Jun 26

IRS Continues to Obstruct Justice: “Separation of Powers” Remains Broken.

10612629_10152395047450197_2757094531327973036_n

Under James Madison’s constitutional theory, the separate branches of government would “check” each others’ powers by applications of their own officers’ rival jealousies. For example, legislators can cut the budgets of the executive branch when executive-branch officers overreach. In practice, such “checking” almost never happens, because all three branches have learned to share in common control and exploitation of the American people.

When it came to light that the IRS has been persecuting “tea party” groups seeking 501(c)(4) status as “social welfare” groups (like thousands of other similar organizations, e.g., the Sierra Club, the NRA, etc.), Congress began investigating.

It soon emerged that the IRS obstructed Congress’s investigation, by, for example, deleting incriminating emails. When the highest-level IRS officials were summoned before committees of Congress, such IRS officials falsely claimed that incriminating emails had been “lost.”

Further investigations followed. It has now emerged that IRS officials have deliberately deleted and concealed incriminating emails AFTER they became aware of congressional investigations (and after their IRS head testified falsely that no emails could be found).

The obvious answer is for Congress to slash the budget of the IRS and force the agency to lay off hundreds. (Prosecuting executive-branch agents is difficult when prosecuting officials are themselves agents and partisans of the executive branch.)

“[Investigators] took possession of the 424 backup tapes and determined that 422 of the 424 tapes were degaussed (i.e., magnetically erased) by IRS employees in Martinsburg on or around March 4, 2014, one month after the IRS realized they were missing e-mails from Lois Lerner, and approximately eight months after the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform requested ‘all documents and communications sent by, received by, or copied to Lois Lerner.’”

The National Review story is here.

Jun 25

U.S. Supreme Court conceptually rewrites Obamacare law in order to uphold it.

dyingfreedom

It is a frequent criticism of judges that they are “activists”–politicians in judicial clothing. The reality, however, is that the judiciary is amazingly passive and tends to bend over backward to uphold the ridiculous, unconstitutional, and intrusive measures and enactments of the executive and legislative branches.

Today, June 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the extension of Obamacare subsidies into states that did not set up their own “exchanges”–DESPITE THE PLAIN LANGUAGE OF THE STATUTE(S) INDICATING THAT Obamacare subsidies would not apply in such states.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, penned this ridiculous statement: “In this instance, the context and structure of the act compel us to depart from what would otherwise be the most natural reading of the pertinent statutory phrase.”

Justice Scalia dissented, and said to an audience at the Supreme Court building, “We really should start calling this law Scotus-care,” to laughter from the audience.

Jun 24

Study demolishes the myth of multi-generational inherited wealth

illuminati-pyramid2

Government trusters and advocates of violent redistribution of wealth frequently claim that the superrich are hoarding and amassing inherited investment wealth at rates that surpass the upward mobility of working classes. For example, government-trusting economist Thomas Piketty made such a claim in his book Capital in the 21st Century (2014). Piketty argued that economic inequality increases as capital accumulates in the hands of ultra-rich families.

But recent research has shattered this argument (again). There is, in fact, rapid turnover among people in the “super rich” category. Estates rise and fall. “[A]t any given time, roughly half of the collective worth of the hyper-wealthy is first-generation earned wealth, not inherited wealth,” according to the authors of the study.

Dynastic wealth accumulation is simply a myth. The reality is that each generation spawns its own entrepreneurs who create vast pools of entirely new wealth, and enjoy their share of it, displacing many of the preceding generations’ entrepreneurial wealth creators. Today, the massive fortunes of the 19th century are largely depleted and almost all of the fortunes generated just a half-century ago are also gone.

The study can be downloaded here. A writeup in Reason Magazine can be found here.

Jun 24

“Five years of wage cuts, tax increases and record unemployment”: Greeks awaken to a New Normal of ever-higher taxes and slavery to pay for their welfare state

sociallism

Socialism is a curse that should be wished only on one’s enemies. Every society that embraces it will ultimately become sick and weak.

Greeks are now learning the lesson that years of socialized medicine, welfare, security entitlements and big government must be paid for. The Greek people mortgaged their children’s future a generation ago, and those children have now grown up to experience life under virtual slavery.

Greece, of course, is legendary for its past innovation, invention, arts and learning. But modern Greek industry has died, and Greek innovation has been choked off due to high taxation and regulation.

Greek indebtedness now threatens the European Union itself. The story is here.

Jun 22

“Americans With Disabilities Act” LOWERED the percentage of disabled with jobs.

opium_dees

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in the early 1990s and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The law was passed with claims that it would help get people with disabilities gainfully employed.

But years later, we learn that the Act had the opposite effect. Employment of men with disabilities fell by 10.9 percentage points following the enactment of ADA, while employment of nondisabled men fell by 3.1 percentage points. Thus, ADA reduced the employment of disabled men by 7.8 percentage points. The study is here.

Jun 22

Research Problem: Can Anyone Devise a Method to Test Whether Medicare and/or Social Security Have Negatively Impacted General Health?

Roger Roots, J.D., Ph.D.

Roger Roots, J.D., Ph.D.

by Dr. Roger I. Roots

A previous post on the fact that today’s senior citizens are generally sicker (but longer-living, due to medical advancements) than their predecessors got me thinking.

Can this increased level of sickness and chronic illness among today’s populations be partially attributed to Medicare? Or to Social Security?

This is not as outlandish as it seems. I’ve read some research suggesting that increased use of safety devices such as seat belts, and car insurance may be correlated with riskier driving behavior by drivers.

The evidence is overwhelming that Social Security has incentivized Americans to save less, invest less, and retire earlier. Overall, Americans work fewer total hours per lifetime in response to Social Security (and, presumably, Medicare). The country is slightly poorer and less prosperous than it would have been otherwise. Could these entitlement programs also incentivize American workers to work less safe? Or to live less healthy?

I don’t know how to test or measure this hypothesis. If anyone who can offer a suggestion would email me at [email protected], I would be very grateful.

Thanks!

Jun 22

An Explosion of Wealth and Prosperity in Latin America? Low Tax Rates are Slowly bringing Latin America into the First World

LysanderSpoonerUniversity2[1] (2)

Even as the West is careening toward socialism and forced redistribution, some Latin American countries are increasingly seen as low-tax havens.

And the numbers of wealthy Latin Americans is growing rapidly. A June 21, 2015 story in Yahoo News detailed the fascinating growth of the super rich in Latin America.

Mexico and Brazil, for example, are increasingly large markets for Porsche and other luxury automobiles. In Peru, Colombia, and Panama, numbers of such automobiles are approaching growth rates of 60 percent per year. Mexico is now second only to the U.S. in new purchases of private jets.

And although there is widespread poverty in South and Central America, measures of human well-being are improving across the entire socio-economic strata.

Jun 22

Senior citizens are increasingly sicker, but living longer at others’ expense

torn_dees

On June 10, 2015, the USA Today printed a front-page feature article about the health of America’s seniors. The story reported that “15 % of seniors account for nearly half of Medicare spending.” And one amazing fact stood out: The seniors of today are generally sicker than predecessors, measured by numbers of illness diagnoses. Fully two-thirds of Medicare beneficiaries over 65 “have multiple chronic conditions.”

And these increasingly sicker senior citizens are living longer than their predecessors, due to medical advances. And costs are poised to soar into the stratosphere. “The average elderly patient with five or more chronic conditions . . . sees 13 doctors and fills 50 prescriptions in a year.” According to Johns Hopkins University’s Gerard Anderson, just 10,000 seniors were responsible for $1 billion in Medicare spending in 2010.

Jun 19

In Greece, Savers are Scrambling to get their Money out of Banks

FED_dees

Greece, like the United States (and most other countries) has a government that has been spending beyond its means for decades. As Greece’s government has promoted an extravagant welfare state, fewer Greeks have started businesses, or worked industriously.

Now Greece is nearing (another, more severe) defaulting on its promises to the central banks of Europe. Most Greeks can sense that their investments and savings will soon be confiscated by their government, and are withdrawing their savings from banks rapidly.

Now central bankers are as much as admitting that the Greek government will likely steal its subjects’ savings, and that Greek banks may be closed for a “bank holiday” this coming Monday.

The joys of Keynsian economics!

Jun 16

Jaguar Range Rover is Already Perfecting Driverless Vehicles, Even as Bureaucrats are Perfecting Near-Total Regulation of Driving.

deathvdees

For years, the government-supremacist movement has imposed ever-greater regulations and controls on car and truck drivers. Waiting periods, background checks, written tests, vision tests, physical examinations, data checks, and all manner of other intrusive inquiries and requirements are part of government driver licensing.

Now just as the intrusive state nears a total control of driving regulation, technology is perfecting driverless vehicles. Range Rover-Jaguar is perfecting vehicles which operate without any hand on the wheel. A driver could–while getting unstuck from mud or snow–get out of the vehicle and push, while his vehicle safely steers itself out of its problem.

Soon, even drunk drivers, blind people or elderly people with severe health problems will be able to tell their cars to take them home, and their cars will get them safely to their destinations.