Wealthy Progressive Hypocrites Say Yes on Initiative 1098

Democracy, Education, Nanny Statism, Taxation, The Left, Vulgar Politics
By / / 1 Comment / 2 minutes of reading
Share

Watch this political ad (below) promoting Washington State’s Initiative 1098, which seeks to dedicate $2 billion per year to fund education and healthcare for children. It’s always for the children! It’s not about soaking the rich! even though this other Yeson1098 video makes a point of demonizing the greedy rich. The slogan is “the wealthy pay more, the rest of us pay less.” Bill Gates, Sr., is presented as a grandfatherly figure sacrificing his comfort for the sake of childrens’ enjoyment while he explains the reasonableness of this new scheme to legally plunder the rich.

…

Wealthy Progressive Hypocrites Say Yes on Initiative 1098Read More »

Wealthy Progressive Hypocrites Say Yes on Initiative 1098 Read Post »

Thrifty, Principled Republican Plans to Defund NPR

Taxation, The Right, Vulgar Politics
By / / 2 minutes of reading
Share

In a bold move that promises to prove the Republicans’ dedication to preserving the First Amendment and fixing up the federal budget, Senator Jim DeMint has introduced a bill to eliminate federal funding for NPR. This is following the great controversy over NPR’s decision to fire Juan Williams, who made some commentary on Muslims and air travel that his bosses at NPR didn’t quite like.

DeMint, I’m sure, of course has a heroic record of free speech advocacy. I assume, though I have not found evidence at the time of writing this, that he introduced bills and fought vigorously for an end to this ridiculous idea of “free speech zones” which were used during the Bush Administration to stifle free speech. Because, surely, Jim DeMint is all about free speech, and this latest move was not simply motivated by his approval of Williams’ commentary, but rather from a deep philosophical opposition to government restriction of speech.

Some might also think that the $420 million that defunding NPR (and PBS) would save is a bit on the paltry side as far as budget cuts go, given that federal spending for FY2010 was officially about $3.5 trillion, or, to use like-terms, $3,500,000 million. But hey, that’s something, right? And, after all, if you exclude Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on the debt, all the other “mandatory” spending, and everything to do with the military, is there really that much else to cut?

So good on you, Jim DeMint. Keep up the good work.

Not labeled: The 0.00012% of the budget that NPR represents

Thrifty, Principled Republican Plans to Defund NPR Read Post »

Does Going to the DMV Hurt Worse than a Root Canal, or Is It Just Me?

Nanny Statism, Taxation
By / / 3 minutes of reading
Share

Some time ago, having just gotten rid of a car, I figured it best to turn in my plates and get that magnanimous refund from NY State for the registration fee on my erstwhile means of transportation.  Being somewhat “unplugged” from the typical goings-on at the Department of Motor Vehicles, I decided to drop by on a Friday afternoon, the last Friday afternoon of the month to be exact. A mistake. A BIG mistake.

You see, on the last day of the month, there apparently is a big rush to get things done at the DMV.  Well, there’s a big rush for the customers.  The people working at the DMV frankly didn’t seem all that rushed.  And that’s from whence the question that titles this essay emanates.  First, let’s recap my visit.

Arrival:  1415 hours (That’s 2:15pm for those who are military-time-challenged.)

Obtaining of Ticket:  1455 hours  (That’s 40 minutes later.)

Visit with Cashier:  1525 hours (That’s 30 minutes after that.)

Departure:  1530 hours (That’s 5 minutes later still.)

Yes, it took me 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to accomplish a 5-minute task at the DMV.  For those unfamiliar with this incredibly demeaning scenario, allow me to explain some of the subtleties.  When one arrives at the DMV, at least in my county, he is met with a line that leads to an “information counter.”  This is where they tell you where you need to go next, what forms you have to fill out before you get there, and where they also—in a stroke of bureaucratic genius—give you a ticket with a number on it.  This number corresponds to an electronic display that provides a sort of visual presentation of the “Next!” one hears at the barber shop.  On the ticket is the number for which you should look, and an estimate of how long you’ll be waiting.  You may then go to any one of the fine church-style pews to sit and wait.  Hopefully, you brought a book.

In essence then, one has waited in a line that is not hidden to wait in a line that is hidden.

The punch line:  All of this is an improvement—a vast improvement—over what used to happen at the DMV.  I’m not saying it was bad.  It was worse than bad.  If one was smart, he showed up with a lunch box, or at least a snack.  Standing on line for an hour or so on an empty stomach is tough!  Plus, once one got to the counter, he was faced with a person who himself was pissed off to be there.  A disgruntled worker meeting a disgruntled customer does not a recipe for statist happiness make.

Here’s what I’m trying to figure out:  If I had a choice of vendors for this service, would it still be so terribly inefficient and, frankly, crappy?  I don’t think it requires a degree in, or even an understanding of, Austrian Economics to emphatically declare, “No.”

Cross-Posted at the LRCBlog.

Does Going to the DMV Hurt Worse than a Root Canal, or Is It Just Me? Read Post »

The IRS Continues To Destroy The Internet

Business, Taxation
By / / 1 minute of reading
Share

Just when we thought that the “1099 nightmare” was going to be it for 2010, we learn of the new IRS impositions on internet commerce. These rules target folks selling stuff online. People selling 200 items or making $20k on eBay, for example, shall be subject to reporting rules. People who make a living (or complement their income) by selling trinkets online will be particularly hurt by this. I foresee a reduction in business on Etsy and similar cottage industry sites. Personal sales in the open market might take a hit, at least for marginal sellers. Some might just sell less while others will have to distribute their online activity so that they are not as easy to target. To make things worse, Paypal will be required to report online activity, meaning that they will send the IRS 1099 forms that will have to match each individual seller’s information.

The 1099 nightmare extends from small businesses to tiny one-person operations. Of course, I bet that large companies can only cheer. After all, they already have systems and personnel to deal with the flood of paperwork that the money-thirsty IRS has required from society. A great win for corporatism.

The IRS Continues To Destroy The Internet Read Post »

Statism in the UK: Paychecks to be preprocessed by the state

Anti-Statism, Finance, History, Taxation, Totalitarianism
By / / 1 minute of reading
Share

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, stressing “the need for employers to provide real-time information to the government so that it can monitor all payments and make a better assessment of whether the correct tax is being paid”, has proposed to modernize the UK’s income tax system.  Once employers provide payroll information in real-time, “it further proposes that employers hand over employee salaries to the government first.”

I’m sure that subjects of the Crown have nothing to fear.  The state can be trusted to process their paychecks promptly, correctly, and efficiently.  Only a crank would object to this modernization plan.  After all, everyone fondly remembers the Star Chamber that evolved out of a similar medieval program for keeping tabs on the Jews.  Since it worked out so well last time, how could anyone expect things to go wrong now?

Statism in the UK: Paychecks to be preprocessed by the state Read Post »

Scroll to Top