Category Archives: spending out of control

Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 44)

November 30, 2012 – 12:01 am

Open letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner (Part 44)

John Boehner, Speaker of the House

H-232, The Capital, Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker,

I know that you will have to meet with newly re-elected President Obama soon and he will probably be anxious for you to raise taxes and federal spending, but he will want you to leave runaway entitlement programs alone. When that happens then you have one thing you can hold over his head and that is the debt ceiling.

You must stand up to him and tell him that you can not raise it. In December of 2012 or January of 2013 at the latest we will be shutting down the government if we don’t increase the debt limit according to the LA Times. You got to listen to the Tea Party heroes like Rep. Todd Rokita, Ben Quayle (R-AZ), Jeff Landry (R, LA-03), Raúl R. Labrador , Tim Huelskamp, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), , Brooks, Mo (AL – 5), Buerkle, Ann Marie (NY – 25),Chabot, Steven (OH – 1),Duncan, Jeff (SC – 3), Fleischmann, Chuck (TN – 3) ,Gowdy, Trey (SC – 4) ,Griffith, H. Morgan (VA – 9) , Harris, Andy (MD – 1) ,Huizenga, Bill (MI – 2) , Mulvaney, Mick (SC – 5) , Pompeo, Mike (KS – 4) , Ribble, Reid (WI – 8), Rigell, E. Scott (VA – 2) , Ross, Dennis (FL – 12) ,Schweikert, David (AZ – 5), Scott, Austin (GA – 8) , Scott, Tim (SC – 1) , Southerland, Steve (FL – 2) , Stutzman, Marlin (IN – 3) , Walberg, Timothy (MI – 7) , Walsh, Joe (IL – 8),and Woodall, Rob (GA – 7) .

__________

Here is another Tea Party hero you need to listen to:

Southerland: Cuts and Caps Will Help Us Conquer the Debt Crisis

Steve Southerland, II (published by The Tallahassee Democrat)

Jul 25, 2011 Issues: Jobs, Economy and Spending

By the time you finish reading this sentence, Washington will add another $360,000 to our national debt. With each day of delay, we dig our economic hole $4 billion deeper.

Make no mistake about it — we’re gazing into an economic abyss. Incredibly, some in Washington believe the best way to get back on track is to move the guardrail closer to the cliff’s edge. I refuse to join the agents of inaction who would rather bankrupt this great nation than make the tough, forward-thinking decisions necessary to fix our fiscal future.

Since 1962, Washington has raised the debt ceiling a mind-boggling 74 times. Yet with every increase, our elected officials failed to implement cost controls on future spending, choosing instead to shift responsibility onto the shoulders of future generations.

We simply cannot afford to continue down this path to economic ruin. The buck stops here and accountability begins now.

There’s an adage that says success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.

Those words could fittingly be the official motto of Washington, D.C.

The time has come for Republicans and Democrats alike to take ownership of this massive failure of governance. Short-sighted neglect from both parties helped create our $14.3 trillion debt. Both parties have, at one time or another, been more concerned with maintaining their grip on power than with empowering a change of culture in Washington.

I’ve heard loud and clear from citizens across North and Northwest Florida: You’ve had enough. You want Washington to reflect the challenges you face every day in meeting a family budget or keeping a small business afloat. You rightly expect the federal government to do more with less.

Nearly 100 days ago, I publicly announced my support for a common-sense plan of cuts and caps to conquer our debt crisis. I am pleased that a bipartisan majorityof the House joined me in committing to this effort by approving last week the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011.

This responsible plan would ensure that Washington cuts its spending immediately while enforcing caps on future spending and sending a federal balanced budget amendment to the states.

If you are a senior or a veteran, your benefits are protected under this plan. Wasteful spending will be weeded out, but your Medicare, Social Security and veterans benefits absolutely will not change.

If you are a small-business owner, lifting our crushing burden of debt will restore certainty and stability to the marketplace, allowing you to expand operations and create jobs.

And if you are a parent, you can take comfort in knowing that your children and grandchildren have hope for a day when they won’t be saddled with the consequences of poor economic decisions from the past.

The House has acted boldly to approve a concrete, measurable strategy to cut the debt.

I am hopeful that ongoing negotiations between President Obama and congressional leaders will build upon this momentum to achieve an agreement in line with the House-passed plan.

As I have consistently stated, I am firmly opposed to increasing the debt limit unless there is a serious, game-changing plan to cut, cap and balance Washington’s checkbook. We will never digest this mountain of debt by simply nibbling around the edges.

With the president’s self-imposed Aug. 2 deadline fast approaching, many Americans are understandably concerned about what will happen if a debt-ceiling agreement proves elusive.

Whether there is an agreement in the next 10 days or not, revenue will continue to come in to the federal treasury. The president will continue to have the constitutional responsibility to prioritize federal spending. His administration will continue to set the timetable by which Social Security, Medicare and veteran benefits are paid.

In an effort to reassure those who have earned federal benefits, I introduced legislation that would ensure our seniors, veterans and active duty troops come first, receiving their full pay and benefits even if there is no debt limit agreement in place by Aug. 2. Your government made a promise to you, and you deserve to know that promise will be honored.

Great nations have fallen throughout history when they grew too bloated and careless to prepare for their economic future. We must not repeat those same mistakes.

When our children and grandchildren look back on the debates of today, do we want them to mark these times as the moment when the American Dream slipped away? Or do we want them to be thankful that we finally stood up, fought for their future and changed the culture in Washington?

I know where I stand.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com, www.thedailyhatch.org, ph 501-920-5733

___________

Government shutdown coming, will there be any tea party heroes available to stand up to Obama?

May 21, 2012 – 1:33 pm

DEBT LIMIT – A GUIDE TO AMERICAN FEDERAL DEBT MADE EASY. Uploaded by debtlimitusa on Nov 4, 2011 A satirical short film taking a look at the national debt and how it applies to just one family. Watch the guy from the Ferris Bueller Superbowl Spot! Produced by Seth William Meier, DP/Edited by Craig Evans, […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, President Obama, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 1)

May 18, 2012 – 10:08 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 8)

November 6, 2012 – 7:59 am

Rep Himes and Rep Schweikert Discuss the Debt and Budget Deal Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 7)

November 5, 2012 – 6:48 am

Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute in his article, “Hitting the Ceiling,” National Review Online, March 7, 2012 noted: After all, despite all the sturm und drang about spending cuts as part of last year’s debt-ceiling deal, federal spending not only increased from 2011 to 2012, it rose faster than inflation and population growth combined. […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Who are the Tea Party Heroes from the 87 Freshmen Republicans?

November 3, 2012 – 1:31 pm

Here is a study done on the votes of the 87 incoming freshman republicans frm the Club for Growth. Freshman Vote Study In the 2010 election, 87 freshmen House Republicans came to Washington pledging fealty to the Tea Party movement and the ideals of limited government and economic freedom. The mainstream media likes to say […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Tea Party Conservative Senator Mike Lee interview

July 16, 2012 – 6:42 am

Tea Party Conservative Senator Mike Lee interview Here is an excellent interview above with Senator Lee with a fine article below from the Heritage Foundation. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) came to Washington as the a tea-party conservative with the goal of fixing the economy, addressing the debt crisis and curbing the growth of the federal […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in President Obama, spending out of control | Tagged balanced budget amendment, freedom agenda, saving social security, senate ratification, senator lee. | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 6)

June 12, 2012 – 6:23 am

I feel so strongly about the evil practice of running up our national debt. I was so proud of Rep. Todd Rokita who voted against the Budget Control Act of 2011 on August 11, 2011. He made this comment: For decades now, we have spent too much money on ourselves and have intentionally allowed our […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Social Security, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 5)

June 8, 2012 – 6:28 am

Rep. Quayle on Fox News with Neil Cavuto __________________ We have to get people realize that the most important issue is the debt!!! Recently I read a comment by Congressman Ben Quayle (R-AZ) made after voting against the amended Budget Control Act on August 1, 2011. He said it was important to compel “Congressional Democrats and […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 4)

June 4, 2012 – 7:19 am

What future does our country have if we never even attempt to balance our budget. I read some wise words by Congressman Jeff Landry (R, LA-03) regarding the debt ceiling deal that was passed on August 1, 2011:”Throughout this debate, the American people have demanded a real cure to America’s spending addiction – a Balanced Budget […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 3)

May 25, 2012 – 11:46 am

I read some wise comments by Idaho First District Congressman Raúl R. Labrador concerning the passage of the Budget Control Act on August 1, 2011 and I wanted to point them out: “The legislation lacks a rock solid commitment to passage of a balanced budget amendment, which I believe is necessary to saving our nation.” I just […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Some Tea Party heroes (Part 2)

May 25, 2012 – 7:00 am

Congressmen Tim Huelskamp on the debt ceiling I just don’t understand why people think we can go on and act like everything is okay when we have a trillion dollar deficit. Sometimes you run across some very wise words like I did the other day. Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp made the following comment on the […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in spending out of control, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in President Obama, Taxes | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 180.1)

November 30, 2012 – 12:00 am

Johan Norberg – Free or Equal – Free to Choose 30 years later 3/5

Published on Jun 10, 2012 by BasicEconomics

In 1980 economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman inspired market reform in the West and revolutions in the East with his celebrated television series “Free To Choose.”
Thirty years later, in this one-hour documentary, the young Swedish writer, analyst and Cato Institute Fellow Johan Norberg travels in Friedman’s footsteps to see what has
actually happened in the places Friedman’s ideas helped transform. In location after location Norberg examines the contemporary relevance of Friedman’s ideas in the 2011 world of globalization and financial crisis. Central to his examination are the perennial questions concerning power and prosperity, and the trade-offs between individual liberty and income equality.

___________

(Mailed before 9-1-12)

President Obama c/o The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

I am writing you today because the federal government has overstepped its responsibilities according to Adam Smith. Milton Friedman has rightly shown that

First, a government has a duty to protect its people from violence and invasion from other societies. Second, a government has a duty to protect its people from people within the society (and to set up a system that administers justice). Third, a government should erect and maintain certain public works and institutions.

Sadly this third point has been grossly misused to defend all sorts of government programs and that is why I wrote this letter to you today.

I have enjoyed reading this series of reviews by T. Kurt Jaros on Milton and Rose Friedman’s book “Free to Choose.” I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I have posted several transcripts and videos of the FREE TO CHOOSE film series on my blog. My favorite episodes are the “Failure of Socialism” and “Power of the Market.” (This is the 1990 version but the 1980 version is good too.) Today with the increase of the welfare state maybe people should take a long look again at the episode “From Cradle to Grave.”

Milton Friedman’s view on vouchers for the schools needs to be heeded now more than ever too. “Created Equal” is probably the episode that I wanted you to see the most and I wrote several letters to you suggesting that.

T. Kurt Jaros is currently a Master’s student studying Systematic Theology at King’s College in London. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science cum laude and an M.A. in Christian Apologetics high honors from Biola University, an evangelical Christian university outside of Los Angeles.

He enjoys learning and thinking about theology, specifically historical theology, philosophical theology and philosophy of religion, and issues pertaining to monergism and synergism. Additionally, he enjoys learning and thinking about political philosophy, economics, American political history, and campaigns.

The Power of the Market: Part 2

T. Kurt Jaros on Economics

5 comments

This is part of a series on Milton Friedman’s “Free to Choose.”

In my previous post I explained the three ways a market economy naturally regulates prices in a way that is more efficient than a command economy. This is part three of a book series on Free to Choose by Milton Friedman.

Some people think the free market is full of greedy men who respond to monetary stimuli. But this isn’t the essence of a market (despite some types of those men acting within the free market). Rather, self-interest is “whatever it is that interests the participants, whatever they value, whatever goals they pursue.” This is why an economy is very much like any industry: science, linguistics, theology, etc. In each industry there is the attempt to build and grow the knowledge within the field, so that the bad ideas will dissolve over time and the good ideas succeed and live on.

So what is the role of the government in all of this? In a way, the government is like a market because people voluntarily choose what they believe is the most effective way of achieving something (like universal healthcare). Friedman points to local governments as entities where we can object to what the government does because we can move. And yet government is more than a voluntary cooperation of individuals because “it is also the agency that is widely regarded as having a monopoly on the legitimate use of force or the threat of force as the means through which some of us can legitimately imposes restraints through force upon others.”

Friedman cites three points from Adam Smith. First, a government has a duty to protect its people from violence and invasion from other societies. Second, a government has a duty to protect its people from people within the society (and to set up a system that administers justice). Third, a government should erect and maintain certain public works and institutions. This third point has been grossly misused to defend all sorts of government programs. “In our view it describes a valid duty of a government directed to preserving and strengthening a free society; but it can also be interpreted to justify unlimited extensions of government power.”

Consider the example of road building. The costs may be too high for any one organization to build roads and then collect tolls to cover their costs. Therefore we give this task to the government to handle. However, despite the benefits there are also costs, and often, unforeseen costs. Aside from poorly budgeted projects, delays and unions to work with, there are third parties that are affected. Parties that do not use the roads and would otherwise never have paid to use such a government program or institution. Friedman writes, “as a result a government attempt to rectify the situation may very well end up making matters worse rather than better—imposing costs on innocent third parties or conferring benefits on lucky bystanders.” Moreover, there is a greater risk with power for some of the citizens to take advantage of others. This is seen on the low-income end where people may abuse the system or on the high-income end where the crony capitalism takes place.

The lesson to be learned is that there ought to be a very clear cost-benefit analysis where the burden of proof is on the bureaucrats before any plan is implemented. Even still, “experience shows that once government undertakes an activity, it is seldom terminated.” Rather than its abolition, a license for more power and more money is granted. Today we are suffering under the size and power of the federal government. Some of us are suffering from the size of our state governments, too! We need to elect wise individuals who have a basic knowledge of economics and markets, who can understand that the government is not the solution to our problems, but the cause.

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

Reason Magazine’s rightly praises Milton Friedman but makes foolish claim along the way

July 23, 2012 – 2:26 pm

I must say that I have lots of respect for Reason Magazine and for their admiration of Milton Friedman. However, I do disagree with one phrase below. At the end of this post I will tell you what sentence it is. Uploaded by ReasonTV on Jul 28, 2011 There’s no way to appreciate fully the […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Atheists Confronted, Biblical Archaeology, Milton Friedman | Tagged nick gillespie, Reason Magazine, Reason TV | Edit | Comments (0)

Video clip:Milton Friedman discusses his view of numerous political figures and policy issues in (Part 1)

July 23, 2012 – 8:18 am

Milton Friedman on Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” 1994 Interview 1 of 2 Uploaded by PenguinProseMedia on Oct 25, 2011 Says Federal Reserve should be abolished, criticizes Keynes. One of Friedman’s best interviews, discussion spans Friedman’s career and his view of numerous political figures and public policy issues. ___________________ Two Lucky People by Milton and Rose Friedman […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)

Milton Friedman remembered at 100 years from his birth (Part 1)

July 23, 2012 – 8:07 am

What a great man Milton Friedman was. The Legacy of Milton Friedman November 18, 2006 Alexander Tabarrok Great economist by day and crusading public intellectual by night, Milton Friedman was my hero. Friedman’s contributions to economics are profound, the permanent income hypothesis, the resurrection of the quantity theory of money, and his magnum opus with […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman, Uncategorized | Edit | Comments (0)

Milton Friedman videos and transcripts Part 7

July 23, 2012 – 8:05 am

Milton Friedman videos and transcripts Part 7 On my blog http://www.thedailyhatch.org I have an extensive list of posts that have both videos and transcripts of MiltonFriedman’s interviews and speeches. Here below is just small list of those and more can be accessed by clicking on “Milton Friedman” on the side of this page or searching […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)

Milton Friedman at Hillsdale College 2006 (part 1)

July 23, 2012 – 7:54 am

Milton Friedman at Hillsdale College 2006 July 2006 Free to Choose: A Conversation with Milton Friedman Milton Friedman Economist Milton Friedman is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946-1976. Dr. Friedman received the Nobel Memorial […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 116.6)

July 21, 2012 – 1:39 am

Milton Friedman said that getting George Bush I to be his vice president was his biggest mistake because he knew that Bush was not a true conservative and sure enough George Bush did raise taxes when he later became President. Below is a speech by George W. Bush honoring Milton Friedman: Milton Friedman Honored for […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in President Obama, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Transcript and video of Milton Friedman on Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan (Part 1)

July 20, 2012 – 1:37 pm

Below is a discussion from Milton Friedman on Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. February 10, 1999 | Recorded on February 10, 1999 audio, video, and blogs » uncommon knowledge PRESIDENTIAL REPORT CARD: Milton Friedman on the State of the Union with guest Milton Friedman Milton Friedman, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution and Nobel Laureate in […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan | Edit | Comments (0)

Dan Mitchell’s article on Chili and video clip on Milton Friedman’s influence

July 20, 2012 – 8:59 am

Milton Friedman and Chile – The Power of Choice Uploaded by FreeToChooseNetwork on May 13, 2011 In this excerpt from Free To Choose Network’s “The Power of Choice (2006)”, we set the record straight on Milton Friedman’s dealings with Chile — including training the Chicago Boys and his meeting with Augusto Pinochet. Was the tremendous […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Milton Friedman, Taxes, Vouchers | Tagged Chili, Dan Mitchell | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 116.5)

July 20, 2012 – 7:22 am

Milton Friedman’s negative income tax explained by Friedman in 1968: President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in President Obama, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

“Friedman Friday” :“A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy” VTR: 5/31/77 Transcript and video clip (Part 5)

July 20, 2012 – 6:43 am

Milton Friedman on the American Economy (5 of 6) Uploaded by donotswallow on Aug 9, 2009 THE OPEN MIND Host: Richard D. Heffner Guest: Milton Friedman Title: A Nobel Laureate on the American Economy VTR: 5/31/77 _____________________________________ Below is a transcipt from a portion of an interview that Milton Friedman gave on 5-31-77: Friedman: […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Milton Friedman | Edit | Comments (0)

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Milton Friedman, President Obama | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor, quotes Milton Friedman)

November 29, 2012 – 7:33 am

Broun Introduces Balanced Budget Amendment

Uploaded by RepPaulBroun on Feb 23, 2010

No description available.

_______________

Dear Senator Pryor,

Why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? As you know that federal deficit is at all time high (1.6 trillion deficit with revenues of 2.2 trillion and spending at 3.8 trillion).

On my blog www.HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com I took you at your word and sent you over 100 emails with specific spending cut ideas. However, I did not see any of them in the recent debt deal that Congress adopted. Now I am trying another approach. Every week from now on I will send you an email explaining different reasons why we need the Balanced Budget Amendment. It will appear on my blog on “Thirsty Thursday” because the government is always thirsty for more money to spend.

When I think about the life work of Milton Friedman two issues keep coming up. Private vouchers for schools and lowering federal government spending. Those two issues were very close to his heart. I am hoping in the future our leaders will see that after increasing spending every year for the last 40 years and at the same time our test results have dropped that we must gave private vouchers a chance.

Also as our national debt keep rising we must adopt the Balanced Budget Amendment which was also close to Friedman’s heart.

The US Needs Milton Friedman More Than Ever

In compiling a list of the greatest economists of all time, Milton Friedman’s name will surely be one of the first to come to mind. There is of course his technical work, such as his famous Monetary History of the United States (co-authored with Anna Schwartz), that established him as the chief architect of the theory of monetarism. More important was his ability to explain in clear layman’s terms the basic principles of our economic system, how it creates wealth for all members of society, and the importance to a successful society of individual liberty. If one were to pick two books that our country’s leaders should read, they would be his Capitalism and Freedom and Free to Choose. They are a treasure trove of solutions to the social problems of today.

Freidman wrote the first of these in 1962. In a period where we were about to launch The Great Society, as is the case today, people were looking to the federal government to improve their lives. Friedman offered an alternative based upon market forces and individual liberty. His cogent examination of the effect of incentives on people’s behavior led him to offer solutions to societal problems that were both insightful and effective. He offered ideas such as allowing individuals to invest in the education of others, so poor children would be able to obtain funding for high school and college in return for the investor receiving a fraction of their future earnings. This innovative idea would be much more successful than Pell Grants in encouraging and enabling students to finish high school and graduate from college.

Today we are more than ever in need of a resurgence and rediscovery of Milton Friedman’s ideas. Examples of this need abound. The stimulus package was supposed to keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent. Instead we have unemployment between 9.5 and 10 percent and $800 billion added to the federal debt. The Obama administration is now pushing for a second stimulus package. Thirty years ago Friedman explained that fiscal policy is not an effective method of reducing unemployment. Had we followed Friedman’s advice, we would be less burdened in debt and further along in economic recovery.

His argument for vouchers as a mechanism of moving public education from a socialist system to a market system has found traction in the last decade. Nonetheless, voucher proposals are very difficult to pass due to the power of the teachers unions. As a consequence of not following Friedman’s advice thousands of children in our urban schools have lost their chance for a good education.

Due to a massive 2000 page health care bill, the federal government is now managing the entire health care and health insurance industry. Freidman explained in a cogent article in The Public Interest, that health care costs are so high and customer satisfaction with the system is so low because government intervention has pushed us into an employer and government-based third party payment system. In typical Friedman fashion he forces us to observe that advances in technology in every area other than health care have led to reduced costs and increased satisfaction with the product or service and to ask why this is so. He asks why we single out medical care for tax-free status. Food is more important than medical care and yet we do not exempt the cost of food if provided by the employer. He must be surely rolling over in his grave the new health care legislation will compound the problem of third-party payment.

The President recently signed a 2300 page bill granting the federal government control over the entire financial industry. Professor Friedman wrote famously of how the Federal Reserve was not capable of determining how to manipulate the credit markets effectively due to its inability to know the information necessary to conduct effective monetary policy, and thus argued that the Federal Reserve should be constrained by rules. He certainly would have argued strenuously against giving the Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission the enormous powers that they received under the financial regulation legislation.

In Free to Choose, Friedman and his wife, Rose, argued for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. As we see deficits of nearly $1.5 trillion staring us in the face for at least the next few years, this suggestion too has gained new relevance.

Concluding Free to Choose, he wrote:

“The two ideas of human freedom and economic freedom working together cane to their greatest fruition in the United States. Those ideas are still very much with us. But we have been straying from them. We have been forgetting the basic truth that the greatest threat to human freedom is the concentration of power, whether in the hands of government or anyone else. We have persuaded ourselves that it is safe to grant power, provided it is for good purposes.”

Some thirty years later those words again ring true. Our hope should be that his final statement also is true:

“Fortunately, we are waking up….Fortunately, also, we are as a people still free to choose which way we should go—whether to continue along the road we have been following to ever bigger government, or to call a halt and change direction.”

This post originally appeared at The Business and Media Insitute’s Balance Sheet of July 28, 2010

__________

Thank you again for your time and for this opportunity to share my ideas with you.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher

By Everette Hatcher III | Also posted in Milton Friedman | Comments (0)

Is President Obama going to bankrupt our country by going from 10 trillion to 22 trillion in debt? (Part 15)

November 29, 2012 – 7:25 am

Dan Mitchell explains in the above video that Europe can grow and prosper, but only if politicians are willing to reduce the burden of government spending and lower tax rates.

_____________

These posts are all dealing with issues that President Obama did not help on in his first term. I am hopeful that he will continue to respond to my letters that I have written him and that he will especially reconsider his view on the following import issue which deals with holding down federal spending!!! Is President Obama going to bankrupt our country by going from 10 trillion to 22 trillion in debt?

I have a lot of respect for Tea Party heroes like Tim Huelskamp and Justin Amash who are willing to propose deep spending cuts so we can eventually balance our budget.

It is a fact that we must balance the budget soon. I do not believe that we can wait to balance the budget at some distant time in the future. The financial markets will not allow us a long time to get our house in order. Look at how things have been going the last four years and no matter how anyone tries to spin it, we are going down the financial drain fast.

That is why I am so thrilled that you are no longer president because you were not willing to make the deep cuts to balance our budget.

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which President Is the Biggest Spender of All?

May 24, 2012 by Dan Mitchell

A financial columnist named Rex Nutting recently triggered a firestorm of controversy by claiming that Barack Obama is not a big spender.

Here’s the chart he prepared, which certainly seems to indicate that Obama is a fiscal conservative. Not only that, it shows that Republicans generally are the big spenders, while Democrats are frugal with other people’s money.

In some ways, these numbers don’t surprise me. I’ve explained before that Bush bears a lot of blame for the big expansion in the burden of government this century, and I’ve specifically pointed out that he deserves the blame for most of the higher spending from the 2009 fiscal year (which began October 1, 2008).

That being said, Nutting’s numbers seemed a bit nutty. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Nutting’s numbers actually seem accurate, including the fact that he decided that Obama should be responsible for $140 billion of the spending in Bush’s last fiscal year (a number he may have taken from one of my posts).

But sometimes accurate can be misleading, so I decided to dig into the data.

I went to the Historical Tables of the Budget from the Office of Management and Budget, and I calculated all the numbers for every President since LBJ (with the exception of Gerald Ford, whose 2-year reign didn’t seem worth including).

But I corrected a big mistake in Nutting’s analysis. I adjusted the numbers for inflation, using OMB’s GDP deflator.

As you can see, this changes the results. My chart isn’t as pretty, but based on the inflation-adjusted average annual growth of outlays, it shows that Clinton was the most frugal president, followed by the first President Bush and Obama.

With his guns-n-butter Keynesianism, it’s no big surprise that LBJ ranks last. And “W” also gets a very low grade.

But then I figured we should take interest payments out of the budget and focus on inflation-adjusted “primary spending.” After all, Presidents shouldn’t be held responsible for the national debt that existed before they took office.

Looking at these numbers, it turns out that Obama does win the prize for being the most fiscally conservative president in recent memory. Reagan jumps to second place. Clinton is in third place, which won’t surprise people who watched this video, while W and LBJ again are in last place.

But I don’t want my Republican friends to get too angry with me, so let’s expand our analysis. Just as we don’t want to blame Presidents for net interest payments on debt that was accrued before their tenure, perhaps we should make sure they don’t get credit or blame for defense outlays that often are dictated by external events.

There’s obviously room for disagreement, but most people will agree that the Cold War and 9/11 meant higher defense spending, regardless of which party controlled the White House. Similarly, the collapse of the Soviet Empire inevitably meant lower military expenditures, regardless of whether Republicans or Democrats were in charge.

So let’s now look at primary spending after subtracting defense outlays (still adjusting for inflation, of course). All of a sudden, Reagan jumps to the top of the list by a comfortable margin. LBJ and W continue to score poorly, but Nixon takes over last place.

But it’s also worth noting that Obama still scores relatively well, beating Clinton for second place. Inflation-adjusted domestic spending (which is mostly what we’re measuring) has grown by 2.0 percent annually during his three years in office.

So does that mean Obama deserves re-election? Well, before you answer, I want to make one final calculation. Just as there are good reasons to exclude interest payments because they’re not something a president can control, we also should take a look at what spending would be if we don’t count the cost of bailouts.

To be sure, these types of expenditures can be controlled, but if we go with the assumption that the federal government was going to re-capitalize the banking system (whether using the good FDIC-resolution approach or the corrupt TARP approach), then it seems that Presidents shouldn’t get arbitrary blame or credit simply because some financial institutions failed during their tenure.

So let’s take the preceding set of numbers and subtract out the long-run numbers for deposit insurance, as well as the TARP outlays since 2009. And keep in mind that repayments of TARP monies (as well as deposit insurance premiums) show up in the budget as “negative spending.”

As you can see, this produces a remarkable result. All of a sudden, Obama drops from second to second-to-last.

This is because there was a lot of TARP spending in Bush’s last fiscal year (FY2009), which created an artificially high benchmark. And then repayments by banks during Obama’s fiscal years counted as negative spending.

When you subtract out the big TARP spending surge, as well as the repayments, then Bush 43 doesn’t look quite as bad (though still worse than Carter and Clinton), while Obama takes a big fall.

In other words, Obama’s track record does show that he favors an expanding social welfare state. Outlays on those programs have jumped by 7.0 percent annually. And that’s after adjusting for inflation! Not as bad as Nixon, but that’s not saying much since he was one of America’s most statist presidents.

Allow me to conclude with some caveats. None of the tables perfectly captures what any president’s fiscal record. Even my first table may be wrong if you want to blame or credit presidents for the inflation that occurs on their watch. And there certainly are strong arguments that bailout spending and defense spending are affected by presidential policies rather than external events.

And keep in mind that presidents don’t have full power over fiscal policy. The folks on Capitol Hill are the ones who actually enact the bills and appropriate the money.

Moreover, the federal government is akin to a big rusty cargo ship that is traveling in a certain direction, and presidents are like tugboats trying to nudge the boat one way or the other.

But enough equivocating. The four different tables at least show more clearly which presidents presided over faster-growing government or slower-growing government. More importantly, the various tables provide a good idea of where most of the new spending was taking place.

We can presumably say Reagan and Clinton were comparatively frugal, and we can also say that Nixon, LBJ, and Bush 43 were relatively profligate. As for Obama, I think his tugboat is pushing in the wrong direction, but it’s only apparent when you strip out the distorting budgetary impact of TARP.