voluntaryXchange

The Problem with Michigan

Not taxes, unions or Governor Granholm -  but rather Michigan’s government preference for big projects and central planning.

But if the left's arguments don't wash, the right's reflexive fallbacks can't explain everything either. Michigan's business tax climate isn't good but, according to the tax foundation, it has actually improved a bit in recent years. And while still mighty, union influence has declined in recent years…

This is an interesting viewpoint coming out of The Weekly Standard.

Via Newmark's Door.

Technorati Tags: michigan,central,planning

The Problem with California

Every time I go to California it starts to remind me of Buffalo with sunshine: imagine the northeast rust belt layered over an (illegal immigrant) indentured servant economy.

…While the meltdown has certainly been accelerated by the recession of the past two years, its causes involve two decades of poor judgment, reckless mismanagement, and irresponsibility.

It’s bad:

California's percentage of adults without at least a high-school education is the second-highest in the nation …  The Commonwealth Fund has ranked the quality of California's health care lowest of the 50 states. The state has the highest rate of criminal recidivism … The state is seriously discussing mandatory water rationing, and has in recent years experienced severe disruptions of its electricity supply ... a recent survey of corporate CEOs ranked California the worst state in the country in which to do business. It is losing native-born ­citizens faster than any other state.

So, let’s double down:

There is little in President Obama's legislative agenda that hasn't already been tried in California. Need a model of runaway spending with no regard for growing debt? Look to California, whose bonds currently hover just above junk status. Want to insist on restrictive carbon-emission controls? Note the example of California's 2006 greenhouse-gas law, which is expected to reduce the state's economic output by 10% and destroy 1.1 million jobs. Want to put the government in charge of health care? Look at California's repeated legislative pushes for a single-payer system of health-insurance coverage, each of which ended in failure.

Read the whole thing. Via Newmark's Door.

Technorati Tags: california,problems

Some Historical Vote Tallies

Social Security passed the House in 1935 by a vote of 372 to 33(, with 27 not voting). The Democratic/left majority then was 332 to 103, so they got quite a bit of Republican support.

Medicare passed the House in 1965 by a vote of 307 to 116, with 10 not voting. The Democratic majority then was 294 to 141, so they got a little Republican support.

Tonight’s Healthcare vote – at 220 to 215 – isn’t in the same league unless you’re Nancy Pelosi:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi likened the legislation to the passage of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare 30 years later.

The Democratic majority now is 256 to 177: she carried the same proportion of her own party as the proportion of the general population that has health insurance in spite of her.

Is she full of it, or just ignorant?

Technorati Tags: social,security,medicare,healthcare,vote,tally,pelosi

Saturday Night Shenanigans

After 9 months of debate, the House had to hold its vote on the healthcare bill on a weekend. At night.

Cowards …

Technorati Tags: house,representatives,pelosi,healthcare

Obama Is Bush III

Let me get this right – with hours to prepare, once on TV, for 3 minutes Obama behaved “wildly disconnected and inappropriately” for 3 minutes to his normally scheduled audience before moving on to the Fort Hood tragedy that got him the air time in the first place?

Compare this to Bush, who got no warning of the Twin Towers attack on 9/11 before it was delivered to him while inside an elementary school classroom; Bush was viewed as being wildly disconnected and inappropriate because he carried on for a few minutes and didn’t panic the kids.

Just saying …

Technorati Tags: obama,fort,hood,bush,9/11

Matt Graff Pleads Guilty

The big news in southwestern Utah is that Matt Graff pled guilty to 3 charges; two for unlawful dealing of property by a fiduciary and one for communications fraud while trying to cover it up. Sentencing is on January 22. The maximum penalty for each charge is 5 years, not counting as much restitution as possible.

voluntaryXchange had posted about Matt here. He’s a local attorney who accepted settlement money on the behalf of clients, and then skimmed money off for his benefit, while kiting the settlement monies to keep the same clients convinced that they’d eventually see their money.

While all the victims stories are no doubt sad, what’s particularly disgusting is that two of the victims were families of people killed in the August 2008 plane crash in Moab. voluntaryXchange posts about that here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). This crash was a huge deal locally, as a larger percentage of local residents were killed in it than in New York City on 9/11.

Technorati Tags: matt,graff,guilty,moab,plane,crash

Hilary’s Head

Ummm … what exactly was Ms. Clinton thinking wearing a head scarf around Pakistan?

I think the logic here is that she was “honoring” their culture. Fair enough.

In this context, “honoring” means imitating the dress code of people of faith, when you yourself do not share that faith.

As a non-Mormon living in Utah, I have some experience with this. For me, the equivalent would be wearing a white t-shirt under my dress shirt to ape the garments that Mormons wear.

I wouldn’t do this: it’s silly. Further, my Mormon friends and colleagues would almost certainly be offended if I did it with this motivation.

I’d like to find out how many Pakistani’s were offended by Clinton. Something tells me the legacy media won’t be digging too hard to find that out.

However, I would certainly be interested in knowing if Ms. Clinton (or any other member of the Obama administration) is going to wear fake garments on their trips to Utah. Not that they’d make many …

Technorati Tags: hilary,clinton,scarf,pakistan

What Is It About Barack Obama that Causes Such Cringe-Inducing Butt-Kissing?

That’s not my line: John Steele Gordon – a writer of pop history – used it in regard to the five mistakes in one sentence from the new head of the National Endowment for the Arts.

For details, read the piece: “Pardon Me, Your Sycophancy Is Showing”.

Via Newmark's Door.

Technorati Tags: national,endowmnent,arts,obama,writer

The Governator Gets Snarky

From FOXNews:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger typically attaches a message to bills he signs or vetoes telling lawmakers why he took the action.

A Democratic assemblyman who heckled the governor during a recent event in San Francisco actually received two messages: the veto letter itself and a not-so-subtle rebuke creatively hidden within it.

Like a find-the-word puzzle, the second message was visible by stringing together the first letter of each line down the left-hand margin. It consisted of a common four-letter vulgarity followed by the letters "y-o-u."

Click to see the letter (via San Francisco Chronicle)

"My goodness. What a coincidence," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. [emphasis added]

The letter is worth a quick peek.

Technorati Tags: arnold,schwarzenegger,governor,hidden,message

What If It Was Rockies vs. Yankees?

They’re forecasting 18 inches of snow in Denver. It’s been snowing here (500 miles to the southwest) for 24 hours, so this seems plausible.

About 3 weeks ago vX posted about the problem with having a baseball team in Denver now that the season runs into November. That was in response to a small amount of snow in Denver postponing one game: 18 inches in Denver this time of year could postpone a game for 4-5 days.

Technorati Tags: snow,denver,baseball,world,series