Free Republic

...The government distorts the economy and reduces GDP through both its taxing and spending actions. One reason is that both taxes and spending cause individuals and businesses to change their behaviors and reallocate resources in suboptimal ways. The table has columns for tax and spending distortions. It also has a column for government debt because running deficits today may translate into higher levels of distortionary taxes tomorrow. The table includes two Starve-the-Beast scenarios. “With Starve-the-Beast” means that tax cuts will reduce government spending to some extent over time. A narrow tax base shot full of loopholes creates allocation distortions, but...

Democratic v. Republican Principles. State Legislatures Elect First Branch. Most Excellent Madison Speech. Council of Revision. IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE Mr. PINKNEY according to previous notice & rule obtained, moved "that the first branch of the national Legislature be elected by the State Legislatures, and not by the people." contending that the people were less fit Judges in such a case, and that the Legislatures would be less likely to promote the adoption of the new Government, if they were to be excluded from all share in it. Mr. RUTLIDGE 2ded. the motion. Mr. GERRY. Much depends on the...

Filmmaker Steve Bannon invited me to an exclusive screening of his new Palin documentary"Undefeated" in New York this last night. It's a blockbuster, because she is a force of nature. He has done this country a great service in this remarkable effort. Sarah Palin is one of the most media saturated of all public figures and yet so few know her story or more remarkably her exceptional record. No governor at any time, not LaGuardia, Roosevelt or even Reagan, accomplished anywhere near what this champion achieved in her first 18 months in office. We all fell in love with her...

How Many Courts? National Legislature to Appoint Judges? Judicial Salaries. Admission of new States. Continuation of Articles until Constitutional Government. Amending the Constitution. Oaths to support Union. Submission of Constitution to Congress. Electors to first branch of Legislature. Inferior Tribunals IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE GOVERNOR Livingston from [FN1] New Jersey, took his seat. The words, "one or more" were struck out before "inferior tribunals" as an amendment to the last clause of Resoln. Th [FN2] The Clause-"that the National Judiciary be chose by the National Legislature," being under consideration. Mr. WILSON opposed the appointmt. of Judges by the National...

As of June 2, 2011, all PDF versions of books published by the National Academies Press (NAP) will be downloadable to anyone free of charge.

A Single Supreme Executive. Council of Revision. Elbridge Gerry & Judicial Review. Executive Veto Subject to Legislative Override. Mason Speech. Two Thirds Override. Establishment of Supreme Judiciary. IN COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE The Question was resumed on motion of Mr. PINKNEY 2ded. by [FN2] WILSON, "shall the blank for the number of the Executive be filled with a single person?" Mr. WILSON was in favor of the motion. It had been opposed by the gentleman from Virga. [Mr. Randolph] but the arguments used had not convinced him. He observed that the objections of Mr. R. were levelled not so much...

The Texas legislature is nearing completion of a budget for the next biennium that, like the two spending plans approved in the House and Senate, does not raise taxes and does not touch the Rainy Day Fund. In fact, the final product will likely represent a decrease in All-Funds spending from the previous biennium, the first time this will have happened in over 50 years. While this is good news for taxpayers and employers in the Lone Star State, the establishment press is none too happy. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility recently highlighted some journalistic disdain for taxpayers who think that...

Last week, the California Senate voted down a measure (SB 242) that would dramatically regulate social networking sites and – moreover – the First Amendment rights of their users. But the bill’s sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett, is making a last ditch effort to push it through before the legislature’s Friday deadline. Sen. Corbett’s bill would forbid Californians from joining social networks until accepting or altering strict default privacy settings that display only a user’s name and city. It would also require the sites to pull any information about a user at their request, or at the request of...

...This statistic does not show what Bruce pretends it shows. Corporate income taxes are paid by a subset of businesses called “C” corporations. But the share of total U.S. business income reported by C corporations has plunged in recent decades with the rise in other business structures, particularly LLCs and S corporations. In a 2007 article in Tax Notes, PwC economist Peter Merrill showed that the share of total U.S. business income reported by C corporations fell from 71 percent in 1987 to just 49 percent by 2004. C corporations are less important business structures than they used to be,...

National Legislature Appointment of Executive. Franklin Speech. Election by Electors from New Districts. Seven Year Executive Term. Expenses yes, Salary no. Removable by Majority of State Legislatures. Ineligible for Reelection. Removable for Malpractice or Neglect. One v. Multiple Executives. William Saml. Johnson from Connecticut, Daniel of St. Thomas Jennifer, from Maryd. & John Lansing Jr. from N. York, took their seats. It was movd. & 2ded. to postpone ye Resol: of Mr. Randolph respecting the Executive, in order to take up the 2d. branch of the Legislature; which being negatived by Mas: Con: Del: Virg: N. C. S. C. Geo:...

House of Reps Appoint Executive. How Many? Shy Delegates. Fear of Monarchy. James Wilson & Popularly Elected Executives. William Houston from Georgia took his seat. The Committee of the whole proceeded to Resolution 7. [FN1] "that a national Executive be instituted, to be chosen by the national Legislature-for the term of ------ years &c to be ineligible thereafter, to possess the executive powers of Congress &c." Mr. PINKNEY was for a vigorous Executive but was afraid the Executive powers of the existing Congress might extend to peace & war &c., which would render the Executive a monarchy, of the worst...

House of Representatives. How to Elect a Senate. Enumerated Powers. Negative Over State Laws. Too Much Too Soon. Enforcement With Armed Forces. William Pierce from Georgia took his seat. In Committee of the whole on Mr. Randolph's propositions. The 3d. Resolution "that the national Legislature ought to consist of two branches" was agreed to without debate or dissent, except that of Pennsylvania, given probably from complaisance to Docr. Franklin who was understood to be partial to a single House of Legislation. Resol: 4. [FN2] first clause "that the members of the first branch of the National Legislature ought to be...

Guru Gary Johnson is a perfect Woodstock libertarian. I can see why professional RINO libertarians would like an open-borders candidate too. They don’t listen to the victims of illegal immigration (or can’t remember them after a joint). Johnson’s positions on abortion and “global warming” are similarly incoherent. On the other hand, and to be fair, he loves to mother drug addicts, so will win the Cheech and Chong vote (if they don’t sleep in). Student lounges must be buzzing. Surrounded by security guards, pampered girly-boy libertarians love utopian visionaries. “His immigration policy is a vast muddle that would make the...

Randolph/Virginia Plan. No States. Convention Legitimacy. Three Branches. Population v. Wealth. DE Threatens to Walk. Roger Sherman (from Connecticut) took his seat. The House went into Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union. Mr. Gorham was elected to the Chair by Ballot. The propositions of Mr. RANDOLPH which had been referred to the Committee being taken up. He moved on the suggestion of Mr. G. Morris, that the first of his propositions to wit "Resolved that the articles of Confederation ought to be so corrected & enlarged, as to accomplish the objects proposed by their institution; namely,...

JOINT STATEMENT May 23, 2011 On the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage, the Orthodox Jewish world speaks with one voice, loud and clear: We oppose the redefinition of the bedrock relationship of the human family. The Torah, which forbids homosexual activity, sanctions only the union of a man and a woman in matrimony. While we do not seek to impose our religious principles on others, we believe the institution of marriage is central to the formation of a healthy society and the raising of children. It is our sincere conviction that discarding the historical definition of marriage would be detrimental...

Convention Minutes. Objects of Government. Confederation Defects. Randolph/Virginia Plan. Pinckney Plan. John DICKINSON, and Elbridge Gerry, the former from Delaware, the latter from Massts. took their seats. The following rules were added, on the report of Mr. Wythe from the Committee [see the Journal]- [FN2] Additional rules. [see preceding page] [FN2] That no member be absent from the House, so as to interrupt the representation of the State, without leave. That Committees do not sit whilst the House shall be or ought to be, sitting. That no copy be taken of any entry on the journal during the sitting of...

Political Skin. Parliamentary Rules. Fault Lines. [FN1][FN2]From Massts. Nat: Gorham & Caleb Strong. From Connecticut Oliver Elseworth. From Delaware, Gunning Bedford. From Maryland James McHenry. From Penna. B. Franklin, George Clymer, Ths. Mifflin & Jared Ingersol took their seats. Mr. WYTHE from the Committee for preparing rules made a report which employed the deliberations of this day. Mr. KING objected to one of the rules in the Report authorising any member to call for the yeas & nays and have them entered on the minutes. He urged that as the acts of the Convention were not to bind the Constituents,...

Frank Bailey, author of Blind Allegiance, which is being touted as a tell-all book about Governor Palin, is doing a good job of making a clown of himself. As I noted here, no one with an ounce of common sense or integrity would believe a word he--or Jeanne Devon--has written. As written here, his book reveals nothing credible about Governor Palin. Rather, it reveals much more about himself, namely his dishonesty, disloyalty, and shady motives. Sean Hannity certainly put these characteristics on display here and here. Bailey paints an ugly picture of Governor Palin. His goal, he says, is to...

Despite the optimism of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) about the job market, real data indicate that college graduates will encounter few jobs when they seek employment. “Private-sector jobs in 2011 are fewer than they were way back in June 1999 [italics in original source],” Robert P. Murphy points out in the March 2011 issue of The Free Market, a newsletter published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. “In the more than 11 intervening years, through immigration and natural growth the (civilian noninstitutional) U. S. population increased by 31 million people [Italics Murphy’s].” “And yet we have...

Big Oil. We love, LOVE, to hate Big Oil. As we’re paying more and more at the pump, and as we continue to flounder in this post recession economy, it’s hard to look at the Big Oil companies , their profits and think anything other than greed. But is that fair? Let’s check. Recently, the big oil companies announced their profits for the first quarter of 2011. And they are impressive numbers to be sure: ■Exxon Mobile – $10.7 billion ■Chevron – $6.2 billion ■ConocoPhilips – $3.0 billion THAT is a lot of billions. A LOT! But is it really...