Legalized Plunder

Imagine ten people living on a desert island.  Nine of the them are very poor, living in squalor.  The other is very wealthy.  Through hard work and industry, the tenth person has built ten fine homes, surrounded by productive farmland.  Most would agree that the nine have no legal right to forceably take the property of the tenth person.  That would be theft.

However, what if the nine other persons decided to form a government.  They band together, and elect themselves to various offices.  Despite best efforts, the tenth person is not elected to any office.  After forming this government, the nine decide to pass a law, imposing a 90% "tax" on the property of those in the top 10% income bracket.  The new law is voted on, and passes by a strong majority, 9 to 1.  After the vote, the nine each move into, and take possession, of one of the homes and surrounding farmland of the tenth person.  Is this "legal?"  What say ye?

Quote of the Week

"To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited for it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."


— Douglas Adams (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)

Obama Stimulus Bears a Closer Look

There is a new article by Will Wilkinson today at the CATO Institute site with a short review of and recommendation for Obama's proposed stimulus plan.  The article is entitled "Obama Stimulus Bears a Closer Look."  A tax cut to individuals and businesses would be an immediate stimulus to the economy.  The author proposes a Social Security Payroll Tax cut.  This would be easy to do, and would give tax breaks to both individuals and businesses.  Also, when the crisis is averted, the tax could be easily reinstated.

The part of Obama's plan that involves building infrastructure is a different story.  This would not act as an immediate stimulus, and would allow for plenty of corruption.  I am never comfortable when the government thinks it can do a better job spending my money than I can.

Unassailable Tyranny of a Minority

New article by George Will entitled "Of Judges, By Judges, For Judges." The article discusses the problems generated for individuals, families and society when judges are creating law instead of enforcing law.

Newspaper Bailout Would Undermine Political Freedom

Check out the article published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute discussing  the potential effects of a proposed government bailout of the newspaper industry.

World's Freest Economy

The numbers are out this year, ranking the world's economies from the most free to the least.  I think most of us would generally expect the United States to stand securely at the top of that list.  Turns out that the Heritage Foundation has ranked Hong Kong as the world's freest economy, for the fifteenth year in a row!  Take a minute to review the article.  You may or may not be suprised to see that the United States slipped to sixth place this year, because of "increased government spending and tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product."  Must say that I am not a little disapointed.

Quote of the Week

"Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods."

-- H. L. Mencken 

(1880-1956) American Journalist, Editor, Essayist, Linguist, Lexicographer, and Critic