October 15, 2006

The other lesson

Posted by Jon Sanders at 9:40 PM

---

A high school freshman upset by the war in Iraq has been questioned by federal authorities after venting her frustration with President Bush last spring on her MySpace.com Web page.

Julia Wilson posted a picture of the president, scrawled "Kill Bush" across the top and drew a dagger stabbing his outstretched hand. She later replaced her page after learning in history class that such threats are a federal offense.

It was too late. ...The 14-year-old freshman was taken out of class Wednesday and questioned for about 15 minutes by two Secret Service agents.

---

How about this: Parents: Don't let your 14-year-old have her own MySpace account!

Linkable Entry

Taylor vs. Shuler (DEBATE IS OFF!)

Posted by Michael Moore at 4:50 PM

The Asheville Citizen-Times had an article in the paper on Saturday stating that the debate will not take place between Charles and Heath.  The reason as stated by the article:

Democratic congressional candidate Heath Shuler backed down from a televised debate against longtime incumbent Charles Taylor on Friday, saying he couldn’t clear time in his schedule.

Where has informative politics gone?  I remember another debate when an elder leader debated a younger opponent....(The Year I was Born!) In '84! 

Linkable Entry

Spinning on NC Spin

Posted by Dr. Roy Cordato at 4:15 PM

On NC Spin this morning Chris Fitzsimon argued that students at state universities are not subsidized by the taxpayers because they pay less than the cost of their education. He argued that since the state (he used the euphemism “we” for the state) owns the universities, it is impossible for the state to subsidize them. The argument is that one cannot subsidize oneself. Of course he is correct, the state government can no more subsidize the state universities than it can subsidize the department of motor vehicles. But notice how Fitzsimon twists the argument. No one claims that the universities are being subsidized. It is the students who are being subsidized. It is quite possible for the state to subsidize students, who, in America, own themselves. Although I guess that Chris could be holding to standard socialist dogma, in which case there is no private property and the state owns all of us. In that case his argument would be correct. 

Linkable Entry

Special interests vs. average taxpayers

Posted by Mitch Kokai at 1:04 PM

I break no new ground by asserting that politicians tend to listen more intently to the concerns of special interests than those of average taxpayers.

That doesn't mean politicians are evil or unprincipled. As Stephen Slivinski explains in his book Buck Wild (Nelson Current, 2006), the taxpayers' "complaints are rarely loud enough to break through the cocoon of noise created by the swarms of special interest groups defending their pet programs."

Slivinski explains why the beneficiary of government largesse has a stronger incentive than the taxpayer has to lobby politicians.

Think about, for example, the National Endowment for the Arts. The grants budget of this program is $47.4 million. That's about 0.01% of income taxes. Now imagine the calculation from the point of view of an average NEA grant recipient. The NEA awarded 1,970 grants in 2004, and the average grant that year was $24,000. A single artist, museum, or theater might have gotten more or less than this, but in any case you can see how much more a grant recipient has at stake than you do as a taxpayer.

So, while the elimination of the NEA would likely only get you back much less than a penny of every dollar you paid in income taxes, the average grant recipient would lose the entire $24,000. The grant recipient has a substantially larger incentive to get the attention of Congress -- by hiring a lobbyist, testifying in front of a committee, and otherwise trying to infuence the decisions of policymakers -- than you do as a lone taxpayer.

Repeat this process for hundreds of agencies and programs, and you'll understand the daunting task that faces advocates of limited government.  

Linkable Entry

Look what they found at the local elementary school up the street from me

Posted by Paul Chesser at 07:45 AM

I regularly get asked, "How long are you going to homeschool your kids?"

My new answer: "At least until they stop finding predators and rapists in public schools."

Don't expect any interviews with Matt Lauer.

Linkable Entry

<< Last Entry