Monthly Archives: September 2010

Obama’s Assassination Plan — Tyranny?

Posted on Tue, 28 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

Obama is arguing the executive has the power to execute American citizens without a trial, without even so much as an airing of the charges against them, and that it can do so in complete secrecy, with no oversight from … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Rights, Government, Liberty, Security, World War IV | Leave a comment

The Problem Is *Spending*, Not Taxes

Posted on Wed, 22 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

What’s the difference between a tax-cut stimulus and a spending stimulus? Some efficiency, sure, less rent-seeking and pork-barreling, no doubt. But if we cut taxes without cutting spending, we are not cutting taxes. We are deferring taxes. Taxes are not … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Government, Taxes | Leave a comment

Government and journalists cower at threats to cartoonist

Posted on Wed, 22 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

Last week, the Seattle Weekly announced that Molly Norris, its editorial cartoonist, had "gone ghost." Put another way, she went into hiding. The FBI told her she had to because otherwise it couldn’t protect her against death threats from Muslims … Continue reading →

Posted in Liberty, Religion, Security, World War IV | 1 Comment

Finding What You’re Looking For

Posted on Tue, 21 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

One of the things I find most wearying about writing about economics is the extent to which people attempt to hijack economics to "scientifically prove" that their value judgements about things like the proper size and role of government are … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Science, Smart | Leave a comment

Mao’s Great Leap Forward ‘killed 45 million in four years’

Posted on Fri, 17 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

The only people I hate worse than Nazis are the God-damned Communists. during the time that Mao was enforcing the Great Leap Forward in 1958, in an effort to catch up with the economy of the Western world, he was … Continue reading →

Posted in Government | 7 Comments

The voice of reason vs. the voice of insanity

Posted on Wed, 15 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

Geithner wants to re-create the system that collapsed but with “tighter regulations.” He wants to re-create the system that the CBO expects to cost taxpayers $390 billion. He wants to re-create the system that helped destroy the housing market and … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapse, Economics | Leave a comment

The romance of government vs. the reality

Posted on Tue, 14 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

Make government smaller and we get more of what we really can do together. And it’s not just more stuff, more gadgets, more material well-being. We do get more stuff and that’s pleasant, but that isn’t what gives life deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Government | 1 Comment

Austerity for Liberty

Posted on Mon, 13 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

Instead of pushing for "constructive" free market reforms, libertarians should doggedly focus on austerity: opposing spending increases, and pushing spending cuts. Instead of trying to "privatize" Social Security, for example, libertarians should push for lower benefits, a higher retirement age, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Government | Leave a comment

Bribing the public with the public’s money

Posted on Sun, 12 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

A new report by the Federal Reserve points to "widespread signs of deceleration" in the U.S. economy. No kidding! These signs follow what the Fed calls a "burst" of growth in the last quarter of 2009 and first quarter of … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Leave a comment

Reporting from Greece: Tax Compliance, and the IRS

Posted on Sun, 12 Sep, 2010 by pmjones

Everyone also acknowledges that tax compliance continues to be a major problem here. Indeed, a retired businessman says if Greeks had actually paid all the taxes owed over the past decade or so, they wouldn’t be in nearly such bad … Continue reading →

Posted in Taxes | 1 Comment