Tidbits
Political Quotations
To Accompany the December 31, 2015 edition of Tidbits
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2015/tidbits123115.htm
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University
Election Information ---
http://www.rockthevote.com/get-informed/elections/
Cross-Over Gaming Primary Elections: Voting for a Sure Loser Rather
Than a Candidate That Might Win in a Race to the Botton
Cross-Over Gaming Primary Elections: Voting for a Sure Loser to Knock
Out Winning Candidates
Based upon a comment I heard on CBS News there are signs that the poll
support and crowds supporting Donald Trump are largely members of the Democratic
Party intent on messing up the Republican Party primary outcomes. These Trump
supporters have no intent to vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 general election
if he should be nominated. Something similar may be happening among the
supporters of Bernie Sanders who are really Republicans in sheep white wool.
The USA system of selecting nominees in primary elections that precede general
elections possibly are becoming a vicious game.
Election Gaming "Fraud" in Primary Elections in the USA:
Making Sure Your General Election Opponent is a Real Loser
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudulentElections.htm
FlackCheck.org ---
http://www.flackcheck.org
Headquartered at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the
University of Pennsylvania, FlackCheck.org offers resources that help students
"recognize flaws in arguments in general and political ads in particular"
RealClearPolitics: Election 2016 ---
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/elections/2016/
Bloggingheads.tv (political commentary ---
http://bloggingheads.tv/
OpenSecrets (money and politics blog) ---
https://www.opensecrets.org
It's hard to beat a person who never gives up.
Babe Ruth,
Historic Home Run Hitter
And he wasn't
even thinking about
Jihads in those days but I am thinking Jihads these days
Only those who
will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T.S. Eliot
Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters.
Margaret Wheatley,
We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life
that is waiting for us.
Joseph Campbell
If you don't know
where you're going, you might not get there.
Yogi Berra
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.
George S. Patton
Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude
you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly
on your shoulder.
Henry David Thoreau
Seven Unbelievable Ways
Government Wasted Your Money in 2015 ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/7-unbelievable-ways-the-government-wasted-your-money-in-2015-2015-12
A more plausible theory is
to apply Occam's razor: A substantial minority of white Americans are rallying
behind Trump's white ethnocentric agenda because they are — reasonably —
concerned that ongoing demographic changes are threatening white people's
political power in the United States.
Matthew Yglesias, "President Obama has a theory about why people support
Donald Trump. But he's wrong," Vox, December 22, 2015 ---
http://www.vox.com/2015/12/22/10636538/obama-trump-theory
Jensen Comment
Add to this the 1965 Immigration Act that in effect has mostly blocked white
immigrants in favor of immigration from nations of color.
My point
is that conservatism is dying out in large measure due to the 21st Century of
immigrant political preferences ----
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_the_United_States
A
Boston Globe
article attributed
Barack Obama's win in
the
2008 U.S. Presidential election
to a marked reduction over the preceding decades in
the percentage of whites in the American electorate, attributing this
demographic change to the Immigration Act of 1965.
. . .
Immigrants differ on
their political views; however, the
Democratic Party is
considered to be in a far stronger position among immigrants overall
Poor countries
demand $3.5 trillion in climate finance at Paris Conference ---
https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/11/poor-countries-demand-35-trillion-in-cli
USA President Obama promises to print it up as soon as possible the same way the
USA will finance its own entitlements ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Entitlements.htm
Norway offering
classes to teach refugees it’s wrong to rape women ---
Rob Laurie ---
http://canadafreepress.com/article/77699
Muslims brutally gang rape
14-yr-old girl, and get off with community service ---
https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/norway-muslims-brutally-gangrape-14-yr-old-girl-gets-off-with-community-service/
Jensen Comment
Immigrants admit that their not afraid of being sent to Norway's cushy prisons.
One of the main
objectives of Norway’s immigration reforms has been to deport foreign citizens
who are serving prison time there. The country has a limited number of prisons,
and 30% of its prisoners were foreign citizens at one time. Most were from
Poland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Iraq and Romania, the U.S. . . .
The Ministry of Justice has decided that 7,100
individuals are to be deported by the end of 2014. At the end of October the
number of deportations was already at 5,867. Many of the people who have been
deported have been convicted of crime, or are individuals who have already been
ordered to leave, but have returned to Norway illegally (sounds
familiar).
https://www.truthorfiction.com/norway-targets-muslims-for-deportation-crime-rate-drops/
You have families out
there paying 6, 8, 10 percent on student debt but you can refinance your homes
at 3 percent. What sense is that?
Bernie Sanders
Jensen Comment
It's obvious Sanders never took Econ 101 where interest rates vary with risk and
the value of collateral.
Sweden has the second
highest rate of rape in the world ---
https://muslimstatistics.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/a-look-at-statistics-sweden-a-raped-country/
According to BRA
(a government agency supposedly tasked with preventing crimes) a total of 1091
rapes were reported during June and July. Rape of children under the age of 15
has increased with 53%, from 192 cases last year to 294 this year, again only
for June and July. In total, sexual crimes increased by 18% compared to the same
period last year. The politically correct BRA believes that the reason for all
of this is the beautiful summer weather:
https://muslimstatistics.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/a-look-at-statistics-sweden-a-raped-country/
PEW: The
middle class is shrinking because they are getting richer ---
https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/10/the-middle-class-is-shrinking-because-th
Jacob Zuma
has had three different finance ministers in a single week. His disastrous
government is dragging South Africa towards ruin ---
The Economist, December 19,
2015 ---
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21684158-nation-brink-deserves-better-jacob-zuma-try-again-beloved-country?cid1=cust/ednew/n/bl/n/20151216n/owned/n/n/nwl/n/n/NA/n
Jacob Zuma’s erratic leadership has done long-term harm to South Africa’s
economic future
Quartz
http://qz.com/576459/jacob-zumas-erratic-leadership-has-done-long-term-harm-to-south-africas-economic-future/
Britain is one of the least welcoming countries in
Europe for refugees ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/britain-among-the-least-welcoming-countries-for-refugees-2015-12
Finland gives them safe passage to Sweden.
Sweden is now giving safe passage to Norway.
Norway that now gives them each thousands of Krone and plane fare home.
The NFL makes a ton of
money, but has made it clear time and again that it expects tax money for its
brand new stadiums, or else. On Friday, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen planned
to vote on financing for a $1.1 billion stadium plan to keep the St. Louis Rams.
That plan included $300 million in NFL money. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell
made sure that the city knew the NFL had no plans to give that much, according
to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/goodell-to-st--louis--nfl-won-t-spend-more-than--200m-on-stadiums-151232563.html
Jensen Comment
I think St. Louis voters should give the NFL a one finger salute. This reminds
me of when the Spurs demanded the new Alamo Dome in San Antonio. After it was
built at a multi-use facility the Spurs complained and said they would leave
unless San Antonio built them their own arena that could only be used by the
Spurs. So guess what? The Spurs now have their own arena and a big-time losing
Alamo Dome.
Just when we're worried
about the $1.1 trillion spending package there are $680 Billion In Tax Cuts, 70%
For Democratic Priorities ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/12/president-obama-signs-omnibus-bill-with-680-billion-in-tax-cuts-70-for-democratic-priorities.html
Jensen Comment
Hang on to your hats for a record deficit joy ride.
India’s middle
class is actually the world’s poor ---
http://qz.com/562578/indias-middle-class-is-actually-the-worlds-poor/
Jensen Comment
This is why comparing
Gini
Coefficients between nations is so misleading.
ISIS Sanctions Organ
Harvesting from Live Captives ---
http://www.newsweek.com/isis-islamic-state-organ-harvesting-islam-muslims-syria-iraq-christians-409023
Jensen Comment
One of the surprising things during my first walk in Hong Kong was watching the
selling of live animals (fish, chickens, snakes, dogs, etc.) by street vendors
selling these and other food items. Then it dawned on me that this is the way to
sell perishables when no refrigeration is available. This makes me wonder if
ISIS stores non-refrigerated live captives until an order comes in for a
harvested body part in the black market when efforts to collect ransoms fail. I
remember a movie where the kidnappers lower the price after
Bette
Midler's husband refuses to meet the kidnappers' price. Her question while
in captivity: "You mean I'm being discounted?"
She's shoplifted
goods worth £2m, has SIX children by four fathers - and lives off benefits ---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3355779/posts
Family
Earning Over $1 million living in NYC public housing ---
http://pix11.com/2015/11/25/family-earning-over-1m-living-in-nyc-public-housing/
Moocher Hall of Fame ---
https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/the-moocher-hall-of-fame/
Election Gaming "Fraud" in Primary Elections in the USA:
Making Sure Your General Election Opponent is a Real Loser
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudulentElections.htm
Table of Contents
Funding Losers
Communications Juggernauts in Crossover Voting Frauds
Funding Opponent Scandals
Trump part of conspiracy to ensure
Clinton presidency ---
Jeb Bush ---
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/dec/8/jeb-bush-suggests-donald-trump-part-of-conspiracy-/
Jensen Question
Is such a conspiracy necessary given the slate of losers running as GOP
candidates for President in 2016?
"Congress's Surprisingly Productive Year (2015) The House and Senate
passed more significant pieces of legislation than at any time since early in
President Obama’s first term," by Russell Berman,.The Atlantic,
Deccember 23, 2015 ---
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/congresss-surprisingly-productive-year/421314/
Lo and behold, Congress
actually got some big things done this year.
By just about any
standard, the House and Senate passed more significant pieces of
legislation in 2015 than at any point since President Obama’s first
two years in office, when Democratic majorities gave him a raft of
landmark policy achievements. The laws Congress enacted this year
were not as expansive, but with Republicans controlling Capitol Hill
for the first time since 2006, they were all bipartisan.
The list of major
congressional actions includes:
Using the last four
years as a point of comparison is admittedly setting a low bar for
judging the first session of the 114th Congress. As anyone paying
even occasional attention to Washington politics could tell you, not
much made it out of the Capitol between 2011 and 2014. The
Republican-controlled House bickered with a Senate run by Democrats,
and lawmakers lurched from one crisis to the next. Most of the
noteworthy legislation that did pass—a deficit-reduction bill in
2011, the fiscal-cliff deal in 2013—were significant merely because
they forestalled a calamity of Congress’s own making, not because
they established new law or proactively addressed a national
problem.
Continued in article
"Clinton, Sanders Debate College Plans," Inside Higher Ed,
December 54, 2015 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/12/21/clinton-sanders-debate-college-plans?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=162e714d50-DNU20151221&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-162e714d50-197565045
OECD Study Published in 2014: List of
countries by 25- to 34-year-olds having a tertiary education degree ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_25-_to_34-year-olds_having_a_tertiary_education_degree
Jensen Comment
Note that nations having free college and other tertiary education and training
programs such as Germany and Finland control costs by having severe rationing of
admissions into Tier 3 from Tier 2 (what in the USA is called high school).
Nations having the highest proportion graduates from Tier 3 do not offer free
education and training programs, contrary to what Bernie Sanders would like us
to think while he campaigns of for free college education in the USA for anybody
who wants to go to college.
I mistakenly thought all Scandinavian countries
had free tertiary education, but subsequently it was pointed out to me that
Sweden does not have free tertiary education like its Nordic counterparts.
The point is that nations having no price
barriers to tertiary education at the Tier 3 level control taxpayer cost via
severe rationing via admission barriers.
"ISIS is a revolution: All world-altering revolutions
are born in danger and death, brotherhood and joy. How can this one be stopped?"
by Scott Atran, AEON, December 15, 2015 ---
https://aeon.co/essays/why-isis-has-the-potential-to-be-a-world-altering-revolution
This is Bob Jensen's published comment following the above
article.
Most revolutions have two sides. This article
equates "Islamic extremism" on one side and the rest of the world on the
other side when in fact the major divide is within "Islamic extremism"
itself in the age-old fight between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam tribes. If
the West does not intervene with boots on the ground in the final kill ISIL
will be defeated by Sunni Islam tribes trembling in fear of the screaming
hoards of Persians aided by the West.
ISIL had territorial success only in Sunni
territory where friendly civilians did not resist. Where has ISIL had any
success among Shia Islam civilians that greatly outnumber the Sunni tribes
in the Middle East? ISIL will fall when the starving Sunni tribes turn on
the ISIL fighters. Kurds are Sunnis that have already turned against ISIL.
It's only a matter of time until other Sunni tribes turn on ISIL.
In the meantime the West will become more and more
Orwellian in fear of lone wolves or small bands of terrorists with more
fearsome handfuls of WMDs. Those terrorists will be of all sorts, not just
Islamic. This article puts too much emphasis on Islamic extremism. Extremism
of the future will be heterogeneous anarchist misfits.
Bob Jensen
The Media's Election Politics of Ignoring or Downplaying
Frightening Data
"Trying to Hide the Rise of Violent Crime: Progressives and
their media allies have launched a campaign to deny the ‘Ferguson effect’—but
it’s real, and it’s increasingly deadly for inner cities," by Heather
Macdonald, The Wall Street Journal, December 25, 2015 ---
http://www.wsj.com/articles/trying-to-hide-the-rise-of-violent-crime-1451066997?mod=djemMER
. . .
The resulting projected increase for
homicides in 2015 in those 25 cities is 11%. (By point of comparison, the
FiveThirtyEight data blog looked at the 60 largest cities and found a 16%
increase in homicides by September 2015.) An 11% one-year increase in any
crime category is massive; an equivalent decrease in homicides would be
greeted with high-fives by politicians and police chiefs. Yet the media have
tried to repackage that 11% homicide increase as trivial.
Continued in article
Facebook bans reports of immigrants raping women ---
http://conservativeread.com/facebook-censors-story-about-refugee-raping-swedish-woman/#RYrD8TEDBwCS2tsU.99
"
The
Department of Physics and Astronomy announces a tenure-track assistant professor
position that will be filled by an African-American, Hispanic American or a
Native American Indian [sic]."
"Whites, Asians Need Not Apply," by Colleen Flaherty,
Inside Higher Ed, December 16, 2015 ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/12/16/job-ad-u-louisville-raises-questions-about-considering-race-faculty-hires?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a3ef0174cb-DNU20151216&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a3ef0174cb-197565045
Jensen Comment
If the Physics and Astronomy Department wants a strong candidate having a Ph.D.
from a top university be prepared to offer a better deal than any deal given to
the highest paid white and Asian faculty on campus. This is not always a good
thing since the new diversity faculty member will live under a media performance
spotlight to verify that the standards for promotion and tenure are not
selectively raised or lowered for
African-American, Hispanic American or a Native American Indian. The saga
of Ward Churchill at the University of Colorado comes to mind ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/HypocrisyChurchill.htm
It would seem that the university lays itself open to lawsuit
since implicit or explicit ethnic hiring preferences run counter to any claim
made by the university that it's an "equal-opportunity employer." The courts
will eventually battle this one out at great expense to both K-12 and higher
education. Until the USA Supreme Court rules on ethnic, gender, racial
preference legality the new biases in hiring will clog the courts.
For example, does a black green card holder from Kenya who gets
a Harvard Ph.D. have the same employment opportunity as an African American who
earns a Ph.D. at Morehead State University? In other words do hiring priorities
apply only to native African "Americans?" Can white female Americans compete
equally in the education job market even if white males have lower
opportunities? Does an African American male have hiring priority over an
African American female since the most oppressed candidates these days are
African American males?
My point is that once racial and ethic priorities replace "equal
opportunities for all" the road becomes a treacherous path with lawyers hidden
behind every bush and tree.
Ten Elite Schools Where Middle-Class Kids
Don't Pay Tuition ---
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-01/ten-elite-schools-where-middle-class-kids-don-t-pay-tuition?cmpid=BBWGP122315_BIZ
Children from poor families may also get deals on room, board, and other fees.
The trick is to be accepted in a very competitive admissions process that is
even more competitive for whites. These are not the only heavily endowed
universities offering free tuition and other financial aid to the middle-class
and poor students. This tends to offset the decline in merit-based financial aid
that is independent of family income.
Students who are not admitted to elite
universities or otherwise cannot attend may get windows to thousands of elite
university courses available as MOOCs ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI
Increasingly academic credit can also be obtained from MOOCs by paying greatly
reduced fees relative to tuition for onsite courses. There are all sorts of
opportunities worldwide for inexpensive online credit and even more
opportunities for learning without obtaining transcript credit. For example,
thousands of tutorials in math, science, and other disciplines are now available
free from Khan Academy. The point is that students who merely want to learn can
become greater experts than students who graduate from elite universities. The
key is motivation to learn by whatever means possible where the materials
available for learning are free.
The scandal in higher education is grade
inflation.
Virtually all USA universities and especially the elite universities have moved
median course grades from C in the 1940s to A- in the 21st Century such that
graduating high grades no longer means as much. The coin of an education is
badly cheapened by grade inflation where students receive high grades without
much real learning ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor
Grade inflation also exists in other nations,
but many other nations are different from the USA (where slow learners can
always be admitted to some college) in that only the intellectually elite
are allowed to go to college ---
OECD Study Published in 2014: List of
countries by 25- to 34-year-olds having a tertiary education degree ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_25-_to_34-year-olds_having_a_tertiary_education_degree
Whereas nations like Finland and Germany only
admit elite and motivated learners into colleges, what Bernie Sanders intends is
that virtually anybody who wants to can be admitted to college for free. Sanders
most likely hopes that the unmotivated and low-aptitude admissions will not
graduate, but there are not many such academic standards in this era of grade
inflation ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/assess.htm#RateMyProfessor
In my opinion college diplomas will mean less and less as the
21st Century unfolds even though taxpayers will be shelling out billions for
degrees not worth the sheepskin they're printed on.
When Regulation Becomes Dysfunctional: Regulatory
Problems with Cancer Research ---
https://srconstantin.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/regulatory-problems-with-cancer-research/
Jensen Comment
Both tort lawsuits and government regulation have motherhood and apple pie
intentions, but the result of an increasingly safe society is a society that
stifles progress and innovation. In the case of cancer research the result is
obvious --- longer delays in invention of better prevention and cure
medications. In the case of medical procedures the result is obvious --- doctors
refuse to provide surgeries and other treatments in fear of being sued by
patients or the government.
In the case of accounting and finance there are some less
obvious dysfunctions. For example, the FAS 133R requirement to book stock
options when they vest is a regulation that I support. However, the impact has
been to almost eliminate stock option compensation that has been shown to be a
tremendous incentive for innovation is business products and services.
Regulations for starting, financing, and operating new business
ventures reduces innovation and competition and contributes to the economic
power of giant corporate bureaucracies.
It's ironic when unmitigated efforts to create a more safe
society end up creating a society at is less safe in the long run.
Laffer Curve ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve
Between 1979 and 2002,
more than 40 other countries, including the United Kingdom, Belgium,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden cut their top rates of
personal income tax. In an article about
this,
Alan Reynolds, a
senior fellow with the
right-libertarian
think tank
Cato Institute,
wrote, "Why did so many other countries so dramatically reduce marginal tax
rates? Perhaps they were influenced by new economic analysis and evidence
from... supply-side economics. But the sheer force of example may well have
been more persuasive. Political authorities saw that other national
governments fared better by having tax collectors claim a medium share of a
rapidly growing economy (a low marginal tax) rather than trying to extract a
large share of a stagnant economy (a high average tax)."[38]
Japanese government raised the sales tax in 1997 for the purpose of
balancing its budget, but the government revenue decreased by 4.5 trillion
yen because consumption stumbled. The country recorded a GDP growth rate of
3 percent in 1996, but after the tax hike the economy sank into recession
(although this was also the time period of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.)[39]
The tax revenue reached a peak of 53 trillion yen in FY 1997, and declined
in subsequent years, being still 42 trillion yen[40]
(537 billion US dollars) in 2012.
Continued in article
"Israel, the Laffer Curve, and Market-Based Reform," by
Daniel J. Mitchell, Townhall, November 17, 2015 ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2015/11/17/israel-the-laffer-curve-and-marketbased-reform-n2081727
Since I’m a big fan of
the
Laffer Curve,
I’m always interested in real-world examples
showing good results
when governments reduce marginal tax rates on productive activity.
Heck, I’m equally
interested in
real-world results when governments do the wrong
thing
and increase tax burdens on work, saving, investment, and entrepreneurship
(and, sadly,these
examples
are more common).
My goal, to be sure,
isn’t to maximize revenue for politicians. Instead, I prefer the
growth-maximizing point
on the Laffer Curve.
In any event, my modest
hope is that politicians will learn that higher tax rates lead to less
taxable income. Whether taxable income falls by a lot or a little obviously
depends on the specific circumstance. But in either case, I want policy
makers to understand that
there are negative economic effects.
Writing for Forbes, Jeremy Scott of Tax Notes
analyzes
the supply-side policies of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu…argued that the Laffer curve worked, and that his 2003 tax cuts
had transformed Israel into a market economy and an engine of growth. …He
pushed through controversial reforms… The top individual tax rate was cut
from 64 percent to 44 percent, while corporate taxes were slashed from 36
percent to 18 percent. …Netanyahu credits these reforms for making Israel’s
high-tech boom of the last few years possible. …tax receipts did rise after
Netanyahu’s tax cuts. In fact, they were sharply higher in 2007 than in
2003, before falling for several years because of the global recession. …His
tax cuts did pay for themselves. And he has transformed Israel into more of
a market economy…In fact, the prime minister recently announced plans for
more cuts to taxes, this time to the VAT and corporate levies.
Pretty
impressive.
Though
I have to say that rising revenues doesn’t necessarily mean that the tax
cuts were completely self-financing. To answer that question, you have to
know what would have happened in the absence of the tax cut. And since that
information never will be available, all we can do is speculate.
That being said, I have
no doubt there was a strong Laffer Curve response in Israel. Simply stated,
dropping the top tax rate on personal income by 20 percentage points creates
a
much more conducive environment
for investment and entrepreneurship.
And cutting the
corporate tax rate in half is also
a sure-fire recipe
for improved investment and job creation.
Continued in article
Jensen Comment
Note that there's likely to be a relatively long lag between tax cuts and
increases in tax revenues even in circumstances that are likely to have a Laffer
Curve impact. For example, Bill Clinton allegedly was able to balance the budget
due to lags in the Regain tax cuts.
The circumstances were not decent for the George W. Bush tax
cuts because he was the most spendthrift president in USA history. Tax cuts do
not necessarily have a Laffer Curve impact when spending is significantly
increased alongside the tax cuts. The George W. Bush veto pen was still full of
ink at the end of his term of office as President of the USA.
The circumstances of Laffer Curve impact are also not good if
the economy is heading for a deep recession. Too many other variables come into
play, especially global variables.
The Miracle of Chile ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_Chile
How Green Was My Valley ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Green_Was_My_Valley
Britain's coal mining days are over ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-pride-vies-with-sadness-as-britains-last-coal-pit-closes-2015-12
One thing is clear from
this graphical representation of diversity at America’s top colleges: the best
schools tend to be more racially and ethnically diverse.
"Diversity At Top Colleges: Here's The Proof," by Matt SchfiFrin,
Forbes, December 20, 2015 ---
http://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2015/12/20/diversity-at-top-colleges-heres-the-proof/
Feldman of the Harvard Law School: Do Christians, Muslims And Jews Worship
The Same God? ---
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/12/feldman-do-christians-muslims-and-jews-worship-the-same-god.html
This animated map shows how religion spread
across the world ---
http://www.businessinsider.com/animated-map-shows-religion-spread-around-world-christianity-islam-2015-12
Although Ryan gave more than he
received in the $1.8 trillion budget that President Obama drooled over when
signing the bill with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi cheering in the wings, there
are some things Republicans favored that aren't getting much publicity.
"White House surrenders on 'dark money'
regulation," by Katy O'Donnell, Politico, December 18, 2015 ---
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/white-house-dark-money-216956
The Obama
administration has thrown in the towel on cracking down on hundreds of
millions of dollars in “dark money” — funds given to advocacy groups that
claim to be social welfare organizations rather than political committees.
Closing the so-called social-welfare loophole — which exempts the groups
from federal tax and disclosure requirements — was one of the most urgent
priorities of campaign-finance reformers in the wake of the Supreme Court's
decision in the Citizens United case. But then the IRS came under fire for
holding up conservative groups applying for the social-welfare tax
exemption, and many Republicans cried foul.
By giving in to a GOP provision in the omnibus spending bill, the
administration has effectively given up on limiting the political influence
of nonprofit groups with unknown funders.
The White House declined to comment on the bill.
Top lawmakers, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch,
have repeatedly warned IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to abandon the
agency's efforts to clarify the social-welfare rule. Now they’ve forced his
hand, just as the 2016 campaign is heating up and groups like Karl Rove’s
Crossroads GPS on the right and American Bridge 21st Century Foundation on
the left are poised to dump unprecedented sums into the presidential race
and other campaigns.
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/white-house-dark-money-216956#ixzz3vMavz5fJ
Permanent R&D Tax Credit a ‘Game Changer’
---
http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2015/12/23/permanent-rd-tax-credit-a-game-changer-expert/?mod=djemCFO_h
Christmas came early
this year for finance chiefs hoping a permanent research and development tax
credit would get President Barack Obama’s signature.
Last Friday’s move made permanent a tax credit that
leaves businesses with more money to use for investments and hiring as part
of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015.
The permanent credit “is really a game changer,”
said Yair Holtzman, a practice leader for accounting firm Anchin, Block &
Anchin LLP’s research and development tax credits group.
“It’s been unanimous,” Mr. Holtzman said – finance
executives “really like the certainty that comes with having a permanent
research credit.”
Previous R&D credits were often retroactively
renewed but uncertainty still weighed on finance chiefs’ minds, and hindered
effective planning. Finance chiefs “want to know when to deploy assets [and]
what investments to make in R&D now,” Mr. Holtzman said. When they can’t
count on the R&D tax credit, he said, “it’s very much on their minds.”
Continued in article
Quantitative Easing ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing
Federal Reserve will pay banks $12 billion in
2016 ---
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/federal-reserve-will-pay-banks--12-billion-in-2016-165253054.html#
In 2016, the Federal
Reserve will pay at least $12.2 billion to U.S. and foreign banks to keep
the money created via its quantitative easing programs out of the economy.
If the Fed raises rates as expected next year, the amount nearly doubles to
$23.1 billion. From 2008 to 2015, the Fed
purchased over $4 trillion worth of bonds to stimulate growth in the
economy. Risk markets responded, as is
demonstrated by the close correlation between the S&P 500 and growth of the
Fed's balance sheet through its bond purchases.
Continued in article
"Hillary Clinton Will Win the Democratic Nomination But Is an Awful
Candidate: The former secretary of state, senator, and first lady is
already running against Donald Trump. She might win, but the country will lose,"
by Nick Gillespie, Reason Magazine, December 20, 2015 ---
https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/20/hillary-clinton-will-win-the-democratic
. . .
Which still may not be enough to put Clinton over
the top in a general election, even if she’s running against an empty chair.
Fully
60 percent of Americans agree that she is “not
honest and trustworthy,” and her flip flops over the past months toward
Bernie Sanders aren't going to help her on that score.
Nor are gestures like her forced sign-off at last
night’s debate, when she closed her comments by saing, “May the force be
with you.” Coming from someone who seems to have absolutely no connection to
American pop culture much less basic day-to-day reality (recall her
statements about being “dead broke” when leaving the White House), that’s
like the worst grandma joke of all time.
From a libertarian perspective, Hillary Clinton is
not simply a terrible candidate in this election cycle
but in any election cycle. She presided over an
unrelievedly awful set of foreign-policy fails and remains unbowed in her
willingness to restrict the First Amendment when it comes to political and
commercial speech. Her recent forays into triangulation notwithstanding, she
also has a virtually unbroken record of backing large, powerful institutions
on Wall Street over letting market forces determine winners and losers. She
is no friend to civil liberties ranging from government surveillance and
overreach in the service of the War on Terrorism, the War on Drugs, and
more.
It appears all but certain that Election 2016 will
offer voters major-party choices between bad and worse. Partisans will slug
it over whose candidate is bad and whose is worse while the rest of us play
different angles, such as which president might work better as a hedge
against single-party control of Congress. In this sense, it's good that we
don't have to bother watching the Democratic debates, since it's going to
take a lot of effort to figure out which candidate will do less damage from
the Oval Office.
Death Watch Illinois: Despite Massive Stock Market Rally, Illinois Pension
Liabilities Go Up, and Up, and Up ---
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2015/12/28/death-watch-illinois-despite-massive-stock-market-rally-illinois-pension-liabilities-go-up-and-up-and-up-n2097394?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
. . .
Illinois has the worst funded (public worker)
pension plans in the nation. Those plans are a mere 42% funded in aggregate.
That bleak estimate understates the problem because
it assumes 8% annualized returns going forward. Those returns are not going
to happen.
I expect 0-2% returns at best, and most likely
negative real returns for seven to ten years.
. . .
Corrupt politicians in bed with union officials
have hollowed out the state beyond repair. Let's not pretend otherwise.
Illinois needs a fresh start:
1.Bankruptcies at the municipal level 2.A new
constitution that allows pension cuts at the state level 3.Right to work
laws 4.End of collective bargaining of government employees 5.End of
prevailing wage laws 6.Tax reform, especially property tax reform 7.Workers'
compensation reform 8.Unemployment insurance reform
Until we see those changes, the state will lay on
the death-bed slowly bleeding workers and businesses in a fate worse than
death by bankruptcy or default.
Continued in article
Jensen Comment
Recently Illinois had two governors in prison at one time. That's just the tip
of the iceberg of corruption in Illinois, especially former public officials in
Chicago. One has since been released.
Financial State of the States Report on September 2015
---
http://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/TIAFSOS9-2015.pdf
SINKHOLE STATES WITH THE WORST
TAXPAYER BURDENS
Massachusetts
Kentucky
Illinois
Connecticut
New Jersey
ABOVE WATER STATES: 5 BEST TAXPAYER
SURPLUSES
South Dakota
Utah
Wyoming
North Dakota
Alaska
STATES WITH THE HIGHEST TAXPAYER
BURDEN
New Jersey (Highest)
Connecticut
Illinois
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Hawaii
California
New York
Michigan
Delaware
Pennsylvania
Louisiana
Vermont
. . .
While the financial condition of
most states appears to have improved as a result of a change in how
unfunded pension debt is calculated, the financial condition of four of
the five worst states, identified as "Sinkhole States" (New Jersey,
Connecticut, Illinois, and Kentucky), continued to deteriorate.
Massachusetts is the only sinkhole state that improved from its 2013
Taxpayer Burden during 2014, but only by a modest $600 per taxpayer.
Western Illinois University is state-supported
with roughly 12,000 students) ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Illinois_University
One problem is that the State of Illinois is among the most financially-troubled
and fraud-ridden states in the USA and has two former governors in prison. The
flagship University of Illinois fares better due to an endowment of over $3
billion and a lucrative program for admitting thousands of students from China.
50 Faculty Jobs Will Be Eliminated at Western
Illinois ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/12/14/50-faculty-jobs-will-be-eliminated-western-illinois?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=06f09dc32e-DNU20151214&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-06f09dc32e-197565045
Since it has over 2,500 faculty the cuts are proportionally small but
nevertheless reflective of troubled enrollments and reduced state support.
Finding and Using Health Statistics ---
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/usestats/index.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on economic statistics and databases ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Bookbob1.htm#EconStatistics
How The Senate Just Changed The
Obamacare Debate Forever ---
http://townhall.com/columnists/nicholashorton/2015/12/10/how-the-senate-just-changed-the-obamacare-debate-forever-n2092170?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=
Last week, with
little fanfare, the U.S. Senate
passed a bill
to begin
dismantling Obamacare. Some pundits have spun the move as little
more than “political posturing” or a toothless act that simply
fulfills the campaign promises of a newly elected GOP majority. The
truth is that this Senate vote is much bigger than Obamacare
supporters would like you to believe. In fact, the Senate vote has
literally changed the Obamacare debate forever.
The Senate bill repealed the employer and individual mandates,
repealed the Cadillac and medical device taxes, eliminated exchange
subsidies, and removed the federal government’s authority to run the
Obamacare exchanges. All good things.
But what may be the most significant—and least discussed—change is
sure to send shockwaves through all 50 state capitals:
the U.S. Senate
voted to
repeal
Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion entirely.
To paraphrase
Vice President Joe Biden,
“This is a big freaking deal.”
For the 20
states that have rejected Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, the Senate
vote brings vindication. Speaker Paul Ryan has been
warning states for years
that Medicaid expansion funding won’t last. Even President Obama has
proposed
slashing
expansion funding. These states heeded those warnings and, as a
result, their fiscal future is more secure.
For states like Kentucky and New Hampshire that are poised to
rollback their expansions entirely, the Senate vote is confirmation
they’re on the right track. It’s no longer a question of
if
expansion funding will be cut but
when.
The sooner these states can extricate themselves from the Obamacare
expansion nightmare, the better.
And for the 30 states that fell for the false promise of endless
“free” money from D.C., this vote should be a wakeup call.
Medicaid expansion has been an unmitigated disaster. It has
increased government dependency greater and faster than anyone
predicted, leaving state taxpayers on the hook for far higher costs
than they anticipated.
. . .
States should
start locating the exits, not rearranging the deck chairs, because
regardless of what happens when the bill reaches the White House,
the Senate has fundamentally changed the Obamacare debate forever.
Jensen
Comment
In my opinion most these changes will be put on hold until after the
2016 election. President Hillary Clinton most likely will fight these
changes tooth and nail. Much depends upon the 2016 elections of Senate
and House members. Irrespective of the 2016 election outcomes, however,
Washington is going to have to deal with the runaway costs and frauds of
Obamacare, Medicare, and Medicaid. A 200% marginal tax rate the top 10%
of the taxpayers would not solve these problems despite election
promises of some Presidential candidates.
Bob
Jensen's universal health care messaging ---
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/Health.htm |
Reminder: Obamacare is Hurting Real People ---
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2015/12/11/reminder-obamacare-is-hurting-real-people-n2092233?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=