Category Archives: Current events

Are those pumpkins next to that tree?

Democracy is sometimes described as “the tyranny of the majority over the minority” (e.g. two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner), however a more appropriate description might be “the tyranny of the uninformed over the informed.” Georgia’s new license plate is but just one mundane case in support of this secondary meaning.

To be fair, it is an attractive design… for a t-shirt. But it’s not going on a t-shirt, it’s going on a moving object and its sole purpose is to rapidly convey information to an observer (e.g. plate number and state). At this it fails miserably. I recently observed a new stationary plate not more than 30 feet away while filling my car with gas and I simply could not make out the number even after staring for some time (yes, my vision is fine). The plate is simply too busy. There is too much color and too many contrasting objects. These design elements while “pretty” do nothing but serve to camouflage the numbers. Sometimes “less is more” (think Apple’s simple package designs vs Microsoft’s “where is Waldo” package designs). Fortunately there is a “plain” tag, although it is not much better due to a dark colored peach in the background obscuring the two central numbers. The only designs that came close to being appropriately designed for the task were tags #1 and #8 and possibly #4.

Georgia is not alone. In the past decade many states have updated their plates to more colorfully busy designs that look great on a magazine cover but are utterly unreadable from more than 6 feet away. This plate beautification trend is symptomatic of a larger dysfunctional political process wherein it is believed that uninformed popular opinion can never be wrong. Rather than choosing politicians who possess the requisite abilities for proper job execution (fiscal discipline, faithfulness to the constitution) we choose them based on superficial qualities (i.e. attractiveness, personality, pandering ability or sometimes whether or not they have a D or R next to their name). The result is a political class that for the most part doesn’t understand what the purpose of government is. Likewise, by employing uninformed popular opinion in its decision making process, government has managed to fumble even the simple task of choosing a plate that succeeds at just one function (legibility) by turning it into a popularity contest that seems more suited to choosing a design for a t-shirt.

And it gets even better. The final design wasn’t even chosen by the people, although it was winnowed down to the top three through a biased on-line voting scheme. The final design was chosen by none other than Governor Nathan Deal. Reminds me of that commercial…”you wouldn’t want your doctor doing your job (cut to doctor playing instrument or running jackhammer), so why are you doing his.” Do you really want your governor acting as an untrained art director, going simply on his gut of what looks “nice” versus actually having someone with training in the field of design who understands the actual task of a license plate: being legible from a distance. Perhaps the governor should decide what books are read in our state run schools based on the cover design?

Having people vote on the final license plate design is not like having them vote on the Peachtree Road Race t-shirt. Rather, it is more like having them vote on which model of police cruiser should be purchased or how thick the asphalt should be on a new road. Hopefully our government buildings won’t someday be engineered by uninformed popular opinion… unfortunately our laws are driven by the same misguided process. Perhaps that explains the mess we are in.

Where are the jobs?

Following up to last week’s post (read here). Although the constant cycle of supply and demand tends to make it unclear which process came first, in the end we can trace the inception point to supply. Supply that can be used to satisfy demand comes about through savings and so it is savings that ultimately is the source of jobs (employees are paid prior to sales). So, since the popular media tells us that corporate profits and cash on hand have never been higher, why is job growth so anemic?

There is actually a great deal of job creation (see chart), even at the height of the recession there were millions of jobs being created. Unfortunately, more were being destroyed. However, it is misleading to suggest there are few jobs being created. Further investigation of the chart reveals that  job growth rates have been trending downward for the last 12 years (no BLS data for this statistic exists prior to 1992). Why would this be?

Quarterly Job Creation & Loss as % of Workforce

 

1) Regulation: regulation hinders jobs in three ways: (a) it acts as a stealth tax by increasing dead-weight costs (for example, a report last year by the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee stated the Obama administration has established nearly 300 new regulations that will cost businesses an additional $60 billion each year), (b) it acts as a barrier to new firms that would otherwise compete with established firms either by criminalizing innovative ideas or imposing paperwork compliance costs that are disproportionately burdensome to smaller business and (c) in some cases it simply outlaws entirely certain types of business (see the Lacey Act as one example). To illustrate point B consider the following: where would Apple be today if Microsoft had encouraged regulations that required competitors to conform to their standards. It would be illegal for Apple to innovate and thus deviate from those “standards”… and we’d all be running Windows 95 while listening to our Zunes and the iPad would be mere fanciful sci-fi fodder. Because the computer industry is relatively unregulated, there has been tremendous innovation and growth. But in other heavily regulated sectors (health insurance, agriculture, automotive, etc.) there is little to no innovation because bureaucratic micromanagement simply does not allow it. Without innovation there is no growth and without growth there is no reason to have a new job.

2) Risk: Many of those in government condescendingly dismiss the idea that risk arising from unknown tax costs contributes to slow job growth. Their condescension is rooted in ignorance of the real world, a world where risk is a constant companion. But in the government’s ivory tower that companion is nowhere to be found. Their obliviousness to risk is apparent in the squandering of other people’s money on “good ideas” that ultimately fail and for which they have zero accountability. Although taxes were higher in the 1990’s, at least they were stable. Tax rates that vary year to year on the whim of Congress are more destructive than high taxes as people focus their energy on gaming the tax system rather than in pursuing productive goals.  Think of it like this: what if the final price for a car you bought today would not be revealed to you until 5 years from now. You would start your monthly payments now and at the end of 5 years you’ll either have it paid off or owe a whole lot more. How likely are you going to buy a car with that level of cost risk? Likewise, those with money to invest in new jobs also will wait until they can be certain of the final costs. Risk makes people cautious… unstable tax policies that increase financial risk will increase cautiousness.

Risk makes people cautious… unstable tax policies that increase financial risk will increase cautiousness.

3) Training: the stock bubble destroyed financial capital, however the housing bubble destroyed financial & human capital. Financial capital destruction can be swept under the inflationary rug through Federal Reserve printing press slight of hand, however there is no keystroke subterfuge that can wipe away the years people spent training and gaining experience in construction and related industries. In short, human capital was misallocated into the wrong sectors of the economy. The government operated a national multi-year housing circus financed with artificially suppressed interest rates and the implied moral hazard of “too big to fail”. People were attracted to that monetary opportunity like flies to honey. But then overnight the government flipped the switch and the circus went dark. Now the circus participants must spend years retraining. Training takes time.

Ultimately the market can heal itself if the price mechanism is left to operate free of government manipulation or interference (the mechanism whereby wages for high demand jobs will rise and thus attract people to train for those sectors). Propping up burst economic sectors or inflating new ones will only postpone the fever that ultimately is needed to cure the economy and restore healthy job growth.

Legalize potato marriage now!

President Obama’s recent “outing” by Joe Biden on the same sex marriage issue along with North Carolina’s Amendment 1 which bans all non heterosexual marriages has bubbled this divisive issue back to the top of the lava lamp that is our political landscape. It does not matter what the President nor the voters of North Carolina think. Laws based on the mercurial moods of the public are a recipe for tyranny, i.e. the Rule of Men rather than the Rule of Natural Law. Natural law is the immovable bedrock that supports a stable framework that PROTECTS our natural rights, not abridges them.

 

Not so recently marriage licenses were used as a mechanism to prevent whites from marrying non-whites.

To understand the marriage issue we must first gain some perspective. The historical purpose of a state granted marriage license was to cause the applicants to plead to the state for permission to marry in order that they prove that there was nothing about the marriage the state might find objectionable. In other words you had to ask for permission from your master (the state) to partake in a natural right (right of association and speech). State prohibitions on marriage fluctuate with public perceptions of what constitutes a “valid” marriage. Not so recently marriage licenses were used as a mechanism to prevent whites from marrying non-whites. Today we view that as an absurd restriction, but the public did not view it that way a mere 50 years ago. If the majority is always right then does that mean the “rightness” of an action depends upon mass opinion? Surely such moral relativism has no place in a modern constitutional republic.

For those that suggest the Bible establishes inerrant moral edicts and therefore the ban on same sex marriage is valid, please recall that the Bible too was often used not only as justification against interracial marriage but as a justification for slavery as well. My point is not to disparage the Bible but rather to point out that whether it is the Bible or the US Constitution, humans will always find a way to interpret a complex document to fit their desired viewpoint. How do we know we aren’t doing that right now? Some are sure they aren’t doing so now, but people 50 years ago were sure they weren’t doing it then either. But even were we to agree the Bible is clear on this issue, do we truly want to live in a theocratic state where laws are based upon current religious viewpoints? As I have covered previously, morality that is imposed by law does not make one righteous. God gave us free will, our laws should not take away that which God granted (for victimless “crimes”).

Some have argued that if there are no restrictions on marriage this will lead to crazy scenarios with people marrying their cat or a potato. Please. Anybody crazy enough to marry their cat is already crazy… you can’t outlaw crazy, they’ll just find some other crazy thing to do. But even if they did marry their cat, so what? How does that in any way affect your marriage? Do you suddenly stop loving your spouse? Are matrimonial vows nullified? Others argue that children are best raised in a two parent male-female household. I’m not sure by what metric one objectively measures the outcome of child rearing but current evidence shows no deleterious effects. Besides, if we assume that two parent male-female households are best and “best” is the basis by which to outlaw that which is not “best”, then I suppose we must make single parent households illegal as well?

At the end of the day what I propose likely would make neither side of this debate happy, so that by itself should suggest it is the best course of action. In short, return marriage to the private realm. The state (government) has no place in regulating or licensing marriage (contractual associations). The right of association/contract implies we may associate with whomever we choose and in whatever manner we choose as well as giving public notice of such associations. Likewise, no individual or group (churches, health insurers, employers, etc.) can be required to formally recognize such associations. They can if they want to, but there should be no legally mandated consequences to not doing so. That’s what freedom is, freedom to do as you desire as long as it does not infringe on anyone else’s freedoms.

 

Moral Hazard at the local level

A few weeks ago it was reported in the Morgan County Citizen that the Morgan County Board of Commissioners agreed to fund a $15,000 study in order to determine the economic viability of creating a regional “food hub” in Morgan County. It would seem government backed subsidies of private businesses is not just a federal or state issue but a local one as well. In an of itself there is nothing wrong with the idea of the food hub, the problem is why is any government in any way assisting in funding a possible private enterprise? If the backers of this idea feel it may be a good idea then they need to invest their own funds for this study. If the study finds it is viable and this new enterprise comes into existence will they refund the county the $15,000 fee? Perhaps, but if it indicates it is not viable will they still refund the fee? I’m guessing not, otherwise what would be the point in having the county pay for it, why don’t they just pay for it to begin with? This is a case of “heads I win, tails you lose.”

The wider issue here is this is a miniature version of why we had the recent housing bubble, and that issue is known as “moral hazard.” Moral hazard is when someone else takes on the responsibility for any bad decisions you might make. This tends to increase the number of bad decisions. For example if I told you to go into a casino and gamble as much as you wanted and that if you lost I would reimburse all your losses, how much constraint would you feel about gambling as much as you could vs if it was your own money and it would not be reimbursed? No constraint at all. This is a similar situation. If a group of private investors have an idea for a new venture but they are unsure of the viability of it, why not get the government to pay for the background information? If it is a winner they will start the business, and if a loser than none of them are out any money, only the government (the people) are.

Now I am not accusing anyone of any malfeasance or sinister motives here, my point is that our system is set up in a way where this is simply the normal mode of operation, so why not take advantage of it? But when you codify moral hazard into your governmental system you will only increase the odds for a lot of waste. The counter argument here may be that “this will lead to jobs possibly.” Yes, maybe it will, and maybe it won’t, but why should the people (the government) gamble their money on ideas that may or may not pan out. If the investors think it is a good idea then they need to spend their money and put their money on the table. Diffuse costs and concentrated benefits inevitably lead to problems of economic distortions and cronyism.

Education is your responsibility, not society’s

On the front page of the April 19, 2012 issue of the Morgan County Citizen there were two(1,2) apparently unrelated articles juxtaposed. They actually were as deeply related to each other as the eternal ying and yang of taxing and spending. The first pertained to a $4.8 million projected shortfall in the FY2012 budget for the Morgan County School System (MCSS). The second concerned a proposal to exempt seniors from paying ad valorem property taxes that fund the school system. The rationale for the exemption is that seniors have no children in the school system so why should they bear that cost burden. Why indeed? According to Madison city councilman Michael Naples, “the education of the local youth was the community’s responsibility” and that such support “has been a long standing practice in this country.” Hmmm… perhaps this “community responsibility” is part of this so-called “social contract” I keep hearing about but have yet to actually see anywhere?

Perhaps this “community responsibility” is part of this so-called “social contract” I keep hearing about but have yet to actually see anywhere?

“Community responsibility” is an oxymoronic notion predicated on the notion that we are born into this world burdened by an obligation to support our fellow man under threat of violence and/or loss of liberty to ourselves if we refuse that obligation. Communities or groups do not have rights or responsibilities; only individuals do. Furthermore, to justify this practice based on the longevity of its existence is tautological! That’s the same argument that was used to justify maintaining slavery: “well, we can’t do away with slavery sir, it’s a long standing tradition in these parts!”

Seniors should be exempted from paying for the education of the youth. As should businesses. As should the childless. Other people’s children are not my responsibility. My children are my responsibility. But, this begs the question. What of those that can’t afford to educate their children? Cost would not be an issue were schools not run as government mandated monopolies. Like healthcare, which has also been subsidized and manipulated by government mandates, the reasons for increased education costs are too numerous to delve into here, however one of the principle reasons is the notion that a smaller student:teacher ratio is the solution to the declining educational standing of the US. When I was in the public school system in the 70’s and 80s class sizes were always right at 30 students to 1 teacher… and yet somehow I and the rest of my generation all managed to somehow get an education and become productive citizens. Using the MCSS as an example (see this document and MCMS website), I determined the approximate student:teacher ratio is anywhere from 18:1 to 10:1 (depending on whether or not you count educational support staff). If the county were to simply move that ratio back to 30:1 (i.e. terminate 2/3 of the teaching staff), the county would save approximately $14 million/year. Since 1970 we have more than tripled (see this link and this link ) the cost of education per student in this country with absolutely no change in test results, so clearly the 10:1 ratio is not paying off.

Education does not need to be subsidized by the state any more than day care does. Using simple calculations based on raw labor value inputs, I compute that monthly education costs per student (including administrative support and capital costs) should be around $200/month (using an annual teacher salary of $67k/year and 30 students per teacher + overhead). If you subtract what most are already paying in property taxes and state income taxes this would basically be a wash or net gain for most. Absent property and income taxes imposed on businesses the “poor” could demand higher wages and lower rents. One of the primary reasons private schools currently cater to the wealthy is that only they can afford to subsidize the education of multiple other children AND their own. If all were released from this subsidization requirement you would see a range of new private schools at different price points (just as we see a range of car options from Kia to BMW).  Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Let’s try something else, because clearly the last 40 years of government monopolized school systems have yielded no improvements.

What does that “L” stand for again?

On July 31, 2012 there will be a statewide vote on whether to adopt yet another 1¢ sales tax (bringing us to 8%! ) This new tax is known as the “TSPLOST” (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax – authorized by the 2010 “Transportation Investment Act”). This SPLOST tax is unique from all prior SPLOST initiatives in that it represents the first step toward loss of local sovereignty. The TSPLOST breaks Georgia up into 12 “economic development” regions. It is the aggregate vote within each region that determines whether the tax is implemented. This multi-county vote aggregation is unique in the history of Georgia as it violates the central tenant of “home rule” written into the Georgia constitution. This means simply that even if one county is 100% opposed, if all the other counties in a region (see map of region here) are for it, then the tax will be imposed in all counties for the next 10 years (even in the ones that did not approve it). This is a disturbing precedent toward slowly shifting political power away from the local level and towards a more centralized authority. We see the same trend today with the states versus the central authority of the federal government. The parallels are uncanny. Just as the states send money for education or highways to the federal government only to have it redistributed back to the states in a non-proportionate manner we will see counties sending TSPLOT money to the state only to have the state send back less to some counties and more to others (see this file for details). Now some might argue that unequal distribution of tax receipts is endemic to any taxing scheme in a region, whether it be city, county, or state. That is quite true. However using the fact that our current tax system is unfair is a poor justification to continue using that same system at a new level.

Those in favor of this new tax rely on the same old hackneyed Keynesian fallacy that somehow public works projects magically pump up an economy… by forcing the taxpayer to spend money on roads and bridges and bike paths (dubiously justified) when they would have otherwise spent it on other goods or services. Road construction companies will be doing quite well (an additional $19 billion over the next 10 years) to the detriment of all other businesses that will see a decline in sales of $19 billion. At best it is a zero sum game, the only difference being that with the tax we are saying we think the government is more properly suited to know how to spend our money and without the tax we are saying we should decide how to spend our money.

Ok, so by now you’re asking, “Ok, Mr. Smarty pants, how should we fund transportation infrastructure?” – Well, I’m glad you asked! Transportation more than any other government monopolized “service” is a user based service for which assessing a service use fee is easily implemented and justifiable (if you use it, then pay for it). There are a number of ways to do this and I’ll list them in increasing order of their effectiveness in terms of fairly assigning cost to usage: gasoline tax, annual odometer tax, general highway tolls, “tiered” highway tolls (i.e. pay more to drive in less congested lanes), fully private roads (where the desire for profit drives new PRIVATELY FINANCED road construction). Any of these options would be better than a general sales tax because those who are on limited or fixed incomes and who do not drive much are being forced to subsidize large businesses and freight carriers who disproportionately utilize the “public” roadways. Taxing activity directly related to road usage at least makes an attempt to fairly assign cost to those that are using them. It is a step in the right direction and it is the step we must take lest we continue sliding down the slippery slope of nebulous centralized taxation for anything that seems like it might be “good.” Vote for local control and fiscal responsibility and vote NO on TSPLOST.

Rage against the machine

Imagine that you are a pioneer of the old west. Over many years you have worked hard to establish a home and a farm. Now imagine that a marauding gang of thieves has begun to harass you. They destroy your crops. They threaten your safety in order to extort money from you. When you are away they vandalize your home and poison your livestock. Year after year it continues. You are peaceful and do not resort to violence. You follow all legal remedies attempting to end the persecution, but it is all for nothing. Judgments in you favor are simply ignored. You soon learn the marauders in fact want what you have created; they want your land for their own use. You offer to sell it to them if only to end the nightmare. They refuse. They would rather scare you off so they can simply take what is yours.

Sounds pretty terrible? Surely this is a scenario for which we need government? Sadly, it is government itself that is the villain in this story. This story is true. It took place in our own backyard in Roswell, Georgia. The gang of marauders is none other than the local code enforcement office and police department of the city of Roswell. This is the story of Andrew Wordes (aka “the chicken man”) and his fight against an intransigent bureaucracy. When you battle an implacable foe something must eventually give.

The details of this story are sufficient fodder for a feature length film. To read a more detailed account please see this report or to hear the story in Mr.Wordes own words please listen to this. In synopsis: In December 2008 Andrew Wordes was cited by the Roswell zoning department for having chickens on his property (even though the ordinance specifically permitted such chicken husbandry). The mayor of Roswell actually stepped in to help but the city bureaucratic “machine” ignored all attempts at reason. Even former Governor Roy Barnes represented Mr. Wordes in his suit against the city (being a chicken farmer Mr. Barnes was partial to his plight). They won the suit against the city. In response the city rewrote the law so that he could only keep chickens if the city fixed a drainage problem that the city itself was responsible for: they refused to fix the problem. Then the harassment really began. He was constantly in court due to numerous petty citations (e.g. improperly stacked firewood). The city’s police department routinely waited outside his house in order to follow him and issue citations for minor infraction. The city (illegally) pressured his mortgage holder to foreclose on the mortgage. Someone poisoned all his chickens when he was away one weekend. He was jailed for 3 months for minor zoning violations (grading himself to try to fix the problem the city refused to fix) and while in jail had to file bankruptcy. While jailed his home was burglarized. He spent his life savings legally fighting every instance of this unwarranted harassment. On March 26, 2012 he was to be finally evicted. The police showed up and after multi-hour standoff he instructed them all to move back. Seconds later he lit the match that ended his life and engulfed his home in a fireball.

They pushed him to the edge. And for what? Turns out that the “Roswell 2030 Plan” includes a parks area that just so happens to be centered on his property. Imagine that. Perhaps the scariest part of this story is that even with the political clout of the mayor and a former governor on his side he remained helpless against the onslaught of harassment from those truly in power: the faceless machinery of the “state”. When even elected officials cannot help the average citizen in their fight against unelected bureaucrats we are well on our way on the road to serfdom.

To regulate Commerce…

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes. US Constitution, Article 1, Section 8

This simple phrase (aka “the commerce clause”) has been a bone of contention almost since the day it was penned. Judicial interpretation was necessary as early as 1824. The conflict surrounding this clause speaks more to the general disagreement over the proper role of government rather than to an inability to properly interpret it. That is to say, no matter how one might restate this clause, each side would forever strain to interpret it to mean that which they wish it to mean. The key to understanding it is to not even try to interpret it, but rather to take the plain language at face value within the context of the document in which it is found. The US Constitution is a simple document with simple rules. To understand it, it is necessary to recall that the states were originally separate sovereign entities (that happened to owe allegiance to the British crown). Today we tend to think of states as nothing more than large postal codes, but that was not their original character, nor was that character changed by the Constitution (why join a union that requires you give up all your authority to the new central authority?) The citizens of those states believed they would be more secure by joining together (“the United STATES”) while still remaining sovereign within their respective borders. Whenever humans come together they need rules to define the relationship so everyone knows where they stand. That is all the Constitution does. It simply says: (Articles 1-3) there are three branches of government and here is what each can do (enumerated powers) and cannot do, (Article 4) here are the responsibilities of the states to each other and the responsibility of the government to the states, (Article 5-7) general housekeeping with respect to modifying and ratifying the document itself and matters relating to clarifying jurisdictional supremacy.

So, the commerce clause, taken in the context of being part of the rules that govern the relationships among the states, is simply saying that the federal government can do what is necessary (regulate) to prevent the states from interfering in commerce (trade). It simply supplants their prior authority with a single authority so that they would not be fighting amongst themselves in endless pissing matches over who has ultimate authority in relation to trade. To be clear, it is only the states and the federal government, not the citizens, which are governed by the Constitution. This makes sense if you think about it. The Constitution was written by the citizens (“We the People…”) in order to define the role and limits of the government they desired. Yes, the government may make laws that govern the citizens but only via the authority granted in the Constitution to make such laws. If there is no authority for a law in the Constitution then it is de facto “unConstitutional” no matter how “good” we might think it is. The problem occurs when the proponents of a law want to make it “Constitutional” by redefining and broadening terms used in the Constitution so as to facilitate an interpretation conducive to their desired goal.

One of the more egregious cases of twisted logic and Constitutional redefining came into play in the seminal case of Wickard v Filburn 317 U.S. 111 (1942). The Supreme Court found that Roscoe Filburn was engaged in interstate commerce and therefore fell under the jurisdiction of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938, which granted the government authority to regulate agricultural output in order to maintain price “stability”. They found that he was growing “too much” wheat on his farm – even though the wheat was entirely consumed on his farm and was never sold – and thus he had no need to purchase additional wheat. The logic being that had he not grown “too much” he would have had to buy what he needed and such purchasing would have tended to increase the interstate demand and hence price for wheat. So, not buying something is, by government logic, equivalent to engaging in interstate commerce.

Based on this precedent one might conclude the current court has no choice but to rule in favor of the individual mandate of the PPACA as its supporters justify it upon putative commerce clause grounds, i.e. not buying insurance affects the price of insurance for everyone else. However, there is a subtle wrinkle here. Mr. Filburn was engaging in activity (growing wheat), which resulted in inactivity in another arena (buying wheat). In that case the government exerted its right to regulate his ACTIVITY of growing wheat, not his INACTIVITY of not buying wheat. The AAA said he could not grow more than such and such amount. It did not say he MUST buy wheat if he needs it or face a penalty. In the current case the government is asking the court to assert that the commerce clause goes even further than in Wickard v. Filburn and can grant the government authority to compel an individual to act (buy insurance). In other words, it now wants the authority to regulate inaction by redefining inaction as a type of action.

But whether the PPACA is overturned or not is not the important issue. The critical issue is the very nature of the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution lists these things called “enumerated powers.” That means, it is a list of those actions, and only those actions, that Congress may undertake. If it is NOT on the list, they may not do it. It is improper to interpret the Constitution with a mindset of “Well if they didn’t want us to do that they would have specifically said so.” They did say so, if it is not enumerated it may not be done. But even disagreement over what the enumerated powers authorize is not so important. Reasonable people can disagree about the extent to which they think government should have certain authority. The important issue is that (hopefully) there will always be agreement that there must be some limits on government. The disagreements we have today are simply about where that point is, not whether or not it should exist.

If the Supreme Court finds that the commerce clause can be used to compel citizens to do or not do something because it might tangentially affect commerce, then there is in practice no limit whatsoever on the powers of Congress and it simply makes a mockery of the enumerated powers. It would make no sense for the framers of the Constitution to say “you can only do a, b, and c, and oh by the way you can also do anything else you can possibly think of.” Why would this remove all restraint from government powers? Think about it – whenever we are doing something we are also not doing a million other things. Government would now have the authority to identify the things we are not doing but that it thinks we should be doing and codify laws that compel us to do those things. How hard is it to imagine that in the midst of a new economic downturn Congress passes a Minimum Economic Activity Act which would require all citizens to spend a certain percentage of their income on goods and services in order to keep the economy going? Or how about a law requiring a minimum level of exercise, since not exercising makes us less healthy and that means rising health care costs. Congress would now have unlimited power to order us to do any number of things we aren’t doing. What’s to stop them? Inactivity is regulated by the commerce clause.

It is naïve to comfort oneself with the thought that just because today no one is abusing that power we have nothing to worry about.

 

Who will speak for me?

All too often violations of liberty by our government upon its citizens occur silently, sheltered from the bright lights of the Fourth Estate as it were, because the victims are singular. Abner Schoenwetter was sentenced to 8 years in federal prison for violation of the Lacey Act because he imported seafood from Honduras in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes. Civil asset forfeiture incidences are on the rise, such as the case of the Motel Caswell in Massachusetts wherein the local police are attempting to seize an entire hotel from its owner under federal law (the police get to keep 80% of the value of seized property under federal law but only 50% under state law) because over the last 20 years 0.05% of guests had been arrested for drug offenses. These repugnant violations of civil rights occur every day as a consequence of the over bearing government that now exists in this country. The president can laugh all he wants about “spilt milk” but these are real people with real lives that are destroyed due to the passage of thoughtless laws whose “unintended” consequences could have clearly been seen by Ray Charles.

If you’re going to point a gun at someone you can’t cry foul when they grab that gun and point it back at you.

Oh, but I must chuckle when I hear the howls and screams from the large indignant organizations who have recently become ensnared in the briar patch that is our Federal government. Oh, the humanity! We cannot permit such violations of our basic freedoms (because now those violations affect us!) A few weeks ago it was the SOPA flap. Nearly the whole country stood arm in arm with the big Internet companies (Google, Wikipedia, etc.) to fight back against government intrusion. Why? Because it affected them. When government violates other people’s rights nobody cares, but when it affects us, well that we cannot stand for! Likewise the Catholic Church was rather upset that Obamacare will force them to provide health insurance that covers contraception. This requirement would force the church to violate one of its core beliefs. I would argue it is not so much a 1st Amendment issue as it is rather an issue of “the government has no right to tell anyone how to spend (or not spend) their money.” The Church is right in their opposition. But what is humorous is that the church in the US was a proponent (3/23/10) of Obamacare  (except as it related to coverage for abortion). What’s the saying…“If you dance with the devil, you will get burnt.”

Although both groups are absolutely correct in their stance in proclaiming that the government is violating their rights, they are both somewhat hypocritical (and please don’t accuse me of Catholic bashing, I’m Catholic, all right). The internet companies are all too happy to push for “net neutrality” regulations that employ government force to compel others to behave the way they want, yet they don’t like it when such force is turned on them. Likewise the Catholic Church is equally happy to endorse laws that restrict civil unions or outlaw state recognition of homogender marriage, yet they don’t appreciate that same force being turned on them by people who find their stance on contraception as archaic. If you’re going to point a gun at someone you can’t cry foul when they grab that gun and point it back at you.

When violations of liberty are perpetrated we must all stand together at all times, not just when it affects us. The lessons of political apathy were summed up well in the words of Martin Niemöller (a German pastor who initially supported Hitler but then opposed him and was jailed for that opposition) – “First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

 

A Wasted Protest

The “Occupy <insert city name here>” protestors are certainly an eclectic bunch. From what I can gather they blame “the wealthy” and “corporate greed” (whatever that means) for a myriad of the problems this country faces, not the least of which is that they don’t have a job. Give me a break. If they have time to travel across the country and camp out in a park for weeks on end, then they have time to find a job. The protestors have one slender thread of a justifiable grievance: the “too big to fail” crony capitalist policies of our political system. The problem is that they should be protesting the government that bailed out big businesses (the financial and auto sectors). Those businesses made risky investments because they knew Uncle Sam would back them up if things went south. Ask yourself, if you could go into a casino and gamble as much as you wanted knowing that any losses would be repaid to you, would you really restrain yourself from not simply gambling as much and as fast as you could?

This protest is a wasted opportunity to raise national awareness of what really ails this country: big government. The protestors are simply too ignorant of basic economics (“let’s just get rid of all money” said one) and the nature of free-market capitalism (as distinguished from crony-capitalism) to advance any kind of legitimate, useful agenda. For example, some constructive demands would be:

1) end the Fed and the ability of the government to print money: this brings an end to the “business cycle” which is an artificial result of government money manipulation

2) end all government subsidies: this would lower taxes by eliminating corporate welfare

3) repeal all government regulation of business: this would put all the lobbyists out of work and would then create a boom in new businesses and new jobs (as regulations are the tool that big business uses to raise the barrier to entry by new competitors)

4) repeal all business taxes: a lack of income tax would create a huge increase in rate of return on invested capital thereby attracting thousands of US and foreign companies to the US which would in turn create millions of new jobs.

But you won’t hear any of the protestors calling for such reforms. Their solution to “income inequality” is not to raise those on the bottom up (by promoting an environment conducive to job creation) but rather to cut those at the top down (by promoting punitive taxation under the mantra of redistribution following a misguided appeal to “fairness.”) Income inequality is a natural consequence of being human. It is the same as inequality in a foot race. In fact the statistical distribution in both a race and income is identical: a handful are wealthier or faster than everyone else, a large portion are average and a handful are very slow or poor. Government mandated redistribution of wealth is no different than forcing the fast runners to carry sandbags on their back, so as to remove their “unfair” advantage over slower runners. Capitalism is like the foot race; those that come in first do not gain their speed by sapping the speed of the slower runners.

To insist that income must be equal for all or have a very narrow distribution is to tilt at the windmill of biology: we all have equal natural rights but we are not created with equal abilities. Those with skills in high demand or low supply (doctors, lawyers, actors, sports stars, etc) will always earn much more than those with skills in low demand or high supply. That’s life, get used to it. The solution the protestors should be seeking is to improve their skill set rather than promoting government-sanctioned solutions that use threat of violence (taxation) in order to “right” their perception of a “wrong.”