Some thoughts for the day

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves. --Attributed to Abraham Lincoln and/or William J. H. Boetcker.

The Tenth Commandment [thou shalt not covet] sends a message to collectivists, to people who believe wealth is best obtained by redistribution. And the message is clear and concise: Go to hell. -- P. J. O'Rourke

"A socialist is somebody who doesn't have anything, and is ready to divide it up equally among everybody." -- George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish comic dramatist

"World dictatorship can be established only when the victory of socialism has been achieved in certain countries or groups of countries … [and] when these federation of republics have finally grown into a world union of Soviet Socialist Republics uniting the whole of mankind under the hegemony of the international proletariat organized as a state."-- Josef Stalin (1879-1953) Communist leader of the USSR Source: 1936

Worth the read and viewing

Are you conflicted or confused about the AIG bonus controversy? Read this very articulate and thoughtful editorial in the NY Times. Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/opinion/25desantis.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
What is Marxism? Would you agree that marxism breeds mediocrity and destroys a meritocracy?
Read on: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/03/what_is_marxism.html
Why be a conservative?
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/03/why_be_a_conservative.html
"You cannot spend our way out of recession or borrow our way out of debt". Listen to this British politician addressing PM Gordon Brown. I am still waiting for our conservative politicians to better articulate this concept. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lW6Y4tBXs&feature=player_embedded

Thoughts from Ronald Reagan

Boy, do I miss him. Tell me these thoughts don't ring true today!

'The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

'I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.'

'The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.'

'Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.'

'The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.'

'Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it'

'If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.'

'No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.'

"Common Sense" from a modern day Thomas Payne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKFKGrmsBDk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA

Some perspective on the AIG situation

Mixing Politics and Bonuses Doesn't Pay
http://townhall.com/content/6faf60d5-1fae-4a22-8071-8c3f23f57095
The AIG Outrage
http://townhall.com/content/e2d03d3b-67d0-487d-ba9a-f7faff2898be

We are all doubtless bound to contribute a certain portion of our income to the support of charitable and other useful public institutions. But it is a part of our duty also to apply our contributions in the most effectual way we
can to secure this object. The question then is whether this will not be better done by each of us appropriating our whole contribution to the institutions within our reach, under our own eye, and over which we can exercise some useful control? Or would it be better that each should divide the sum he can spare among all the institutions of his State or the United States? Reason and the interest of these institutions themselves, certainly decide in favor of the former practice." -- Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President

When will Atlas Shrug?

"Atlas Shrugged", by Ayn Rand, was written in 1957. This 1200 page novel depicts a situation whereby the productive class, often demonized by the political class, slowly removes itself from an increasingly socialistic society. Predictably, this society slowly unravels into chaos. How prescient was Rand? Do we have so little confidence in ourselves and our children's abilities that we can’t succeed without government direction, intervention and subsidies? It’s not too late to choose freedom over dependence, earned rewards over entitlement and personal responsibility over collective rights. The two editorials below use the Atlas Shrugged analogy to make their points. Here are the links:

"When will Atlas Shrug?" http://townhall.com/content/bf29c217-785e-49d3-a2fc-f44d661f7683

"John Galt Calls on Atlas to Strike" http://townhall.com/content/6b1a78bc-1501-448f-88ff-37018df3f238

Quotes for the day and "Shock and Awe"

Where are our modern day Davy Crocketts?
"We have rights, as individuals, to give as much of our own money as we please to charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of public money."
-- Davy Crockett
(1786-1836) American hunter, frontiersman, soldier and politician

This quote helps to explain why many academics and "intellectuals" appear to have such hostility toward capitalism and the free market and an affinity for socialist ideologies:
"The fact is that up to now a free society has not been good for the intellectual. It has neither accorded him a superior status to sustain his confidence nor made it easy for him to acquire an unquestioned sense of social usefulness. For he derives his sense of usefulness mainly from directing, instructing, and planning- from minding other people's business- and is bound
to feel superfluous and neglected where people believe themselves competent to manage individual and communal affairs, and are impatient of supervision and regulation. A free society is as much a threat to the intellectual's sense of worth as an automated economy is to the workingman's sense of worth. Any social order that can function with a minimum of leadership will be anathema to the intellectual."
-- Eric Hoffer
(1902-1983) American author, philosopher, awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

Here's an article that discusses Obama's version of "Shock and Awe":
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/03/obamas_tactic_shock_and_awe.html

Thoughts from the past

"The direction of all economic affairs is in the market society a task of the entrepreneurs. Theirs is the control of production. They are at the helm and steer the ship. A superficial observer would believe that they are supreme. But they are not. They are bound to obey unconditionally the captain's orders. The captain is the consumer. ...[Consumers] make poor people rich and rich people poor. They determine precisely what should be produced, in what quality, and in what quantities."
-- Ludwig von Mises
(1881-1973) Economist and social philosopher

"The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy. ... Roosevelt's policies were very destructive. Roosevelt's policies made the depression longer and worse than it otherwise would have been."
-- Milton Friedman
(1912-2006) Nobel Prize-winning economist, economic advisor to President Ronald Reagan, "ultimate guru of the free-market system"

"Shared sacrifice" really means taking other people's money, while "greed" is not wanting to give it up and "responsibility" is when the government takes it anyway. Jonah Goldberg

Today's Reading: "Conduct and Consequences:Putting the Bailout in Perspective". Here's the link:

http://townhall.com/content/1c4eb225-b9f1-4609-ad50-5b50b8973aa9

Just a few arguments against socialized medicine

1. There isn't a single government agency or division that runs efficiently; do we really want an organization that developed the U.S. Tax Code handling something as complex as health care? Do we really want politicians and bureaucrats controlling such an important aspect of our lives?
   
2. "Free" health care isn't really free since we must pay for it with taxes; expenses for health care would have to be paid for with higher taxes or spending cuts in other areas such as defense, education, etc.
3. Profit motives, competition, and individual ingenuity have always led to greater cost savings and effectiveness. Government controlled health care would stifle this.
   
4. Government-controlled health care would lead to a decrease in patient flexibility.
5. Patients aren't likely to have their drug costs and doctor visits decreased if health care is free; When utilization go up, rationing will eventually have to occur.
   
6. Just because Americans are uninsured doesn't mean they can't receive health care; nonprofits and government-run hospitals provide services to those who don't have insurance, and it is illegal to refuse emergency medical service because of a lack of insurance. Even individuals who are in this country illegally can not be refused care. Just ask many of the health care providers that worked in hospitals in southern California that are now closed!
   
7. Government-mandated procedures will likely reduce doctor flexibility and lead to suboptimal patient care.
8. Healthy people who take care of themselves will have to pay for the burden of those who smoke, are obese, etc.
9. A long, painful transition will have to take place involving lost insurance industry jobs, business closures, and new patient record creation.
10. Loss of private practice options and autonomy, along with reduced pay, may dissuade many would-be doctors from pursuing the profession. It currently takes a minimum of 12 years of post-high school education (college, medical school and residency training) before physicians start their careers. Many physicians begin their practicing years hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, which they incurred in order to finance their educations.
    
11. Malpractice lawsuit costs, which are already sky-high, could further explode since universal care may expose the government to legal liability, and the possibility to sue someone with deep pockets usually invites more lawsuits.
12. Government is more likely to pass additional restrictions or increase taxes on smoking, fast food, etc., leading to a further loss of personal freedoms.
13. Patient confidentiality is likely to be compromised since centralized health information will likely be maintained by the government. This will result in "Big Brother" on steroids.
    
14. Like social security, any government benefit eventually is taken as a "right" by the public, meaning that it's politically near impossible to remove or curtail it later on when costs get out of control.
    
15. A recent study by David Green and Laura Casper, "Delay, Denial and Dilution,"written for the London-based Institute of Economic Affairs, concludes that the British health care services are just about the worst in the developed world. Do we need to experience this for the next 30-40 years before we draw the same conclusions?
    
16. Government controlled health care already exists in the U.S.. Perhaps you have friends or family members who have received care through the Veterans Administration or the Indian Health Service. Walk through those facilities and visit with some patients, then walk through a privately-run health care facility and do the same. Tell me that you can't see and smell the difference!

Ask yourself this question: How many Americans seek health care abroad? On the other hand, how many foreigners come to America to seek health services not provided in their countries or not provided in a timely manner? Our system has it's flaws, but it remains the best in the world. I would never dream of going to Canada or Britain for my health care and neither would you!

Differing perspectives on the economic stimulus debate

Do you understand why well-known economists, including Nobel Prize winners, are on opposite sides of the debate about the stimulus package and what should be done about the recession? Not only Americans, but people everywhere are confused, largely because the economists who are writing and speaking about what should be done have such fundamental disagreements. Click on to this link to get a brief economic primer on the various schools of thought. Here's the link:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10002

"If Big Brother (of Orwell's 1984) comes to America, he will not be a fearsome, foreboding figure with a heart-chilling, omnipresent glare as in 1984. He will come with a smile on his face, a quip on his lips, a wave to the crowd, and a press that (a) dutifully reports the suppressive measures he is taking to save the nation from internal chaos and foreign threat; and (b) gingerly questions whether he will be able to succeed."
-- Michael Parenti
(1933- )
Source: "Inventing Reality" (1986)

Global warming bait-and-switch

Growing numbers of scientists say the climate change debate is far from over, and global warming was never a crisis. Over 650 certified meteorologists and climate scientists are on a US Senate compilation of climate cataclysm skeptics – and 32,000 scientists have signed the Oregon Petition, saying they dispute claims that humans are causing climate change, and the changes will be disastrous.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may have “soared” from 280 ppm to 385 ppm over the last century. But this represents an almost trivial rise from 0.03% of the atmosphere to 0.04% – the equivalent of an increase from 3 cents to 4 out of $100, or from 1.08 inches to 1.44 inches on a football field. The dominant greenhouse gas is water vapor, which nature controls via evaporation and precipitation.

President Obama and congressional Democrats support a $650 billion carbon cap-and-trade tax on every household, business and factory in America. If they introduce legislation amid this recession, voters, energy consumers and more responsible legislators should keep important facts in mind.

Europe has put its greenhouse gas reduction programs on hold. Australia is poised to reject cap-and-trade plans. China and India are building new coal-fired power plants every week.

So when Congress and the President call for more economic pain through energy restrictions and cap-and-trade bills, demand solid evidence for catastrophic warming and human causation. Don’t accept worthless computer models and worst-case scenarios. And don’t be conned by bait-and-switch tactics.

These comments were made by Paul Driessen. Click on to the link to read the entire article. Here's the link:

http://townhall.com/content/2c5a0bf1-7cdd-42e3-a107-0e723f6e5a57

If you have more time, read the Global Warming Petition Project summary. That summary can be found on a link on my blog under the title "Global Warming Skeptic"?

There are alternatives to socialized medicine

The Heritage Foundation is just one of several think tanks that provide invaluable information on a variety of issues. This article discusses Health Insurance Exchanges. Keep in mind that the politicians and bureaucrats in Washington will have a different health plan than the one they will advocate for on our behalf. Here's the link:
http://www.heritage.org/Research/HealthCare/wm1515.cfm

Love, Freedom and Responsibility

Government can do something for the people
only in proportion as it can do something to the people. "
-- Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for,
protected, and handed on to them to do the same, or one day we will spend
our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it
was once like in the United States where men were free."
~ Ronald Wilson Reagan

Here are links to two articles from 2 of my favorite commentators; Charles Krauthammer and Jonah Goldberg.

http://townhall.com/content/21a7931a-deb7-454b-976e-7eef7f5e87a5
http://townhall.com/content/1b2f764f-45b3-4098-b42a-8ac0122f9ab8

Taxes and miscellaneous thoughts

My blog has a link to the 2006 summary of Federal Individual Income Tax data(updated 7/08). Here is the summary in a nutshell:
1. the top 1 % of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $388,806 or above) pay 40% of the entire federal income tax
2. the top 5 % of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $153,542 or above) pay 60% of the federal income tax
3. the top 10% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $108,904 or above) pay 71% of the federal income tax
4. the top 25% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $64,702 or above) pay 86% of the federal income tax
5. the top 50% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of $31,987 or above) pay 97% of the federal income tax
6. the bottom 50% of tax payers(those with adjusted gross income of less than $31,987) pay 3% of the entire federal income tax
There was a recent promise made that households earning less than $250,000.00 would not see their taxes increased by "one single dime".
Now 2006 was, relatively speaking, a good year financially for the country. Fast forward to 2009. The financial meltdown and recession, with unemployment reaching levels not seen in years, are going to translate into fewer taxpayers. Small- and medium-sized businesses are the nation's primary employers and the business owners represent a large percentage of tax payers in the top tax brackets. If the tax burden is shifted disproportionately to the business owners, there will be less capital for expanding their businesses and hiring new workers. As a matter of fact, in 2006, the sum total of adjusted gross incomes of the top 10% of individual taxpayers was $3.84 trillion. If all of that money was confiscated by the government it would not cover the cost of the proposed 2010 budget of $4 trillion. The claim made that households earning less than 250k would not pay more taxes is a specious one. Ask yourself this question: How long do you think you would work harder just to pay more taxes before you got frustrated and down-scaled your business activities or found a way to declare less taxable income? Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged" had sold more books over the past 12 months than in any other 12 month period since it was written in 1957. In this novel the protagonist, John Gault, convinces the entrepreneurs to abandon their productive activities in order to starve the looters(political class) and moochers(societal parasites) of revenues created by their ideas and production. Most Americans are willing to pay their fair share of taxes for essential government services. The top 10% of tax payers already pay 71% of the total federal income tax! How much is enough?

Here is a link to a good article entitled "Awakening the Welfare Recipient within"
http://townhall.com/content/e099e4cb-f653-4667-82d1-1285b040599b
We have gone from assisting the less fortunate to subsidizing the irresponsible