Schiff: Republicans can force cuts by not raising debt ceiling

House Republicans already have the power to avoid tax hikes and force significant spending cuts. All they have to do is refuse to raise the debt ceiling under any circumstances. That’s it.  At that point the only discussion would be where to find spending to cut.

Don't Be Fooled By Political Posturing, Peter Schiff

Debt Debate = Political Theater, says Gary North

The debate over the debt ceiling is political theater. There is no commitment to cut spending, because cutting spending creates negative voter responses by specific groups who vote as a bloc. Politicians will not risk this. They prefer to vote for another increase in the debt ceiling, because the pain is diversified over millions of unorganized voters. These voters do not perceive the increased deficit as an immediate problem causing intense pain. They prefer to have Congress kick the can. That is what Congress will do.

Baloney, Gary North

Rothbard on the National Debt (Again)

The government gets the money by tax-coercion; and the public creditors, far from being innocents, know full well that their proceeds will come out of that selfsame coercion. In short, public creditors are willing to hand over money to the government now in order to receive a share of tax loot in the future. This is the opposite of a free market, or a genuinely voluntary transaction. Both parties are immorally contracting to participate in the violation of the property rights of citizens in the future. Both parties, therefore, are making agreements about other people's property, and both deserve the back of our hand.

Murray Rothbard, Repudiating the National Debt (For the original post in 2010 click here)

The pesky neighbor and the debt ceiling - The Hill's Congress Blog

My emphasis added (in italics):

When you read the above example, your first reaction might have been to dismiss the neighbor's debt as illegitimate and in no way your responsibility or your problem. You would be right. No fair-minded legal system would hold you responsible for such a debt, and would instead cart your thieving neighbor off to jail. Yet Congress can impose liabilities on you, your children, and grandchildren without your consent, and even without your knowledge. This is another example of government holding itself above the law.

The pesky neighbor and the debt ceiling - The Hill's Congress Blog

Paul sounds a lot like Rothbard (my emphasis added again in italics):

The government gets the money by tax-coercion; and the public creditors, far from being innocents, know full well that their proceeds will come out of that selfsame coercion. In short, public creditors are willing to hand over money to the government now in order to receive a share of tax loot in the future. This is the opposite of a free market, or a genuinely voluntary transaction. Both parties are immorally contracting to participate in the violation of the property rights of citizens in the future. Both parties, therefore, are making agreements about other people's property, and both deserve the back of our hand.

Murray Rothbard, Repudiating the National Debt

From the Tea Party with love - The Hill's Congress Blog

A quote from Chris Littleton:

Lastly –government doesn’t create jobs. Entrepreneurs create jobs. Even when you open a new government building or department, you are taking money from the existing work force and making that money far less productive than it would have been if left in the hands of citizens. You have no ability to produce anything, and are by definition of your very existence, a restriction on freedom and prosperity to all citizens.

From the Tea Party with love - The Hill's Congress Blog

Littleton sounds a lot like Ludwig Von Mises when he said "Government is essentially the negation of liberty."

Video: Unintended Consequences

Schiff: There are no subsidies for corporate jet owners

He explains:

There are no subsidies for corporate jet owners. The fact that corporations are forced to depreciate jets over a period of five years, rather than being able to fully deduct the expenditure immediately, is not a subsidy but a penalty. Just because commercial airlines are penalized more does not mean other corporations are getting a subsidy

Peter Schiff, Don't Be Fooled by Political Posturing

Rick Perry = Bush 3?

Well, really Bush 4 counting Obama. Vox Day explains:

Gov. Perry is a formidable politician, and it is understandable that he looks attractive to those who are desperate to avoid the continuation of the Barry Soetoro charade. America doesn't need another superficial leader who will tell Americans what they want to hear. They need a doctor who is stalwart enough to prescribe for them the bitter medicine they desperately need to take.

Vox Day, Rick Perry is the 3rd Bush

Thomas Sowell asks: Is Democracy Viable?

Is it?

Free and democratic societies have existed for a relatively short time, as history is measured — and their staying power has always been open to question. So much depends on the wisdom of the voters that the franchise was always limited, in one way or another, so that voting would be confined to those with a stake in the viability and progress of the country, and the knowledge to cast their vote intelligently.

Thomas Sowell, Is Democracy Viable?

Peter Schiff on the American Dream

What is the American Dream? It isn't what the government told you. Peter Schiff explains:

The American dream is that any Americans, no matter how humble their beginnings, can work hard, save their money, and rise as high in our society as their ambition will take them, even become president. But getting rich by owning a home is not the Americana dream. Your home is your shelter. It does not replace the need to save your money for retirement. That misconception of the dream and the importance given to home ownership was a force driving the housing bubble and now is a force misguiding the policies dealing with the bust. The American people should understand that misconception and let go of it.

Peter Schiff, Crash Proof 2.0, page 188

Debt ceiling drama by Ron Paul - The Hill's Congress Blog

Debt ceiling drama - The Hill's Congress Blog

Also see Why Ron Paul will not vote on Cut, Cap and Balance Act.

When I say this bill sanctions the status quo, I mean it quite literally. ~Ron Paul

Video: Cato Institute on Underwhelming Cuts and "Cut, Cap and Balance"

Rep. Schweikert discusses political folklore on the House Floor

Yesterday I tweeted:

@RepDavid is my hero 4 the week. I saw his presentation on political folklore unraveling the prez demands. youtube.com/watch?v=YGkEvo… #libertarian

And again:

And I'm a big @RepRonPaul guy ... but @RepDavid you are a courageous man and a great educator. I wish you the best.

Steve Wynn: "This administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime"

Ron Paul's irresponsible amateur hour - The Hill's Pundits Blog

Bravo! Vinnimac.

Dr. Paul is trying to wake the people up to the real solutions to our debt, not some ridiculous patchwork scheme Obama and those other shameless republicans willing to sell their souls just to be politically correct.

Ron Paul's irresponsible amateur hour - The Hill's Pundits Blog

Video: 3 Reasons Why The Debt-Ceiling Debate is Full of Malarkey

FLASHBACK: Raising the debt "ceiling"?

From 2009. Notice Peter Schiff is prescribing the exact opposite of Timothy Geithner both then and now.



Bonus: 3 Reasons Why Debt Ceiling Debate is Full of Malarkey

Does the Balanced Budget Amendment go far enough?

Does this go far enough?

That is why I am co-sponsoring HJR 2, which would amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget. Our proposal makes common-sense exceptions for times of declared war, and would allow Congress in times of emergencies to override the requirement with a three-fifths vote in the House and Senate. It would also require a three-fifths vote in both houses to raise the debt limit. The amendment would go into effect two years after ratification, giving Congress time to balance its budget in a responsible way.

Solution to our deficit problem: Balanced budget amendment

NIH Wastes Millions on Penis Research, Toenail Analysis, and more

I received this in my e-mail today. What will Washington come up with next?

NIH WASTES MILLIONS ON BIZARRE “RESEARCH”

Toenail Analysis, Penis Size Measurement among Other Extraneous Grants

Washington, DC – As the debt crisis looms, those looking to cut federal spending need look no further than the National Institutes of Health, which continues to dole out millions in taxpayer dollars to fund questionable “research,” according to a new budget review conducted by the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC). Their six-month investigation of NIH grant applications based on publically available information and tips from NIH employees uncovered more than half a billion in grant monies paid to researchers to conduct bizarre projects such as measuring the penis size of homosexual men and asking individuals to mail in their toenail clippings.

“We are not opposed to hard science. However, our research offers example after example of widespread institutional waste at the NIH on behavioral research,” said Andrea Lafferty, President of TVC. “While the White House and some in Congress raise the specter of cutting Social Security and Medicare, it is outrageous that the NIH continues to funnel huge amounts of taxpayer dollars for bizarre and politically correct ‘research’ to people who have made a career out of playing the federal grant game.”

NIH-funded projects include:

· At least $9.4 million for a 10-year study that included a survey of gay men to determine average penis sizes, "...to better understand the real individual-level consequences of living in a penis-centered society."

· $154,500 spent asking individuals to mail in their toenails in an effort to research how much toenail nicotine is present versus saliva swabbing, at a cost of $154.50 per batch of toenails.

· $163,500 spent seeking to explain the “drug-using and sexual behaviors among men who have sex with men (MSM) during a circuit party.”

· $1.2 million spent since 2003 trying to find out if a mother rat, if given cocaine, will abandon her babies.

“The NIH grant-making process is the opposite of transparent,” continued Lafferty. “Our research team, mining a labyrinth of thousands of applications designed to confound even the most experienced investigator, uncovered review panels approving sizable grants to members of that panel, regular grants to individual researchers and the biggest concentrations of grants going to NIH-favored causes.

“We call on the Obama Administration and Congress to enforce a moratorium on NIH grant-making while a special prosecutor or another impartial investigator conducts a full review of the NIH budget.”

TVC plans to release additional findings in the coming weeks on NIH’s practices.

Traditional Values Coalition is an interdenominational and multi-racial public policy organization speaking on behalf of 43,000 churches nationwide.

Lower the Debt Ceiling by Mark Thornton

"Eliminating the job of even a single regulator grows the American economy by $6.2 million and creates nearly 100 private-sector jobs annually."

Really? Click the link below to read more.

Lower the Debt Ceiling by Mark Thornton

Senator Lee Questions Obama's Threat to Withhold Social Security Benefits

Why are senior citizens at the top of the list? Could this be a political ploy?

Defaulting on the Fed's Bonds - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily

Is it a good idea?

Defaulting on the Fed's Bonds - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily

My Anti-Capitalist Twitter Critic by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Interesting fact:

As I’ve shown in Rollback, the poverty rate in the United States fell from 95 percent in 1900 to around 12-14 percent in the late 1960s – a period in which government antipoverty measures were fairly trivial. By the late 1960s, when Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty programs began receiving substantial funding, the poverty rate stagnated. By 1994 it was about the same as it had been in the late 1960s, even though the federal government was by that time spending four times as much per capita as it had under LBJ.

My Anti-Capitalist Twitter Critic by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Mystery shoppers are a waste of taxpayer money - The Hill's Congress Blog

Medicare mystery shoppers? Really government?

Mystery shoppers are a waste of taxpayer money - The Hill's Congress Blog

Video: The War on Lemonade Stands! Nanny of the Month (June 2011)

The War in Somalia?

Another war?

U.S. drone targets two leaders of Somali group allied with al-Qaeda, official says

Senate honors cowboys, cowgirls - The Hill's Floor Action

They're doing it again. Once again the Senate is showing that their priorities are out of this world.

Senate honors cowboys, cowgirls - The Hill's Floor Action