Podcast 278

Vehicle Mileage Tax. Minnesotans were shocked and dismayed this week to learn their state is one of 18 considering passing something called a VMT; A Vehicle Mileage Tax. A GPS locating device would be attached to cars, and drivers would be taxed according to the number of miles they drive. While ‘sources’ say the VMT would replace the state gasoline tax, at an average of 34 cents, that would depend on individual state legislatures and the wording of bills in those respective states. How many Minnesotans would bet the state would ‘replace’ the state gas tax with the VMT? More than likely a reduction in the state gas tax would be combined with a  VMT. Advancing this story requires some research on why states spent as much as 150 percent of their gas tax dollars, and Podcast 278 provides the details. Is government efficiently spending transportation dollars? Is government spending transportation dollars on roads? Is government allowing tests of alternative methods of funding roads? Will bicycle riders have to wear GPS devices and pay a VMT too? Why not? What about the privacy issues related to GPS devices placed on the cars of citizens. States will argue ‘driving is a privilege’, and ‘you already have GPS tracking on your cell phone’. Will those arguments be good enough to prevent, or withstand a constitutional challenge if VMT’s are passed? What about ‘intermodal’ and ‘modal’ forms of transportation. How much of the transportation budget is sucked up by commuter rail, light rail, passenger rail, high speed rail and street cars, buses, and bike trails? Can Minnesotans depend on a Republican majority in Saint Paul to vote against this kind of tax. (Editor’s Note: Hint…um…No.) Is this an opportunity for birds of a different feather to flock together and defeat the measure if it is offered in the state house? These kinds of taxes, and so called infrastructure projects, controlled by central planners, rubber stamped by career politicians, create sclerotic bureaucracies and governments with too much centralized control. What strategies might be used effectively to defeat ideas like the VMT, and throw politicians who support them out of government, for good. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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Podcast 276

Dead Cops. Encouraged by craven politicians, protesters demanded dead cops, and now they have two in New York City. After warning the world, “I’m putting wings on pigs today” via Instagram, a criminal assassinated two NYPD officers as they sat in their car, killing himself in the subway minutes later as police closed in. Dead are officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. ‘Protesters’ took to Twitter to celebrate the shooting, ‘protesters’ in Ferguson, Missouri took to the streets shouting ‘pigs in blankets’. The head of the Police Union in New York said there was blood on “many people’s hands, and those that incited violence on the streets under the guise of protests , that tried to tear down what New York City Police Officers did every day. We tried to warn, it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated. That blood on the hands starts at the steps of City Hall”. As New York Mayor Bill De Blasio arrived at the hospital where the dead officers were taken, police turned their backs on him … an extraordinary gesture. Even Al Sharpton seemed confused as he issued a statement condemning violence and expressing sorrow at the murder of two police, apparently oblivious to the fact that protesters at one of his rallies recently chanted, “What do we want? Dead Cops! When do we want it? Now!”. Well protesters, be careful what you pray for. The upshot of all this? One of the reasons protests have been orchestrated by the left recently is they’re losing. They’re losing the house and senate, they’re losing governorships and state houses all over the country, as Americans move to the right. Now, by advocating killing cops, they’re losing the people. More importantly, most of the progressive policy ‘victories’ in past years are failures. Obamacare remains unpopular. While progressives gained power saying government would help people, the people do not think it is fair, or trust it. Despite three intense years of effort to control firearms, Americans continue to support the 2nd amendment, as carry laws spread to Washington DC and even Chicago; and the courts uphold them. Americans do not support legislation on Climate Change, and continue to believe the economy is not recovering. The media’s credibility is in a shambles after the Rolling Stone’s debacle on campus rape as is the President’s attempt to federalize sexual harassment rules on campus. The murder of these two NYPD officers will only increase support for law enforcement. People who think the country won’t survive two more years of President Obama should take note — and heart — that the progressive left is losing. They protest because its all they know how to do when they lose, and their policies fail. Pour it on. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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Podcast 269

Torture. Budget. Washington struggles with the release of a damning Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, and democrats appear to be willing to shut the government down over language in the budget bill concerning Dodd/Frank. These issues show how the contours of ‘partisanship’ and the causes of ‘gridlock’ will change after the new congress is sworn in, in January 2015. The Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and report was conducted and written wholly by democrats, offers no suggestions on what to do about what it called torture in the future, or for curtailing the CIA when it runs amok, and none of the accused parties were interviewed for have had the chance to defend themselves. As former Democrat Senator and Senate Intelligence Committee member Bob Kerry suggests, this does not bode well for the objectivity of the report or win any friends at the CIA. Even President Obama has been put in a difficult situation, since current CIA Director Brennan is furious that the report paints a one sided picture of what happened at the agency after 9/11. Maybe it is a good thing this information is released now, maybe not. One thing is for sure, neither party has come up with a foreign policy that addresses asymmetric warfare going forward. Libertarian, Interventionist, Neoconservative, Neoliberal, or whatever you want to call them, these policies aren’t going to be effective in future conflicts where it is likely potential state enemies of the US will use asymmetric methods because they strike at our weaknesses. On the budget front, Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren threatens to block passage of the budget bill because of changes it makes in Dodd/Frank regarding how derivatives are regulated. Which party is ‘obstructionist’ now? What will the minority party do after Republicans take over the majority in Congress? Expect a return to ideas like increasing gas taxes and ‘rebuilding’ America’s ‘crumbling infrastructure’, and to the idea that – since we can’t prove ‘inequality’ hurts the economy – we now have to deal with the ’empathy gap’. This is the idea that the working poor are just unfortunate and that we have to have laws to make the economic system ‘fair’, since hard work and brains have nothing to do with success. The founding documents talk about being created equal and having unalienable rights to life and liberty … not a ‘fair’ economic system. What you do with your liberty is your choice, rich or poor. The good news? All of these stories will be swept from television screens because of the storm-of-the-century in California. Finally, out of nowhere a movement we can all get behind, or in front of. “Free The Nipple”. Sponsored by Baklund R&D. 

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