irish Did It and Won

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My Way News - Lawmakers clash over cost of health care overhaul

Conrad retires the "Attorney's who can't add trophy:
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said that proposed changes that sweetened government subsidies to the uninsured had unexpectedly boosted the cost, and now lawmakers must trim back.
My Way News - Lawmakers clash over cost of health care overhaul

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Polls find rising concern with Obama on key issues - Yahoo! News

And, so far, the GOP -- showing, to paraphrase Voldemort -- skills I never would have expected of them, have concentrated on attacking policies, not persons. Will wonders never cease.
Polls find rising concern with Obama on key issues - Yahoo! News

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The Financial White Paper: A Fabulous Tale, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

But, dammitall, our intentions were good!
The Financial White Paper: A Fabulous Tale, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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All politics is turnout — and enthusiasm is key | Washington Examiner

All politics is turnout — and enthusiasm is key | Washington Examiner

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TheHill.com - Dems reel on healthcare

Interesting this:

"The CBO looked at one portion of a draft bill written by the Senate HELP Committee and found, among other things, that it would cost more than $1 trillion while providing a net decrease in the number of uninsured people of 16 million.

The CBO also threw cold water on a promise by a coalition of healthcare industry groups to reduce healthcare spending by $2 trillion over 10 years. Obama announced their promise to much fanfare, but the CBO found that while a few of the cost-cutting measures would save money, others would cost money. In sum, they would not have a big impact on federal spending, the CBO concluded."

TheHill.com - Dems reel on healthcare

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Navy Times Reporting RUMINT on AmphibsTrackback - Powered by HaloScan.com

Saying it better than I can! RUMINT, ftr, is "Rumor Intelligence"
Trackback - Powered by HaloScan.com

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Robert J. Samuelson - Wrong Way on Health 'Reform' - washingtonpost.com

Money quote is the first paragraph:

"It's hard to know whether President Obama's health-care "reform" is naive, hypocritical or simply dishonest. Probably all three. The president keeps saying it's imperative to control runaway health spending. He's right. The trouble is that what's being promoted as health-care "reform" almost certainly won't suppress spending and, quite probably, will do the opposite"

Robert J. Samuelson - Wrong Way on Health 'Reform' - washingtonpost.com

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WORRIED ABOUT A GOVERNMENT SHORTFALL? PLAN NOW. With news that Social Security and Medicare funds may dry up sooner than expected, take charge of your financial future. Read More.

The elephant in the room: what will the inflation in the money supply cause?
WORRIED ABOUT A GOVERNMENT SHORTFALL? PLAN NOW. With news that Social Security and Medicare funds may dry up sooner than expected, take charge of your financial future. Read More.

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As Robert Byrd improves, Democrats fret - Glenn Thrush - POLITICO.com

So... if the senior senator from WV can't make it...
As Robert Byrd improves, Democrats fret - Glenn Thrush - POLITICO.com

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Op-Ed Contributor - A Threat in Every Port - NYTimes.com

Y'all remember when the senior senator from Noo Yawk combined with Lou Dobbs to create hysteria over port operations? T'was the crisis d'jour for a while, and successfully pissed off one of the friendlier regimes in the Gulf.
Clearly, America, you want to worry about Port Security. Wail, whale: here y'go:
Op-Ed Contributor - A Threat in Every Port - NYTimes.com

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Does Personality Matter? Compared to What?, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Dr B Caplan of GMU is always worth reading...
Printable format for Does Personality Matter? Compared to What?, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

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PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care needs unmet.

PROMISES, PROMISES: Indian health care needs unmet.

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WHO declares first flu pandemic in 41 years - Yahoo! News

WHO declares first flu pandemic in 41 years - Yahoo! News

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KeithHennessey.com » Understanding the Kennedy-Dodd and House Democrats’ health care bills

This guy's read -- at least he's skimmed -- all 600+ pages or the KD Health Bill. Here's a comparison.

Fairness compels me to note that if his previous boss -- Bush 43 -- had paid attention to being a deficit hawk, Mr Hennessey might still be in the White House Staff.
KeithHennessey.com » Understanding the Kennedy-Dodd and House Democrats’ health care bills

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Ace Your Math SATs - Wired How-To Wiki

Ace Your Math SATs - Wired How-To Wiki

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Why is the right doing so well in Europe? - By Anne Applebaum - Slate Magazine

"We've been waiting and waiting, but the widely predicted European backlash against capitalism, free markets, and the right has never come. There are no demands for Marxist revolution, no calls for nationalization of industry, not even a European campaign for what the Obama administration calls "stimulus"—a policy more colloquially known as "massive government spending."
She -- Applebaum -- goes on to talk about politicians spending 'Like drunken sailors.' Instapundit goes on to note that sailors, drunken or no, are generally spending their own money.
Why is the right doing so well in Europe? - By Anne Applebaum - Slate Magazine

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Southern Half of the Comeback Trail by Jim Geraghty on National Review Online

Southern Half of the Comeback Trail by Jim Geraghty on National Review Online

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I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican: A Survival Guide for Conservatives Marooned Among the Angry, Smug, and Terminally Self-Righteous

Now THIS is cool.
I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican: A Survival Guide for Conservatives Marooned Among the Angry, Smug, and Terminally Self-Righteous.

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The Continuing Relevance of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

Remind me to get Amity Schlaes book.
From Dr Pete Boettke:"Atlas-shrugged. I am on record as stating that Atlas Shrugged is the most economically informed novel ever written. I teach from Dickens and Steinbeck as well, but the underlying economics in those works is confused at best. Rand's economic message is coherent, consistent, and follows from the classic teachings of the mainline of economic thinking from Smith through Say onward to Mises.

The narrative she spins in Atlas Shrugged captures well the consequences of public policies that stifle entrepreneurship and private enterprise, substitute state planning for market coordination, and justify fiscal irresponsibility and inflationary monetary policy. In short, such policies destroy wealth in the name of redistributing it. Justice is not served by such efforts, instead we get naked injustice.

As politicians of both parties (Team Obama cannot take full credit) pursue similar policies to the one's Rand describes as responsible for destroying the economy in our world today, is it any wonder that Rand's book is flying off the shelves?
Read the rest at:
The Austrian Economists: The Continuing Relevance of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged

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Obama health reform backs public insurer - Washington Times

If the plan doesn't permit people to keep their chosen doctor, I think -- hope! -- it'll crash and burn. If it does, the administration will have to go into a Canadian-like restriction of access to specialists to have any dream of controlling costs.

Satan hisownself is in the details
Obama health reform backs public insurer - Washington Times

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Inequality, racism, and framing. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine

Inequality, racism, and framing. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine

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CUMMINGS INTRODUCES MARITIME EDUCATION BILL

Courtesy, MEBA Telex Times:

Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD.), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, has introduced a bill that would create a recruitment, training, and student loan program to attract the next generation of workers to jobs in the maritime industry. H.R. 2651, the Maritime Workforce Development Act would authorize $60 million over six years to create a maritime-focused student loan program through which individuals can receive up to $60,000 in loans over the course of their lifetime. Recipients of the loans would be required to maintain satisfactory progress and be required to repay their loans within ten years.
Additionally, the bill would authorize $60 million over six years to enable the Department of Transportation to award grants to maritime training institutions for mariner recruitment, training, and retention.

"Many of the men and women who comprise our maritime industry will soon be entering retirement, and it is important that we have the tools and resources in place to bring in the next generation of mariners," Congressman Cummings said. "The Maritime Workforce Development Act seeks to improve the current system and ensure that individuals seeking to enter or advance in the maritime field are able to afford tuition for training programs."

"The maritime industry is an essential component of our nation's commerce and economy, and we cannot ignore the growing threat of a shortage in qualified maritime labor," Rep. Cummings said. "We cannot allow this problem to continue to grow as a result of individuals being denied access to maritime training due to income levels, and H.R. 2651 takes the first step in ensuring that we don't."

The Maritime Administration has indicated that the average age of a mariner with a Master's license at that time was 51, while the average age of a Chief Engineer was 50. Figures have also shown that nearly 30 percent of those working in the inland towing industry would be eligible to retire in coming years.

Villainous Company: In Praise of Mathematics

Villainous Company: In Praise of Mathematics

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They told me, if I voted for Barr, that everyone would start attacking the unions.

And they were right!

Once, the U.S. merchant marine included hundreds of ships that regularly transported a significant portion of U.S. imports and exports and employed tens of thousands of Americans at sea and on land. Today, only a handful of such liner vessels plying regularly scheduled routes still fly the Stars and Stripes and employ crews of U.S. citizens. But these ships (including the recently pirated Maersk Alabama), though subsidized by the U.S. government, are actually owned by Danish or Singaporean interests, and U.S. taxpayers enjoy little or no benefit from them. Essentially, the U.S.-owned and -operated merchant marine liner fleet no longer exists. And in its demise lies a lesson for the U.S. auto industry.