Dec 30

Post-recession banking regulations have made things worse

564.03

It is a myth that “deregulation” caused the housing bubble (and later, the crash) of 2008. And a bigger myth that post-recession laws have improved banking.

As John C. Goodman writes, almost everything said by government and pro-government economists about the 2008 recession is a myth. See here.

And the “cure” hatched by Congress in 2009–the Dodd-Frank law, which imposed thousands of pages of new regulations on the banking industry–has made things worse.

[After Dodd-Frank], Banks are holding more reserves; they are making fewer loans; there are more consolidations and fewer banks are forming; the industry is hiring a ton of regulatory compliance officers and very few new loan officers; and the recovery from the recession has been the slowest on record.

Dec 30

State of Oregon Seizes Bank Account of Cake Decorators Who Refused to Bake Lesbian Wedding Cake

anguish

Ever wonder what it was like to be a Jew in Nazi Germany?

Melissa and Aaron Klein–described as “devout evangelical Christians who own a mom-and-pop bakery”–are beginning to find out; in Oregon!

In July, they were ordered to pay more than $135,000 in damages to a lesbian couple after they refused to bake their wedding cake. The Kleins objected because of their religious beliefs.

The judgment was awarded to the lesbians for “emotional suffering.”

(Of course, every person has a right to marry the person or persons or things they love. Government has no right to interfere, sanction, or unsanction such personal choices. That is not the issue).

Just a few weeks before Christmas, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian wiped out the Klein family’s bank accounts – taking nearly $7,000. See here.

Dec 29

Peer-Reviewed, Comprehensive Study of Worldwide Glacial Melt Cannot Detect Influence of Carbon Dioxide

cold4

Glaciers have been melting steadily for centuries. This peer-reviewed study–perhaps the most comprehensive study of global glacial melting patterns ever published–concludes that the world’s glaciers GENERALLY MELTED at the same rate in THE FIRST HALF OF the 20th Century as in the SECOND HALF of the 20th Century.

What of the influence of carbon dioxide? or the industrial revolution generally?

These scientists failed to detect any such influence. (Though they are ‘true believers’ in the AGW thesis.)

See also this overview of the false claims of modern government officials claiming global glacial melting is attributable to manmade-global-warming (with old news clippings, maps, etc.)

Title: “Feedbacks and mechanisms affecting the global sensitivity of glaciers to climate change”

Dec 29

The Police Bubble is Bursting in D.C.: Bloated Pay and Benefits Lead to Decreases in Force; “Conservatives” Continue with “War on Policing” Narrative

imagesR22IEHB9

The policing industry is a bubble that is about to burst. Police officers nationwide are grossly overpaid and lavished with luxurious benefits. Many cities cannot keep up with police pension obligations and are being forced to make cuts.

Washington, D.C.’s police force has been compelled to shed aging officers. And “conservative” columnist Matt Vespa complains that the “D.C. Police Force Falls Below 3,800 Officers” even as homicides in the District are supposedly “surging.” See here.

It a loathsome tradition among people who call themselves conservatives to adore and worship men in uniform (Cops, Firefighters, and Soldiers) even as these same voices pretend to extoll the original intent of the Constitution and call for “limited government.” (Note that the Constitution’s Framers knew nothing of professional policing and deliberately tried to prohibit the government from supporting a perennial soldiery.)

Since the recent police abuse controversies in Ferguson, Missouri and elsewhere, “conservatives” have been proclaiming that police nationwide are “under siege” or under cultural attack.

Vespa conveniently FAILS TO MENTION that D.C. police salaries have grown significantly faster than inflation in recent decades, and that there are hundreds and perhaps thousands of D.C. cops pulling in 6-figure salaries.

Dec 28

Bozeman Daily Chronicle prints article praising DUI snitching

chinese_swat-1024x652

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle is, arguably, Montana’s most pro-government extremist newspaper. And that is saying something.

For years, the BDC has unleashed a relentless stream of pro-government editorials and news stories. Perhaps never has the newspaper published a lead editorial calling for less government in any dimension.

Now the BDC is blatantly praising citizens who snitch on their neighbors who are seen driving unusually. See here.

Dec 27

Now Governments Claim their Surveillance Powers are to Stop “Bullying”

Hitler

The greatest bully in the world is, of course, the state.

Yet states are now justifying vast surveillance powers upon their subjects by claiming such total surveillance helps fight “bullying.” (Government claims of protecting subjects from “terrorism” might be losing their credibility.)

See here.

Dec 26

Scientific American Falls Further: Magazine Now Abandons All Pretext of Objectivity in Pursuit of Climate Socialism

654

In case one needed more evidence that the “Scientific American” magazine has become a political sheet rather than a science periodical.

A December 1, 2015 article in the once-respected science magazine bore the title, “Without Government, the Marketplace Will Not Solve Climate Change.”

The political essay, by global-warming hysteric Naomi Oreskes, provided such tidbits as these:

“For the past 30 years the ideology of the unfettered marketplace has so dominated our discourse that most of us can scarcely imagine an alternative way of organizing our affairs.” [Note that this is falsified by almost every measurement of regulation and government growth rates.]

“Investment in scientific research, public education and infrastructure is a common good, but our commitments to those activities have been weakened in recent decades.” [Again, this is falsified by the most superficial analysis of government taxation and spending on lower, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as government research funding.]

“Above all, we have to reject the canard that addressing climate change threatens our liberty.”

Dec 26

New Poll: Vast Majority of Americans view Big Government as their Greatest Threat

crushed
Gallup polling has just found that a supermajority of voters, 69 percent, view big government as the biggest threat in the future.

Amazingly, even a majority of Democrats agree that big government is the greatest threat.

Only a tiny extremist minority (25 percent) view big business as the greatest threat.

See here.

Dec 21

Money is Speech. And this has been Known since at least 1830

02050003

by Roger I. Roots,
Founder, Lysander Spooner University

Over the past few years, I have become more interested in the topic of campaign finance laws, and how such laws interfere with freedom of speech.

Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, there have been thousands of published proclamations that campaign speech freedom will bring an end to democracy itself. There have even been votes in Congress to repeal parts of the First Amendment in order to give government more power to regulate and control political speech.

Occasionally I hear people proclaim that “money is not speech!” And therefore, such voices suggest, the First Amendment is no bar to government regulations aimed at campaign spending.

Is this true?

I spent a few moments googling to try to find out if any ancient voice had pronounced that money is speech (or that money is not speech).

It didn’t take long to find the following:

An 1830 essay by Josiah Warren of Cincinnati, Jan. 30, 1830. “It is well known . . . that printing is a power that governs the destinies of mankind: and therefore those who can control the printing-press can control their fellow creatures. . . . At this time, 1830, the means of printing are so expensive that the great mass of the people are almost totally deprived of their use–while the wealthy few (by their capital or influence) wield this mighty engine, to increase their own power, and to weaken that of others.

Thus, as early as 1830 it was recognized that political speech was not “equally distributed.” The “rich” could exercise their rights more than the “poor.”

* Josiah Warren, Reduction in the Cost of Printing Apparatus, Mechanics’ Magazine and Journal of Science, Arts, and Manufactures, Volume 13 (1830).

Dec 21

America’s millions have produced blowback against gay rights in Africa

564.6

A lesson in unintended consequences. The New York Times has a detailed expose’ on the blowback caused by U.S. government efforts to promote tolerance for gay rights in Africa. See here (republished by MSN news).

According to the report, U.S. taxpayers have been forced to spend $700 million dollars for a government program promoting gay rights around the world. This outrageous spending has prompted several African countries to enact harsh anti-gay laws.

In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, the final passage of the 2014 law against homosexuality — which made same-sex relationships punishable by 14 years in prison and made it a crime to organize or participate in any type of gay meeting — is widely regarded by both supporters and opponents of gay rights as a reaction to American pressure on Nigeria and other African nations to embrace gay rights.