In his budget address to the legislature, Governor Chris Christie announced that New Jersey would participate in an expansion of Medicaid as part of Affordable Care Act known to most people as Obamacare.
Archive for the ‘Federal Government’ Category
Paul Krugman confesses: I am not an economist
18
Feb
In his New York Times column Paul Krugman calls for raising the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $9.00 as President Obama proposed in his State of the Union address. Krugman asserts this would be good policy but acknowledges that raising the minimum wage to $20 per hour would “create a lot of problems.” (See Robert Wenzel’s critique of Krugman’s essay.)
In fact, Krugman acknowledges, “Every textbook — mine included — lays out the unintended consequences that flow from policies like rent controls or agricultural price supports.” But when it comes to labor issues, Krugman ignores his professions conclusions about interfering in markets and asserts that raising a minimum price, in this case the price of unskilled labor, would not have any adverse consequences for workers.
How does Paul reach that conclusion? He doesn’t. Krugman is using his prestige as a Nobel Laureate in Economics and his perch as a New York Times pundit to exclaim to the world that what he writes in his textbook for which he makes oodles of money is really BS, because what he really believes in is “public policy.” Will Krugman’s publisher edit his textbook with the warning? “Paul Krugman claims to be an economist but does not believe in what he writes about markets. Read at your own risk.”
Ludwig von Mises anticipated Krugman and other “economists” decades ago when he wrote: “There is, in fact, in the writings and teaching of those who nowadays call themselves economists, no longer any comprehension of the operation of the economic system as such.”
Paul Krugman is smart but does not believe in the principles of his own profession. He is in effect an apologist for the welfare state.
Welcome to Obama’s America: Trickle down economics, legal plunder and overseas intervention
15
Feb
Below are some of the major excerpts of President Obama’s State of the Union address. After each section, I will clarify what the President means and how his proposals contradict his own rhetoric, namely, that the government should encourage free enterprise.
Open to big government: Be careful what you wish for
11
Feb
The front page article of the New York Times, “A Growing Trend: Young, Liberal and Open to Big Government,” is another example of why individuals need a basic education in economics and finance, which they apparently are not getting in high school or in college. Read the rest of this entry »
Cuba part three, Cuban-U.S. relations: end the embargo now
03
Feb
Carlos Alzugaray, a former Cuban ambassador to the European Union, was our last lecturer in Havana. A professor at the University of Havana, Dr. Alzugaray was a long time diplomat, who served in many countries during his 37-year career, called for “normal relations” between the two neighbors, the world’s greatest superpower and the small island nation that “is not a threat to the United States or its people.”
The GOP should fold up its “big tent” and just go away
02
Jan
The deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff passed the U.S. Senate with only eight no votes. The House passed the bill on New Year’s Day in another (smaller) “bipartisan” vote, 257 to 167. In other words, the GOP, the party of supposedly fiscal conservatism, caved in on higher taxes for not only upper income Americans but also allowed the temporary Social Security tax cut to expire for all wage earners. Moreover, the estate tax rate increases above $5 million.
Gun control and the right to defend life and property
28
Dec
Article I, Paragraph I of the New Jersey State Constitution under the heading RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES states:
“All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.” (Emphasis added.)
If the above words are unequivocal and correctly understood by the people of New Jersey, including all elected officials and justices of the Supreme Court, then it is obvious that the “natural and unalienable” right of self-defense and to property including the ownership of firearms cannot be taken away by the State of New Jersey. Thus, the government should not infringe on the right to own a firearm because it allows the people to defend their lives, safety and property. That means the right to purchase a firearm–a way to exercise the above rights–should not be subject to obtaining a “permit” from the State nor should the people have to obtain a permit, which is nearly impossible to get, to carry a concealed firearm.
In other words, while the state constitution recognizes the right of the people to defend themselves and their property wherever they may be, that right, the first right enumerated by constitution is virtually nonexistent in New Jersey.
In the State of New Jersey, the right of people to defend their lives and property is restricted by a multitude of regulations that virtually eviscerate the clear meaning of Article I, Paragraph I.
In light of the mini holocaust committed by Adam Lanza on December 14 at the Sandy Hook elementary school, the drumbeat for more gun control has been nonstop. I deliberately use the term mini holocaust to describe Lanza’s savage rampage. What Lanza did on a small scale, targeting young children and their teachers in a school was no different than what the Hiltlers, Stalins, Maos and Pol Pots and other monsters have done during the past 100 years, slaughter groups of people just because they had a common characteristic.
Carnage by governments around the world have not led to world wide calls for disarming governments, the greatest threat to human life and freedom in the history of the world.
And in New Jersey, which has some of the most anti-gun ownership statues on the books in gross violation of the state’s constitution, one legislator wants the state to restrict the number of cartridges in a semi-automatic firearm magazine to five from the current 10. Not surprisingly, a vast majority of New Jerseyans want “tougher” gun controls in the state, despite the fact that more gun control or confiscation leads to more crime. Incredibly, a third of the respondents would favor amending the US Constitution to ban private ownership of guns.
The right to self defense is a logical extension of the fundamental right to life that we are all born with. In short, the right to defend one’s life and property should be nonnegotiable and respected by lawmakers and judges. But the public’s desire to be free from monsters like Adam Lanza is creating a mass hysteria against the right to protect one’s self and our loved ones or those in our care. We all pray that there will be no more Sandy Hooks. But further diminishing the people’s right to self defense guarantees that the evil ones in our society will not think twice about committing mass murder.
The culture of violence in America? Blame the federal government
17
Dec
Since the horrific events in Newtown last Friday, a renewed call for more gun control has filled the airwaves and the print media. In addition, the usual suspects have appeared on talk shows–psychiatrists, gun confiscation advocates, and the usual loud mouth politicians–calling for the Congress and President “to do something” to prevent future school massacres.
Welcome to my world–peace, liberty and prosperity
13
Dec
One of my favorite pastimes is to read the letters to the editor section of newspapers to get a sense how people are thinking about the issues of the day.
Below is a letter that was published in the Record in response to my previous letter criticizing the newspaper’s editorial praising the New Jersey’s Attorney’s General lawsuits against a few gas stations and several motels for the crime of “price gouging” during Hurricane Sandy.
My essay about Lincoln and why you should not see Speilberg’s Lincoln
07
Dec
After you hear economist and historian Thomas DiLorenzo discuss Steven Spielberg’s new movie about Lincoln, you should no longer worship the martyred 16th president of the United States.
The Sabrin Rule to fix the fiscal cliff…let’s really soak the rich
26
Nov
In essays on consecutive days in the New York Times, Steven Rattner and Warren Buffett call for higher taxes on upper income Americans to close the federal budget gap. Rattner calls for raising the top tax rate on capital gains to 28 percent, the same rate during Bill Clinton’s first term. He asserts that “capitalists” would not be adversely affected by the rise in tax rates. He also would eliminate the “carried interest” tax preference (15% rate), the “indefensibly low tax rate” that is paid by some private equity and hedge fund investors. In addition, Rattner would cap deductions on the wealthy taxpayers and increase taxes on dividends as well.
More economic nonsense from a New York Times columnist
23
Nov
One of the worst essays ever to be published in the NYT. Several comments are spot on. Raising taxes is a failed experiment as is the 100 year welfare-warfare state.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/opinion/kristof-a-failed-experiment.html
Who should shore up the Jersey Shore?
23
Nov
The devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy will be felt by Shore residents for years if not decades. Nevertheless, the destruction at Shore communities will cause some residents to relocate and not try to rebuild their homes and businesses. Other residents will rebuild and hope that another “storm of the century” is just that, 100 years away.
How to end gridlock in DC. Guaranteed.
08
Nov
Now that President Obama has been overwhelmingly reelected, at least by the spread in the Electoral College, and GOP House Speaker John Boehner has made conciliatory statements about working with the administration to prevent the “fiscal cliff,” higher taxes and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2013.