Bloomberg reports:
“Congressional leaders are raising to 3.8 percent their proposed new Medicare tax on investment income in the final health-care overhaul plan, a Democratic leadership aide said.
The rate is higher than the 2.9 percent President Barack Obama proposed in February. Under Obama’s proposal, the new tax would apply to income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, [...]
Daily life in India grows more surreal for the ordinary man, says writer Pritish Nandy:
“You can’t afford food? No worries, we will give you a stunning cricket extravaganza with lots of movie stars and pretty cheerleaders.
You feel insecure because Maoists are now in 20 states and have killed more people than the jihadis? Don’t [...]
Steve Forbes points out that government subsidies in the housing market weren’t needed for Canadians to become home owners:
“The Bush Administration botched an opportunity in 2008 to put these entities in receivership, with the idea of either liquidating or privatizing them. A winding down of Fannie and Freddie would have led to a birth of [...]
The head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, has moved away from his predecessor’s support for developing genetically modified food to alleviate hunger in poor countries. Instead, he argues that adoption of the “precautionary principle” is warranted:
“There are a lot of claims that are disputed (like) that GMOs never call [...]
LESSONS FROM THE GREAT DEPRESSION - Lecture by Lawrence Reed, Nov. 2, 2009
Economic Liberty Lecture Series: Lawrence Reed from The Future of Freedom Foundation on Vimeo.
Bret Stephens in the Wall Street Journal adds some nuance to Naomi Klein’s black-and-white picture of Milton Friedman’s contributions to the Chilean economy, noting how prosperity and effective enforcement of building codes have protected Chilean victims of the recent earthquake from the devastation that Haiti suffered:
“In left-wing mythology—notably Naomi Klein’s tedious 2007 screed “The Shock [...]
Tom Woods cites Pope John Paul II on the moral basis of material prosperity:
“According to John Paul II, “The moral causes of prosperity . . . reside in a constellation of virtues: industriousness, competence, order, honesty, initiative, frugality, thrift, spirit of service, keeping one’s word, daring — in short, love for work well done. No [...]
The Financial Times points out the quirks in the Chinese market that have Western companies racking their brains to stay on top of sales:
“The big spender in China, in years past and even more so today, is the state: private consumption as a percentage of gross domestic product has fallen from 60 per cent in [...]
the way the whole jim-bunning-is-shutting-down-the-federal-government thing is being played is going to bite you in the ass. the idea is that the dems can't believe their windfall: biden, reid etc all taking this big opportunity. supposedly the same thing killed the gop when they shut down the gov under gingrich etc. i don't think that these folks actually understand.
remember obama pledging pay-as-you-go, deficit reduction, fiscal responsibility etc.? the only exceptions to these principles that the administration is allowing is every piece of legislation they propose. but all bunning is doing is trying to enforce obama's supposed convictions. and if you don't think there's an anti-state-gigantism mood and a concern about trillions in deficits and debts, you haven't been watching. of course, anyone who actually was concerned about debt devouring our economy would be engaged in wacky conspiracy theories; racism; they'd be mere animals lashing out. and yet what they're saying would be true.
i feel that the people who are killing themselves here are the dems, and if it continues on like this, they'll lose both houses of congress.
the honorable joseph r. biden, vice president plenipotentiary of the united states and president of the senate llc, ph.d. (honorary), gesticulating randomly before the ruins of his party, policies, dreams