Public Pension ‘Air Time’ Is an Absurdly Generous Perk
Why do public employees get a generous deal that is available pretty much nowhere else and to no one else?
The Case for an Executive Re-Organization
The executive branch of the
federal government is a sprawling collection of programs and agencies,
many working at cross-purposes or to no good purpose at all. There has
to be a better way.
An Imaginary Dustup? The Incalculable Harm of Regulation
Why surveys cannot begin to capture the cumulative damage of regulations. It’s not aggie paranoia or ‘right-wing nuttery.’
Both Noah and a December article in the Huffington Post concentrate on the dustup over particulate regulation, or the so-called dust rule. Both point out that the Environmental Protection Agency never proposed a rule regulating farm dust. Both have some fun with Republicans and farmers complaining about what the Huffington Post calls the “imaginary dust rule.” Noah calls complaints about the rule “right wing nuttery” and accuses the GOP of demagoguery. That seems a little extreme (although I should admit my own complicity in this flap: see “All Ginned Up”).
Romney, Perry, and Huntsman: A Tale of Three Governors
How did these three presidential aspirants do when it comes to healthcare spending?
The High Cost of Government Waste
Many promising space exploration proposals have been abandoned over the years in the name of more pressing social priorities.
The Costs of War
At the Pentagon yesterday, President Obama released a press statement
concerning his new military strategy. The document was clear with
regard to Iran, stating “U.S. policy will emphasize Gulf security, in
collaboration with the Gulf Co-operation Council countries when
appropriate, to prevent Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon
capability and counter its destabilizing policies.”
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has been quoted as saying “If we get intelligence they are proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps necessary to deal with it” and Intrade pegs the chance of an overt US / Israeli air strike before the end of the year around 20 percent.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has been quoted as saying “If we get intelligence they are proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps necessary to deal with it” and Intrade pegs the chance of an overt US / Israeli air strike before the end of the year around 20 percent.
Federal Debt Climbs Past Annual GDP • Posted by Emily Skarbek
I could not resist posting this beautiful graph of the current state of the momentousness US debt. The graph is particularly useful for eyeballing the historical path of U.S. debt to GDP. Often pundits will say that our current debt to GDP ratio is not unreasonable because it is not too high relative to the period following the WWII and the Great Depression.
It is true that during the post WWII era, government spending exceeded GDP. Nevermind that FDR’s New Deal actually prolonged the Great Depression. And ignore the fact that despite conventional wisdom, World War II did nothing to create prosperity. As Bob Higgs has argued extensively, no amount of money pumped into a depressed economy can bring about genuine economic recovery unless investors and business leaders feel secure in their property rights.
But getting back to the graph above. This graph clearly shows that even if the US debt to GDP ratio is lower than it was at some previous point in history—the MAGNITUDE of the change is worth of serious attention. Since the 1980s, the effects of a shift toward a dominant Keynesian view of economic policy are clear. The “old time fiscal religion” was gone and the debts began to pile up.
Make no mistake. With the Keynesian deficit finance comes a rhetoric that in good times the budget eventually should be brought into balance (See section 8.4.35). Only not now, the Keynesians argue. Now is a time of crisis. Now is different. When the economy is “doing well”, “recovered”, or when war is over... then the enlightened statemen will know what is prudent and begin running surpluses to pay the debts.
The fatal flaw? These arguments turn a blind eye to the basic incentives facing politicians. If they spend more on their special interests, they get elected. If they cut spending on special interests or constituents, the don’t get elected. So don’t be surprised to hear our presidential candidates pay lip service to fixing the debt. That’s what they do. That’s how they’ll get elected. And without rules to change the incentives and limit the ability of statemen to spend, the red line is going to continue to go up.
Was Former DEA Agent Jailed for Exposing ATF Arms Trafficking?. Posted by Bill Conroy
Iran/Contra-Era Whistleblower Cele Castillo Alleged in 2008 That Federal Agents Were Helping to Smuggle Guns into Mexico
Cele Castillo, a former DEA agent who blew the whistle on the CIA-backed arms-for-drugs trade used to prop up the 1980s Contra counter-insurgency in Nicaragua, is now sitting in a federal prison for what may well be another act of whistleblowing in this century.
Before Castillo reported to the federal pen in July 2009, where he is now stuck until April 2012, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, he shared with this reporter a series of revelations concerning arms trafficking and what he thought were corrupt ATF agents.
Those revelations, now some three years old, dovetail in great detail with the still unfolding ATF Fast and Furious operation, in which federal ATF agents allowed thousands of high-powered weapons purchased by criminal operatives at U.S. gun stores to be smuggled into Mexico unimpeded.
And Fast and Furious, as recent news reports have revealed, was not the first such operation put in play by U.S. federal law enforcement agencies. A similar “gun-walking” tactic was employed by ATF in 2006 and 2007 under the Bush administration through a program known as Operation Wide Receiver.
Castillo’s case, which involved allegations that he purchased and sold firearms illegally, was largely ignored by the mainstream media, though Narco News reported extensively on it and Castillo’s contention that he had been framed and was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct. [Past coverage at this link.]
At the time, as he was going through the buzz-saw line that is the federal judicial system, Castillo told Narco News that he was likely being targeted because of his role in exposing the CIA-backed effort to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua some 25 years earlier, or possibly because he had evidence of corruption within the ATF. But in truth, Castillo really didn’t know what direction the assault was coming from or why he was being targeted.
Now, though, in light of the exposure of ATF’s Fast and Furious, it seems the question needs to be asked:
Did Castillo, well before Fast and Furious came to light this year, rip back the curtain on a long-running U.S.-government sanctioned program to supply illegal arms to paramilitary units supported by the Mexican military — units charged with clandestinely carrying out the dirty work of the drug war in Mexico?
The answer to the question should matter to all of us, because that “war” has cost the lives of more than 50,000 Mexican citizens since it was launched in late 2006 under the reign of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Cele Castillo, a former DEA agent who blew the whistle on the CIA-backed arms-for-drugs trade used to prop up the 1980s Contra counter-insurgency in Nicaragua, is now sitting in a federal prison for what may well be another act of whistleblowing in this century.
Before Castillo reported to the federal pen in July 2009, where he is now stuck until April 2012, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, he shared with this reporter a series of revelations concerning arms trafficking and what he thought were corrupt ATF agents.
Those revelations, now some three years old, dovetail in great detail with the still unfolding ATF Fast and Furious operation, in which federal ATF agents allowed thousands of high-powered weapons purchased by criminal operatives at U.S. gun stores to be smuggled into Mexico unimpeded.
And Fast and Furious, as recent news reports have revealed, was not the first such operation put in play by U.S. federal law enforcement agencies. A similar “gun-walking” tactic was employed by ATF in 2006 and 2007 under the Bush administration through a program known as Operation Wide Receiver.
Castillo’s case, which involved allegations that he purchased and sold firearms illegally, was largely ignored by the mainstream media, though Narco News reported extensively on it and Castillo’s contention that he had been framed and was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct. [Past coverage at this link.]
At the time, as he was going through the buzz-saw line that is the federal judicial system, Castillo told Narco News that he was likely being targeted because of his role in exposing the CIA-backed effort to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua some 25 years earlier, or possibly because he had evidence of corruption within the ATF. But in truth, Castillo really didn’t know what direction the assault was coming from or why he was being targeted.
Now, though, in light of the exposure of ATF’s Fast and Furious, it seems the question needs to be asked:
Did Castillo, well before Fast and Furious came to light this year, rip back the curtain on a long-running U.S.-government sanctioned program to supply illegal arms to paramilitary units supported by the Mexican military — units charged with clandestinely carrying out the dirty work of the drug war in Mexico?
The answer to the question should matter to all of us, because that “war” has cost the lives of more than 50,000 Mexican citizens since it was launched in late 2006 under the reign of Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
More Fast and Furious — Did DEA Whistleblower Cele Castillo Call it?
NYC Radio Show Also Explores New Developments in the Alleged Ties Between US Law Enforcers and the Sinaloa “Cartel”
The Expert Witness Radio program, which airs on WBAI-FM [Pacifica Radio] in New York City during prime cabbie drive time — midnight to 1 am — once again takes a hard look at the ATF gun-running program Fast and Furious, with special attention to Narco News’ ongoing coverage of the scandal — in which thousands of high-powered handguns and assault rifles were allegedly smuggled across the US border into Mexico, and put into the hands of killers, all under the watch of agents with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Expert Witness Radio program, which airs on WBAI-FM [Pacifica Radio] in New York City during prime cabbie drive time — midnight to 1 am — once again takes a hard look at the ATF gun-running program Fast and Furious, with special attention to Narco News’ ongoing coverage of the scandal — in which thousands of high-powered handguns and assault rifles were allegedly smuggled across the US border into Mexico, and put into the hands of killers, all under the watch of agents with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
US Government Accused of Seeking to Conceal Deal Cut With Sinaloa “Cartel”
Lawyers for Alleged Narco-Boss Zambada Niebla Claim Prosecutors Suppressing Evidence By Invoking National Security
The criminal case against accused Mexican narco-trafficker Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla now appears to be threatening to unravel the U.S. government’s ugly national-security interests in the drug war.
Zambada Niebla, son of one of the leaders of the Sinaloa “Cartel,” arguably the most powerful international narco-trafficking organization on the planet, argues in his criminal case, now pending in federal court in Chicago, that he and the leadership of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug-trafficking organization, were, in effect, working for the U.S. government for years by providing US agents with intelligence about rival drug organizations.
In exchange for that cooperation, Zambada Niebla contends, the US government granted the leadership of the Sinaloa “Cartel” immunity from prosecution for their criminal activities — including the narco-trafficking charges he now faces in Chicago.
The government, in court pleadings filed last month, denies that claim but at the same time has filed a motion in the case seeking to invoke the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), a measure designed to assure national security information does not become public during court proceedings.
To date, the US mainstream media has been completely silent on the US government’s effort to invoke CIPA in the Zambada Niebla case; so, kind readers, Narco News is the only authentic news publication providing you with the scoop.
In a motion filed with the court earier this week, on Sept. 29, Zambada Niebla’s attorneys argue that the government, in essence, is trying to suppress evidence critical to their client’s defense by seeking to invoke CIPA at this late point in the pre-trial proceedings.
Zambada Niebla’s lawyers claim that the prosecution has, at this point, withheld evidence it is required to provide to the defense and is now attempting to cover its tracks and assure that evidence remains cloaked by arguing that it affects US national security.
The criminal case against accused Mexican narco-trafficker Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla now appears to be threatening to unravel the U.S. government’s ugly national-security interests in the drug war.
Zambada Niebla, son of one of the leaders of the Sinaloa “Cartel,” arguably the most powerful international narco-trafficking organization on the planet, argues in his criminal case, now pending in federal court in Chicago, that he and the leadership of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug-trafficking organization, were, in effect, working for the U.S. government for years by providing US agents with intelligence about rival drug organizations.
In exchange for that cooperation, Zambada Niebla contends, the US government granted the leadership of the Sinaloa “Cartel” immunity from prosecution for their criminal activities — including the narco-trafficking charges he now faces in Chicago.
The government, in court pleadings filed last month, denies that claim but at the same time has filed a motion in the case seeking to invoke the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), a measure designed to assure national security information does not become public during court proceedings.
To date, the US mainstream media has been completely silent on the US government’s effort to invoke CIPA in the Zambada Niebla case; so, kind readers, Narco News is the only authentic news publication providing you with the scoop.
In a motion filed with the court earier this week, on Sept. 29, Zambada Niebla’s attorneys argue that the government, in essence, is trying to suppress evidence critical to their client’s defense by seeking to invoke CIPA at this late point in the pre-trial proceedings.
Zambada Niebla’s lawyers claim that the prosecution has, at this point, withheld evidence it is required to provide to the defense and is now attempting to cover its tracks and assure that evidence remains cloaked by arguing that it affects US national security.
Private Paramilitary Training Complex Slated for Border Hits a Hitch
However, Opponents of Planned Facility Remain Wary of Shell Game Shenanigans
A paramilitary service company’s plan to develop a nearly 1,000-acre military and law-enforcement training facility near the California border with Mexico is now in the process of being scuttled by a foreclosure action on the property.
At least $1 million is still owed on the property by the company, called Wind Zero, according to the current notice of default obtained by Narco News — and some sources familiar with the foreclosure process indicate the amount owed, including interest and penalties, exceeds $1.5 million.
“The note [loan] on the property is in default, and we are going through the foreclosure process,” confirms Stewart Cowan, a San Diego attorney representing the note holder, Donna Perrine, who sold the 944-acre site to Wind Zero in 2007.
A check of public records for the Wind Zero property shows that the owner also is in arrears on 2010 taxes owed to Imperial County, Calif., to the tune of nearly $2,800. David Black, a senior planner with Imperial County, says he is not aware of either the foreclosure or the taxes owed with respect to the Wind Zero project.
“I was the project planner for that project, but I have not kept up on the foreclosure or tax matters,” Black says. “If they come in to apply for building permits, then it might become an issue. But nothing has been done on the (Wind Zero) project since they received approval in December of last year.”
A paramilitary service company’s plan to develop a nearly 1,000-acre military and law-enforcement training facility near the California border with Mexico is now in the process of being scuttled by a foreclosure action on the property.
At least $1 million is still owed on the property by the company, called Wind Zero, according to the current notice of default obtained by Narco News — and some sources familiar with the foreclosure process indicate the amount owed, including interest and penalties, exceeds $1.5 million.
“The note [loan] on the property is in default, and we are going through the foreclosure process,” confirms Stewart Cowan, a San Diego attorney representing the note holder, Donna Perrine, who sold the 944-acre site to Wind Zero in 2007.
A check of public records for the Wind Zero property shows that the owner also is in arrears on 2010 taxes owed to Imperial County, Calif., to the tune of nearly $2,800. David Black, a senior planner with Imperial County, says he is not aware of either the foreclosure or the taxes owed with respect to the Wind Zero project.
“I was the project planner for that project, but I have not kept up on the foreclosure or tax matters,” Black says. “If they come in to apply for building permits, then it might become an issue. But nothing has been done on the (Wind Zero) project since they received approval in December of last year.”
All They Are Saying Is Give War a Chance: "Narco-Mania!" Premiers in Mexico
By Al Giordano
I can’t verify that this alleged transcript of today’s US State Department daily press briefing is real, but it came across my desk and it sure does sound like those crazy flashback-plagued hippies down at Foggy Bottom:
I can’t verify that this alleged transcript of today’s US State Department daily press briefing is real, but it came across my desk and it sure does sound like those crazy flashback-plagued hippies down at Foggy Bottom:
Zambada Niebla Case Exposes US Drug War Quid Pro Quo Posted by Bill Conroy
Prosecutor, DEA Agent Confirm Intel From Sinaloa Mafia Used to Undermine Juarez, Beltran Leyva Drug Organizations
U.S. government officials have long presented the drug war through the media as a type of "Dirty Harry” movie, in which hardscrabble cops are engaged in a pitched battle with hardened street criminals who threaten the very social fabric of life behind America’s gated communities.
Of course it’s a big pretense, with the truth being closer to what really goes on in the marketplace of the US everyday. The drug war is, in reality, a drug business in which backroom deals are cut to advance the profit motives of the business entities involved, whether they be narco-trafficking organizations, or weapons manufacturers or government bureaucracies — and the aspiring, greedy careerists who inhabit their leadership ranks.
But even the US government makes mistakes, and in this case it’s the government’s own agents and prosecutors who have that egg on their face via affidavits filed in early December in a controversial criminal case now pending in the Windy City. The pleadings supposedly advance the government’s case against a major Mexican narco-trafficker, Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla. In reality, though — for any person of a critical mind reading them — the court documents demonstrate the insidious nature of the cooperation that exists between the US government and Mexico’s Sinaloa mafia organization.
U.S. government officials have long presented the drug war through the media as a type of "Dirty Harry” movie, in which hardscrabble cops are engaged in a pitched battle with hardened street criminals who threaten the very social fabric of life behind America’s gated communities.
Of course it’s a big pretense, with the truth being closer to what really goes on in the marketplace of the US everyday. The drug war is, in reality, a drug business in which backroom deals are cut to advance the profit motives of the business entities involved, whether they be narco-trafficking organizations, or weapons manufacturers or government bureaucracies — and the aspiring, greedy careerists who inhabit their leadership ranks.
But even the US government makes mistakes, and in this case it’s the government’s own agents and prosecutors who have that egg on their face via affidavits filed in early December in a controversial criminal case now pending in the Windy City. The pleadings supposedly advance the government’s case against a major Mexican narco-trafficker, Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla. In reality, though — for any person of a critical mind reading them — the court documents demonstrate the insidious nature of the cooperation that exists between the US government and Mexico’s Sinaloa mafia organization.
Huntsman Isn't the Anti-Romney; He's the More Authentic Romney
By Al Giordano
Every four years as the first-in-the-nation caucuses approach in Iowa, back east the national and New Hampshire (read: Boston, Massachusetts) media recites the old yarn, “Iowa picks corn, New Hampshire picks presidents.” There are, in fact, 47 citations of this quote since December 22 in the major media aggregated by Google News.
It’s a popular little ditty. And it’s been entirely wrong for the last 30 years.
Every four years as the first-in-the-nation caucuses approach in Iowa, back east the national and New Hampshire (read: Boston, Massachusetts) media recites the old yarn, “Iowa picks corn, New Hampshire picks presidents.” There are, in fact, 47 citations of this quote since December 22 in the major media aggregated by Google News.
It’s a popular little ditty. And it’s been entirely wrong for the last 30 years.
The Origins of Envy
The Origins of Envy
Our egalitarian feelings were
forged in the Stone Age. But the cave man ethos is not always
appropriate in the context of the modern world.
They’re the 99 percent. They have a set of demands as clear as the streets they occupy. They’ll hold a vigil for Steve Jobs, throw pies at Bill Gates, and may just vote reflexively for someone who has come to represent much of what they claim to loathe. But what underlies their demands? What really motivates the Occupiers? Is it injustice? Perhaps. Maybe it’s an idea of injustice wrapped around something they just can’t put their fingers on. Something deeper.
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