GOVEROTRAGEOUS: “Political Capitalism” is the death of “Market Capitalism”

Thursday, May 16, 2019

https://tomwoods.com/ep-1403-the-origins-and-evils-of-crony-capitalism/

I heard a great podcast episode that really cleared away some fog in my understanding of “what’s wrong with the USA”!

The guest, Randall Holcombe, made the point that we no longer live under the system of “Market Capitalism”, but under a NEW system of “Political Capitalism”.

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Political capitalism is an economic and political system in which the economic and political elite cooperate for their mutual benefit. The economic elite influence the government’s economic policies to use regulation, government spending, and the design of the tax system to maintain their elite status in the economy. The political elite are then supported by the economic elite which helps the political elite maintain their status; an exchange relationship that benefits both the political and economic elite.

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He translated Karl Marx’s “oppression of classes” into “those with political influence oppress those without it”.  Occupy Wall Street’s “the 1% oppress the 99%”.

It makes perfect sense as an explanation of how things are now working.

  • Argue against smoking but then giving tax subsidies to tobacco farmers.
  • Decry obesity but give “parity payments” to sugar producers.
  • Ethanol in gas means a payoff to farmers and raises food prices.
  • Bailouts of the “fat cat Wall Streeters” as opposed to the people being foreclosed on.

And on, and on, and on!

I didn’t hear a lot of solutions except for: (1) strongly objecting to anyone seeking “transfers from the public to the privileged individuals; and (2) opposition to every extension of Gooferment into every day life.

Argh!

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Eight Questions for Russia Hoaxers to Answer After End of Mueller Probe | Breitbart

Thursday, May 16, 2019

2 – Were Obama administration officials involved in passing dossier charges of questionable political origin to the FBI or bolstering Steele’s credibility to the bureau?David Kramer, a long-time adviser to late Senator John McCain, revealed in testimony that he met with two Obama administration officials to inquire about whether the anti-Trump dossier authored by former British spy Christopher Steele was being taken seriously.In a deposition on Dec. 13, 2017 that was recently posted online, Kramer said that McCain specifically asked him in early December 2016 to meet about the dossier with Victoria Nuland, a senior official in John Kerry’s State Department, as well as an official from the National Security Council.Nuland’s specific role in the dossier episode has been the subject of some controversy for her.

Source: Eight Questions for Russia Hoaxers to Answer After End of Mueller Probe | Breitbart

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Another great question?

What was McCain’s role in getting even with DJT45?

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Ajit Pai proposes new rule that would allow carriers to block robocalls – The Verge

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

The new rule would make it easier for carriers, like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, to automatically register their customers for call-blocking technology. As of right now, customers have to opt-in on their own. It would also allow customers to block calls coming from phone numbers that are not on their contacts list. Commissioners are expected to vote on the measure at their June 6th meeting.

Source: Ajit Pai proposes new rule that would allow carriers to block robocalls – The Verge

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Sounds like “it’s about time”.

I love how Gooferment always arrive late to the party and then claims to lead!

I’d like an option that non-contact calls get route to voice mail automagically.

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Eight Questions for Russia Hoaxers to Answer After End of Mueller Probe | Breitbart

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

1 – Was a false crime deliberately reported to the FBI?Former British spy Christopher Steele reportedly met on July 5, 2016 with a Rome-based special agent, where he turned over the unsubstantiated, largely-discredited anti-Trump charges listed in his infamous dossier alleging collusion between Russia and Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.The controversial Fusion GPS firm hired Steele to do the anti-Trump work that resulted in the compilation of the dossier. Fusion GPS was paid for its anti-Trump work by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee via the Perkins Coie law firm.The dossier contents were so unverified that numerous major media outlets briefed on the document refused to publish stories on the salacious material.The BBC reported that Steele’s information served as a “road map” for the FBI’s investigation into claims of coordination between Moscow and members of Trump’s presidential campaign.

Source: Eight Questions for Russia Hoaxers to Answer After End of Mueller Probe | Breitbart

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That’s a good question!

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Will political correctness kill classic movies? | TheHill

Monday, May 13, 2019

One highly controversial film, and its collective shunning, predates the current PC mania. The 1915 drama “Birth of a Nation” glorified the KKK and dehumanized black slaves, among other revolting elements. Cultural critics marvel at some of its artistic achievements, given the technical constraints of the era, but its content makes any public display cultural dynamite.

Source: Will political correctness kill classic movies? | TheHill

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If we forget our “history” — both good and bad — aren’t we doomed to repeat it?

Every mature person should see the horrors of slavery, the Holocaust, the “War of Northern Aggression”, the Japanese internment, the Tuskegee experiments, the Trail of Tears, the bombing of Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.

Sorry if it “hurts”, but it’s “history”.

We need it to remember.

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Why Did it Have to be … Guns?, by L. Neil Smith

Monday, May 13, 2019

Sure, these are all leading questions. They’re the questions that led me to the issue of guns and gun ownership as the clearest and most unmistakable demonstration of what any given politician—or political philosophy—is really made of.

Source: Why Did it Have to be … Guns?, by L. Neil Smith

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Gun Ownership is the palladium of liberty.

The ability to defend yourself is the essence of the non-aggression principle and self-ownership.

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Harvey Weinstein’s ex-lawyer loses position at Harvard despite bowing out of case – ABC News

Sunday, May 12, 2019

“Mr. Sullivan believed that Mr. Weinstein deserved a vigorous defense, and it is a sad moment for us all right now,” Engelmayer said. “We, as a country, have now reached the point when a Harvard lawyer and professor cannot serve his duty to, and belief in, the law and defend a person who may be deemed unpopular or unworthy of a legal defense by segments of the public.”

Source: Harvey Weinstein’s ex-lawyer loses position at Harvard despite bowing out of case – ABC News

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A liberal college “mod” of politically correct snowflakes deprives a defendant of his best defense.  That’s un-American!

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Warfare State Strikes Again: Another Life Lost to Endless War

Friday, May 10, 2019

The military makes up around $989 billion of the US’s current spending. This number alone should raise eyebrows, but the human cost is simply inhumane. At least 8,000 US soldiers have been killed since September 11th, and thousands more have been wounded. None of these deaths happened in defense of liberty. Rather, every single casualty that has occurred is a result of the power-mongers in Washington DC. 9/11, after all, is a result of blowback.

While the American Warfare State has cost Americans trillions in tax dollars, it has cost thousands of lives and millions of people will suffer from PTSD as a result.

War is far from humanitarian. It has made us less safe and less free. Spc. Riley is just one of the millions of examples of the cost of war. The unfortunate truth is that the government has exploited incidents like 9/11 to indoctrinate the public into supporting the US’s illegal and immoral wars.

If we wish to be free, we must bring the troops home and refuse to fall for the siren song of the Military Industrial Complex. Those charlatans are an enemy of liberty, and they do not care for the trail of blood and corpses that they leave behind.

Source: Warfare State Strikes Again: Another Life Lost to Endless War

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“WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.” –Major General Smedley Butler

Only strategy or tactic is to bring the troops home. NOW!

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Pro-Abortion Decision of Kansas Supreme Court Has National Implications

Thursday, May 9, 2019

Clearly, the people of Kansas at the time didn’t think their Constitution protected the right to an abortion.Justice Caleb Stegall wrote a searing dissent, criticizing the majority for “abandon[ing] the original public meaning” of the Kansas Constitution and “arbitrarily grant[ing] a regulatory reprieve to the judicially privileged act of abortion.”He summarized the majority’s ahistorical reasoning in stark terms: “[T]he story told by the majority is a strange one. In it, all the luminaries of the western legal tradition— from Sir Edward Coke and William Blackstone to Edmund Burke and Thomas Jefferson—would celebrate and enshrine a right to nearly unfettered abortion access.

Source: Pro-Abortion Decision of Kansas Supreme Court Has National Implications

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“Activist judges” will be the death of the Republic.

Words mean what they mean.

Finding new “positive” rights in old texts is impossible since the Dead Old White Guys knew the difference between the RIGHT to be left alone (negative) and a RIGHT to something (positive).

“Cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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700 rockets, 4 dead Israelis: Is the Iron Dome getting worse? – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

The number of unintercepted rockets and Israeli fatalities sparked inquiry about the effectiveness of Iron Dome.

Source: 700 rockets, 4 dead Israelis: Is the Iron Dome getting worse? – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post

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The missile that did get through in Ashdod killed Pinchas Menachem Prezuazman, a 21-year old American citizen who was hit while running for cover. Even with a high level of interceptions, with enough metal flying, some are bound to get through, Gross said, adding that it was unclear exactly how the IDF had calculated its claimed 86 percent interception rate.

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Unacceptable.

“This business will get out of control. It will get out of control and we’ll be lucky to live through it.” — The Hunt for Red October (1990) by Admiral Josh Painter played by Fred Dalton Thompson

I can understand that the Israelis are going to strike back.

Can’t say as I blame them.

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