The Outcome of the Income Tax

When a discriminating income tax is allowed to become the means of legal plunder, the spark of envy within the classes of men is fanned into a raging fire. No longer is the state able to restrain the fruits of covetousness; now it works to produce them. From the spark of envy to a conflagration of confiscation, the graduated income tax has led to democratic tyranny.

The progressive income tax has come upon us gradually. It began with a seemingly harmless maximum rate of 7 per cent. Yet within less than a generation, this rate climbed higher than 90 per cent. Of course “progressive” is a misnomer. “Aggressive” might be closer to the truth. But alas, perhaps “regressive” would be best, as this graduated tax policy has taken America back centuries—down the road to serfdom.

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-outcome-of-the-income-tax/

This article was written more than 30 years ago. It is as relevant today as it was then.

What the Bible teaches us about Capitalism

Many on the religious left criticize capitalism because all do not end up monetarily equal—or, as Churchill quipped, "all equally miserable." But the Bible's prescription of equality means equality under the law, as in Deuteronomy's saying that "Judges and officers . . . shall judge the people with a just judgment: Do not . . . favor one over the other." Nowhere does the Bible refer to a utopian equality that is contrary to human nature and has never been achieved.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203806504577179303330474134.html

No need to Panic about global warming

This is a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal. A large and growing number of distinguished scientists and engineers do not agree that drastic actions on global warming are needed. Follow the money. Alarmism over climate is of great benefit to many, providing government funding for academic research and a reason for government bureaucracies to grow. Alarmism also offers an excuse for governments to raise taxes, taxpayer-funded subsidies for businesses that understand how to work the political system, and a lure for big donations to charitable foundations promising to save the planet.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204301404577171531838421366-lMyQjAxMTAyMDMwMDEzNDAyWj.html?mod

Peter Schiff's commentary on Obama's 2012 SOTU address

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtBH4t4VY2A

Dr. Seuss on present day politics

I do not like this Uncle Sam
I do not like his health care scam
I do not like those dirty crooks or
how they lie and cook the books
I do not like when congress steals
I do not like their secret deals
I do not like this jobless rate or
speeches filled with racist hate
I do not like this drilling ban
I do not like this "yes we can"
I do not like this spending spree
I'm smart I know that nothing's free
I do not like their smug replies
when I complain about their lies
I do not like this kind of "hope"
I do not like it Nope Nope Nope.

State of Dysfunction

Tonight, Americans who tune in to the State of the Union will watch the work of a rhetorical master with a flair for illusion..... Before considering the President's record, first consider his message--that economic populism is the core of America's principles, that the federal government should be the guarantor of equal outcomes and that "fairness" of achievement should be decided by legions of bureaucrats in Washington. It is a theme that the President unveiled in a speech last month in Osawatomie, Kansas, and it's one he plans to return to tonight. This vision is at the root of the President's progressive ideal. It is not, however, the ideology on which our country was founded....The "ladder of opportunity" exists so that people may apply their God-given talents and abilities in order to better themselves and pursue the American dream. That is the liberty that makes the United States unique. The President, though, does not stand for that dream. Instead, as he has made clear, he believes that it is through government engineering that society can advance--through more government power, federal education programs, economic regulations, and infrastructure spending, all funded by "fair" taxes on "wealthy" Americans.

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/01/24/morning-bell-state-of-dysfunction/

The Growth of Government in the US

This article, published in 1990, is even more relevant today. Here are some excerpts:

Our nation was founded by men who believed in limited government, especially limited central government. They were not anarchists; nor did they espouse laissez faire. But they did believe that rulers ought to be restrained and accountable to the people they govern. If the founders could see what has happened to the relation between the citizens and the government in the United States during the past two centuries, they would be appalled.........All but the few anarchists among us recognize that effective liberty requires some government, if only to define and protect rights to life and property. Beyond a point, however, bigger government begins to cut into our liberties; then the growth of government becomes synonymous with the sacrifice of liberty. In the United States, we entered this stage a long time ago..........The growth of government cannot continue forever. An economy totally dominated by government isn’t viable—even the Communists now recognize this. Eventually the government will eat up so much of the private sector that it will destroy the means of its own sustenance. At some point the balance of political power will swing away from support for bigger government in an effort to revive the dying goose that lays the golden eggs. If such reaction can occur in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, it certainly can occur here.

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-growth-of-government-in-the-united-states/

It's Treason to Disagree

The more objectionable and egregious a government policy is, the more the government depends on brute force to enforce it. So you can know for sure that when such laws are proposed that there are plans for the wars of the future to be even more objectionable, immoral, and unjust than the wars of the past. If you have to criminalize and banish dissent, it is likely that every intelligent person is going to be a target.

http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/its-treason-to-disagree/

Peter Schiff's newest video blog

Peter is a favorite of this blogger. He espouses the Austrian school of economics and his views are often at odds with the main stream Keynesians. His predictions are usually correct.

http://www.youtube.com/schiffreport

Ron Paul predictions from April 2002

This is Ron Paul's famous Predictions speech from April 24, 2002. This is the original video compiling recent images and video to give his speech a chilling effect.

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

2012 Index of Economic Freedom

So you think you're free? Thanks to big government spending and exploding debt, the United States -- and indeed the world -- is less economically free today than it was a year ago. Economic freedom -- the ability of individuals to control the fruits of their labor and pursue their dreams -- is central to prosperity around the world. Heritage and The Wall Street Journal measure economic freedom by studying its pillars: the rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency, and open markets. Things like property rights, freedom from corruption, government spending, free trade, labor policies, and one's ability to invest in and create businesses all factor in to a country's economic freedom. Rapid expansion of government, more than any market factor, appears to be responsible for flagging economic dynamism. Government spending has not only failed to arrest the economic crisis, but also--in many countries--seems to be prolonging it. The big-government approach has led to bloated public debt, turning an economic slowdown into a fiscal crisis with economic stagnation fueling long-term unemployment. The United States fell to 10th place in the world for economic freedom, and its score continues to drop. The U.S. ranked 6th in 2009, 8th in 2010 and 9th in 2011.
http://www.heritage.org/index/default

The Unity and Beauty of the Declaration and the Constitution

A great interview with Constitutional Scholar Larry Arnn, published in Imprimis

http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2011&month=12

What has America become?

What has America become?

Editor,

Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?

Lets see: if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics; if we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of communist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right.

You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.

We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.

And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.

What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?

- Ken Huber
Tawas City

From 1944 to Nineteen Eighty-Four

This article contains George Orwell's commentary on FA Hayek's 1944 book entitled "The Road to Serfdom."

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/tgif/from-1944-to-nineteen-eighty-four-3/

Faith in America

"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time," Thomas Jefferson once wrote. "The hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." Among the American Founders, there was a profound sense that faith and freedom were deeply intertwined.
The health and strength of liberty depend on the principles, standards, and morals shared by nearly all religions. What the "separation of church and state" does is liberate America's religions--in respect to their moral forms and teachings--to exercise unprecedented influence over private and public opinion by shaping citizens' mores, cultivating their virtues, and in general, providing a pure and independent source of moral reasoning and authority. This is what Alexis de Tocqueville meant when he observed that even though religion "never mixes directly in the government of society," it nevertheless determines the "habits of the heart" and is "the first of their political institutions."

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/12/26/morning-bell-faith-in-america/

Equality is not a four-letter word

Seeing how the Left blathers on incessantly about inequality and dreams of a Harrison Bergersonesque America, some conservatives are wary of equality. Yet no word is more central to the American tradition which we uphold than equality.

Equality is the first self-evident truth proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence and ours is a country "dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." By this, of course, we mean equal natural rights and the equal opportunities afforded by free markets and the rule of law.

The real tragedy of inequality in America is not that some earn more than others--class envy is something that afflicts Europeans, not Americans. Rather, it is that big government breeds what Paul Ryan calls "a class of bureaucrats and connected crony capitalists trying to rise above the rest of us, call the shots, rig the rules, and preserve their place atop society."

Let us therefore reclaim the mantle of equality from those who've perverted it in the pursuit of equal outcomes.