tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post8199885734577558287..comments2024-03-19T02:45:37.685-07:00Comments on Calafia Beach Pundit: Obama's abysmal budgetScott Grannishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-50743719316657852632010-02-16T22:56:35.425-08:002010-02-16T22:56:35.425-08:00Orphe: I think those are great videos that serve a...Orphe: I think those are great videos that serve a valuable public service. Thanks for adding them to the thread. I'm a big fan and supporter of Cato because they do consistently good work on a wide variety of issues. <br /><br />You can see my own greatly simplified explanation of the Laffer Curve here:<br /><br />http://scottgrannis.blogspot.com/2008/10/plug-for-laffer-curve.htmlScott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-66714988503310419592010-02-16T13:26:32.272-08:002010-02-16T13:26:32.272-08:00Would you mind viewing the following videos about ...Would you mind viewing the following videos about the laffer curve? Care to comment for all to see on your blog? your opinion is greatly appreciated.<br /><br />http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/laffercurve1-3/laffercurve1-3.shtmlAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18075150317672928188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-17634037236708711182010-02-13T09:27:47.486-08:002010-02-13T09:27:47.486-08:00Dave C: Don't despair, check out the Tea Party...Dave C: Don't despair, check out the Tea Party. Glenn Reynolds has an excellent article on the Tea Party movement in today's WSJ:<br /><br />http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703382904575059293624940362.htmlScott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-46622286098464218972010-02-12T22:23:57.880-08:002010-02-12T22:23:57.880-08:00Thanks for this graph, Scott. It inspired me to as...Thanks for this graph, Scott. It inspired me to ask my congressman about the jump in federal spending as a percent of the economy, and in particular whether the Republicans would recapture the brand of limiting the growth of government (after the Democrats self-destruct). Even though he's one of the better Republicans, he dodged the question, instead launching on a populist rant about Dave Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10984326111476872826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-74253991213829626902010-02-08T16:25:40.489-08:002010-02-08T16:25:40.489-08:00AS long as disclosure of ad sponsors are made, the...AS long as disclosure of ad sponsors are made, the voters are capable of deciding on the basis of the issues. To believe otherwise is concede the idea that government obtains power from the people. A far greater threat to the republic is the large number of people who do not pay taxes. The group of non tax paying voters support increased taxes on more productive members of society. What do you ronraschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14708698068353771219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-24824482767733282512010-02-08T14:45:36.241-08:002010-02-08T14:45:36.241-08:00Public: I a big fan of the Cato Institute, and the...Public: I a big fan of the Cato Institute, and they have a large collection of essays on this subject, all of which make a lot of sense to me:<br /><br />http://www.cato.org/search_results.html?cx=006606822365722333854%3Amcohchfyltw&cof=FORID%3A11&ie=UTF-8&q=citizens+united&sa=Find&siteurl=www.cato-at-liberty.org%2FScott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-24649512533837715542010-02-08T14:40:06.115-08:002010-02-08T14:40:06.115-08:00We should never bar the freedom of speech of indiv...We should never bar the freedom of speech of individuals.<br /><br />However, individuals voting via proxy statements or through other convoluted methods within corporations should not be considered under freedom of individual speech.<br /><br />Most shareholders do not even vote. This is akin to entire districts of voters allowing the the superintendent to vote on their behalf. Maybe we should Public Libraryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017383928897945054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-32586686687760659262010-02-08T14:37:42.060-08:002010-02-08T14:37:42.060-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Public Libraryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017383928897945054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-52748653339629106162010-02-08T14:06:40.565-08:002010-02-08T14:06:40.565-08:00Public: why should people that organize as a corpo...Public: why should people that organize as a corporation lose their constitutional right to free speech? Barring any citizen or group of citizens from speaking freely for whatever reason is a very slippery slope that leads to all kinds of nefarious attacks on individual liberty.Scott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-67594944817744108942010-02-08T08:50:56.121-08:002010-02-08T08:50:56.121-08:00Scott,
"When American colonists declared ind...Scott,<br /><br />"When American colonists declared independence from England in 1776, they also freed themselves from control by English corporations that extracted their wealth and dominated trade. After fighting a revolution to end this exploitation, our country's founders retained a healthy fear of corporate power and wisely limited corporations exclusively to a business role. Public Libraryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017383928897945054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-79556200710710425002010-02-07T19:02:54.712-08:002010-02-07T19:02:54.712-08:00Public: Why do you think corporations are always o...Public: Why do you think corporations are always on the side of the government? I think there are many great companies out there that have the best interests of the consumer and the public in mind.Scott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-21898134967052361712010-02-07T19:02:53.802-08:002010-02-07T19:02:53.802-08:00Public: Why do you think corporations are always o...Public: Why do you think corporations are always on the side of the government? I think there are many great companies out there that have the best interests of the consumer and the public in mind.Scott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-53073303562956594092010-02-07T18:39:16.143-08:002010-02-07T18:39:16.143-08:00Freedom of speech should not be confused with the ...Freedom of speech should not be confused with the freedom of corporations.<br /><br />We are handing over every last inch of power to corporations which by no happenstance, represent the government. This was just another nail in the coffin. <br /><br />George Orwell will prove Orwellian!Public Libraryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00017383928897945054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-68274517354161660792010-02-07T09:51:40.544-08:002010-02-07T09:51:40.544-08:00marcusbalbus: There is a rationale for running def...marcusbalbus: There is a rationale for running deficits during recessions, but I think we've gone far beyond any reasonable limits. Not being a Keynesian, I don't think government spending has much power to influence the economy for the better, if any. Most government spending is anti-stimulative since it takes resources from the private sector and uses them inefficiently. <br /><br />Scott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-73100788989131380842010-02-07T09:47:47.773-08:002010-02-07T09:47:47.773-08:00brodero: I can't speak for the Tea Party, but ...brodero: I can't speak for the Tea Party, but I think there are a goodly number of people that are very upset with the Fed. I've heard a lot of calls for reforming the Fed along the lines of the gold standard. <br /><br />One reform that doesn't get much airtime is the Humphrey Hawkings Act, which gave the Fed a dual mandate: to control inflation and pursue full employment. This was aScott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-88981822342578193202010-02-07T09:43:55.964-08:002010-02-07T09:43:55.964-08:00Rodrigo: The Citizens United decision did not say ...Rodrigo: The Citizens United decision did not say that big corporations can give gobs of money to politicians. It said that corporations and unions can spend money on advocacy--on advertising. We've seen time and again (starting with Ross Perot) that no amount of money spent on advertising can elect a person who does not otherwise appeal to the people. The more advocacy the better. Before Scott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-38720953275402850502010-02-07T04:56:58.616-08:002010-02-07T04:56:58.616-08:00how do you answer the chartalists who contend unde...how do you answer the chartalists who contend under current conditons of depressed growth/employment deficits don't matter and indeed must be run higher.marcusbalbushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02195354132376566821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-81296069543515941082010-02-07T03:45:55.642-08:002010-02-07T03:45:55.642-08:00"..but who do you think Congress would lend a..."..but who do you think Congress would lend an ear to more, the Executive of a company that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to get him elected, or me who voted for him."<br /><br />How about Soros and all his shell game groups like Media Matters, OSI, Moveon.org, etc?<br /><br />And then there are the unions. I'm pretty sure Congress and Obama bend an ear to the people thatPaulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00842065702455026249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-34471199589503826452010-02-07T00:51:36.388-08:002010-02-07T00:51:36.388-08:00Question about The Tea Party....
Would say this...Question about The Tea Party....<br /><br /> Would say this group is in favor of abolishing the Federal reserve??broderohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12296214283216386700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-24460961857533186222010-02-06T13:23:31.016-08:002010-02-06T13:23:31.016-08:00Protecting free speech isn't a bad thing Scott...Protecting free speech isn't a bad thing Scott, but who do you think Congress would lend an ear to more, the Executive of a company that donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to get him elected, or me who voted for him. <br /><br />That's the point. Free speech is completely alright, but "money, the root of all evil" will taint the democratic principle of free speech by <b>UFormulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04465435765969271043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-85541433475199838342010-02-05T16:05:08.168-08:002010-02-05T16:05:08.168-08:00Rodrigo: why do you think that the Supreme Court&#...Rodrigo: why do you think that the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United will harm the country? Why is protecting free speech a bad thing?Scott Grannishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14028519647946868684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-4273916016582459412010-02-05T15:59:01.893-08:002010-02-05T15:59:01.893-08:00I believe there is a growing sense among the elect...I believe there is a growing sense among the electorate that Congress is rapidly turning America into Detroit. I agree with Hennessey that the American people won't stand for it and despite the immediate outlook there is reason for optimism.jjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00382970468577051096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-36053863448629589512010-02-05T15:50:14.956-08:002010-02-05T15:50:14.956-08:00Mr. Grannis:
Excellent article.
Your analysis fo...Mr. Grannis:<br /><br />Excellent article.<br /><br />Your analysis focuses on the federal government. Two thirds of the states are in miserable budgetary shape.<br /><br />Matter-of-fact, two thirds of states are in budgetary shambles due to exactly what you describe in the Obama budget: every increasing size and scope of government coupled with the mind set that revenues would increase forever.W.E. Heasleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00368333904571061995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6616959642391988608.post-29313315706656158722010-02-05T15:49:07.626-08:002010-02-05T15:49:07.626-08:00---Many will call me a starry-eyed optimist, but I...---Many will call me a starry-eyed optimist, but I simply can't accept the proposition that the voters will allow Congress and the President to lead us down a budget path such as is laid out in Obama's 2011 budget. ----<br /><br />I wish I could agree with you friend, but it is politicians with corporate allies that pull the strings. The US Supreme Court effectively canceling the UFormulahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04465435765969271043noreply@blogger.com