The Welfare State - Transferring from the "haves" to the "haves"

A classical liberal state, as envisioned by our forefathers, limits itself to creating the

peaceful conditions within which the people are free to secure

their own well-being.  “Welfare states, in contrast, take

responsibility for securing the welfare of the people, not only the

conditions under which they seek their own well-being; accordingly,

welfare states tend to dominate, or even to monopolize,

provision of retirement security, medical care, education, and

income security, and organize massive transfer payments, often

justified in the name of transferring income from the “haves” to

the “have nots,” but typically shuffling—or churning—the great

bulk of the transfer payments among the “haves”…minus the handling fees and

ineffi ciencies generated by bureaucracies, political politicking,

and cronyism (After the Welfare State, Tom G. Palmer).”

Stand fast in Liberty

A paraphrase of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Galatians:  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith our fore fathers have made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 

Slowly but surely our government is tightening its "yoke of bondage" on us.  Over the past three years, the bound edition of  the Code of Federal Regulations has increased by 11,327 pages.  With every page of new regulations and rules for us to live by, more of our liberty slips away.

Goodby to Robert Bork...Defender of the Constitution

We lost a staunch defender of the Constitution this week, Robert Bork.  A quote from him that holds much truth:

“Once the justices depart, as most of them have, from the original understanding of the principles of the Constitution, they lack any guidance other than their own attempts at moral philosophy, a task for which they have not even minimal skills. Yet when it rules in the name of the Constitution, whether it rules truly or not, the Court is the most powerful branch of government in domestic policy. The combination of absolute power, disdain for the historic Constitution, and philosophical incompetence is lethal.”

Money in Politics

Those who complain about money in politics, and believe that money is corrupting our political system and causing many of today’s problems are complaining about a symptom, not a root cause of our problems.  Ask yourself, why do all these people, corporations, unions, and other special interest groups give to politicians for re-election?  They do so primarily for political favors…cronyism.  We can pass all the laws we want, but this purchasing of political favoritism  will not stop as long as the federal government has the far-ranging power it has (and growing) and politicians are able to use their positions to pick winners and losers.  We could solve most of these problems by adhering to the limited powers concept written into the U.S. Constitution.  We can solve most of these problems by reverting to being a Republic with most of the power vested in the states and not the federal government.  Is there really any reason that the federal government should be involved in education, in welfare, in health care, and in any other function that can be handled by the individual states.  But, some will say, the states cannot afford to take care of these functions.  Well, where does the federal government get its money (besides that which it prints, and which has no basis of value except blind faith that it has value)?  The federal government gets its money from the citizens of the states, so why not leave it in the states and let the states decide how it will be spent.  That is the only way that the influence of money in politics will be reduced...if the power of government is reduced.

Hayek on Coveting What Belongs to Others

If we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion.
Friedrich August von Hayek

Limited Government...Essential to Liberty

“...Cities may be rebuilt, and a People reduced to Poverty, may acquire fresh Property: But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty once lost is lost forever. When the People once surrendered their share in the Legislature, and their Right of defending the Limitations upon the Government, and of resisting every Encroachment upon them, they can never regain it.”
― John Adams

“Fiscal Cliff ???” We’ve already gone over it.

I’m sorry, this is not thoughtful discussion.  This is a rant.

You’ve all heard about our $15.96 trillion national debt (more than 100% of GDP), and the 2012 budget deficit of $1.1 trillion (6.97% of GDP).  In reality, you only know 1/5 the problem.  The actual liabilities of the federal government—including Social Security, Medicare, and federal employees' future retirement benefits—already exceed $86.8 trillion, or 550% of GDP.   To avoid going deeper into debt to pay just the two largest entitlement programs, plus the annual cash deficit would require over $8 trillion in tax collections annually.

According to the most recent tax data, all individuals filing tax returns in America and earning more than $66,193 per year have a total adjusted gross income of $5.1 trillion. In 2006, when corporate taxable income peaked before the recession, all corporations in the U.S. had total income for tax purposes of $1.6 trillion. That comes to $6.7 trillion available if the government confiscated the entire adjusted gross income of these American taxpayers, plus all of the corporate taxable income in the year before the recession, which would not be nearly enough to fund the over $8 trillion per year in the growth of U.S. liabilities.

If our politicians had to prepare our Federal financial statements the way they require public companies to report their pension liabilities, we humble citizens would see clearly the magnitude of the problem we have.  However, not only have they spent all the money they’ve collected for these programs as they collected it, they’ve hidden the liabilities they have created.

We all should be disgusted with the politicians, current and past, regardless of party, for creating this mess and then hiding it from us.  Instead, we hang on their every word and cheer for our party of choice as they maneuver themselves to point blame at the other side for the “fiscal cliff” we are facing.  In reality, we’ve already gone over the cliff…we just don’t know it…and we’re gaining ever more speed as we head down to the inevitable crash at the bottom.

This information was gleaned from the following article, if you wish to know more details, read it. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323353204578127374039087636.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Milton Friedman on concentration of power

"The free man will ask neither what his country can do for him nor what he can do for his country. He will ask rather "What can I and my compatriots do through government" to help us discharge our individual responsibilities, to achieve our several goals and purposes, and above all, to protect our freedom? And he will accompany this question with another: How can we keep the government we create from becoming a Frankenstein that will destroy the very freedom we establish it to protect?

Freedom is a rare and delicate plant. Our minds tell us, and history confirms, that the great threat to freedom is the concentration of power. Government is necessary to preserve our freedom, it is an instrument through which we can exercise our freedom; yet by concentrating power in political hands, it is also a threat to freedom. Even though the men who wield this power initially be of good will and even though they be not corrupted by the power they exercise, the power will both attract and form men of a different stamp."

Economist Milton Friedman in "Capitalism and Freedom" (1962)

How do we keep the Federal Government from becoming all powerful?