Liberty Maven

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Media Alert: A second radio interview for today (Tuesday) has been scheduled, and more are coming. Downsize DC is in-demand. Please check our blog regularly for listening details.

Quote of the Day: “In 2006, Massachusetts snuck a health care boondoggle past the voters by pushing 20 percent of the cost on to the federal government and 60 percent onto private individuals and employers, according to data from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.” — Michael F. Cannon of the Cato Institute, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

But it gets worse . . .

* The $1.2 trillion cost reported by the CBO only includes ON-BUDGET items
* The bill also imposes other huge costs on taxpayers that won’t be reflected in the federal budget

This is one of the tricks Republican Governor Mitt Romney used to pass his train-wreck health care bill in Massachusetts, and now the Democrats in Congress are pursuing the same fraudulent course.

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again — you won’t get what you want just because a politician holds office who happens to wear the partisan label you like. The labels mean nothing! You will only get what you want by raising a stink, and doing it constantly, with overwhelming pressure. Now here’s how the Democrats are using Mitt Romney’s playbook to defraud you . . .

The big health care bill imposes mandates on the states, on employers, and on individuals. These mandates will result in massive expenses, NONE of which are included in the CBO’s estimate that the bill will cost taxpayers $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

* State governments will have to spend more on Medicaid, which you will pay through higher state taxes or increased debt
* Many employers will have to buy health insurance for their workers, or pay a fine to the government
* These increased costs to employers may result in lower wages or increased unemployment — probably both
* Individuals who don’t currently have health insurance will have to buy such insurance, by law

These expenses aren’t included in the estimated cost of $1.2 trillion. Michael F. Cannon of the Cato Institute sums it up . . .

“President Barack Obama’s plan would commit states to increase Medicaid spending (governors are furious) and require individuals and employers to spend more on health insurance (Obama’s top economist, Larry Summers, says those mandates ‘are like public programs financed by benefit taxes’.”

Please send Congress another message opposing the Big Government health care bill.

This time use your personal comments to say something like the following . . .

“I know that the full cost of implementing the big health care bill isn’t included in the $1.2 trillion reported by the Congressional Office. Please have the CBO report not only the real on-budget cost of full implementation, as well as the full OFF-BUDGET costs of the various mandates on state governments, employers, and individuals. I will view failure to make this happen as a major dereliction of duty.”

After you’ve sent your letter to Congress please also alert others, and ask them to send a similar message to Congress using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System.

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Since last year, I have been closely following the FDIC’s DIF fund (Deposit Insurance Fund). Starting at $53 billion in 2008, the DIF has dwindled down to…. zero.

by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
Originally published on August 17, 2009 on http://towneforcongress.com/economy/the-fdic-is-bankrupt

Since last year, I have been closely following the FDIC’s DIF fund (Deposit Insurance Fund). Starting at $53 billion in 2008, the DIF has dwindled down to…. zero. From the estimated losses they post after each bank closure, the FDIC is technically bankrupt. The DIF is toast.

Although there does not seem to be much consternation in the mainstream media, a popular blog, Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis, posted my conclusion, saving me the work of typing it up, here. I confirm that my own spreadsheet is also negative. Readers of my column are quite aware of the predictions and suggested methods of protection made in “Off a Cliff with No Airbags” in April and the recent post here at TowneForCongress.com, “Yes, Virginia, There Are No Reserve Requirements” among other warnings of system insolvency.

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Ever wonder how to make your elected representative be “accountable” and “transparent” to you? Well, wonder no more!

by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
Originally published August 16, 2009 at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/the-concept-of-our-open-office-1

“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States, 1801-1809

“When citizens speak, their Representative must listen completely. Across our land, the so-called “Representatives” have not troubled to listen to We the People, and this is a key reason our country is in such dire straits today.” – Jake Towne, 2010 Candidate for Pennsylvania’s 15th District

Are you one of the few Americans who has picked up the phone to call your representative or senator? Ever wonder exactly how much good it really DID? Were you the only person who called, or were there hundreds more? Sure, the staffer might have tallied your call, but was your call seriously considered by your politician? The truth is stark. First, most of the time you truly have no real idea. Second, your Democratic and Republican politicians like it this way.

When the Tea Party movement started up on April 15, one of my observations is that people came out for many reasons those who wanted limited government, those aghast at the taxation and size of government, those fed up with our costly wars abroad, those who were just upset at the blatant favoritism shown to the big corporations and Wall Street but they had one key complaint in common.

They all wanted accountability out of their out-of-control politicians, and to be heard. The people in the streets (and many still sitting at home) are reaching record levels of dissatisfaction with the inane, verbal platitudes of today’s crop of current Democratic and Republican incumbents. We the People can still remember how quickly the country went on the road to serfdom under a Republican President and Congress from 2000-2006, how it was somewhat slowed by a Republican President and Democrat Congress – who still managed to pass the Banker Bailout of October 2008 – and how we are now once again back on the express train to socialism under a Democrat President and Congress. Today’s Republicans just represent the local train.

As an independent candidate competing with twin political machines which, at their rotten cores, are truly no more different than Coke and Pepsi – I have to pay close attention to what my constituents want. Just as in a free market economy where the customer is king, my constituents are both my customers and my sovereign employers. They control the votes that will elect me, and I must have their support if I am to represent our district in DC. So, I needed to find a way of delivering accountability and giving a voice to each citizen the top demands by my estimation. “Accountability” and “transparency” are often just empty buzzwords, so I needed to find a way to solidify them.

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D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day: “Democrats are using smoke and mirrors to hide the impact of their health plans. Existing estimates, therefore, reflect only a fraction of the total cost.” — Michael F. Cannon of the Cato Institute, writing in the Atlanta Journal-Constition

In fact, they’re lying to you in several ways, using fraudulent accounting tricks and sleights of hand.

We’ll be exposing their tricks this week. Here’s the first one . . .

The Big Government health care bill delays the full implementation of the overall scheme until after the 10-year period evaluated by the Congressional Budget Office. This allows those who favor the bill to claim it will cost “only” $1.2 trillion, when in fact it will cost at least 50% more than that once the whole thing is in place.

If the public is going to accurately debate the cost of this program, and decide whether it’s worth it, then they ought to know what the cost of the full program actually is. Congress should confess, and let the public know the true cost.

Please send Congress another letter opposing the Big Government health care bill.

This time use your personal comments to say something like the following . . .

“I know that the programs created by the big health care bill won’t be fully implemented until after the 10-year period evaluated by the Congressional Budget Office. I suspect this has been done to hide the true cost, which will probably be at least 50% higher than the $1.2 trillion reported by the CBO. Please undo this fraud by having the CBO report what the 10-year cost of the full program will be.”

After you’ve sent your letter to Congress please also alert others, and ask them to send a similar message to Congress using DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System (sm).

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It was all over the news and Sunday talk shows yesterday. The Democrats and Obama are capitulating on having the federal government compete with private insurers. It looks like the so called “public option” will be replaced with non-profit health insurance cooperatives.

WASHINGTON – Bowing to Republican pressure and an uneasy public, President Barack Obama’s administration signaled Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system.

Facing mounting opposition to the overhaul, administration officials left open the chance for a compromise with Republicans that would include health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run plan. Such a concession probably would enrage Obama’s liberal supporters but could deliver a much-needed victory on a top domestic priority opposed by GOP lawmakers.

Does this really mean the the public option is dead? Hardly. I laughed aloud when I read the following line later in the same article:

With $3 billion to $4 billion in initial support from the government, the co-ops would operate under a national structure with state affiliates, but independent of the government.

We know from history that this is a contradiction. This is loosely the equivalent of setting up a health insurance version of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, not the best examples of fiscal responsibility.

It’s a good thing these health insurance cooperatives will be non-profit because they won’t be profitable. This new effort at compromise is just a different albeit slower path to the public option.

Once the money starts to run dry for the cooperatives there is little doubt government bailouts and subsidies will follow. Ask former GM CEO Rick Wagoner what happens when the the government starts handing you the people’s money. The borrower is slave to the lender. Hello public option.

It’s my guess this is exactly how the Obama administration will sell it to the now angry liberal insiders who have been fighting for a public option all along. “It’s not going away, it’s just gonna take us a bit longer to get there,” Obama will say.

Sure the GOP and the pissed-off public can claim a battle victory by forcing Obama’s hand. But the war is not won. Non-profit cooperatives in health care will just give the public option crusaders easier targets for nationalization in the future. This is progressive incrementalism at its finest (or worst).

It’s a small conciliatory step when what we need is a gigantic free market leap. They are trying to neutralize the public outcry. Please don’t fall for it.

A short lesson plan to teach people about their rights, and about the Constitution.

Originally posted August 14, 2009 at http://towneforcongress.com/economy/a-declaration-of-independence-and-constitution-class-made-easy-1

A few months ago, I attended one of the several Constitution-based groups in my local area, and observed the leader there give an excellent session.  (Thanks to Bill M.!)  After having given a few sessions myself to friends and neighbors, they have gones well, so I’d like to share.  If you choose to lead your own session, the following is just a suggestion from yet another champion of the Constitution. The more historical knowledge you have the better, but I wouldn’t view this as a requirement. If you live in Pennsylvania’s fighting 15th district, feel free to ask me to help out, it would be my pleasure.

Start off by reading the Declaration of Independence to get an idea of why our founders committed themselves to violent revolution rather than to continue living under tyranny. Have each person in the group read a part of the document, and stop as desired to elaborate points or parallels to today’s government, but do not go off on tangents. Points I suggest stressing are:

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Rand Paul followed up his radio interview with Glenn Beck last week with a television appearance yesterday. They discussed health care and even offered up a few free market reform ideas.

Back in May of 2007 I wrote the following words about Ron Paul following the first GOP Primary Debate:

Ron Paul seems to have the views I (mostly) agree with, but I’m convinced he is the wrong messenger.

Much of what happened after I wrote that pushed me down a path of hope but to this day I still feel Ron Paul leaves a lot on the table when it comes to thinking on his feet and framing his arguments for general appeal. Then again part of his appeal to me and for many others is his brutal honesty.

Unfortunately no matter how right he is there are many people who will always see him as “that crazy Ron Paul guy.”

The only way to combat that sentiment is to frame the same positions in a more appealing way and not actually be Ron Paul.

Enter Rand Paul. All I’ve seen and heard from Rand Paul thus far makes me believe he can succeed where his father could not (winning over more “mainstream” Republicans). His interview yesterday with Glenn Beck gives us further proof of this ability.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIcNFKmuq20

NOTE: Beck has a lengthy introduction prior to the Rand Paul interview.

Please pledge and donate to Rand Paul’s campaign on August 20th: RunRandRun.com.

by Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital and author of The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets

The nationwide revelry surrounding our apparent economic recovery was disrupted this week by the release of lower-than-expected retail sales data. However, rather than sending a chill up the spines of those hoping for a quick end to the downturn, the numbers should be welcomed. Though this may come as a surprise to most observers, lower retail sales are precisely what our economy needs.

To return our economy to health, we must first allow market forces to ring out the excesses of the bubble years. Even government economists acknowledge that this decade’s spending boom resulted from a combination of asset bubbles and the dangerous overextension of consumer credit. Yet the same economists balk at the logical need for spending to drop now that the stimuli are no longer in effect. They argue for the resumption of spending by any means, regardless of its ultimate cost. This is a recipe for momentary gain and lasting pain.

America’s economic vitality will never be restored until we rebuild our savings and pay down our debts. To build back up, we must change the pattern of capital flows from the phony economy. It is a painful process, but one that will leave our economy on a stronger foundation. Unfortunately, Americans cannot accomplish these goals unless they stop shopping, live within their means, and replenish their savings. Though this may be problematic for retailers, it is beneficial to the overall economy.

But rather than accepting the market’s medicine, our government is overriding its own citizens’ responsible behavior. To do so, it has put borrowed money into consumers’ pockets, and then conjured various incentives for them to go out and spend it. This process requires more government bureaucracy, more debt, and more regulation at a time when we can’t afford any of it.

In contrast, I believe that we must restore the conditions that led to our economic preeminence. We must once again become the leader in economic freedom. This entails dismantling a significant portion of our federal and state governments, repealing countless unnecessary regulations, significantly lowering and simplifying taxes, and reinstituting sound money. If we accomplish these tasks, conditions will be ripe for a lasting recovery that solidifies our place at the top of the global economic totem pole.

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In Sheldon Richman’s commentary at The Future of Freedom Foundation today, titled “When Will the Health-Care Debate Start?” he discusses that fact that, while there’ s been a lot of noise on the subject of “Health Care Reform” lately, there’s really been no debate.

To be of value a real debate requires fundamental disagreement. But this pseudo-debate is between one side, led by President Obama, that wants more government control than the large amount we already have, and another, the Republicans, that thinks we already have the right amount.

And in fact, Obama isn’t calling for “change” — he really wants the status quo.  Quoting Robert Samuelson of the Washington Post:

One of the bewildering ironies of the health-care debate is that President Obama claims to be attacking the status quo when he’s actually embracing it. Ever since Congress created Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, health politics has followed a simple logic: Expand benefits and talk about controlling costs. That’s the status quo, and Obama faithfully adheres to it.

Of course virtually nobody is arguing for a free-market solution, because, while patently false, the general consensus is that the free market as already failed.  And given that insurance companies are really just state-run (in typical Fascist style) government monopolies, they, along with pharmaceutical companies, are salivating over the prospect of having the government compelling everyone to buy their products.

Read Sheldon Richman’s commentary here.

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day: “It is the competition of profit-seeking entrepreneurs that does not tolerate the preservation of false prices . . .” — Ludwig von Mises, “Human Action” 3rd edition, pages 337-338

* A majority oppose the bill — 53% to 42%
* That’s down 5 points from two weeks ago and 8 points from six weeks ago

The intensity numbers are even better — 44% strongly oppose the proposal while only 26% strongly favor it.

This intensity is being demonstrated in the rebellion members of Congress are facing at town hall meetings. While we dislike the rude tactics some citizens are using, we completely understand and agree with the anger.

One thing driving this is the spreading realization that the so-called “public option” is really a Trojan Horse that will lead to a “single payer” system . . .

* The “public option” is tax-subsidized government insurance that would charge lower premiums than private companies could afford to match — that’s the whole point of the tax subsidy
* This would eventually drive private health insurance out of business, leaving us with a “single payer” government system
* The so-called “single payer” would really be ALL taxpayers, because taxes would fund all health care
* In other words, public-option equals single-payer equals socialism

But here again, the news is encouraging . . .

Rassmusen reports that a whopping 57% oppose a single-payer system, while only 32% favor it.

And here’s the best news of all . . .

51% percent fear government health care more than they do the insurance companies.

We’ve long felt that public hatred of insurance companies is the main source of support for increased government involvement in health care. But now people seem to be realizing that the real reason to hate the insurance companies is because of . . .

The United States of Corporate Welfare

Big health care interests have used the coercive power of government to erect thickets of Corporate Welfare Regulation, to reward themselves, punish their competitors, and harm consumers.

Cato Institute scholar Michael Tanner provides startling examples of how these regulations have strangled competition between health insurance companies, allowing 30% of the market to be controlled by just 1 company in 299 out of 313 of the largest metro areas.

So the problem isn’t that insurance companies charge too much and pay out too little under free market conditions. Indeed, the profit margins of the health insurance industry rank only 86th among American industries!

Instead, the problem is that government regulations retard competition and consumer choice, leading to inefficient service and false prices.

We don’t need a 2,000-page bill that re-engineers our entire health care system. Instead, the first thing we need is a 1-page bill that restores competition between insurance companies by allowing you to sidestep the corporate welfare regulations erected by state-governments.

This is something the federal government can do using its Constitutional authority under the Commerce Clause.

A rebellion is underway, and we DC Downsizers need to give that rebellion a direction, not only by opposing the Trojan Horse health care bill, but also by promoting positive reforms that will restore consumer choice.

Please use DownsizeDC.org’s Educate the Powerful System (sm) to send your Congressional employees a letter on our campaign to “Make Health Insurance More Affordable.”

Tell Congress to give you a 1-page bill that allows you to buy health insurance regulated by the state of your choice.

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