GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Too many wars and things like wars

Friday, January 15, 2010

http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/

January 15, 2010
Talking Points: 1/14

*** begin quote ***

Another $100 million of American tax money heading to Haiti

*** end quote ***

BO’R brings up a good point: American aid will be stolen by a corrupt “government”.

He argues for intervention. Sorry, but it’s not our place to “give” freedom to the people of Haiti.

We have too many “wars”: “OCO — Overseas Contingency Operation aka Terrorism”Afpak, Iraq, “Some Drugs”, Poverty, yada, yada, yada.

Sorry, we have way too many wars!

Time to condense. Like Campbell’s soup, DoD: brings ALL the boys and girls home, condense all the intelligence into DOD, and let’s cut the foolishness. Save some bucks too!

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POLITICS: Name a gooferment program that works

Monday, January 11, 2010

http://libertyunbound.com/article.php?id=449

Bridging the Two Libertarianisms
Carl S. Milsted, Jr.
What does the nonaggression principle really mean for libertarianism?

*** begin quote ***

People routinely send mail by government post, drive on government roads, rely on government food inspections, walk on government sidewalks, and enforce contracts in government courts.

*** end quote ***

I once heard on Free Talk Live http://freetalklive.com/ one of the host expressed the paradigm: “Name one program that works? And, if we can agree it does work, how much does it cost? How much should it cost?”.

So let’s look at your examples:

  1. Mail: Even with funny accounting — they don’t count the cost of capital assets like real estate and equipment depreciation — the cost is absurd. And, they have to enforce the first class mail franchise with a law enforcing their monopoly. (The famous one dollar minimum for express delivery services.) It’s laughable when the USPS compares themselves to FedEx for package delivery since in some areas they subcontract to FedEx. And, let’s talk about lost mail. We have very little statistical information but that doesn’t mean they are flawless.
      
  2. Roads: In New Jersey, the roads are a disgrace. And, we had a gas tax trust fund that was raided by the goofenors of both parties to fund their pet projects. We have no way to know if there is a better way since no one is allowed to try a different way. We can look at the road in Disney World and other amusement parks that are in relatively perfect condition. Hard to imagine that a consortium of WalMart, UPS, and others couldn’t do as well. As a proxy, look at the Air Traffic Control System, that is run totally be the Federal Gooferment. Vintage 1950 computing causes massive delays. The roads are comperable. Where’s the innovation like in computers that makes roads better.
  3. Food Inspections: We can point to the fact that most “inspections” are either not done or don’t protect the people. A recent press story said that the gooferment accepts 10 or 20 times the level of filth in meat than McD’s does. We have no idea how much this “gooferment inspection” costs, but are people relying on that or the fact that they trust WalMart to sell them good stuff.
  4. Sidewalks: Sorry, but those are foisted on the property owner. Even when the gooferment destroys them, the land owner gets stuck fixing them. (I know personal experience.)
  5. Courts: That’s why we have Judge Judy on TV. The gooferment’s courts are backed up and capricious. And, heaven help you, if the gooferment has an interest in the suit. Sue the gooferment in it’s own court and be surprised at the result.

And on, and on, and on.

I have yet to see a gooferment program that works. Or even not working, do it at a reasonable cost.

I notice that the author didn’t cite: schools, dmv, health insurance, health care, foreign policy, DoD, and on, and on, and on.

My solution is to be pragmatic.

Let’s have an exit plan. It may take decades to “unwind” these programs, but let’s start.

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: You can’t make this stuff up

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/travel/80731457.html

A bomb scare Tuesday at the Lindbergh terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport brought things to a virtual halt.
By ABBY SIMONS and SUZANNE ZIEGLER, Star Tribune staff writers
Last update: January 5, 2010 – 7:17 PM

*** begin quote ***

Portions of the Lindbergh terminal at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport were evacuated for about 90 minutes Tuesday afternoon after a bomb-sniffing dog reacted as though there were something suspicious on a bag found in the baggage claim area.

As it turned out, the battered pink bag was airport property, the one crews put on the carousel to mark that all luggage has been unloaded.

*** end quote ***

Left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

It leaves me speechless!

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POLITICAL: Top 10 disasters of the 2009 Obama administration

Monday, January 4, 2010

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2009/12/libertarians-release-top-10-disasters-of-2009-obama-administration/

*** begin quote ***

Libertarians release

Top 10 disasters of the 2009 Obama administration (in no particular order):

   1. Cash for Clunkers

   2. War escalation in Afghanistan

   3. Giant government health care expansion bill

   4. Post office loses money hand over fist

   5. Stimulus package

   6. Expansion of “state secrets” doctrine

   7. Big increase in unemployment

   8. “Bailout” Geithner as Treasury Secretary

   9. Skyrocketing federal spending

  10. Huge federal deficits

*** end quote ***

“Cash For Cluckers” was a bone-headed move on so many levels, but it was “cheap” in comparison to the items lower on the list. There’s no way I’d give it the #1 slot!

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POLITICAL: Fire “Big Sis”!

Friday, January 1, 2010

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/74041-homeland-security-dept-to-launch-international-airport-security-campaign

Napolitano announces international airport security campaign

By Tony Romm – 12/31/09 04:30 PM ET

*** begin quote ***

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday announced it would launch a campaign next week to strengthen security screening procedures at a host of international airports.

The effort is part of the White House’s heightened response to a Christmas Day attempt to bomb Delta Flight 253 in Detroit, a flight that originated in Amsterdam.

*** end quote ***

A story about a lock, a barn door, and a horse comes to mind!

Fire “Big Sis”!

She gets paid the big bux to ANTICIPATE and preclude problems.

Anyone can react. And, “everything worked” shows her to be incompetent.

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RANT: Air travel sucks

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Note: TSA at PHL is now enforcing a “two carry on bag limit” as you enter their lines. People are being told “Either consolidate or check it”. I’m sure the airlines are happy about this now that they all charge extra for each bag (i.e., 15$ to 100$).

Today, my wife’s nephew, his wife, and their twins had an “interesting” experience. Driving them to the airport, they found that their flight had been cancelled. Hubbie was booked on a later flight and Wifey with kids was delayed until the morrow. (Good luck finding a room on New Year’s Eve!)

Conflicting directions of where to check in. United moved them to US Airways in a different terminal. Then the lines again. Conflicting directions. More problems.

It all worked out. But not without a lot of angst!

Argh!

Confirms my firmly held conviction to never fly again.

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RANT: Fire Napolitano and ask Hillary some hard questions

Sunday, December 27, 2009

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091227/D9CRN3B02.html

*** begin quote ***

WASHINGTON (AP) – Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says there is no indication that the man who attempted to destroy an airliner in Detroit on Christmas Day is part of a larger terrorist plot. Napolitano refused to say whether Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has a connection to al-Qaida

*** end quote ***

Doesn’t anyone think she should be fired? Like the baseball manager who gets the ax for a poorly performing team, it may well not be her “fault”, but she’s the “manager”. TSA and Homeland Security “failed”; with some blame left over for Hillary and the State Department. (How did he get a visa?) Bet the next Czar of Homeland Security / TSAwill do better. (Or, they should be fired too!)

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RANT: Congress “fixes” the Airlines; we should “fix” Congress!

Saturday, December 26, 2009

http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2009/12/22/congress-fixes-airline-customer-service-with-new-law

Congress Fixes Airline Customer Service With New Law
Posted in December 22nd, 2009
by CAL, Curmudgeon at Large

*** begin quote ***

I would like to comment, but being Christmastime and all, there’s a risk it might make me appear to be all curmudgeonly. But, still.

Way to go, Congress. Can you imagine any other American business or institution other than the airlines so tone deaf as to ignore thousands of irate, tarmac-stuck, can’t-use-the-toilet customers? Again, thanks Congress. You fixed it. And Mr. Airline, you are lucky you didn’t get worse. You could have been shot.

*** end quote ***

May I blame the gooferment for the reason they pass a “Traveler’s Bill of Rights”?

Can we spell “regulatory capture”? That explains the FAA.

The Air Traffic Control system si generously credited to the 1950’s. Airports and their gates are a locally controlled joke.

How about if we make the airlines responsible for: the ATC, the airports, and their security?

Bet that the cost of fuel would give us a digital control system. Bet that the airports would be models of effiency and convenience. Bet that the security would be easy and transparent.

It’s the gooferment that is the problem.

Every time; every where!

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POLITICS: Unemployment numbers are misleading

Saturday, December 19, 2009

http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2009/12/18/unemployment-lies-and-deception

Unemployment Lies and Deception

December 18th, 2009

*** begin quote ***

As far as I know, unemployment numbers are based on those who are reporting to the government — those who are collecting unemployment insurance.

Guess what… unemployment insurance RUNS OUT. And then, you are so worthless, you aren’t even counted as a statistic! You are essentially written off the books.

Yeah, this really gets under my skin. And we aren’t even talking about UNDEREMPLOYED people!!

*** end quote ***

And, don’t forget the underemployed and the old farts who are now “retired” for want of anything better to do.

I fault the gooferment and it’s absolute stupidity.

First, average wage in gooferment is twice that of private industry. Regardless of how they slice and dice the numbers, gooferment workers are in the ascendancy in both quantity and money. TARP — bailout to the banks; should have just let them fail. (Cynically, I’d bet that they’d have figured out how to survive. The bail out of AIG was a direct payoff to Goldman Sachs. The same Goldman Sachs that paid gigantic bonuses.)

Second, every dollar the gooferment “gives” in unemployment benefits has to come from some taxpayer. Remember Basiat and the unseen victim. In this case, we now have four generation of “welfare farmers”. Some of those on “welfare” are rich companies and individuals. Milk and sugar subsidies come to mind.

Third, the poor economy has landed hard on the young and old. Youth unemployment — especially minority — is skyrocketing. And, the older workers are being forced into early retirement; some after burning through their savings from reduced retirement portfolios.

My solution is reduce gooferment. They need to cut, cut, and cut some more. Some entities need to be killed — Agriculture and Education would be my starting point. We need to cut the corporate income tax from 30+ to say ZERO. (Corporations don’t pay taxes. Only real people do. Corps pass them along or go out of business.) When Ron Paul campaigned, he asserted that cutting gooferment back to 1990 levels would allow the income tax to be ZERO.

Not like any of this is going to happen. But I wouldn’t trust anything the gooferment says or does. This included “running health care or health insurance”.

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RANT: Do we remember Pearl Harbor?

Monday, December 7, 2009

Tommorrow, December 7th, Americans MIGHT remember the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On a Sunday morning, 68 years ago, the US Navy were the recipients of a well-planned and poorly executed raid.

Twenty Five Hundred deaths that day; uncountable more in the resulting war.

Generations disrupted as they were in WW1.

And, the “cure” to the “Great Depression”. Would this be the beginning of the Leviathan Gooferment State?

Donning my tin foil hat, I call your attention to the role of FDR in provoking, if not orchestrating, the war he needed to restart the economy.

Our entry into WW1, by the “peace candidate” Wilson, allowed the seeds of WW2 to be sown. Our entry into WW2, by the instigator FDR, allowed the creation of a permanent “warfare” state.

This day is a reminder that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

… … not for the military invasion or aggression, but against the politicians who would enslave us in debt, welfare, and the never ending “war”.

Argh!

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