Yearly Archives: 2008

Quote of the Day:
:::”A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”
:::– attributed to Senator Everett Dirksen

:::

Subject: Can the government save you money by taking donations?

:::

Courtesy of Radley Balko we learn that . . .
:::

:::

* The marble on the Tomb of the Unknown Solider has been cracked and needed replacing for 18 years!
:::* It cost the federal government $80,000 just to seek bids to do the job
:::* The total price for the bidding, purchase, transportation, sculpting, and replacement of the marble comes to a whopping $2.2 million

:::

Meanwhile . . .

:::

John Haines, a retired car dealer, has acquired the needed marble from the same quarry as the original marble, and arranged for donated transportation, for a mere $31,000. He wants to donate the marble, so that the only thing the federal government would need to do, using YOUR tax dollars, is pay for the sculpting and the installation. But there’s one problem . . .

:::

The most recent report to Congress on the marble replacement project does not include Haines’s donated marble. Instead, the report proposes the full $2.2 million price tag.

The Russians are planning naval exercises with the Venezuelans in the Caribbean. Both countries have a need to posture. The need is especially acute with the Russians, who feel hurt that they’re no longer “important.” But naval exercises off our coast won’t make them any more “important.” Russia has a GDP the size of New Jersey and a worthless navy. It would be nice if the Russian’s had something real to feel proud about, but they don’t, so they feel an emotional need to engage in cheap theatrics. This is false pride, and the planned naval exercise is real stupidity.
:::
:::Should the U.S. respond? Republican pundits like Larry Kudlow think we should conduct our own exercise in the same area at the same time. Sigh. I love guys like Kudlow when they’re talking about economics and financial issues. They tend to get it right. But they tend to go all silly whenever it comes to the military and foreign policy. The adult thing to do would be to ignore the Russian navy, especially since you would need a microscope to find it.
:::
:::We Americans should be proud that we have the economic power to be militarily invulnerable to pathetic little countries like Russia and Venezuela. We shouldn’t tarnish ourselves by engaging in the real stupidity of waving our weenie in front of the Russian navy.

Quote of the Day:
:::”The GSE structure serves to privatize profits and socialize losses.”
:::– Arnold Kling, The Cato Institute
:::
:::Subject: Kill Fannie-stein and Freddie-stein
:::
:::Politicians and bureaucrats have a good sense of timing for announcing bad financial news. The ideal time to deliver bad news is either on a weekend, or when the media is obsessing about other things, like hurricanes, political conventions, and vice presidential choices. So it was this last weekend when federal officials announced their intention to nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
:::
:::No one knows what the cost will be yet. It could be small. It could be large. It could be astronomical. But whatever the price tag, YOU will pay the bill. The good news is that the news isn’t all bad. Both companies have been stripped of their lobbying arms, the stockholders of both have been wiped out, and the current plan is to start selling off the portfolios of each company. Now here’s the bad news . . .

Jim Babka will be making three talk-radio appearances today (Wednesday). Details below the signature. 
:::
:::Quote of the Day:
:::”Accusation raises the defenses. Question pricks the conscience.”
:::- William J. Olson
:::
:::Subject: Wrong People Are NOT the Enemy, Wrong Ideas Are
:::
:::It is easy, in this political season, to get caught up in the partisan personality contest: To check, who is up and who is down… who is clever or who is dull… which is the lesser of evils.
:::
:::If you take this election too seriously, you’ll begin to think that people are your enemy — that we don’t have freedom because the people are stupid, or worse, evil.
:::
:::Friends, Republicans are not your enemy. Democrats are not your enemy. Independents, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, and Greens are not your enemy. The neighbor that doesn’t even vote isn’t your enemy either.
:::
:::But their wrong ideas have consequences:

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
:::“The consequences of USDA – and now the courts – denying voluntary BSE testing effectively shield the less innovative, less nimble and less responsive beef processors from the competitive capacity of cutting-edge beef processors like Creekstone.” – Blll Bullard

:::

SUBJECT: The Cure For Mad Bureaucrat Disease

:::

Of the 35 million cattle slaughtered each year, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) tests about 1% for BSE, or Mad Cow Disease. But Creekstone Farms wants to test 100% of the cattle they process, at their own expense.

:::

The USDA won’t let them, and the USDA’s rule has been backed by the federal courts. You see, if Creekstone tests all its beef and boasts of it in its marketing, their larger competitors could feel obliged to do the same, and this additional expense may lower their profit margins or raise the price of beef.

Quote of the Day:
:::
:::“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” – H.L. Mencken
:::
:::Subject: The Five Fatal Flaws of ANY ID Card Scheme
:::
:::A few weeks ago we introduced Lowell Rogers to you. He’s a tugboat engineer. His employer is about to be brought under a security/identity scheme — a Real ID card of sorts for maritime employees. It’s called the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).
:::
:::Apparently, since the Department of Homeland Security can’t get Real ID implemented, due to the largest state rebellion since the Civil War, they’ve decided to pick us off — one occupation at a time.
:::
:::TWIC will snag 700,000 to 1,000,000 workers.
:::
:::But Lowell Rogers won’t take the card. He’d sooner give up his job. He wants to take a stand. But he can’t do it alone.
:::
:::And Lowell Rogers shouldn’t have to take the card. ID card schemes just don’t work. These showy security plans have five fatal flaws . . .

Our new website had a “white page/error message” problem. Now it’s fixed! Please give it a try.
:::
:::QUOTES OF THE DAY:
:::“The legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security was very specific on the question of a national ID card. They said there will be no national ID card.” – Tom Ridge
:::
:::”I was very protective as governor of my prerogatives in the federal system. One thing I never liked from the federal government were unfunded mandates, or the federal government telling me how to run Pennsylvania.” – Tom Ridge
:::
:::SUBJECT: Real ID, Expensive and Unnecessary
:::
:::The remarks above, by then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, were made in September, 2004. They seemed to rule out something like Real ID. But Ridge did go on to say that he was working with governors to develop some “basic standards” for drivers’ licenses, and that he wanted uniform identification for workers in security-sensitive fields.
:::
:::But the drift of his comments suggested a collaborative process, not an unfunded mandate.
:::
:::Ridge retired from public service shortly thereafter and was replaced by Michael Chertoff, co-author of the Patriot Act. The following May, the REAL ID Act was attached to a “must-pass” Iraq bill, and passed without debate.
:::
:::Real ID would standardize state drivers’ licenses to make a de facto National ID card. Chertoff envisions it to be used to “cash a check, hire a baby sitter, board a plane or engage in countless other activities.” http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/636479.html
:::
:::Real ID is also an expensive unfunded mandate. Homeland Security optimistically projects that

We’re pleased to announce that our new website is up and running on the new servers. The “white page/error message” problem is solved. Please give our new website a try.
:::
:::Quote of the day:
:::“You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats, procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.”
:::- Thomas Sowell
:::
:::Subject: Procedural Matters
:::
:::This message is about procedural matters. Why? Because Procedure matters.
:::
:::* The budget rules of the House and Senate are such that the federal government is guaranteed to be larger with each passing year.
:::* The political rules are such that every single crisis results in a hastily passed law, with no regard for Constitutionality or cost.
:::* The rules of state are such that the politicians and power-brokers DON’T pay a price for their mistakes — neither for passing ineffective or destructive laws, nor for busting the budget. In fact, saying “Yes” to more spending and new laws always benefits them, and saying “No,” can cost them support.
:::
:::How do we change these rules? You’ve heard it said, “The devil is in the details.” Yes, the devil, because if you try talking about the budget process or the legislative process you’ll divide folks along partisan lines, or worse, bore people to sleep.
:::
:::How can we unite people to care about procedure?

Quote of the Day:
:::”If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
:::– George Orwell (“Animal Farm” 1945)
:::
:::Subject: We think we fixed the website problem
:::
:::If you’ve had the “white page” problem (rendered in some browsers as an “error message”) with our website over the past month, please try to use it again today. We think we’ve fixed it.
:::
:::We’ve installed new servers, as well as updated the operating system and software. A group of DC Downsizers did a beta test this week and it went well — no “white pages” or “error messages.” But the real test will be for hundreds or thousands of you to try and use the system at the same time. Let’s test it by sending a bunch of messages to Congress!
:::
:::We’ll use our campaign against TWIC for the big test. Remember, TWIC is a backdoor attempt to implement the REAL ID national identity card, one industry at a time. If you already know about the TWIC program you can send your message using our new, Educate the Powerful System.
:::
:::If you’re unsure of why TWIC is so bad, or you would value more information about it, here’s some additional startling information . . .
::::::

Quote of the Day:
:::”I planted some bird seed. A bird came up. Now I don’t know what to feed it.”
:::– anonymous
:::
:::Subject: Congress is Coming Back Soon
:::
:::Congress will return to work when the party conventions end. It will be a brief session before they adjourn again to campaign. Short sessions are often full of hi-jinks. Will we be ready to resist?
:::
:::I’m not sure.
:::
:::We launched a new website last month. We had to. Congress has made it harder and harder for their constituents to communicate with them through sites like ours. Our new website was designed to make it easier for us to hurdle these barriers. But complex new systems always have problems . . .
:::
:::Our new site didn’t work for many users. People got frustrated, including us. We identified the likely cause of the problem and took steps to fix it, but that took time. Now, we think we’re done.
:::
:::Today, our “beta testers” have been called back into action. If they find the website is working ok, we’ll re-launch it tomorrow.
:::
:::But this month feels::::::