United Liberty

In my political science class we were discussing the issue of taxation. In order to better understand the issue and to balance out a lot of the negativity we inherently have towards taxation (which isn’t a bad thing) we discussed what we (personally and as a society) actually get in return for our taxes.

I decided to make a “cynical” version of the list we thought up in class. So here are ten things we get from taxes:

1 ) Drug Prohibition - Billions spent each year on making sure no one uses drugs that are “too dangerous” for us. Thank you nanny state! Except for the fatal flaw in this argument: marijuana is illegal yet more harmful substances such as alcohol and tobacco are legal. Not to mention the war on drugs is a complete and utter failure.

2 ) Overpaid Government Officials - It’s a well-known fact that city planners, parks and recreation directors, and many others in government are paid “comfortable” salaries sometimes even more than $100,000. Not only that, but many government officials have guaranteed pensions backed by the state. While people work long hours in the private (productive) sector who have to deal with 401K’s and actually saving and investing for retirement, these government officials have it made!

3 ) The Federal Reserve - Ah yes, the Federal Reserve who claims their existence is necessary to “maintain a strong currency,” have been doing just the opposite. As the dollar loses its value slowly but surely and bubbles have rocked our economy into deep recessions many times since its inception, it’s unfortunate this entity receives tax dollars from the private sector.

4 ) Foreign Aid - None of that money goes to waste, right? It all goes directly to the needy in the most efficient manner, no corruption involved! Right…

Jason and Brett had their first guest on the podcast.  They were joined by Katie Brewer, Ms. June in the Ladies of Liberty Alliance calendar, former co-host of Liberty Cafe Show, Steering committee member for the Texans for Accountable Government PAC, liberty activist, and home schooling mom of two girls.

Together, they discuss:

On this Constitution Day, Peter Schiff made a major announcement as some of you know. He officially announced his intentions to run for Senator of Connecticut.

I have personally been following Schiff since last Spring. I read both of his books, and agreed entirely with his investment thesis. As a finance and political science double major one could easily see how I would naturally gravitate to someone like Schiff. A man who owns a stock brokerage that takes into account how government affects investments who is now running for Senate - It doesn’t get much better than that.

Though it can’t be called an automatic win for Republicans, it is more likely than not that whoever wins the Republican nomination in Connecticut will take out Chris Dodd in the general election. Dodd’s ratings are tanking in Connecticut; he’s simply not popular anymore. This likely outcome of the general election is good for Republicans, obviously, but has created a crowded field of candidates.

Every year the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, AL hosts a conference for scholars of the Austrian tradition to come together and share essays and ideas.  This year’s conference was loaded with big names and reputable authors among the Libertarian and generally liberty-minded.

Naturally a recurrent theme of this lecture was monetary policy, specifically having to do with the dollar’s spiral toward hyper-inflation in the midst of the current economic collapse.  Schiff stressed that sooner than later the rest of the world, more importantly those still buying our debt would wise up to our inability to repay those fiscal obligations.  He told a short story about a wily old man in a certain neighborhood who had hoodwinked the neighborhood kids into vying for the job of painting his fence.  He related the metaphor by surmising, “We’ve got the world painting our fences, as if they don’t have their own fences to paint.”  Essentially, he said the way it is now, we get all the stuff and they only get the jobs.  He then fittingly asked, “What good are jobs without stuff?”  In short, we are barreling straight toward a currency crisis.

Peter Schiff explains that we need to stimulate savings and production that the stimulus bill well depress that, making the situation worse.  A severe recession is the price that must be paid for years of reckless borrowing and spending.

Schiff points out that civil unrest is coming if the government continues to focus on the symptoms of inflation and not the solution.