what if?

From Center Left to Center Right

What would make a man raised by a socialist, who worked for George McGovern's campaign turn away from the left?

Let Fred Siegel explain.

'What has the country so angry," says Fred Siegel, "is the sense that crony capitalism has produced a population that lives off the rest of us without contributing. They're right. It's not paranoid."

Mr. Siegel observes that public-sector unions have "become a vanguard movement within liberalism. And the reason for that is it's the public sector that comes closest to the statist ideals of McGovern and post-McGovern liberals. And that is, there's no connection between effort and reward. You're guaranteed your job. You're guaranteed your salary increase. There's a kind of bureaucratic equality."

What Capitalists Really Believe

This.

1. Free-marketeers resent the bank bailouts. This might seem obvious: we are, after all, opposed to state subsidies and nationalisations. Yet it often surprises commentators, who mistake our support for open competition and free trade for a belief in plutocracy. There is a world of difference between being pro-market and being pro-business. Sometimes, the two positions happen to coincide; often they don’t.

2. What has happened since 2008 is not capitalism. In a capitalist system, bad banks would have been allowed to fail, their profitable operations bought by more efficient competitors. Shareholders, bondholders and some depositors would have lost money, but taxpayers would not have contributed a penny (see here).

3. If you want the rich to pay more, create a flatter and simpler tax system. This is partly a question of closing loopholes (mansions put in company names to avoid stamp duty, capital gains tax exemption for non-doms etc). Mainly, though, it is a question of bringing the tax rate down to a level where evasion becomes pointless. As Art Laffer keeps telling anyone who’ll listen, it works every time. Between 1980 and 2007, the US cut taxes at all income levels. Result? The top one per cent went from paying 19.5 per cent of all taxes to 40 per cent. In Britain, since the top rate of income tax was lowered to 40 per cent in 1988, the share of income tax collected from the wealthiest percentile has risen from 14 to 27 per cent.

And more.  Do read the Whole Thing.

Republicans and Taxes

So the Super Committee failed because Republicans refused to address taxation and raise revenues?

Don't believe it.

Democrats are unanimous in charging that the debt-reduction supercommittee collapsed because Republicans refused to raise taxes. Apparently, Republicans are in the thrall of one Grover Norquist, the anti-tax campaigner, whom Sen. John Kerry called “the 13th member of this committee without being there.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid helpfully suggested “maybe they should impeach Grover Norquist.”

With that, Norquist officially replaces the Koch brothers as the great malevolent manipulator that controls the republic by pulling unseen strings on behalf of the plutocracy.

Nice theory. Except for the following facts:

●Sen. Tom Coburn last year signed on to the Simpson-Bowles tax reform that would have increased tax revenue by $1 trillion over a decade.

●During the debt-ceiling talks, House Speaker John Boehner agreed to an $800 billion revenue increase as part of a Grand Bargain.

●Supercommittee member Pat Toomey, a Club for Growth Republican, proposed increasing tax revenue by $300 billion as part of $1.2 trillion in debt reduction.

Raising tax rates is not the only way to secure more revenue.  And remember; it's not the rate that matters; it's the revenue.

So - the next time your friendly liberal throws "it's the Republicans' fault" in your face - ask them why the Democrats refused to cut spending....

Hating Freedom

It never ceases to amaze me how often liberals wish to squash our freedoms.  This morning, while perusing a few of my favorite news sites, I found two different stories.

First, a professor who proposes a new "6-6-6" tax to correct this horrific problem:

Several malls have promoted “Moonlight Madness.” Last year Toys “R” Us opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. This year, Wal-Mart will do the same. The costs to store owners and their employees and families are enormous: millions must now spend time away from home on the one occasion that all Americans, regardless of religion or cultural background, share as a family holiday.

These costs might be worth bearing if they led to even larger gains. But when all outlets open earlier, no one benefits. Few people actually want to shop in the wee hours, and the purchases that do occur then are presumably offset, dollar for dollar, by reduced sales during normal business hours. Even the shoppers who turn out for early openings seem motivated primarily by a fear that others might snap up bargains before they get there. But if all stores opened later, there would be no fewer bargains than before. In short, we have a classic collective action problem, an arms race.

And then, there is America the Fat.  We all know that many communities and our federal government continue to come up with schemes to prevent us from eating fast food, sodas, and other evil delights.

But why are we fat?  And why do some of us shop 'till we drop?  Because we are free.

Personally, I don't disagree with those who think that getting up at 4AM to save $73 on a television is crazy.  Nor do I find fault with the idea that we all ought to strive to take decent care of our bodies - which means delivering rational food and exercise to 'em.

We do not, however, need the government to intervene to achieve this.  Don't want to leave your family to work in the middle of the night, or don't want to shop at ludicrous hours to save some bucks?  Then don't sign up for that job and don't go to the store.  Don't want to be overweight?  Eat a healthy diet (at least most of the time) and get some exercise, too.

We are humans; not automatons.  It's impossible for the government to make laws that cause us to be perfect.

If we allow the "free market" of life to govern our choices, then some will do well - and some will not.  But instituting these "cures" does little more than stifle our freedoms and add just more and more layers of bureaucracy and expense to our lives.  Don't hate freedom.  Just say "no" to that in life which you think is wrong - and let the next guy make up his own mind about it all.

Heroes

On this day of Thanksgiving, we can be grateful for heroes.

Here is a story of brave souls who saved Jews from the ovens of Europe.

Katz Erlich was a kid herself when the Germans took over her small Lithuanian town and began rounding up the Jews.

Her father, Srolis, and brother, Leibel, were marched off to a forest, placed in a pit, and shot. Somehow the bullets missed her dad and he escaped.

Srolis Katz fetched his wife and daughter and together they sought shelter with the devout Catholic wife of a local farmer who shopped at the Katz family’s store.

Leokadija Ruzgys let them stay for three years, hiding them in a small room where she stored potatoes and in a smokehouse out back.

It was a huge risk because the area teemed with Lithuanian collaborators who helped the Nazis hunt down Jews.

Katz Erlich said she was allowed outside to play with her playmates/protectors just once in three years. She still remembers how warm the sun felt on her face.

Eventually, they were denounced by a neighbor. When the militia came, Miele lied and said no Jews were there. For that she was beaten.

Then Leokadija Ruzgys and the Katz family were taken to a nearby jail. But World War Two was ending and they were sprung after the Russians invaded.

Today, I am thankful for heroes who risked their lives to save others.

Immigration

From the media, you might think that the views of "conservatives" or "liberals" are one-liners etched in stone.

False.

I am glad to see this request for discussion of one of the many big issues facing our nation.

My Hero, My Father

Is there sadness in your life this Thanksgiving?  Are you wondering what - if anything - you might have for which to be thankful?

Some years, the challenges seem too enormous, and the bounties too tiny to be found.  Nevertheless; be sure.  For almost all of us, the riches are there - if we only know where to look.

This Thanksgiving, I present you with another Jeff Jacoby column from 2000.  Read it in its entirety.  When you are done, I hope that you can find much in your life that is wonderful and good.

When race riots erupted in Cleveland that year, my father's furniture store stood at Ground Zero -- at St. Clair and 103d, in the heart of the city's Glenville neighborhood. For days, the area was wracked by pillaging and arson; the violence was made worse by the mayor's order that all white police officers stay out. To deter looters, signs reading "Soul Brother" appeared in the windows of black-owned establishments, but there was no such sign in my father's window and by the time it was safe enough for him to venture back into the city, he expected to find his store reduced to a burnt-out shell.

He found it untouched. The pawn shop next door had been gutted and the rioters had ransacked the A&P supermarket across the street, but Mark's Furniture & Appliance Co. hadn't suffered so much as a broken window. At the height of the riots, my dad later found out, a group of tenants who lived in the apartment units above the store had come down to the street and formed a human chain in front of the entrance. "Stay away from this place," they told the looters. "It belongs to a good man."

My father's life experiences were quite distinct from those of Jeff's.  Still - all who know my dad know that he is a "good man."

Dad is my hero, too.

That I still am blessed to have my dad and my mom, other wonderful relatives and dear, special friends - I am most grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving

For many years now, my Thanksgivings are quite different from the norm.  Most of the time, I'm either at our big Fall NABC bridge tournament, competing with and against friends from all over the world.  Or - like this year - I'm traveling to get there.  Either way, no enormous turkey dinners, shared with family and friends, for me.

Still, I well - and fondly - remember all the Thanksgivings that did fit this description.  And, although I am not stuffing myself with stuffing and all the rest of it, on this day, I do think of how very much I have for which to be thankful.

One of my favorite columnists wrote a beautiful piece for Thanksgiving 2011.

Who Will Save Us?

After the (expected by many) failure of the Supercommittee, a New York times columnist muses about "who will save us?"

Marco Amaral, a 20-year-old student at the University of California, Berkeley, who has been a protest organizer with Occupy Cal, bemoaned the failure of elected officials to come together in the nation’s time of need. “The failure of the supercommittee does not reflect poorly on Republicans, Democrats or Obama, it reflects poorly on how our system works in general,” he said. “Our democracy isn’t working like it should.”

Half a continent away, some outside the Chicago Board of Trade had a decidedly different worldview but a similar gut reaction. Mark Rosenberg, a 33-year-old trader at Cydonia Capital, summed up the mood this way: “Upstairs, they want to fire everyone in Congress because no one is doing their job.”

“I think the whole situation is nutty,” said Jan O’Connell, a 47-year-old artist from Los Angeles. “Somebody’s got to save us, and if the government can’t, who can?”

Who will save us?  Sometimes, we just have to save ourselves.

Live each day in a way that is responsible, giving, admirable and makes the best use of your talents and skills.  Be an asset to your community.  Do everything you can to try to educate and share your views of what would make a better America to all that you know - without being a nose-in-the-air know-it-all.

With the rights that you have as an American, take your responsibilities seriously.  Learn about the issues and the candidates.  Demand, in whatever ways you can, that they live up to our Constitution, to our values and freedoms, and that they serve we, the people rather than themselves and their own pocketbooks.  Let them know that if they don't do this, they'll be retired - and that you and many others will search for candidates who are willing to be fine political servants.

Easy to do this?  Hell, no.  But - sometimes you have to save yourself.  This would be a good start.

"The Glory That Was Rome"

Barry Goldwater; imagining the day of reckoning decades ago.

Internal divisions within the parties hampered talks. But ideological differences over taxes and entitlement cuts were at the core of the debate and ultimately lead to the panel’s impasse.

This is nothing new, according to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Tex. Armey said in an interview that the controversy dates back to the days of the late Arizona conservative senator Barry Goldwater, who predicted in 1976 that there would be epic political and ideological battles between the two parties over taxes and entitlement spending. He warned the American people, “We have come to a crossroads” and offered a doomsday prophecy in his book The Coming Breakpoint. Goldwater said that if the government is left to its own devices, “the glory that is America may go the way of the glory that was Rome.”

Super Committee Failure

Those on the left will blame Republicans and their support for "the 1%" for the failure of the super committee. 

But what are the real reasons why it failed?  Here are some.

Republicans were willing to agree to additional tax revenue, but only in the context of fundamental pro-growth tax reform that would broaden the base, lower rates, and maintain current levels of progressivity. This is the approach to tax reform used by recent bipartisan deficit reduction efforts such as the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission and the Rivlin-Domenici plan.

The Democrats said no. They were unwilling to agree to anything less than $1 trillion in tax hikes—and unwilling to offer any structural reforms to put our health-care entitlements on a permanently sustainable basis.

Unfortunately, the committee's challenge was made more difficult by President Obama. Since the committee was formed, he has demanded more stimulus spending and issued a veto threat against any proposed committee solution to the spending problem that was not coupled with a massive tax increase.

And then - perhaps the greatest reason why:

Ultimately, the committee did not succeed because we could not bridge the gap between two dramatically competing visions of the role government should play in a free society, the proper purpose and design of the social safety net, and the fundamentals of job creation and economic growth.

Americans will have to decide what course they wish to take for their nation.  Reconciling these two different visions is incredibly difficult - if not impossible.

 

How Regulation Harms Us

Many of my liberal friends wonder what I possibly mean when I tell them that regulation can harm us.

Here's a sad but excellent example.

Yes and No

Charles Blow is a columnist for the New York Times.  Rare are the times that I agree with his columns - though I surely think he's a fine writer.

In today's column, I find that there is more about which we agree.  Yet, although we agree on the generalities, when you get down to specifics, I'm certain that we part ways.

My Hero

Does this adoration of a candidate seem a little over the top to you?

On the campaign trail in Massachusetts last month with the Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, I bore witness to acts of extreme giddiness: a 20-year-old student jumping up and down, exclaiming, “Oh, my God, I am obsessed with her”; a third-year law student of Warren’s comparing her to a superhero (“Wonder Woman wishes she could be Professor Warren”); a man stopping Warren on the street and introducing himself as the guy who recently passed her a mash note on a plane (“I was hitting on you,” he said).

At the annual Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus dinner at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, Warren, who was not part of the night’s program, cruised from table to table before the event, introducing herself to guests and blithely ignoring an M.C.’s request for people to settle down. Slipping out the door as the program began, Warren was swarmed by a trio of college students. There was actual shrieking. When I observed to Warren that she has fangirls, she replied, “I know,” with a self-assuredness that female candidates have often found difficult to convey.

Of course there are significant differences in the quality of character and content of belief from candidate to candidate.  Still - no matter what these "fans" seem to think, no politician, left or right, is going to don a cape and save us all....

John Kerry's Excellent Timing

Most of my investing career, I've been a "buy and hold" woman.  I've just never felt that I had the knowledge and expertise to try to time the market and make Big Bucks.

Others, however, seem to have "the gift."  Or, perhaps - something else.

BigGovernment.com has obtained records of Massachusetts Democrat Senator John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz’s stock portfolios that show almost perfectly timed pharmaceutical stock trades during the Obamacare debate, which fattened their already enormous personal fortune.

Do check out the entire story, to see just how dazzling John Kerry's stock picks have been.  Ahh...some of us have "the gift" - and others do not.  Maybe.

Up in the Air

Earlier today, I blogged about the amazing progress in biomedical fields - with untold creations yet to come.  Now, I am enjoying an invention that never ceases to impress me as I use it:  Internet thirtysomething thousand feet up in the sky.  Twenty five years ago, I never dreamed that we could communicate and utilize the unbelievable ability of the Internet as we do today.  I have no idea how many more years I will be around to witness what humans invent.  All I know is that from childhood to today, the change has been dramatic.

I just finished spending a week in Florida with my parents.  No doubt about it; now they are very old.  With Dad and Mom recently 90 and 86 respectively, various health challenges face them - and thus, me.  Is it easy to figure it all out?  No.  But is it worth my time and effort?  Absolutely!

While my parents never quite achieved Perfection in Parenting, the older I get the more I appreciate just how fortunate I have been to have them.  From the moment I first took breath, they have done their best to make sure I would be provided with all that is out there for a great life.  Since the day I was born, they have continued to sacrifice in their own lives to make sure that my own life would be as good as possible.

Now, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to "give back" a little to my folks.  I am busy trying to do my best to make sure that they have what they need in help around the house, with medical care, management of their affairs, and so on.  They are still quite capable in many ways themselves, so it is a continual balancing act to help, yet not judge and preach and control. 

Kinda like what they had to do with me when I was growing up .... :)

Anyway - Mom and Dad usually read my blog every day.  So - "Hi there, Mom & Dad"!  I'm standing on the shoulders of giants who have created the world we live in - and I thank the two of you for all you have created for me!

Now for a special treat.  Dad bought his favorite neighbor doggie, Barney, an early Chanukah present.  Here's Dad at Barney's house, having the time of his life.

And - sorry no shot of Barney's present.  The moment Barney received his toy, faster than the speed of light it was hidden in his kennel.  Barney wanted to take no chances that someone else might get their mitts on it!

The Bargain of the Century

Many informative and intriguing ideas from John Lechleiter, CEO of Eli Lilly.

Amid fears of American decline, Mr. Lechleiter wonders, "What is it about this country, what do we need to do today not only to pull ourselves out of the vestiges or the grips of recession, but resume the strong economic growth that we need to provide the jobs that I reckon are our biggest current problem."

Mr. Lechleiter has a few reforms in mind. The corporate tax code contains "one of if not the highest marginal tax rates in the world" and nicks income earned abroad when it returns to the U.S. "We need to move to a territorial system, period. Yes, companies like Lilly have a lot of cash outside the U.S. The question isn't repatriation, the question is why that is happening in the first place. Those tens of millions of dollars, probably hundreds of millions of dollars depending on how you care to count, could be used to invest in this country and put people back to work."

More broadly, Mr. Lechleiter says, prosperity depends "on the free movement of capital and talent, human capital." More trade, for example, both foreign and domestic: He points out that Indiana is the country's third largest exporter of medical products, after California and Texas. Stronger intellectual property protection is another, as is more immigration: He thinks every advanced degree in math, science, engineering or technology should come with "a green card stapled to the diploma. . . . The fact is, we go to Harvard University and hire a Chinese scientist and we have to work damn hard to keep that person here. That's hurting this country."

But above all, Mr. Lechleiter explains, "There's no better investment that we can make than in biomedical research and in our health. This is not something that we're trying to steal away from someone else. This is not a nascent industry." Pounding his desk on each word—"America leads the world, okay?"

"I believe this will be the biomedical century," he continues. "We'll look back a hundred years from now and say the 20th century was the century of chemistry and physics, and the 21st century was the century of biomedicine."

Let's unleash abilities in America and around the world.  Let's do what we have done so well historically:  innovate, invent, market and improve the world.

Let's put people back to work, return to our entrepreneurial spirit and optimism.

Finishing the Race

For my father, who taught me to never give up.

Bring Kleenex.

The Pro-Legal Immigration Party

If it weren't for immigration, I would not be living in the U.S.  Odds are, frankly, that I wouldn't be living anywhere.  My ancestors likely would have been murdered in a pogram somewhere, or would have been gassed and cremated in a European concentration camp.  Fortunately for me, my Russian and Austrian great grandparents were allowed onto the shores of America.

Today, however, many on the left and the right are fearful of foreigners being allowed into our nation - for various reasons.  Are they correct?  Should we "protect America" from these people and tell the world that our history of welcoming immigrants has passed?

Personally, I agree with the thoughts of Senator Marco Rubio that Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal shares here.

"The Republican Party should not be labeled as the anti-illegal immigration party," he said Monday on Fox News, according to a report in the St. Petersburg Times. "Republicans need to be the pro-legal immigration party."

Mr. Rubio has co-sponsored a bill with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware that would reduce immigrant visa backlogs and shorten wait times for people from Mexico and other countries.

Giving foreign workers more legal ways to enter the U.S. would help reduce illegal entries and free up border patrol resources to pursue security threats. If Republicans want to send a signal to Latino voters that the party has more to offer them than sneers, they might consider taking Mr. Rubio's advice.

I'm on the same page as all of those who want to stop illegal immigration.  Let's, however, take the same position as Rubio and Senator Chris Coons.  Let's improve our legal immigration system. 

I will be forever grateful to the Lady with the Lamp who welcomed my ancestors to these shores.  Let's not prevent generations of future grateful Americans from enjoying the bounty that I have been fortunate enough to have bestowed upon me.

Legal Graft

Repeatedly, I have stated that the Occupy Wall Street protestors have some legitimate beefs.  And oddly enough, some of those concerns intersect with those of the Tea Partiers.  However, as I also have stated, it seems that the OWS people are directing much of their ire in the wrong spot.  What those corporations, banks and "one percent" are doing that they hate so much is legal.  Why is it legal?

Sarah Palin cogently explains.

How do politicians who arrive in Washington, D.C. as men and women of modest means leave as millionaires? How do they miraculously accumulate wealth at a rate faster than the rest of us? How do politicians' stock portfolios outperform even the best hedge-fund managers'? I answered the question in that speech: Politicians derive power from the authority of their office and their access to our tax dollars, and they use that power to enrich and shield themselves.

Members of Congress exempt themselves from the laws they apply to the rest of us. That includes laws that protect whistleblowers (nothing prevents members of Congress from retaliating against staffers who shine light on corruption) and Freedom of Information Act requests (it's easier to get classified documents from the CIA than from a congressional office).

The corruption isn't confined to one political party or just a few bad apples. It's an endemic problem encompassing leadership on both sides of the aisle. It's an entire system of public servants feathering their own nests.