Economics

California’s New Democratic Supermajority is the Path to a Smaller America

"California, where I once lived for several years, simply makes no sense in its current configuration. Northern California has little in common with Southern California, and the rural, ag-heavy Central Valley has nothing in common with the glitzy, pricey coast. Lawmakers – who make a mockery of leadership in California – have proven time and again through the years that they’re incapable of effectively or prudently managing the diverse needs of such a diverse state. In short, California makes far more sense as three separate states … and the supermajority is quite likely the accidental path to that future." Continue reading →

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The Fiscal Cliff’s Structural Endgame

"This Grand Bargain is coming apart as the promises made to everyone cannot possibly be met. Claims on welfare and disability programs are skyrocketing at the same time that the demographics of an aging populace are causing 10,000 people a day to enter Social Security and Medicare, the two costliest government programs. Meanwhile, the upper middle class that pays most of the taxes has been slammed with lower income and a devastating drop in their housing-based net worth." Continue reading →

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Social Security Ran $47.8B Deficit in FY 2012; Disabled Workers Hit New Record in December: 8,827,795

"The Social Security program ran a $47.8 billion deficit in fiscal 2012 as the program brought in $725.429 billion in cash and paid $773.247 for benefits and overhead expenses. The Social Security Administration also released new data revealing that the number of workers collecting disability benefits hit a record 8,827,795 in December--up from 8,805,353 in November. The overall number of Social Security program beneficiaries also hit a record in December, climbing from 56,658,978 in November to 56,758,185 in December." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSocial Security Ran $47.8B Deficit in FY 2012; Disabled Workers Hit New Record in December: 8,827,795

Not So Merry Christmas Drug Busts

"Local news reports 16 arrests for marijuana possession in nearby Jamestown. The Department of Homeland Security participated in these arrests. This is so bad, so bad. Every week this happens. Think of the huge amounts of taxes being wasted on hunting these people down, arresting them, holding them in detention centers and jails, putting them through the judicial system, and putting some in prison. It's incredible that this goes on. And for what? Now get this. In this state, New York State, a poll shows that 71 percent of voters favor medical marijuana." Continue reading →

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8-child family defies China’s one-child policy

"China’s one-child rule has numerous critics, but perhaps none have so emphatically defied the policy as a couple who have accumulated four boys and four girls — some born to two surrogate mothers. Authorities are calculating how high a fine to impose on the family, described as 'rich merchants' in the southern province of Guangdong, estimating that it could reach 10 times their annual income. While the triplets born to the mother via artificial insemination were deemed legal, they were delivered in Hong Kong — a popular option for wealthy Chinese who want to secure residency there for their children and evade the mainland China quota." Continue reading →

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Why You Might Only Be Able to Get Part-Time Work in 2013

"Here is what I am doing for the rest of the year -- working with every manager in my company so that as of January 1, 2013, none of our employees are working more than 28 hours a week. We have got to get our company under 50 full time employees or else I am facing a bill from Obamacare in 2014 that will be several times larger than my annual profit. I love my workers. They make me a success. But most of my competitors are small businesses that are exempt from the Obamacare hammer. To compete, I must make sure my company is exempt as well. This means that our 400+ full time employees will have to be less than 50 in 2013." Continue reading →

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Men Find Careers in Collecting Disability

"In 1960, some 455,000 workers were receiving disability payments. In 2011, the number was 8,600,000. In 1960, the percentage of the economically active 18-to-64 population receiving disability benefits was 0.65 percent. In 2010, it was 5.6 percent. Things have changed. Americans have grown healthier, and significantly lower numbers die before 65 than was the case a half-century ago. Nevertheless, the disability rolls have ballooned. Eberstadt points out that in 1960, only one-fifth of disability benefits went to those with 'mood disorders' and 'muscoskeletal' problems. In 2011, nearly half of those on disability voiced such complaints." Continue reading →

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Why the Poles keep coming: The British welfare trap

"If I was in a position of a British single mother I have not the slightest doubt that I would choose welfare. Why break your back on the minimum wage for longer than you have to, if it doesn’t pay? Some people do have the resolve to do it. I know I wouldn’t. Until our policymakers start to see things through the eyes of those ensnared in welfare traps, nothing will change. The Poles are not caught in this welfare trap. For then, the work premium is far higher. If you had designed a system to keep the poor down, in would not look much different to the above." Continue reading →

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Useless U.S.-Canada train roundtrips exploit U.S. energy program

"A train carrying biodiesel crisscrossed the Canada-US border repeatedly without unloading its cargo, exploiting a loophole in a US green energy program. The EPA mandates that oil companies must bring a certain amount of renewable fuel to the US market. Verdeo retired an equivalent number of credits generated from ethanol production that were worth pennies compared to biodiesel credits that traded as high as one US dollar apiece when it turned the train around. A dozen back-and-forth railway trips across the border reportedly cost Can $2.6 million but would have generated biodiesel credits worth US $12 million." Continue reading →

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