Yearly Archives: 2013

‘Monsanto Protection Act’ attached to Obamacare defunding bill

"The House Republican government funding bill, which passed in the House last week, contains a three-month extension of the Monsanto Protection Act, which shields companies like Monsanto and Dow Chemical from legal action resulting from Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) crops. The Act also places the authority of whether or not GMO crops can be grown and sold domestically into the hands of Federal Department of Agriculture rather than with the courts or public referendum. The Democratically-controlled Senate is making no plans to work to keep the rider active beyond its current expiration date." Continue reading →

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The American Economy is Not a Free-Market Economy

"Those inclined to dismiss Lewis’s claim as exaggerated must confront the solid body of evidence he amasses. Everyone knows that governmentally-sponsored mortgages helped to fuel the housing bubble that burst in 2008 with disastrous consequences. As Lewis points out, though, the situation is much worse than most people imagined. 'By the end of 2007 government-sponsored mortgages accounted for 81% of all the mortgage loans made in the US and by 2010 this had risen to 100%.' Government dominance is of course bad for the economy, but it works to the benefit of a small group of the powerful. A great strength of the book is that Lewis names names: he tells us who the predators are." Continue reading →

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IRS official caught in tea party scandal retires with $50,000/year pension

"Lois Lerner, the IRS official who presided over a partisan program that targeted conservative organizations because of their political beliefs, will retire on Monday with a full pension package, a source at the Department of Treasury told MailOnline. Lerner, 62, has been a federal government employee since at least 1981, making her eligible for the most robust retirement package the federal government offers career employees. In May Lerner herself launched the scandal that would eventually claim her job, by answering a planted question about how the IRS handled politically oriented groups that applied for tax-exempt status." Continue reading →

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The IRS Rewrites Obamacare

"Obama and his IRS are bypassing Congress and rewriting Obamacare on their own. The IRS is imposing health insurance mandates on employers and individuals even in states where by law they're exempt (http://shar.es/iI2HW). Obama also broke the law by extending the deadline for the employer mandate by a year. He bypassed Congress in making these arbitrary changes. He's picking and choosing which provisions to enforce, and when. Neither Obamacare nor the Constitution give him that discretion. His actions are illegal. And he's setting a precedent that will allow future presidents to ignore or rewrite legislation. But his lawlessness exposes a truth..." Continue reading →

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The Larger the Deficit, the Greater the Default

"There will be a day of reckoning, of course. There always is. But a majority of voters at that time will be sure to see to it that previous lenders will suffer the losses. There will be a Great Default. The lenders will cry: 'But you promised.' And the borrowers will cry: 'That’s life in the land of Keynes. In the long run, we’re all dead. You go first.' The big losers will be the suckers who lent Uncle Sam the money. The biggest lenders are those who trust the federal government to pay their retirement bills, including medical bills. Those who believe in the welfare state will be the biggest losers. They have believed in something for nothing. They will get left with a pile of IOUs and a note: 'Sorry, Charlie.'" Continue reading →

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Mark Thornton on “Government Shutdown”

"Mark Thornton presents a Misesian commentary on why politics is to blame for the impending U.S. government 'shutdown,' and how a gold standard could provide real fiscal discipline. Thornton is a Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute. For more information, visit the Mises Institute online at mises.org." Continue reading →

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What Will ObamaCare Cost You, Beginning on January 1? Do You Know?

"They call this insurance. It’s not insurance. It’s free care for the already ill. Someone must pay. Guess who? You! How much will your premiums be raised? Have you been told yet? If not, do you know how to find out? Have you made the household budget revisions that will be required on January 1? Or are you just waiting to see what happens? This gigantic change in American health care is due to go into effect on January 1. Everyone is supposed to enroll on October 1. Are they ready to comply? Do they know how to comply? The IRS will administer this. What if most people fail to comply? What will the IRS do then? With what percentage of its employees?" Continue reading →

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Government Shutdown: An Oxymoron for Real Morons

"The words 'government shutdown' do not mean 'government shutdown.' They mean 'boondoggle shutdown.' They mean 'special-interest-group-subsidy shutdown.' What about the Post Office? Will it get shut down? No. What about the CIA? Will it get shut down? No. What about the NSA? Will it get shut down? No. What about the TSA? Will it get shut down? No. What about the Department of Homeland Security? Will it get shut down? No. My suggestion: stop worrying about a government shutdown. Instead, keep worrying about the government staying open . . . just like you did before." Continue reading →

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Shutdown: ObamaCare (No) and the Federal Government (No)

"So, how long will House Republicans continue to take a stand? Until the polls indicate that they will lose in November 2014. On October 1, enrollment in the exchanges is to begin. But hardly anyone knows how to enroll yet. The computer programs are not ready. The confusion has not yet hit. The sense of betrayal has not yet hit Obama’s poll numbers. If Republicans can hold out long enough for resentment against the program to spread, they win politically. They can hold out longer. But at some point, they will capitulate. That’s what the uncertainty is all about. It’s about the timing of their capitulation." Continue reading →

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Peter Schiff Was Right – ‘Taper’ Edition

"When Ben Bernanke announced that the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee was going to continue its monetary expansion program it calls Quantitative Easing, almost everyone in the financial media was taken by complete surprise. According to the mainstream media, the non-taper 'surprised almost everyone out there.' Well it did not surprise me, nor anyone who had been paying attention to what I had been saying. As I said repeatedly over the past several months, the Fed knows that the appearance of economic health would evaporate if its stimulus were withdrawn, or even diminished." Continue reading →

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