Apr 30

Government subsidies to help the poor actually harm the poor by causing prices to rise

The above chart was generated by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and published on Marketwatch.com. It shows the overall price changes of certain products between 1997 and 2017.

As you can see, government-subsidized goods (college tuition and books and medical treatment) have increased at rates much higher than inflation.

Meanwhile, ‘tech’ products such as TVs, cell phones and computers, which are not subsidized by government, have gone down in price relative to inflation.

Government subsidizes college tuition, college textbooks, and medical treatment to help the poor (supposedly). Yet such programs greatly harm the poor.

Meanwhile, the corporations producing tech products are often demonized by government trusters. Yet their products are more easily obtained by the poor than in the past.

There are loud voices proclaiming that corporations are controlling American politics–and advocating the elimination of speech rights for corporations. (The goal of these voices, generally, is to empower government to push more socialistic programs like the programs that produce the high prices of college and health care.)

Apr 30

Chicago’s government water is contaminated by lead

Government-provided drinking water is often contaminated and toxic despite its exorbitant cost.

Here is a story about lead contamination in Chicago’s drinking water.

Apr 29

Australian government seeks further expanded powers to surveil citizen bank accounts, phone records and internet use

Australia is a former British colony. Like the American colonies, it inherited the British common law and the liberties that came with it.

And like everywhere else in the former British empire, Australia became prosperous and wealthy compared to the rest of the world.

Just as in America and Britain, warrants signed by judges were required for government agents to search people’s private records.

But just as in the U.S., the Australian government began carving back on common liberties in recent years–under the claim that the threat of “terrorism” was everywhere.

Some years ago, Australian law switched so that a warrants need only be signed by “the Attorney-General [not a judge] to access Australians’ emails, bank records and text messages.”

And now there is a secret plan among some in the Australian government to further erode the privacy of the citizenry. Government “[m]inisters are reportedly planning to amend the Intelligence Services Act of 2001 to allow” Aussie Home Affairs officials to access citizen records without warrant and without even notifying the attorney general.

“The plan was revealed by a leaked letter from Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo to Defence Secretary Greg Moriarty.”

The secret plan was leaked to the Telegraph.

Apr 29

More death threats against climate skeptics

Mark Morano, author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change,” provides many examples of death threats and other violent threats against himself in an unpublished chapter of the book. See here.

(Apparently the publishers did not want to include this chapter, so Morano has self-published excerpts from the missing chapter on his blog Climatedepot.com.)

Researchers who disagree with the government’s apocalyptic manmade global warming theory have been subjected to hundreds of documented death threats. (No one arguing for the government’s theory has ever reported being subjected to a death threat because of his position.)

Other skeptics are subjected to demands that they be imprisoned, loss of jobs, and loss of government research grants. See here (Bill Gray), here (shots fired at John Cristy’s office), and here Oregon State University chemistry professor Nicholas Drapela fired after expressing skepticism).

Apr 28

Millions flee socialist Venezuela

The vibrant people of Venezuela began voting for socialist politicians 20 years ago. The politicians promised government health care, government jobs, and government security.

Government trusters in the west applauded Venezuela.

But now hundreds of thousands have died from starvation, murder and disease.

Venezuelans are now pouring over the borders seeking asylum in neighboring states. The New York Times recently ran a stirring story about Venezuelan refugees in Brazil.

1.8 million are expected to join the 1.5 million Venezuelans who have already fled.

Brazil recently declared a national emergency and ordered the military to take over the Venezuelan refugee camps.

Stay tuned!

Apr 27

Just 150,000 of 40 million Californians pay half of state income tax

California has remarkable features.

Victor Davis Hanson notes that California is the 5th or 6th largest economy in the world.

California’s tech industry is responsible for at least half all internet traffic in the world.

But the people of California are saddled with an increasingly socialist government. Fifty percent of Californians pay no state income tax.

And just 150,000 rich Californians pay half of the State’s income taxes. See here.

Apr 26

Pro- Government Extremist Faculty at Montana State University Vote to Deny Research Center named after Government-Critical Koch Brothers

America’s government-supported colleges and universities are temples of government worship and central planning. Almost any American who walks onto a college campus becomes immediately less free. MSU has speech codes and speech “zones.”

The faculty at MSU spew a steady stream of pro-government extremist research and sentiment. Their “research” on such matters as campaign-finance policy, science, energy, climate, and economics invariably favor the government and promote more government control.

Recently, the libertarian-leaning Charles Koch Foundation offered to donate $5.7 million to the University to establish a research center.

Although the pro-government Bozeman Daily Chronicle called the Koch Brothers “controversial,” the views of the Koch brothers are almost certainly closer to the views of the majority of Americans than are the views of the MSU faculty. See here.

The majority of MSU professors voted to take the money from the Koch Foundation but deny the launch of a Koch research center, apparently pursuant to the faculty’s view that research criticizing government control, regulation and policies should be disfavored.

Apr 25

Government’s War on Science: CDC Concealed Results of Study that Supported Private Firearms

Back during the 1990s, the government “Center for Disease Control” (CDC) was caught spending vast funds to fund gun control “studies.” The agency produced a variety of studies blaring such headlines as “Guns in the home are 43 times more likely to kill a family member than an intruder.” See here.

The government’s studies were poorly constructed and designed to promote anti-(private)-gun sentiment. Gun-freedom advocates were outraged and worked to get a Congressional ban on funding for such gun control promotion.

Government trusters complained that Congress’ gun-control-study ban was ‘war on science’ and sought to overturn the rule.

During the Obama years, the government trusters got what they wished. In the wake of the Sandy Hook saga, President Obama issued an Executive Orders giving the CDC $10 million to “research gun violence.”

But when the CDC’s “research” showed that private guns are generally safe and often used to thwart violence, the CDC SUPPRESSED THE STUDIES. See here.

Apr 24

Davidson College disinvites renowned anti-government history professor Burton Folsom for being ‘not academic enough’

Buton Folsom is one of America’s premier historians of ingenuity, economics and industry. His books and peer-reviewed articles are read widely.

But Folsom takes a decidedly different perspective from most other humanities and social-science professors. His works often criticize regulation and government control.

Recently a student group at government-supporting Davidson College (in North Carolina) arranged to have Professor Folsom (who teaches at Michigan’s Hillsdale College) speak at the North Carolina campus.

But pro-government extremist college authorities overruled the student group. They say Burton Folsom is not ‘academic’ enough to be featured at Davidson College’s main venue.

See here.

Apr 19

More U.S. postal workers arrested for keeping mail

Every inspection of U.S. Postal facilities has found stamped mail illegally destroyed, thrown in trashcans or hidden in workers’ vehicles or personal spaces. The U.S. Postal Service charges more than twice what a private sector business would charge for the same services, but maintains its monopoly on letter delivery by acts of Congress.

The government postal service loses about $5 billion annually despite having every market advantage. The USPS pays no state or federal income tax, no corporate tax, and no property tax. The USPS owns some of the most prestige real estate locations in the world.

The USPS also illegally monitors and surveils the American people by various means, including by recording the packaging of almost every parcel.

US Postal workers are significantly overpaid, and thousands of people apply for every advertised opening.

Now there is news of two more arrests of U.S. Postal workers for illegally keeping properly-stamped mail. One man, in New York City, was found with undelivered mail in his vehicle. Another, on Long Island, New York, was arrested after investigators found dozens of bags filled with undelivered mail behind his home. See here.