Aaaaaand, I'm back

I'm back in a situation with half-way decent connectivity, so I can opine on what's going on in the world of federal waste, and there's little to celebrate.

Maybe it was destiny that I was offline for essentially three-quarters of a year, because it gives me some perspective to look back at my earlier reasoning and see where we are relative to last year.  If I had been asked before the election what state the country's finances would be in at the start of 2013, I would have guessed slightly better than what we see today.

I would have wagered on a big win for the democrats last fall, followed by a deal on the spending that would have seen cuts in defense in exchange for modest cuts to the national welfare system, perhaphs even a temporary suspension of Obamacare.  Instead both parties kicked the can down the road again, which at some point is either going to result in a broken foot or dead end.

Given this I'm uncertain what to expect for the upcoming sequester.  The only thing that's certain is that this Congress and President Obama will take the path of least resistance (minimum cuts, lots of borrowing) unless the electorate wakes up, which is unlikely.

I only seem to write when something big happens now

I'm stuck in Africa.  The internet's slow, spare time is hard to find, and Washington is on the other side of the globe.  So I haven't been writing much lately, let alone stuff about wasteful federal actions.

But I did find time to watch Ron Paul's final Congressional comments today, and wanted to take a second to applaud what he said.   No need to rehash his statements, which are being tweeted and posted throughout the libertarian world.  I just want to basically agree with all he said, and remark that when I'm back I hope to get to work helping move the agenda of liberty forward.

It's telling I suppose that I didn't even find time to write about the election.  It was basically a non-event as I saw it.  As Ron Paul's said: we don't need a third party, we need a second party.

I have been in Africa where the internet is painfully slow

Which explains why I haven't posted in ages.  I'm in Germany for a bit now, and it's like having digital oxygen after going without connectivity for so long.

African internet service is hit or miss.  Paradoxically, I'm told Somalia has cheap and fast access.  The libertarian in me says this is because the absence of regulation allows the market to deliver the best service possible, but I've spent enough time overseas to be hesiant about leaping to conclusions about causation and effect.  As an outsider it's too easy for me to underestimate the value of certain factors and overvalue the importance of others.

I had to get online today though and point out that it's now eleven years since 9/11 and still lower Manhattan has no decent memorial for that awful day.  It's shameful that in an era of ever expanding governmental power, our system has managed to finance two wars, and entirely new cabinet position, and unprecedented expansion of federal authority, and a stupid color code threat system (since abandoned) and yet the WTC site is still a hodgepodge of contract disputes and funding arguments.  As I wrote last year, if ever there were a time for a concerted, nationalized effort, it was to turn that location into a solemn but firm memorial and symbol of our national will.

But what's there?  Try reading an article about the status of the WTC and it's like reading a developer's prospectus for a "mixed use/residential/commercial green space/future proofed community."  The words on their own make sense but together amount to mumbo jumbo.  So there's going to be one big tower and some smaller ones?  And there's a memorial planned, which will be free, but then a museum/memorial which will cost money?  And there's gonna be a cross or maybe not?  And there's gonna be a public square or park or something?  And is there a mosque or something around there?  Apparently that's a problem?  I'm so confused.

The whole thing reeks of the sort of faux capitalism which is plaguing the country.  The scourge is corporatism, and unhealthy fusion of government granted monopolies with private greed unchecked by the hand of the marketplace.  It's over budget, unfunded, and destined to end poorly.  Apparently the park portion of the fiasco is going to cost fifteen times more to run than Gettysburg, and require airport style security.

Great, I can get fondled as I celebrate my liberty.

Government at some level should have gone all in or not at all.  There should have been an use of eminent domain, compensation to the landholders (or apparently leaseholders?), and then we should have rebuilt those damned things so high that you could have seen them from the Jefferson Memorial.  And it should have been done quick.  While we were all pinning on yellow ribbons and worrying about the mail, we should have made that move.  In the eleven years since then Dubai's thrown up a new skyline and the Chinese have seen five cities leap ahead of New York in terms of population.  We should have spent some dough to rebuild the WTC site and construct a free, public memorial, not prop up Haliburton's earnings and school loans for people who take nine years to graduate college.

If that was unpalatable, then we should have done nothing.

Instead you have this bizarre public/private cooperation (always listen carefully when a politician flags such cooperation as healthy) which has resulted in a Frankenstein of real estate development and memorial.

I don't even think the real estate part is going that well.  Actually, for the people renting the real estate, I'm sure it'll work out just fine.  I'd guess they've greased the proper palms and paid the correct campaigns to make certain they end up okay.  But it's very telling that the majority of renters in the "Freedom Tower" are public entities.  Is that supposed to indicate the success of the free market?

Here's one more 9/11 anniversary where in addition to remembering the awful tragedy of that day, one must reflect also on the excesses of government.  As if there weren't enough to mourn.

Flipping Madonna's house

CNN has an (uncharacteristically) good read on a family that tried to flip Madonna's childhood home for  a quick buck.  The whole thing went down in late August, early September 2001 and in someways frames that period of time quite accurately.

I actually remember this auction well, being an Internet entrepreneur at the time (from 1996-2002 I ran an online travel website which earned me enough cash to enjoy, but not enough to call it a real job).

You can read/view the whole story here.

Kosher means free

I was trying to think of a good example recently of a purely private effort which benefits an entire community and hasn't been taken over by the state.  For example, caring for the homeless used to be the responsibility of churches and other such institutions, but at some point became a direct charge of government in the United States.  I came up with what I think is a nice example of a free society at work.

A considerable number of Jews in the United States consume only kosher certified food and in order to find such food, they rely on private, certifying agencies run by rabbis.  These agencies are not public entities (indeed, the courts have repeatedly ruled that legislatures cannot take over the responsibilities of these agencies and pass laws regulating what is and what is not kosher) they are entirely private.

No tax money is spent on these organizations, they are funded by manufacturers seeking contributions.

Anti-semites sometimes argue that this is a form of taxation from Jews upon gentiles but the assertion is silly.  Manufacturers want to target kosher customers.  Notably, many of these customers are not Jewish, since many consumers want kosher products for health, not religious reasons.  By making their products kosher and receiving certification food manufacturers expand their customer base.  For some companies perhaps, this is not a consideration.  For example, you own a bagel company-- a traditional Jewish food-- it would seem sensible to seek certification for your product.  If you own a pork jerky manufacturing ranch-- a food not ordinarily consumed by observant Jews-- you would not seek out certification.  But the choice is up to the manufacturer.  There is no state mandate to make something kosher or to not make something kosher.

Anti-semites can whine all they want about the increased price of a product due to kosher certification (which is likely a pittance) but any fan of liberty would have to applaud the fact that no one is making corporations seek out kosher certification.  The decision is completely driven by the market place.

Wouldn't this be a nice principle to apply in other areas as well?

For example, I hate smoking.  It's annoying and bad for one's health.  I'd prefer not to have people smoke when I'm flying.  But why should government regulate that rule?  Why not let airlines, by studying their customers, make that decision?  As a nonsmoker, you might ask, what do I have to gain from such a suggestion.  Well, if an airline offers a special service, they can make more money.  That in turn improves profit margins, which can be used to invest in better technology and better equipment.  So if an airline were allowed to say, offer smoking flights to London, at a slightly higher cost than regular flights, it would earn more cash.  And that would grow the business, and improve the relationship for all parties-- consumer and service provider.

That's just one quick, ad hoc but I think workable example.  Go ahead, think of some more yourself.  And enjoy a kosher pickle while you're at it.