Insanity in Our Back Yard - Filner Must Go

There is plenty of coverage of the allegations regarding Filner's sexual harassment.  Leslie Eastman at College Insurrection has a nice summary and sdrostra.com is chock full of articles on the subject. But Filner has demonstrated plenty of other out-of-control behavior that together paints a portrait of a man teetering on the edge of sanity.

• Most disturbing to me, because it is such an affront to civil behavior, his ex-fiancee said that  she made the "gut-wrenching decision" to break up with Filner after she said he recently started text messaging other women sexually explicit messages and set up dates in front of her.  Bronwym Ingram, the ex, said that he had lost the ability to treat anyone with civility.
• His ongoing feud with Jan Goldsmith that is harming the city.  His aggressive take-over of a Goldsmith news conference prompted me to predict he wouldn't finish the term.
• The Sunroad Centrum pay-to-play investigation is still ongoing, with the FBI involved.  Citybeat has more details.
• Jerry Navarra of Jerome's Furniture donated free furniture to the mayor's office while he has two properties in East Village that cannot be developed unless an historical designation is lifted.

Here is that Goldsmith presser video.

He has clearly shredded the norms of civil behavior.  Here is the an article about conduct disorders, including DSM-IV diagnostic criteria.  Check out these symptoms and ask how much of Filner's behavior fits:

Four types of symptoms of conduct disorder are recognized: 

(1) Aggression or serious threats of harm to people or animals;
(2) Deliberate property damage or destruction (e.g., fire setting, vandalism);
(3) Repeated violation of household or school rules, laws, or both; and
(4) Persistent lying to avoid consequences or to obtain tangible goods or privileges.

Should someone who has the symptoms of a conduct disorder be our mayor?

What You Should Be Reading:

• The Daily Caller has a sneak peak at testimony in the IRS targeting of tea party groups.  It ain't pretty and true to expectation, the trail leads to Washington.
• DooDoo Econ on exposing accounting fraud at Treasury to avoid breaching the debt limit.  He also makes a compelling case, with pictures, of why Filner will stay in office until after Comic-Con.

Immigration Insanity

This article is part of a continuing series on the insanity of many of our national policies.  As immigration reform is debated in Congress, one has to wonder how we ended up with a policy whose chief results are:

• Most immigrants come here illegally with low skills and consequently contribute little in taxes for both reasons.
• Difficulty in bringing in skilled immigrants.  
• Border enforcement that funnels the illegals to the most inhospitable climates resulting in many deaths.

Before we think that just changing this policy is easy, we should head the words of Machiavelli:

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones. ”
― Niccolò Machiavelli

I have analyzed the forces arrayed against border security and immigration reform before.  Fortunately, however, it seems that reform is in sight, but the sticking point is over enforcing the border.  Given that lack of enforcement undermines the rule of law, and results in immigrant deaths, I can see why conservatives and libertarians would be in favor of this as part of any deal.  However, I wonder if it won't be a moot point soon.  First, an expanded guest worker program would reduce the number of laborers who would be finding work when they crossed the border illegally, as more of those jobs would already be filled.  Second, Mexico's fertility rate is plummeting, which should soon be relieving pressure on the border.  

The root cause for the failure to compromise is that we just don't trust the federal government and the different branches of the federal government have good reason not to trust each other.  One solution to the border control issue was to tie citizenship for current illegals to a certification of border security; but we have seen the administration choose not to enforce provisions of the ACA, so who believes in this option?  Another Republican idea is a "border-surge" which would put additional resources into border security. Since when do more resources equal better results when it comes to the feds.  Ideally, the DHS should be held accountable by the Congress for border enforcement against actual performance measures.  But as we saw in the IRS targeting of tea party and conservative groups, apparently no one can hold any part of the government accountable, it's just too damn big.  At least that's what Obama says.

In fact, government can be held accountable, but the Congress has to do its job and must do so, year after year.  To keep the DHS accountable, if illegal crossings weren't reduced each year, the Congress should cut the budget for the immediate staff of the Secretary of DHS, and impose a hiring freeze on all portions of the DHS budget except border control.  Such ruthless tactics work; I know, because I work for the government.  But the Congress is never willing to hold agencies accountable. And frankly, part of the problem is that government is so huge.  Obviously its size needs to shrink.

In the mean time, we still need to reform immigration policies.  We are going to have to accept a bill that improves border security, but without guarantees.

What You Should Be Reading

• KT at the Scratching Post has the latest in a series of posts about Detroit.  In my view there is a theme of passivity and learned helplessness that permeates each article.  How does that happen to a whole community?
• Dean posts the video clip of the day in which a twelve year old is more articulate than me.  The basic conundrum in Egypt is that the Islamists are unwilling to concede that anyone has rights that cannot be abrogated by Sharia.  Until the Islamists are willing to tolerate freedom of speech and the checks and balances of a constitutional democracy, there will continue to be bloodshed.
• Who knew that social security's disability fund would be the first entitlement account to run out of money?  Apparently Michael Boskin does.  Interestingly, it is benefits per person, not demographics driving this fund to bankruptcy.

Weekend Music Chill

I have been listening music with higher energy levels of late.  I had some medical difficulties about three months ago and am starting to feel like my old self again.  Listening to decent music like this helps.

Here are Caesars with Jerk It Out.



Jack White's band The Raconteurs does a nice job with Steady As She Goes.




Hope you enjoy.

Filner WILL Resign - Some Questions for the Next Mayor

There is no doubt that Bob Filner is on his way out as Mayor.  I predicted he might not make it, but this is fast.  Today both the U-T and KPBS reported that prominent Democrats, including Donna Frye, are urging the mayor to resign over sexual harassment allegations.  There is also the little matter of an FBI investigation into a pay-to-play scandal involving Sunroad Centrum's project in Kearney Mesa.

Fading away? Probably not, but it will be ugly.

Richard Rider provides a nice summary on Twitter:

Filner MUST resign. Sexual harassment charges emerging. IMHO, it's only a matter of WHEN he resigns. He may try to cut deal re: fed charges.
— Richard Rider (@SD_TaxFighters) July 10, 2013

Meanwhile, let's start thinking about the issues that we want the new mayor to address. My debate questions follow:

1. Will the candidate wholeheartedly support the pension reforms of Proposition B, including working with the City Attorney to vigorously defend the measure in court?  Explain your next steps to implement these reforms in order to save taxpayer dollars.
2.  Will you push managed competition to reduce the cost of city services?  What would be the next of services that should be put in play?
3. Name at least one city program that consumes over 1% of the city budget that you would eliminate.
4. What will you do to normalize the legal status of marijuana dispensaries.

What other debate topics do we have?

With regards to the horse race aspect of the race, I see Kevin Faulconer and Nathan Fletcher as early front runners. If Faulconer wins, does that cause a daisy chain effect, with Lorie Zapf vacating her current District 6 seat to run in her home District 2?  If she won, who are the front runners in District 2?  (Like Zapf, I was redistricted from CD-6 to CD-2 when the number of council seats expanded.)  Local politicos are certainly plotting their next moves.

What You Should Be Reading

• Dean, at BeerswithDemo, provides a cautionary tale for advocates of marijuana legalization based on Colorado's experience. Apropos to our own city's struggles with this issue.
• Daniel Henninger declares July 3, 2013 the day big government died.  When leftist government can't even deliver on its core competency of issuing regulations, you know that big government has "hit the wall." H/T KT Cat.

Unaffordable Insanity - The Affordable Care Act

On July 4th I posted that business as usual in our politics has lead to insane outcomes that no one would have devised from scratch.  The so-called Affordable Care Act was my first exhibit and it continues to unravel.  Dean has a great take on the latest fiasco, delaying the employer mandates for a year.

The stated reason for the delay is that the administration couldn't figure out a way to implement the reporting requirements for the effected businesses. Going on 3-1/2 years after the law was passed and they still need another year to figure out how to work one of the key provisions of the law. In Washington D.C. this is known as the “Continuing to Implement the ACA in a Careful, Thoughtful Manner.” In Placentia, California, this is known as "incompetence".

And Dean notes that young voters are still on the hook whether they think they need insurance or not, big business, not so much.  You can file this under "Obama decides what the law is or is not."

But wait, there's more.  The WSJ takes down the administration for giving up on income verification to obtain subsidies for health exchanges, calling the decision a "Liar's Subsidy."

The White House seems to regard laws as mere suggestions, including the laws it helped to write. On the heels of last week's one-year suspension of the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate to offer insurance to workers, the Administration is now waiving a new batch of its own ObamaCare prescriptions.
. . .
In other words, anyone can receive subsidies tied to income without judging the income they declare against the income data the Internal Revenue Service collects. 

I guarantee you that the Democrat running for President in 2016 will be calling for an overhaul of the healthcare law and somehow blaming those rascawwy Republicans for sabotaging it, when in fact it will have collapsed of its own accord.  The far left is looking forward to this fail to take another run at a health care system fully funded by the federal government.  Fortunately, really bad budget numbers for Medicare should be kicking in right about then.  It will be an opportunity to shape the debate on sensible policy.

I have proposed sensible reforms before, with the ACA failing, time to resurrect our plan.  Since it is  a cut and paste, I am putting my policy prescriptions below the fold.

What You Should Be Reading 

• The details of Snowden's revelations about the NSA.  The surveillance state is coming for your liberty at full speed with the power of big data behind it.  It is not a coincidence that the big name in databases, Oracle, got its start in the intelligence field.  Screed of Momus (best blog name, ever) has a great run down on the various reasons the government is highly motivated to continue its various spying programs and to keep expanding them.
• Doo Doo Econ does the job I normally perform and analyzes the latest jobs data.  His conclusion? Despite the seemingly good numbers, the economy is still shaky.  I concur.

What You Should NOT Be Reading

• Anything to do with trial of George Zimmerman.  A young man is dead under murky circumstances, that is tragic.  The shooter alleges self defense.  A jury will decide. Only the MSM has a desire to pour the gasoline of race relations on this story while they light the match. Screw them, don't pay attention.
• Anything to do with the drama of Snowden's asylum.  That's the sideshow, which distracts from the very disturbing allegations he has made about the NSA.
• Anything about our foreign policy with respect to Egypt or Syria.  There is little we can do and no good outcomes in sight.  I despise this administration, but honestly, the situation there is so convoluted I don't think anyone could tell the difference between comptent foreign policy and Obama/Kerrry plan.  Yachting, golfing are indeed the correct response.

Liberty Movement Health Care Plan (first published in 2011):

Here is the plan that John Mackey of Whole Foods proposed, my comments in italics.

1. "Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts." Patients who have skin in the game and market knowledge will reduce costs faster than any government program.
2. "Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits."
3. Allow competition across state lines.
4. "Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover."
5. "Enact tort reform."
6. "Make costs transparent."
7. "Enact medicare reform." Medicare policies that are mimicked by the private sector are strangling the medical profession.
8. Revise tax law to make it easier to donate to those without insurance.

To expand on these points.

1. The government could help lead this effort by reforming first Medicaid, by turning it into an insurance subsidy program for the poor. But the program would require those in the program to pay a high copay until a low catastrophic cap was reached. Such a system would create a market for a system where people have more incentive to shop for best value in medical care. This system could then be applied to Medicare.
2. The next big issue is that health care is tied to employment. My first impulse is to forbid the offering of insurance through employment, but that would make a conservative social engineer, instead of a liberal one. Removing the tax advantage would at least set a level playing field. To date, the portion of employee compensation that comes in the form of employer health insurance isn't taxed as compensation. This ties employees to their companies and needlessly. You would think that liberals would be opposed to a scheme where tax policy gives corporations leverage over employees. However, I dislike schemes whereby the government imposes on employee relations, so I will settle for leveling the playing field.
3. Interstate competition is not the norm in insurance. Surely the federal government has the right to "regulate" as in "make regular" this portion of interstate commerce, by insuring that any insurance offered for sale in a state would be available in the fifty states. Increasing competition will probably be opposed by the insurance industry, but freer markets benefit consumers.
4. One size never fits all. So mandating coverage should be banned. Insurance is always tricky business, even homeowner's insurance, as Road Dawg can attest to. Along with no mandates will be the need to enforce clear language in policies and communications with policy holders. I am a libertarian, but not so naive as to believe that some insurance companies won't try to wriggle out of agreements to save money. Court is expensive for individual consumers, so regulation that enforces good practices of transparency and clarity will be necessary. But regulation should always aim for simplicity and this also needs to be part of a reform package.
5. With regards to tort reform, we have seen positive results in Texas, where access to care increased after passage of reform.
6. Cost transparency is important to enable process improvement and allow patient choice. Most people don't know the true cost of a medical visit, even after the visit is over. Here again, Medicaid reform could lead the way, by insisting that patients receive better notice and understanding of their bill.
7. Medicare policies with regards to reimbursement are arcane and lead to huge misunderstandings on what is covered and unexpected bills. Transforming Medicare to save it for those who truly need it, into an insurance subsidy scheme, will get the government out of the rule writing business and free up insurance plans to compete.
8. Allowing Americans to donate to those who need health care insurance might make little difference, but maybe not. I see lots of do-gooder millionaires wanting to pay more taxes. Maybe they could pay for poor people's insurance in the interim.

Independence Day and These Insane States of America

Happy Independence Day.  On the 237th anniversary of the founding of our nation, we should reflect on the future direction of the country.  The present may seem bleak, but I am very optimistic about the future.  Before we examine the future, here are some examples of the current insanity.

• The Affordable Care Act has proven to be anything but.  Businesses are busy cutting health insurance benefits, young people will have to pay much more and the government's outlays are rising when it is awash in debt. No one, and I mean no one, ever proposed anything like the current law during any campaign for office.  The Congress took every flawed feature of the previous system and expanded it, and called it reform.
• We live with a system that keeps milk prices high, and prices go even higher, if Congress doesn't set price floors for dairy farmers. 
• Those who believe that Carbon emissions cause global warming are unwilling to use the simplest method to reduce emissions, a carbon tax, instead heaping new regulations on industry of dubious effectiveness.
• We rely on a currency that is publicly acknowledged to be manipulated.
• Sequestration has done nothing to change the long term budget outlook of the U.S., yet it is pilloried as draconian.  According to the CBO, "Under Current Law, Federal Debt Will Stay at Historically High Levels Relative to GDP."

So why the optimism?  First, I think that this insanity is doomed to collapse. We are already seeing the ACA start to unravel with yesterday's announcement of the delay in business penalties for failure to comply, which begs the question of the government's willingness to force individuals to comply.  

Second, we are catching a lucky break because there are no serious global competitors to our economic supremacy right now.  China's state sponsored capitalism is proving unsustainable. The Europeans are, well, European, awash in fresh crises every few months.  India isn't yet ready to grow, even if they are the chief long term rival.  

Third, I have faith in the freedom loving DNA of our people.  Eventually we figure things out and we are figuring out that big government, big labor and big business are bad for freedom; especially in combination. We are slowly, but effectively, fighting back.  

James Bennett and Michael Lotus have written a book about their own optimism called "America 3.0."  I am not particularly enamored with the title, but it is a convenient short hand for the idea that we are entering a new epoch.  The America 2.0 of big government and mass production is giving way to new modes of economic development and delivery.  The old system is collapsing due to its complexity and internal contradictions.  A new system has yet to arise, but it should value liberty for the individual, if it is to succeed.  Perhaps more on that in a future post.



Stuff You Should Be Reading

You should be reading the Burning Platform blog because the federal government doesn't want me to read it. Jim Quinn of Burning Platform had posted a decent article about hatred for Obama in Egypt on Zero Hedge so I thought to look them up and here is what I got:

Arguing for freedom is somehow suspicious?  I think it is their full throated defense of Snowden that is the real reason for getting blocked. (I deleted the full name of my B-Daddy log in, other than that, the picture is a replica of what I got.)  No, I did not submit the unblock request.

The Libertarian Case for Federal Employment

The latest news only reinforces the belief that the Federal government has far exceeded its constitutional bounds.  I find the IRS targeting especially troubling, as it is touches the most Americans and yet appears to be unaccountable.  News of the NSA spying, as egregious as that is, has pushed the even more problematic spying on reporters and potentially the Congress off the front page.  And the death of Ambassador Stevens in Benghazi has yet to be adequately explained.  In spite of all this, the federal government is my employer.  How could I work for an employer of whom I am so critical, one might wonder.

First, I work in a part of the federal government that more or less operates within its constitutional bounds.  More importantly, I don't think that those of us in the liberty movement should cede federal employment to the left.  Peggy Noonan discusses the importance of the character of civil servants in the IRS scandal.  Forty years ago, Nixon tried to use the IRS to harass his enemies.

But part of that Watergate story is that Nixon failed. Last week David Dykes of the Greenville (S.C.) News wrote of meeting with 93-year-old Johnnie Mac Walters, head of the IRS almost 40 years ago, in the Nixon era. Mr. Dykes quoted Tim Naftali, former director of the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, who told him the IRS wouldn't do what Nixon asked: "It didn't happen, not because the White House didn't want it to happen, but because people like Johnnie Walters said 'no.' "

Unfortunately, Douglas Shulman the IRS Commissioner during the targeting of liberty movement groups seemed to be acting at the behest of the White House, which was publicly decrying the groups while Democratic Senators were calling for investigations only of conservative groups.

Often, it only takes one person to stand up and say "this is wrong" for a bad policy to get stopped.  This is why we need constitution-abiding, freedom-loving employees on the federal payroll.  I understand that its the taxpayers money we are spending and I do my best to keep that in mind.

A small example, from my own work comes to mind.  Years ago, our agency outsourced most of our standard desktop and networking IT.  Getting with the program and cooperating with the effort, despite its enormous difficulties became the order of the day.  However, in my little pocket and others, we still had research networks to run that were specifically exempted from the monolithic agency IT solution.  However, we were forced onto server based computing solutions before they were ready for prime-time and paid a hefty fee to do so, about $2,000 per year.  In order to maintain the sanity of our users, we maintained an email capability at much lower cost per person.  While the two grand was supposed to deliver much more than just email, that was all it was really used for and it wasn't that good initially.  Many of our users continued to use our research network email address until this became a large public embarrassment, cost be damned.

I came under severe pressure to eliminate the old email completely, but I fought long and hard for some exceptions so that I wouldn't have to shut down.  Fast forward six years and sequestration is getting leadership to rethink their priorities.  $2,000 per year for a solution where the users only use the email looks pricey, all of a sudden.  Next thing you know, my boss is asking me to write a proposal to drop all the users out of the agency system who only use the research network for significant cost savings.

If I hadn't been convinced that in the long run, the cost argument would prevail, I wouldn't have fought so hard in the first place.  I have certainly had my share of failures in other policy areas, unfortunately.  But I believe that if there were more employees with my frame of mind, our government would be more efficient and less intrusive.  To be fair, because the federal government tries to do too much, it will not be efficient until it is much smaller.  Better to have liberty movement types on the inside than not.

Weekend Music Chill

I found a new artist on my "Gold on the Ceiling" Pandora station, so I am sharing.  Here is Patrick Sweany with "Them Shoes."




And another decent tune, "Sleeping Bag."


The second song reminds a little of the Rolling Stones' 60s sound.

Weekend Music Chill

I am feeling good about the country today.  Obama's agenda, whatever it was, is bogged down in the land of Scandalabra.  Oil and gas drilling in North America might save the economy.  The internal contradictions of the ACA are becoming so glaring, that its failure is becoming obvious to the masses.  Time for some party music:

First, a tune that I built a new Pandora station around, "Glad You Came" by The Wanted.

And this one for my brother-in-law, who thinks he still has the moves.

High Speed Choo-Choo to be De-Railed?

The U-T is reporting that the California High Speed rail project could come crashing down in court tomorrow.

A Sacramento County Superior Court judge is scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit that claims the project doesn’t comply with a statewide ballot measure approving $9.9 billion in bonds for the systems.

. . . Former Sen. Quentin Kopp, involved in planning high-speed rail since 1992, states in an expert declaration in the case that the so-called “blended” system forcing the bullet train and standard rail to share tracks from San Francisco to San Jose is not genuine high-speed rail.

Even if the lawsuit fails, it is clear that the voters were sold a pack of lies.  Dean has been covering the history.

There is no doubt that even if the state loses the lawsuit, that won't prevent them from moving forward.  It is a hallmark of this era that mere judicial rulings do not deter the government from proceeding with its intended aims.

Researching the text of the law, I came across this little gem:

"the planned passenger train service to be provided by the authority, or pursuant to its authority, will not require operating subsidy." This must be certified prior to expending funds.  I don't know if it is part of the lawsuit, but I wouldn't want to be the state official who had to sign that document.

We will see what happens tomorrow.

What You Should Be Reading

Dawn Wildman exposes the intellectual bankruptcy of the so-called Common Core curriculum.

Naked D.C has a hilarious take on the Scandalabra engulfing the administration and a picture of Eric Holder in a sparkly speedo. Truly must read to put it all together.

Shinzo Abe Cannot Save Japan

Source: The Economist.

I should probably just end this post with the picture, but a little explanation would be polite.  Shinzo Abe is on the cover of this week's Economist.  Ironically, it is also source of the graphic above.  The Economist is all but endorsing Shinzo Abe's approach to revitalizing Japan, but unless something radical changes with its demographics, it will have too many old people to support with too few workers.  They admit as much in one of the opening paragraphs:

Pulling Japan out of its slump is a huge task. After two lost decades, the country’s nominal GDP is the same as in 1991, while the Nikkei, even after the recent surge, is at barely a third of its peak. Japan’s shrinking workforce is burdened by the cost of a growing number of the elderly. Its society has turned inwards and its companies have lost their innovative edge.

What are the Prime Minister's bold proposals?  More government spending in an economy with an already debt to GDP ratio over 200% and printing money.  And vague "supply side" reforms to be created by five different commissions.  This won't help, but to be fair, nothing will help.  Mr. Abe also proposes to reinvigorate national pride.  Unless this results in more babies; nothing he does will do much good, because his economy lacks workers and the old folks want their benefits.

A stable or growing population is a source of economic growth.  We see this over and over throughout the world.  When native birth rates fall, then immigration is the only other source of population increase, which isn't happening in insular Japan.

Here in the United States, immigration reform is necessary for the same demographic reasons as exists in Japan.  However, pulling in an unskilled immigrant population that is as dependent on the government as the elderly will do us no good.  We need skilled and wealthy immigrants.  The current effort in the Senate does not emphasize this outcome.

What You Should Be Reading

Dean outlines simple and common sense health care reform implemented by one doctor.

Could we finally be getting rid of that miserable hack Holder?

What Obama's Scandals Have in Common

The scandals besetting the administration have this in common, they all spring from a desire to score political victory at all costs.  The administration's belief is that it must maintain a narrative, convenient to the President, facts be damned, rule of law as well.

The scandal of Benghazi grew out of a desire to wish away the inconvenience of the resurgence of al-Qaeda.  Obama was supposed to have won the war on terror by killing bin Laden, the success of terrorists in killing a U.S. ambassador couldn't be admitted to, so some poor schlub who made a third rate video finds himself behind bars.  Some excellent background and the Petraeus connection here.

The IRS targeting of tea party and "patriot" groups came after prominent Democratic politicians and the left wing grass roots led a drumbeat of accusations that the tea party was not a genuine grass roots movement, but a creature of the Koch brothers and anonymous right-wing billionaires.  We were warned that Democrats might push the IRS to target conservative groups in 2010 and look what happened.

Similarly, the massive dragnet against the AP's phone records look like payback for another story that upset the Obama narrative about the war on terror.  In May of the election year, the AP broke a story of an al-Qaeda plot to blow up an airliner on the anniversary of the bin Laden killing.  Bringing to the public's attention the fact that there were negative consequences to the killing of bin Laden and the fact that the terrorists are still active is another inconvenient narrative.

Finally, while not a scandal, the pending furloughs of defense employees was also wholly avoidable.    The administration directed the Defense Department to continue spending at last year's levels, rather than setting aside reserves in case of sequestration.  Allowing any hint that there would be actually be a sequestration might hurt Obama's chances for re-election in northern Virginia home to many defense employees and contractors.  The administration even told contractors that they shouldn't send out the warning notices that their might be layoffs.  Now, furloughs will cause across the board delays to defense programs, which will cascade into increased costs in future years.  Meanwhile, the administration has yet to propose any significant program cuts that would rationalize the defense budget.

What connects these issues is the unlimited greed for power and the bending of every portion of the government to maintain the President's power.  Ironically, the scandals will weaken Obama during his second term.

What You Should Be Reading

DooDoo Economics reports on Microsoft getting into the political discrimination business.  Memo to Bill Gates, the election is over.

Mark Steyn tells you all you need to know about the rot that is Britain, as revealed by the machete murders in Woolwich.  The reaction of the British is more frightening than the heinous crime itself.


Patrick Buchanan explains why the Middle East will stay engulfed in civil war for a while, and why we should stay out of it.  There is precious little the U.S. can do to influence a good outcome there.

What You Should Be Reading - College Grads and Jobs

With the U.S. still not increasing the percentage of those employed, today's reading is about jobs and college graduates.

First, the graph above represents the percent of people employed vs the total population.  Notice how well it's doing during this "recovery," statistically unchanged since it bottomed out during Obama's first term.  If you think its bad news that the percentage of people with jobs never recovered, you're right.  On to some insight on the current situation for college grads.

Kirk McDonald, President of an Ad Tech company in Manhattan, explains why he isn't hiring you, if you are a recent U.S. college grad.

Even CNBC pounces on colleges' failure to disclose how well they prepare graduates for the job market.  If you can't read the full article, here is the money quote:

Indeed, the McKinsey study found that a disturbing one-third of graduates "did not feel college prepared them well for employment."

Leslie Eastman, at College Insurrection, wonders who will take the blame for these grads not getting jobs. 

A repeat, but Walter Russell Mead explains why there will be structural shifts in employment in the coming decade.  This has implications for college grads.  Hint: Don't major in an area that can be outsourced or performed by computers. 

The Cover Up - IRS Harassment of tea party Groups

Here comes the cover up.  Yesterday, I wrote about the IRS illegal targeting tea party groups for harassment.  Today, there are reports of a cover up and much, much earlier knowledge by senior IRS officials.  Hotair has great coverage of the story, but if you don't have time, here is all you need to know, from the AP.

A federal watchdog's upcoming report says senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups in 2011. 

The disclosure contradicts public statements by former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who repeatedly assured Congress that conservative groups were not targeted.

And the left mocks conservatives for buying guns as insurance against eventual government tyranny or anarchy.  How are the IRS' tactics any different from what Chavez did in Venezuela?  Oh, I forgot, he was BFFs with the likes of Sean Penn and Danny Glover, so he couldn't have done anything wrong either.

Hopefully Mr. Shulman can find himself on trial for perjury, since he denied any of this in March 2012.

What You Should Be Reading

Walter Russell Mead looks at the future of work and paints a scary picture.  I actually agree with his conclusions.  Mead is a great writer and thinker in general, I read and listened to a number of his lectures in a strategic planning class I took last year and always found his work insightful.

W.C. Varones explains why San Diego County Taxpayers Association is not to be trusted through the example of the Poway "borrow $100 million - pay back $1 billion bonds."

Mark Steyn, with his usual bite, sums up the utter depravity of Hillary Clinton's response to Behghazi. Many conservatives believe that she would have been a less awful President than Obama. I just think it would have been a different kind of awful.

Weekend Music Chill

This weekend's music starts slow, but is quite rousing. It is very different from what I normally listen to.

An Apology is not Enough - IRS Harassment of tea party Groups

The IRS finally acknowledged what conservative groups have known since early 2012, they were targeted for special scrutiny by the IRS when applying for tax exempt status.  The WSJ is reporting:

A congressional aide familiar with the findings of the inspector general's report said it concludes that tea-party groups were delayed in the application process, and were asked unnecessary questions.

The power of the IRS to ruin the life of the average citizen is well known.  Besides being a clear abuse of power, IRS harassment is a powerful tool to stifle dissent.  Nixon is alleged to have used the IRS to harass those on his "enemies list," to great and well deserved outrage.  Leftists who are the most vocal about Nixon are saying nothing or even saying that the tea party groups deserved the scrutiny because of collective guilt for being front organizations for business interests.  I won't link the Daily Kos articles that so state.

I am not alleging that this effort was directed by the Obama administration.  It matters not why the harassment took place, when it is targeted based on belief it is unconscionable.  The IRS has too much power over our lives.  The complexity of the tax code makes average citizens potential criminals.  The ACA has put an even larger burden the IRS, and at the same time made it more likely that an individual tax return will be out of compliance and subject to audit.

There will be a lot of hoopla about ensuring there is an investigation.  Much will be made of imposing new rules that ensure "fairness."  What is really needed is tax code simplification, across the board, not just in the area of tax exempt organizations.

What You Should Be Reading

DooDooEcon examines this IRS story and other Friday dumping by the administration that tends to escape notice.  

Byron York summarizes how heightened border security proposals are getting killed in Senate committee on 10 Democrats plus Graham and Flake. Lack of adequate border security will kill the usefulness of this bill.  We need to contact our House members.

Why I Froze My Eggs - You Ignored the Wisdom of Ages

I started to read a WSJ article that discussed egg freezing this weekend while visiting my parents.  Ever the optimist, I thought this would be an article about giving married woman more options, which might also reverse our low birthrates.  Instead, the second paragraph revealed the real issue:

Egg freezing stopped the sadness that I was feeling at losing my chance to have the child I had dreamed about my entire life. It soothed my pangs of regret for frittering away my 20s with a man I didn't want to have children with, and for wasting more years in my 30s with a man who wasn't sure he even wanted children. It took away the punishing pressure to seek a new mate and helped me find love again at age 42.

I don't normally wade into the culture wars, leaving that for KT and Leslie (Leslie also posts regularly on College Insurrection).  But I have to ask what inability to assimilate socially useful information (search that phrase) results in a decade and a half of relationship futility with known losers?  Decade 1: you know that you don't want to have children with Dolt #1, despite your claim that having children is your lifelong dream, but hey what's a decade?  Decade 2: Dude can't even decide?  Sorry, a real man will either say "I want to have children and marriage for life; honey you're the one I want to make babies with" or "I don't want kids, I am focused on my own career, or whatever, but I still want the lifelong marriage."  Mister milquetoast does neither and Ms. Egg Freezer can't bring herself to leave this loser.  I didn't read the rest of the article, because this woman had destroyed her credibility in two short paragraphs.  And she is sadly mistaken if she thinks that this all cost her $50,000.  It cost far, far more and sadder still, she is now lying to herself about it.

This is why, in ancient times, like up to a few centuries ago, marriages were arranged by parents or through some other means.  Relationships outside of the context of life long commitment weren't even contemplated.  The lesson to be drawn is that you only date those with whom you see a possibility of marriage.  My oldest son, in his early twenties, gets this.  If you ask him why he hasn't been on that many dates, he will say that he only dates women with whom he intends to have a serious relationship.  By serious, he means potentially leading to marriage.  Why bother otherwise, he says, it just wastes the precious little time that God has given him on this earth.  That American women in their late thirties do not understand this concept eludes my comprehension.  Like all great principles, this one is simple and understandable.

What You Should Be Reading

Dean calls out Chuck Schumer for throwing Obama under the bus, acknowledging that the ACA is going to send your health care bills through the roof.  Relatedly, Megan McArdle analyzes why access to Medicaid doesn't make Oregonians healthier.  

As Professor Mark J. Perry has been pointing out on his blog, Shale oil and gas in North America is THE game changer.  Even Obama can't stop this from benefiting the U.S. in a big way.  The National Interest looks at the national security implications.

Listening to Scott Peters This Week

I had a chance to listen to my Congressman, Scott Peters (CA-52) earlier this week.  I should have posted sooner, but not much of what he said in the 15 minutes was very newsworthy.  He comes across as a bit soft spoken and very reasonable sounding, and frankly a lot more appealing personally than the incumbent he defeated in 2012, Brian Bilbray.

He spoke about his work on the House Armed Services Committee, which is important to San Diego, as well as the Science and Technology committee.  He has urged flexibility in how the Pentagon allocates its funding to allow each service to reduce civilian employee furloughs, which was popular with his audience.  He discussed the increasing importance of defending against cyber attacks, but didn't really cover any new ground.

On the budget, he said that the freshman class was characterized by an attitude of wanting to get a deal done that reduced the budget deficit through some sort of compromise.  He said that lack of progress could be attributed to bad blood and memories of previous battles on both sides of the aisle.  He believes that President Obama has actually called for reasonable compromise with the GOP, specifically that entitlements must be reformed.  However, he characterized that in the context of asking for more tax revenue as part of a larger bargain.  I was also struck by the number of times he referred to the Democrat leadership with the term chain of command.

The audience questions were mostly related to cyber threats, furloughs and the direction of the fiscal year 2014 budget. But as I said, little new ground was plowed.

Debate Over Tsarnaev's Rights

I have seen commentary about whether or not Dzokhar Tsarnaev should have been given his "Miranda Rights" immediately or not.  On one hand, there are those who say that the "public safety" exception where questioning can proceed without Miranda warning where "police officers have an objectively reasonable need to protect the police or public from immediate danger."  Although the Supreme Court has carved out this exception, I think it requires modification to protect all citizen's rights.  If the police have need to invoke the exception, any evidence obtained should not be admissible.  In this way, the police won't be tempted to stretch the limits of the exception to the breaking point, while still giving them the opportunity to act in the interests of public safety.

Liberty Movement Reading

How is the ACA is actually reducing the amount of health insurance the average employee receives from their employer?  Remember when we heard, "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it?"

Income inequality is rising screams the left, blaming Chimpy McBush Hitler, but the actual event and time frame goes much farther back.  Curious as to when and why? See W.C. Varones blog.