Imagine being charged with multiple offenses... raping the environment, causing disease and famine, taking wealth from the poor in order to enrich a few (mostly the strong and well connected,) starting wars for profit, keeping the masses uneducated, and general disregard for anyone or anything that does not provide you with personal benefits. But unlike a trial where the accused is innocent until proven guilty, these charges carry the assumption of guilt, and guilty until proved innocent not once, but repeatedly, and not proved in one way, but in multiple ways. At the trial the facts become secondary, because the prosecutor has no ethical boundaries, is willing to lie and distort whenever he deems it beneficial, and he has a huge microphone. Worse, if your defense team is able to overcome all of these hurdles, the jurors will be offered bribes to rule the opposite of what their charge dictates (aka wealth redistribution.) These are the challenges that the defense of capitalism, freedom and democracy face ever single day.
There are lots of people defending capitalism, but they are small in comparison to the number prosecuting it. Given the defenders conviction that the ends do not justify the means, and the truth will win the day, they limit themselves to facts, even ones that weaken their argument. Add to that the media, the armed forces of the left, who give the prosecutors the largest possible forum and routinely swear to the fidelity of their lies.
The prosecutors of capitalism are given phony awards for imaginary accomplishments in order to make the nonsense they spew seem credible. Undeserved academic degrees, Nobel prizes and other such garbage are commonplace. See Paul Krugman, Al Gore and Barack Obama for details. And then the refrains like "Everyone agrees," "Almost all authorities agree," etc. are repeated ad naseum until a totally false premise becomes "common knowledge."
For these reasons this onslaught is never easy to defend. The question is, which Republican candidate is best qualified to do so? Is it Mitt Romney, who recently said he wants to link the minimum wage to inflation? FYI The minimum wage is a naked political ploy to garner votes for Democrats, who know themselves that it is job destroying, socially repressive, keeps the poor from training and bettering themselves, and is generally wealth destroying. Or maybe it is the Mitt who recently said that he would fix the safety net for the poor. Does he not know that the safety net is an economic prison from which few escape, and many caught in its' web become infected with a range of social pathologies? Does he know that the antidote for these social diseases is family, work and productivity instead of dependency and entitlement? Mitt might do a credible job defending collectivism, but he is the wrong man to defend capitalism.
What about Newt? He has been on the wrong side of capitalism too often to be comfortable, but still he is far better than Mitt. If he chooses to defend it, he would articulate the message better than most. The thing is we don't know when some whim will change his mind, or change the subject, leaving capitalism to be defined by the left.
Ron Paul is actually the best by far to defend capitalism. He understands it and is unapologetic about his passion for it. His problem is that he doesn't understand the national defense challanges of the 21st century, and that is the first job of government. This failure makes him almost unelectable (We can never say 100% unelectable after a community organizer with a 20 year mentoring relationship with an American hating, racist pastor, a terrorist friendship, and lifelong support for every radical cause, particularly the destruction of Israel, got elected President.)
So we are left with Rick Santorum. His economic plan betrays a lack of understanding for the proper role of government generally, and particularly when it comes to the economy. However, he has many of the right ideas as well, and he makes no apology for them. He does at least understand capitalism will save mankind from some of his own failings, he is honest about his beliefs and has been consistent in articulating them. He understands that traditional American values, Judeo Christian values, are what allows capitalism to flourish and defends our freedom. His compassion transcends political opportunism, and he knows that the President must help everyone, including political opponents, and even if help means denying them the laundry list of narcotics the welfare state has addicted them to.
I guess former Mayor Koch of New York was right. He said, ""If you agree with 80% of what I say, vote for me. If you agree with 100%, see a psychiatrist." Rick is my 80% candidate, and that's good enough...it will have to be.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Some Common Sense Please
There should be a central talking points unit for conservatives that puts out concise rationals for our positions, answers the lies or misleading statements by liberals, and answer questions by the public.
How often have you heard centrists or liberals (often disguised as independents or middle of the road voters) say they only wish congress would compromise. The President uses this "failure" by congress to justify his extra legal appointments and executive orders, as well as a basis for reelection. Someone should infuse some common sense to this.
When two ideas are diametrically opposite, when both suggest that the other will not only not gain the objective, but will rather drive us farther from it, then how is any imaginary compromise possible? It's as if we reach a crossroads, knowing our destination is either to the right or left, but because we can't agree on which way to go we proceed straight ahead, insuring that we will fail. If higher spending and taxes, a.k.a. a welfare state, is the best thing for the voters, then lower taxes and less redistribution would not only not help, but would be harmful. Of course we know that the tax and spend agenda is destructive, the collectivist mentality is worse, and if conservatives don't have the power to lower taxes and spending, preventing increases is the next best thing. This is not rocket science, but one might think it is given the conservative failure to clearly respond.
When Newt attacked Romney because of his wealth, Romney was given the perfect tool to amplify the message that wealth creation benefits everyone. It provides jobs, as well as lowering prices. Wealth for everyone expands when created (as he has done), and contracts when destroyed as the government routinely does. Instead he cowered in the corner, making up a list of excuses, until the public pressure to release his tax returns grew too great. I assume he had a poll number saying people would resent it. His advisers should take note. Most of the resentment of success comes from people whose votes he could never win. Others like those of us on the right not only have no problem with it, but celebrate it. The voters who could be affected are in that theoretical middle. Doesn't he see that if those voters really want to understand, he can win their votes with a common sense explanation about the nature of economic activity. His attempt to hide however, leaves the collectivist argument unchallenged, and a voter who doesn't understand the issue but could be swayed, will gravitate to the argument by the left, however idiotic.
I will repeat myself. Ronald Reagan taught us the principled is also the political. Newt....Mitt..try the truth. It works.
How often have you heard centrists or liberals (often disguised as independents or middle of the road voters) say they only wish congress would compromise. The President uses this "failure" by congress to justify his extra legal appointments and executive orders, as well as a basis for reelection. Someone should infuse some common sense to this.
When two ideas are diametrically opposite, when both suggest that the other will not only not gain the objective, but will rather drive us farther from it, then how is any imaginary compromise possible? It's as if we reach a crossroads, knowing our destination is either to the right or left, but because we can't agree on which way to go we proceed straight ahead, insuring that we will fail. If higher spending and taxes, a.k.a. a welfare state, is the best thing for the voters, then lower taxes and less redistribution would not only not help, but would be harmful. Of course we know that the tax and spend agenda is destructive, the collectivist mentality is worse, and if conservatives don't have the power to lower taxes and spending, preventing increases is the next best thing. This is not rocket science, but one might think it is given the conservative failure to clearly respond.
When Newt attacked Romney because of his wealth, Romney was given the perfect tool to amplify the message that wealth creation benefits everyone. It provides jobs, as well as lowering prices. Wealth for everyone expands when created (as he has done), and contracts when destroyed as the government routinely does. Instead he cowered in the corner, making up a list of excuses, until the public pressure to release his tax returns grew too great. I assume he had a poll number saying people would resent it. His advisers should take note. Most of the resentment of success comes from people whose votes he could never win. Others like those of us on the right not only have no problem with it, but celebrate it. The voters who could be affected are in that theoretical middle. Doesn't he see that if those voters really want to understand, he can win their votes with a common sense explanation about the nature of economic activity. His attempt to hide however, leaves the collectivist argument unchallenged, and a voter who doesn't understand the issue but could be swayed, will gravitate to the argument by the left, however idiotic.
I will repeat myself. Ronald Reagan taught us the principled is also the political. Newt....Mitt..try the truth. It works.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Newt and Mitt
Ann Coulter eviscerated Newt Gingrich on the Mark Simone radio show Saturday morning, and everything she said was right. She even defended John King and his opening question in the debate about Newt's second wife's claims (talk about strange bedfellows.) There is an endless horizon above the territory where Newt can be criticized. With that being said, he has also done great things for the country and conservative causes.
Now there is no bigger fan of Ann than I. She has repeatedly pointed to liberal hypocrisy, failures, lies, distortions, and about everything else despicable that liberals do. And she does it with humor, facts and logic, presenting common sense and irrefutable evidence.
However, when she criticizes Newt while advocating for Romney, she leaves half the relevant facts in the file. Mitt is not conservative, or if he is we have no evidence pointing to it. The problem is knowing, really knowing Mitt. He has been on both sides of every issue, past and present. If you watch him closely you will see he is willing to go either way on the most trivial of issues. Politics drives him even more than Obama. Did you see the news clip of the CNN debate when he was asked if he would release his tax returns. He said, "I will check with advisers and"....then there were boos from the audience, and instead of finishing as he intended, that he would make the determination after checking, he switched gears and said "and I will release them." My point is the boos made him change. He has no core convictions, and since everything he says is tailored to what he thinks will garner the most votes, we can't determine what he believes or for that matter how much he really knows.
His claim to "understanding how an economy works" rings hollow in the light of his economic plan. The sign of a genius is to make a complicated thing simple. Unfortunately, his plan has 59 points. But the single most frightening part is that he raises taxes on the rich. His explanation is that the middle class have been hurt in recent years and the rich can afford more taxes. The rich create most of the wealth in the economy, and that creates most of the jobs. His plan is Democratic light, and would undermine wealth creation and job creation. Does he not understand this, or is he "only" pandering? His defense of his totally failed (by every metric) health care plan in Mass. seems to indicate he just doesn't get it. It is as if he is saying, "Government is the answer if we just do it differently than the Democrats."
The question voters must ask themselves, is who is most likely to pursue conservative principles. Santorum actually meets that qualification more than Newt or Mitt. However, he too has a few economic blind spots. He relies too much on the government, and thinks government sponsored rewards and penalties will promote prosperity. He believes that manufacturing, the primary beneficiary of his reward/ tax system, is key to economic success.He is wrong, but that's for another day.
Mitt and Newt could both learn a lot from the Gipper. Anyone who watched Ronald Reagan should know that the principled is also the political. Reagan was eviscerated by the pundits, press and even moderate Republicans every time he made his point in "bold colors, not pastels," but within days the positive public response silenced the critics and made him even more loved and respected than he had been before.
Now there is no bigger fan of Ann than I. She has repeatedly pointed to liberal hypocrisy, failures, lies, distortions, and about everything else despicable that liberals do. And she does it with humor, facts and logic, presenting common sense and irrefutable evidence.
However, when she criticizes Newt while advocating for Romney, she leaves half the relevant facts in the file. Mitt is not conservative, or if he is we have no evidence pointing to it. The problem is knowing, really knowing Mitt. He has been on both sides of every issue, past and present. If you watch him closely you will see he is willing to go either way on the most trivial of issues. Politics drives him even more than Obama. Did you see the news clip of the CNN debate when he was asked if he would release his tax returns. He said, "I will check with advisers and"....then there were boos from the audience, and instead of finishing as he intended, that he would make the determination after checking, he switched gears and said "and I will release them." My point is the boos made him change. He has no core convictions, and since everything he says is tailored to what he thinks will garner the most votes, we can't determine what he believes or for that matter how much he really knows.
His claim to "understanding how an economy works" rings hollow in the light of his economic plan. The sign of a genius is to make a complicated thing simple. Unfortunately, his plan has 59 points. But the single most frightening part is that he raises taxes on the rich. His explanation is that the middle class have been hurt in recent years and the rich can afford more taxes. The rich create most of the wealth in the economy, and that creates most of the jobs. His plan is Democratic light, and would undermine wealth creation and job creation. Does he not understand this, or is he "only" pandering? His defense of his totally failed (by every metric) health care plan in Mass. seems to indicate he just doesn't get it. It is as if he is saying, "Government is the answer if we just do it differently than the Democrats."
The question voters must ask themselves, is who is most likely to pursue conservative principles. Santorum actually meets that qualification more than Newt or Mitt. However, he too has a few economic blind spots. He relies too much on the government, and thinks government sponsored rewards and penalties will promote prosperity. He believes that manufacturing, the primary beneficiary of his reward/ tax system, is key to economic success.He is wrong, but that's for another day.
Mitt and Newt could both learn a lot from the Gipper. Anyone who watched Ronald Reagan should know that the principled is also the political. Reagan was eviscerated by the pundits, press and even moderate Republicans every time he made his point in "bold colors, not pastels," but within days the positive public response silenced the critics and made him even more loved and respected than he had been before.
Friday, January 6, 2012
History and Knowing
A poll was released recently showing that 60% of Americans believe socialism is either acceptable or preferable to capitalism. Of course we know this is absurd, but it is what is being taught in our schools, many churches and synagogues, and most of the media. Then again, there is nothing new there.
I recently asked one of my money managers with a law degree from Yale and an MBA from University of Chicago what he knew about American economic history. I was shocked to find out he knew almost nothing apart from a few isolated theories on the depression, mostly liberal mythology. He drew a complete blank when I mentioned the Harding/ Coolidge administration, arguably a better example of the greatness of supply side success and the magic of the free market than even the Reagan years. More shocking is the fact that economic history is not a required course at University of Chicago (it is available as an elective) or any other school I could find. I know of no subject one can truly "master" without knowing it's history. Is it any wonder we have so many liberal, political ignoramuses on Wall Street?
Economic freedom is an absolute necessity for political freedom. Compassion with real help for the poor, and the environment are served infinitely better through capitalism than anything else. At at time when collectivist theories were new there was a basis for reasonable debate about these things. But history in the US and throughout the world has made clear so over and over again that collectivist ideas are antithetical to freedom and prosperity. Any well meaning rational person, informed about US and world economic history, could not help but embrace capitalism.
Many years ago Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand and Bill Buckley argued that economic interference by the government (aka socialism/ collectivism) retarded economic and individual lifestyle growth. It destroyed freedoms guaranteed in the US constitution, and that collectivism would be left "on the trash heap of history." They had mounds of historical evidence to support their arguments. Today we have another 60 years of the exact same patterns of the success of capitalism and the failure of socialism repeating itself. Nothing has changed. Attempts to hide and distort the record seem to have made historical and socialist falsehoods into accepted truths for some, but the record points to the folly of every single Keynes, Krugman and Obama idea. That is why it is so important that history, particularly economic history, be taught, not just to MBA candidates, but to everyone.
I recently asked one of my money managers with a law degree from Yale and an MBA from University of Chicago what he knew about American economic history. I was shocked to find out he knew almost nothing apart from a few isolated theories on the depression, mostly liberal mythology. He drew a complete blank when I mentioned the Harding/ Coolidge administration, arguably a better example of the greatness of supply side success and the magic of the free market than even the Reagan years. More shocking is the fact that economic history is not a required course at University of Chicago (it is available as an elective) or any other school I could find. I know of no subject one can truly "master" without knowing it's history. Is it any wonder we have so many liberal, political ignoramuses on Wall Street?
Economic freedom is an absolute necessity for political freedom. Compassion with real help for the poor, and the environment are served infinitely better through capitalism than anything else. At at time when collectivist theories were new there was a basis for reasonable debate about these things. But history in the US and throughout the world has made clear so over and over again that collectivist ideas are antithetical to freedom and prosperity. Any well meaning rational person, informed about US and world economic history, could not help but embrace capitalism.
Many years ago Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand and Bill Buckley argued that economic interference by the government (aka socialism/ collectivism) retarded economic and individual lifestyle growth. It destroyed freedoms guaranteed in the US constitution, and that collectivism would be left "on the trash heap of history." They had mounds of historical evidence to support their arguments. Today we have another 60 years of the exact same patterns of the success of capitalism and the failure of socialism repeating itself. Nothing has changed. Attempts to hide and distort the record seem to have made historical and socialist falsehoods into accepted truths for some, but the record points to the folly of every single Keynes, Krugman and Obama idea. That is why it is so important that history, particularly economic history, be taught, not just to MBA candidates, but to everyone.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Newt is Right: Throw the Bums Out
Newt has brought up an issue inviting the expected attacks from the left, but surprisingly these attacks have been supported by several prominent conservatives. Newt has given voice to the idea that the legislative branch of government should fight back against activist judges. Whether his recommended procedures to do this are the right ones might be questioned, but the idea of fighting is refreshing and much needed if we are to reset the direction of this ship of state.
Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales, each a former Republican Attorney General of the United States, and former Judge Andrew Napolitano, a strict constitutionalist and contributor to Fox News, have called Newts ideas unprecedented, crazy, radical, and warned that his plan would violate the separation of powers in the government. They couldn't be more wrong. First they should read some history. There is nothing new about complaints of overreach and attempts to remedy it by other branches of government. In recent decades the separation of powers have been breached in a broad organized way by the very judges these men want to protect, and Newt's ideas would only help reestablish proper boundaries.
The legislative, executive and judicial branches are theoretically coequal branches of government. Although equality in the real world is an impossibility (Jefferson thought the judicial branch would be the weakest of the three) it is important that to the extent possible, they be kept separate branches of government. The legislative branch creates and passes laws, the executive branch executes them, and the judicial branch mediates disputes and insures that the laws passed and the methods of executing them do not run afoul of the constitution.
That last part, the job of the judiciary, is the key to understanding this. Starting with Woodrow Wilson, and expanded by Franklin Roosevelt (both repeatedly expressed disdain for the constitution because it got in the way of their "enlightened" agenda), a theory developed reasoning that since the framers of the constitution could never have anticipated changes that have occurred in today's society, it is the duty of judges to interpret the constitution in a manner different than the original intent, and more in a manner consistent with modernity. At first blush this seems reasonable. But on closer examination its fails any test of reasonableness. I would argue that this very idea, this philosophy, is a violation of the constitution itself, and therefore disqualifies anyone adopting it from holding judicial office.
The fallacy in the living constitution theory is that although society has changed in ways the framers could never have anticipated, it is irrelevant. The inherent assumption that the framers were thinking about society is incorrect. They were dealing with human nature, and as much as society has changed, I would argue human nature has not, not in 200 years, not in 2000 years.
Think about the effect of a living constitution as liberals advocate. Without fixed laws and fixed principles a court could interpret anything in any way. No one would know in advance whether what he was doing was lawful or not. There is always going to be problems with cases that fall on the line of a law or legal principle, ones that can be reasonably argued from both sides. These things are uncomfortable, but they occur. We can only deal with them in as fair a way as possible.
But under the banner of a living constitution, there are no limits to what a judge might rule. See Roe vs Wade for details. No matter what you beliefs on abortion are, the legal reasoning, and I use reasoning advisedly, is totally arbitrary and irrational. The majority ruled the federal government had the right to make a judgment on an issue not enumerated among the powers of the federal government. The court then used a non existent right to privacy (arguably implied in the constitution but not stated), and contorted that into a woman's right to abort a fetus. Even legal scholars who are pro choice admit this was an incoherent ruling.
When rulings like that are made, what has happened? The judiciary has usurped the responsibility and power of the legislature. State legislatures have the right to decide whether abortion is legal (most people agree the state has a legitimate interest in murder, so the abortion debate revolves around if abortion is murder.) A judge has no such right, and to the extent he believes he does (as it appears most living constitution advocates do), then he is acting beyond his charge. The other branches should fight back. If the president declared that taxes would go up by 20%, something only congress has the authority to do, shouldn't congress fight him with everything they have? If a president were permitted to do this we would have a dictatorship. Allowing judges to interpret the constitution without regard to intent is equally dangerous, except this results in an oligarchy instead of a dictatorship.
Our success as a nation, our very freedom, is because we are a nation of laws, not men. The framers of the constitution realized their work might contain mistakes. Democracy was a new, noble experiment. Men ruled democratically might not behave in the way they anticipated. So they provided for changes, or amendments. If living constitution supporters thinks change is needed, they are free to try to bring enough people into agreement with them, and if they succeed, then, and only then, can they change the constitution. Letting a judge wander away from the original intent into wherever his ideology might lead him, making wholesale, random changes, is illegal and should be challenged and struck down by any and all supporters of the rule of law, whatever else their ideology.
Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales, each a former Republican Attorney General of the United States, and former Judge Andrew Napolitano, a strict constitutionalist and contributor to Fox News, have called Newts ideas unprecedented, crazy, radical, and warned that his plan would violate the separation of powers in the government. They couldn't be more wrong. First they should read some history. There is nothing new about complaints of overreach and attempts to remedy it by other branches of government. In recent decades the separation of powers have been breached in a broad organized way by the very judges these men want to protect, and Newt's ideas would only help reestablish proper boundaries.
The legislative, executive and judicial branches are theoretically coequal branches of government. Although equality in the real world is an impossibility (Jefferson thought the judicial branch would be the weakest of the three) it is important that to the extent possible, they be kept separate branches of government. The legislative branch creates and passes laws, the executive branch executes them, and the judicial branch mediates disputes and insures that the laws passed and the methods of executing them do not run afoul of the constitution.
That last part, the job of the judiciary, is the key to understanding this. Starting with Woodrow Wilson, and expanded by Franklin Roosevelt (both repeatedly expressed disdain for the constitution because it got in the way of their "enlightened" agenda), a theory developed reasoning that since the framers of the constitution could never have anticipated changes that have occurred in today's society, it is the duty of judges to interpret the constitution in a manner different than the original intent, and more in a manner consistent with modernity. At first blush this seems reasonable. But on closer examination its fails any test of reasonableness. I would argue that this very idea, this philosophy, is a violation of the constitution itself, and therefore disqualifies anyone adopting it from holding judicial office.
The fallacy in the living constitution theory is that although society has changed in ways the framers could never have anticipated, it is irrelevant. The inherent assumption that the framers were thinking about society is incorrect. They were dealing with human nature, and as much as society has changed, I would argue human nature has not, not in 200 years, not in 2000 years.
Think about the effect of a living constitution as liberals advocate. Without fixed laws and fixed principles a court could interpret anything in any way. No one would know in advance whether what he was doing was lawful or not. There is always going to be problems with cases that fall on the line of a law or legal principle, ones that can be reasonably argued from both sides. These things are uncomfortable, but they occur. We can only deal with them in as fair a way as possible.
But under the banner of a living constitution, there are no limits to what a judge might rule. See Roe vs Wade for details. No matter what you beliefs on abortion are, the legal reasoning, and I use reasoning advisedly, is totally arbitrary and irrational. The majority ruled the federal government had the right to make a judgment on an issue not enumerated among the powers of the federal government. The court then used a non existent right to privacy (arguably implied in the constitution but not stated), and contorted that into a woman's right to abort a fetus. Even legal scholars who are pro choice admit this was an incoherent ruling.
When rulings like that are made, what has happened? The judiciary has usurped the responsibility and power of the legislature. State legislatures have the right to decide whether abortion is legal (most people agree the state has a legitimate interest in murder, so the abortion debate revolves around if abortion is murder.) A judge has no such right, and to the extent he believes he does (as it appears most living constitution advocates do), then he is acting beyond his charge. The other branches should fight back. If the president declared that taxes would go up by 20%, something only congress has the authority to do, shouldn't congress fight him with everything they have? If a president were permitted to do this we would have a dictatorship. Allowing judges to interpret the constitution without regard to intent is equally dangerous, except this results in an oligarchy instead of a dictatorship.
Our success as a nation, our very freedom, is because we are a nation of laws, not men. The framers of the constitution realized their work might contain mistakes. Democracy was a new, noble experiment. Men ruled democratically might not behave in the way they anticipated. So they provided for changes, or amendments. If living constitution supporters thinks change is needed, they are free to try to bring enough people into agreement with them, and if they succeed, then, and only then, can they change the constitution. Letting a judge wander away from the original intent into wherever his ideology might lead him, making wholesale, random changes, is illegal and should be challenged and struck down by any and all supporters of the rule of law, whatever else their ideology.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Why Newt? Life is a Series of Percentage Bets
Newt is ethically challenged for sure, temperamental and given to self grandiose flights of fancy, absolutely. But if you think about it, most presidents have had many similar failings. Kennedy was a philanderer. Johnson and Nixon were given to intense bouts of anger and bullying. Carter's was the most radical president in history before the present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. His lies were pretty much the same as most presidents, but they stood out given his holier than thou attitude. Clinton may have been well liked, but his personal failings are well documented. Obama sat in Reverend Wright's pews listening to anti American, anti semitic racist garbage and tacitly supported it by virtue of his continuing presence and deafening silence. The terrorist Bill Ayers, radical Islamist sympathizers, Communists and socialists were all counted among his mentors and friends. Certainly he is a deeply flawed human being.
Whatever a presidents personal failures were, they all had one thing in common. They hid them. Democrats are routinely assisted in this effort by the press, while Republicans have to deal with exaggerations of their failings. Hiding them is more difficult.
Yes, both are flawed. Isn't that part of the human condition? Nobody should defend Newt on personal issues. His supporters should acknowledge them, and express hope that he has changed. Neither should they try to dismiss his shortcomings with the liberal whitewash of, everybody does it. Everyone does do it to some degree or another, but that doesn't make it right, or even more forgivable. What supporters should do is hope he does not defend them, but rather asks the public to search their soul and see if they can forgive him.
I have written about his changing positions and his scary ideas. But as Donald Rumsfeld said, we go to war with the weapons we have, not the ones we wish we had. A year ago I said this nomination was Jim DeMint's for the asking. Unfortunately, he either didn't hear or didn't care.
He would have been a better weapon, but that is irrelevant. The best weapon we have now is Newt. He has a track record. His auditory record leaves much to be desired, but the things he actually did are as good and as important as any politician since Ronald Reagan. He had a major role in taking the majority for the first time in over 40 years, in welfare reform, NAFTA, lowering of the capital gains tax, highlighting several issues like the unfairness of the inheritance tax, and many more. As a legislator he was faithful to both social and fiscal conservatives.
The non Newt, Romney, has a failed auditory record and although a few things he did as governor of Massachusetts were good, they were trivial when compared with Newt's accomplishments. Add to that his signature effort as governor, health care, something he continues to defend even though it is a total abomination, and the choice becomes clear. Even his tax plan shows an ignorance of the economy (raising taxes on anyone earning over $200,000), or else he is pandering in spite of the fact that such a plan would be highly destructive.
Romney is a big government Republican. Newt may be one too, and many things he said in the past indicate he is, but the legislation he navigated through congress says otherwise. I can't be sure. I doubt anyone can. As the article title says, life is a series of percentage bets. We can only vote for the candidate most likely to put this great country back on course. That would be Newt.
Whatever a presidents personal failures were, they all had one thing in common. They hid them. Democrats are routinely assisted in this effort by the press, while Republicans have to deal with exaggerations of their failings. Hiding them is more difficult.
Yes, both are flawed. Isn't that part of the human condition? Nobody should defend Newt on personal issues. His supporters should acknowledge them, and express hope that he has changed. Neither should they try to dismiss his shortcomings with the liberal whitewash of, everybody does it. Everyone does do it to some degree or another, but that doesn't make it right, or even more forgivable. What supporters should do is hope he does not defend them, but rather asks the public to search their soul and see if they can forgive him.
I have written about his changing positions and his scary ideas. But as Donald Rumsfeld said, we go to war with the weapons we have, not the ones we wish we had. A year ago I said this nomination was Jim DeMint's for the asking. Unfortunately, he either didn't hear or didn't care.
He would have been a better weapon, but that is irrelevant. The best weapon we have now is Newt. He has a track record. His auditory record leaves much to be desired, but the things he actually did are as good and as important as any politician since Ronald Reagan. He had a major role in taking the majority for the first time in over 40 years, in welfare reform, NAFTA, lowering of the capital gains tax, highlighting several issues like the unfairness of the inheritance tax, and many more. As a legislator he was faithful to both social and fiscal conservatives.
The non Newt, Romney, has a failed auditory record and although a few things he did as governor of Massachusetts were good, they were trivial when compared with Newt's accomplishments. Add to that his signature effort as governor, health care, something he continues to defend even though it is a total abomination, and the choice becomes clear. Even his tax plan shows an ignorance of the economy (raising taxes on anyone earning over $200,000), or else he is pandering in spite of the fact that such a plan would be highly destructive.
Romney is a big government Republican. Newt may be one too, and many things he said in the past indicate he is, but the legislation he navigated through congress says otherwise. I can't be sure. I doubt anyone can. As the article title says, life is a series of percentage bets. We can only vote for the candidate most likely to put this great country back on course. That would be Newt.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Euro Crisis
When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you...you may know that your society is doomed. - Ayn Rand
Two and a half years ago I told you that contrary to the Democrats exculpatory fantasy that predatory lending ((laughable) and greedy investment bankers were responsible for the financial crisis (they amounted to little more than a footnote so far as the real cause goes), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their political overlords were the real culprits. Now we have a European sovereign debt problem, and the same forces that destroyed our banking are responsible here. For those of you who don't understand what the crisis in Europe is about and why it occurred I will give you a brief explanation.
The first reason is that countries simply spent and borrowed so much money that their debt grew to the point where it exceeded their ability to repay. Still, the first question is even if they defaulted on this debt, what would it be so catastrophic? Other countries defaulted (Argentina) and within a few years bounced back to become vibrant again. Why is Europe different?
Secondly, who is owed the money, and how did they allow these nations to go this far. Japan has a debt problem, and in their case they promoted lending to the government in such a way that most of the money came from domestic savings. That means the people were duped. The United States has a serious problem, but the dollar is a reserve currency (used in many international transactions) which allows a certain flexibility, and the economy is so large that countries doing business with the US (China) have a vested interest in keeping the dollar strong and keeping us solvent, which they have done by lending massive amounts of money to us. We too are on an unsustainable course, but the imminent economic tsunami is farther down the road than Europe.
Europe is in real trouble, and now. If they default on their debt they will bankrupt most of their banks. It is those banks who loaned the governments staggering amounts of the money (Ireland being the exception where the government foolishly kept insolvent banks afloat by borrowing money to "invest" in them.) Why? Didn't anyone recognize the risk the borrowers/ governments presented? Well, here is how one part of the scam worked. The governments passed laws dictating how much in reserves a bank must hold requiring different reserve amounts on different types of loans. Business loans needed a 6% reserve, mortgages needed 4%, and sovereign debt, well that required zero reserves. So for each dollar of depositor money a bank loaned to a business, it needed 6 cents of its own in equity, but a dollar loaned to Portugal, Greece or any European sovereign required nothing. Guess what happened. The banks loaned as much as they could to the various countries. Now, if the governments default, the banks will fail and the institutions and people who funded them will lose massive amounts of money, not to mention the failure of the banking infrastructure needed to conduct normal business transactions. It will be a colossal mess.
Imagine a world where the government simply adjudicated disputes, monitored businesses for truthfulness, made sure they had the reserves they claimed, earned the amount of money they reported, and generally conducted business in a forthright manner. Depositors would be able to make their own choices. A bank with large reserves would be able to borrow cheaper than a less well endowed institution. If the public were allowed to make informed choices, it wouldn't eliminate bubbles and collapses, but there would be fewer and less severe ones. Instead we have a system controlled by bureaucrats and politicians, and it should come as no surprise that they manipulate things for their own personal gain without regard to the rest of us.
Two and a half years ago I told you that contrary to the Democrats exculpatory fantasy that predatory lending ((laughable) and greedy investment bankers were responsible for the financial crisis (they amounted to little more than a footnote so far as the real cause goes), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and their political overlords were the real culprits. Now we have a European sovereign debt problem, and the same forces that destroyed our banking are responsible here. For those of you who don't understand what the crisis in Europe is about and why it occurred I will give you a brief explanation.
The first reason is that countries simply spent and borrowed so much money that their debt grew to the point where it exceeded their ability to repay. Still, the first question is even if they defaulted on this debt, what would it be so catastrophic? Other countries defaulted (Argentina) and within a few years bounced back to become vibrant again. Why is Europe different?
Secondly, who is owed the money, and how did they allow these nations to go this far. Japan has a debt problem, and in their case they promoted lending to the government in such a way that most of the money came from domestic savings. That means the people were duped. The United States has a serious problem, but the dollar is a reserve currency (used in many international transactions) which allows a certain flexibility, and the economy is so large that countries doing business with the US (China) have a vested interest in keeping the dollar strong and keeping us solvent, which they have done by lending massive amounts of money to us. We too are on an unsustainable course, but the imminent economic tsunami is farther down the road than Europe.
Europe is in real trouble, and now. If they default on their debt they will bankrupt most of their banks. It is those banks who loaned the governments staggering amounts of the money (Ireland being the exception where the government foolishly kept insolvent banks afloat by borrowing money to "invest" in them.) Why? Didn't anyone recognize the risk the borrowers/ governments presented? Well, here is how one part of the scam worked. The governments passed laws dictating how much in reserves a bank must hold requiring different reserve amounts on different types of loans. Business loans needed a 6% reserve, mortgages needed 4%, and sovereign debt, well that required zero reserves. So for each dollar of depositor money a bank loaned to a business, it needed 6 cents of its own in equity, but a dollar loaned to Portugal, Greece or any European sovereign required nothing. Guess what happened. The banks loaned as much as they could to the various countries. Now, if the governments default, the banks will fail and the institutions and people who funded them will lose massive amounts of money, not to mention the failure of the banking infrastructure needed to conduct normal business transactions. It will be a colossal mess.
Imagine a world where the government simply adjudicated disputes, monitored businesses for truthfulness, made sure they had the reserves they claimed, earned the amount of money they reported, and generally conducted business in a forthright manner. Depositors would be able to make their own choices. A bank with large reserves would be able to borrow cheaper than a less well endowed institution. If the public were allowed to make informed choices, it wouldn't eliminate bubbles and collapses, but there would be fewer and less severe ones. Instead we have a system controlled by bureaucrats and politicians, and it should come as no surprise that they manipulate things for their own personal gain without regard to the rest of us.
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