Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no, Part 29 (Input from Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute Part 1)(Milton Friedman past posts)

Constitutional Balanced Budget Amendment

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Steve Brawner in his article “Safer roads and balanced budgets,” Arkansas News Bureau, April 13, 2011, noted:

The disagreement is over the solutions — on what spending to cut; what taxes to raise (basically none ever, according to Boozman); whether or not to enact a balanced budget amendment (Boozman says yes; Pryor no); and on what policies would promote the kind of economic growth that would make this a little easier.

Dan Mitchell wrote a great article called “Why a Tax Limitation/Balanced Budget Amendment is Needed to Control Spending,” Cato Institute, Feb 19, 1997. I will be posted portions of that article the next few days. Here is the first portion:

Introduction

After nearly 30 consecutive years of deficit spending, Congress soon will vote on whether to add a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. Should an amendment be approved by Congress and ratified by the states, the fiscal policy changes could be enormous. The objective of imposing such discipline is to balance the budget by reducing the size of government. A strong provision to limit taxes — such as a two-thirds supermajority requirement to raise taxes — would help ensure that politicians could not evade the amendment’s intent by simply replacing debt-financed spending with tax-financed spending.

For much of America’s history, government debt was kept under control. On those rare occasions on which budget deficits did occur, almost invariably because of war or economic downturn, lawmakers would approve budget surpluses in subsequent years. Unfortunately, beginning in the 1930s and culminating in the 1970s, this strong sense of fiscal responsibility was replaced by the view that deficit spending was good for the economy.

Armed with the rationale that more government would help the economy, politicians therefore were free to indulge in special-interest spending on an unprecedented scale. The fiscal policy consequences, not surprisingly, have been unpleasant. In particular:

  • The annual budget today is nearly 18 times larger than it was in 1960.
  • In inflation-adjusted dollars, government spending has tripled.
  • Government is now spending nearly $6,100 for every man, woman, and child in America, up from $510 in 1960.
  • Since 1960, the budget has been balanced only once, and deficit spending has increased the national debt from less than $237 billion to nearly $3.9 trillion.1
  • Each person’s share of that $3.9 trillion debt is more than $14,450, up from $1,311 in 1960.
  • Interest payments on the debt now consume about $240 billion annually — more than the combined budgets of the Departments of Commerce, Agriculture, Education, Energy, Justice, Interior, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, State, and Transportation.

The real news is even worse: The government’s official debt calculation does not include $10 trillion to $20 trillion in unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, government employee retirement programs, and other programs.

This rampant use of deficit spending not only endangers the well-being of millions of Americans, but also has mortgaged the future of America’s children. The United States needs a balanced budget now. Even more important, however, is how the budget is balanced. If policymakers want a balanced budget amendment to promote faster economic growth, they need to make sure that their efforts result in less government spending. And the only way to do that is by adding to the amendment a meaningful tax limitation provision.

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If you know anything about me, then you know that in 1980 my political life was forever changed by a man by the name of Milton Friedman. He could take tough questions that I could not answer and provide easy answers backed up with facts. For instance, I was told by my liberal professors at college that the founding fathers envisioned a small simple government that would never work in the complicated world we live in now. How was I to answer? Take a look below at the answer that Milton Friedman had.

Today I have included some comments from Milton Friedman from his Film Series “Free to Choose: Episode 10 How to Stay Free,” which addresses several issues concerning how to control our spending.

Lawrence E. Spivak: Let’s go back to Jefferson. You say cut the functions of central government to the basic functions advocated by Jefferson which was what? Defense against foreign enemies, preserve order at home, and mediate our disputes. Now, can we do that in the complicated, the complex world we live in today, without getting into very serious trouble.

Friedman: Suppose we look at the activities of government in the complex world of today. And ask to what extent has the growth of government arisen because of those complexities? And the answer is, very little indeed. What is the area of government that has grown most rapidly? The taking of money from some people and the giving of it to others. The transfer area. HEW, a budget 1_1/2 times as large as a whole defense budget. That’s the area where government has grown. Now, in that area, the way in which technology has entered has not been by making certain functions of government necessary, but by making it possible for government to do things they couldn’t have done before. Without the modern computers, without modern methods of communication and transportation, it would be utterly impossible to administer the kind of big government we have now. So I would say that the relation between technology and government has been that technology has made possible big government in many areas, but it’s not required it.

Ronald Reagan on Milton Friedman

Ronald Reagan introduces a volume of the documentary series Free To Choose by Milton Friedman. From the 1990 series, volume 3 of 5.

Milton Friedman congratulated by President Ronald Reagan. © 2008 Free To Choose Media, courtesy of the Power of Choice press kit

Below are some other posts I did about Milton Friedman’s ideas:

Who was Milton Friedman and what did he say about Social Security Reform? (Part 1)

Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no, Part 22(Milton Friedman tells us how to stay free Part 1))

Why do people move to other states to avoid Arkansas’ high state income tax? (If you love Milton Friedman then you will love this post)

Pat Lynch: We need to bring tax rates back up for Rich (Real Cause of Deficit Pt 10)(If you love Milton Friedman then you will love this post)

Gene Lyons: Tax Cuts always reduce tax revenues (Part 2)

Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no (Part 19, Milton Friedman’s view is yes)(Royal Wedding Part 19)

Gene Lyons: Tax Cuts always reduce tax revenues (Part 1)(The Conspirator Part 23)

John Fund’s talk in Little Rock 4-27-11(Part 2):Arkansas is a right to work state and gets new businesses because of it, Obama does not get that, but Milton Friedman does!!!(Royal Wedding Part 18)

Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no (Part 12, Milton Friedman’s view is yes)(The Conspirator Part 15)

Creation of wealth in this country based on “self interest or greed” helps ordinary folks too..

May 18, 2011 – 9:39 am Categories: Cato Institute | Post a comment

Candidate #4,Congressman Ron Paul: Republican Presidential Hopefuls (Part 6)(A Night with Ron Paul Part E)

Ron-Paul-Jedi-of-Republic.jpg


Pt 5/6 Ron Paul  4/15/11 CSPAN

Robert Wenzel, Editor & Publisher of the Economy Policy Journal wrote a fine article “On the road with Ron Paul,” May 2, 2011. I will be posting portions of that article the next few days. Here is the fifth part:

I asked Dr.Paul what books on economics he has read. He told me he has read all the Austrians, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek and Henry Hazlitt. He also told me he has a copy of The General Theory by John Maynard Keynes. He said he still uses the book as a reference to check a quote when he is preparing a speech.

He then said that he tells people that the real problem isn’t Bernanke or President Obama, but John Maynard Keynes. “It’s the thinking of Keynes that is causing the real problems,” he said.

We started talking money again and I mentioned that the nickel had almost 7 cents of metal in it. He quickly replied, “The nickel will disappear from circulation real soon.”

We reached the venue for the Republican breakfast and there were people outside waiting to greet him. One woman ran up to him and gave him a big hug. Dr. Paul was correct, this crowd could not be mistaken for a YAL crowd. It was much older and appeared very mainstream and they all seemed very excited to see him.

May 18, 2011 – 9:34 am Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no, Part 28 (Input from Norm Coleman, former Republican Senator from MN)

 

It’s Simple to Balance The Budget Without Higher Taxes

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Steve Brawner in his article “Safer roads and balanced budgets,” Arkansas News Bureau, April 13, 2011, noted:

The disagreement is over the solutions — on what spending to cut; what taxes to raise (basically none ever, according to Boozman); whether or not to enact a balanced budget amendment (Boozman says yes; Pryor no); and on what policies would promote the kind of economic growth that would make this a little easier.

In his article, “The people can fix the budget,” August 6, 2010, Politico,  Norm Coleman wrote: 

We have all experienced a time when we opened a credit card bill, only to be shocked by the balance. On more than one occasion, I’m sure, we’ve all said, “Who put that charge on my account?”

Now, imagine opening that bill and finding out your balance has shot up by $37,000!

You call the company to say somebody ran up $37,000 on your card without your knowledge. Who could have done such a thing? Congress and President Barack Obama.

Let’s look at what they charged to your account:

Obamacare: $1 trillion.

Taxpayer bailouts: $3.5 trillion.

The national debt: $13 trillion.

The deficit: $1.47 trillion.

Though you tell the credit card company you didn’t authorize the charges, you’ve still got to pay the bill. After all, they were from the government, which came to help you.

Too many in Congress, as well as the president, have been issuing checks that they can’t cash, but they want you to — to the tune of $37,000 for each and every American citizen alive at the end of this sentence.

And the government isn’t done yet. So what can we do?

The American people have the ability, under Article V of the Constitution, to compel Congress to pass constitutional amendments — either through a Constitutional Convention or through the threat of 34 states passing petitions to force Congress to hold a convention.

The bottom line is, whether it’s via a Constitutional Convention or an act of Congress, we need the protection of a constitutional amendment to balance the budget.

While more conservatives may be elected to Congress in November, there’s no guarantee that there will be enough to blunt the efforts by Congress and the president to spend yet more of your money and cost more of your economic future. 

The only guarantee is in the Constitution itself. And the only way the Constitution is likely to be changed is if state legislatures and governors raise their voices and petition Congress to take action. The American people have to rise up and demand that Congress do what 49 states must: balance their budgets.

Those who now preach more spending and more government programs say we are threatening the economic recovery if we pay down our debt and reduce our deficit.

In other words, if our economy is going to recover and jobs are going to come back, they have to spend more of your money to make it happen.

How many Americans, in their family budget, have used the federal government’s neat trick of spending themselves further into debt to create greater economic opportunity for their family?

Does the increased monthly payment on your credit card — the higher level of interest — put more food on your table? Does putting your family further into debt increase your chances to reduce your debt?

Seriously, only Washington politicians and limousine liberal economists would think that going further into debt would help you get closer to getting out of debt.

It’s time to take back our government. It’s time to take back America. And it’s time to give the American people true, honest and guaranteed political power.

We need a balanced-budget amendment to our Constitution. We need laws that require a two-thirds supermajority to raise taxes, so that Congress and the president don’t use a balanced-budget amendment as an excuse to raise taxes.

Washington won’t solve the debt problem. We, the people, can and must.

We need the American people, through state legislatures across our nation, to demand that Congress pass a balanced-budget amendment — or get out of the way and allow 34 states to compel Congress to do what it won’t do on its own.

Norm Coleman, a former Republican senator from Minnesota, is chief executive officer of the American Action Network.

May 18, 2011 – 9:31 am Categories: Uncategorized | Post a comment

May 16-18, 1911 Confederate Veterans Reunion in Little Rock Pictures and story (Part 5)

Ken Burns discusses his Emmy winning series The Civil War – EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG

I really enjoyed the article “REBEL GRAY’S GOLDEN DAYS: In 1911, LR filled to the brim with Confederate veterans,” by Jake Sandlin that ran in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on May 15, 2011. It took 81 years before more people to gather in Little Rock for another event (Bill Clinton’s election to president)  I will be sharing portions of it the next few days and here is the fifth part: 

The veterans were well taken care of at what was called Camp Shaver at City Park. The camp was named for its commander, Robert G. “Fighting Bob” Shaver, 81, who led the Confederacy’s 7th Arkansas Infantry.

The camp fed the veterans for free in two large dining tents. Dozens of cooks, waiters and dishwashers were hired. Provisions included 16,000 loaves of bread, 8,000 pounds of steak, 3,000 pounds of roast beef, 110 cases of eggs, 1,700 pounds of coffee for three 60-gallon coffee urns, 350 bushels of Irish potatoes, 400 pounds of rice and 300 pounds of tapioca pudding, according to the museum exhibits. Camp Shaver is said to have served 54,000 meals.

The only blacks reported to be present were “body servants,” who had been Confederate officers’ personal slaves. An Arkansas Gazette article said about 20 of the former servants arrived in Little Rock to hold their own reunion. Among them was 86-year-old Jefferson Shields of Virginia, said by the Arkansas Gazette to have been the servant of Gen. Stonewall Jackson.

The reunion’s highlight was the parade on the final day. “At an early hour,” the Arkansas Democrat reported, “the streets were well lined with spectators along almost the entire line of march” awaiting the 10 a.m. start. People also crowded in windows and along rooftops, or climbed poles.

The parade route covered 20 blocks. It stretched along Markham Street from State Street to Main Street, continuing to 10th Street eastward to Camp Shaver. The parade took 1 hour and 47 minutes, according to the Gazette, then its participants turned around and marched back to where it began.

May 18, 2011 – 9:31 am Categories: Bill Clinton | Post a comment

Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no, Part 27 (Input from Newt Gingrich, Mike Coffman)

Debunking White House Pro-Tax Increase Propaganda

This Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation mini-documentary debunks White House pro-tax propaganda with a point-by-point rebuttal of a video narrated by Austan Goolsbee of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. http://www.freedomandprosperity.org

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Steve Brawner in his article “Safer roads and balanced budgets,” Arkansas News Bureau, April 13, 2011, noted:

The disagreement is over the solutions — on what spending to cut; what taxes to raise (basically none ever, according to Boozman); whether or not to enact a balanced budget amendment (Boozman says yes; Pryor no); and on what policies would promote the kind of economic growth that would make this a little easier.

Recently I read the article “Mandate for a Balanced Budget,”  
By Newt Gingrich, Mike Coffman, Denver Post, Sunday, May 30, 2010. They wrote:  

 ECO-Mon-0034-Stock    

The crisis of budgeting in Greece, California, New York and New Jersey are warning signs of the coming crisis of government in Washington, D.C.

We got to our current fiscal predicament because of too much spending; we will start to get out of the problem by cutting spending.

A responsible government does not spend any more on necessary government than it collects through a taxation system that maximizes economic growth, jobs, wages, family income and overall prosperity for working people. In Washington today, irresponsible leaders are putting our nation’s future in jeopardy by borrowing trillions of dollars more than it can collect in taxes to pay for unnecessary government and in the process making changes to our taxation system that distort economic growth, kill jobs, and make our fiscal outlook even bleaker.

Our national debt is more than $12 trillion, having doubled in the past eight years. The Obama administration’s 10-year budget forecast predicts the national debt will triple to $17.5 trillion by 2019. When Medicare and Social Security spending are included, the debt is closer to $65 trillion.

If these numbers do not improve in the next 15 years, the national debt will exceed 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), meaning the federal government will owe more than the entire value of the American economy. No nation can endure such reckless spending. So what to do?

An essential first step is that candidates for Congress in 2010 commit to balancing the federal budget by 2015 without raising taxes. Balancing the federal budget is not a wild-eyed dream. It can be done. We know because we balanced the budget in the 1990s for four straight years without raising taxes.

It begins with electing representatives who are committed to the principle of balanced budgets. We held spending at an annual increase of 2.9 percent from 1996-99 (the lowest since the 1920s), and the result was balanced budgets for four years in a row beginning in 1998, where the Treasury paid off $405 billion in debt, 14.3 million new jobs were created, charitable giving increased, and welfare reform led to falling child poverty rates and 2.5 million families leaving the welfare rolls.

The key to achieving these balanced budgets in 1990s was adhering to the principle that the budget would be balanced through spending reductions, government reforms, and the adoption of incentives that reward work, savings and investment–all without raising taxes. We can balance the budget again today if we adhere to the same principle.

We got to our current fiscal predicament because of too much spending; we will start to get out of the problem by cutting spending. We need a spending commission, not the deficit commission the president created. The White House Deficit Commission should therefore rule out any tax increases and focus solely on spending cuts. The focus should be on replacing, not just reforming, failed institutions.

We also need to reward work and savings and investment, which will create new wealth and new jobs. But the first step is for candidates to commit to a balanced budget and for voters to support such a commitment.

Judging by the failure of this Congress to even prepare a budget, a commitment to a balanced budget is only going to grow large enough to have an impact in the context of an election campaign.

A constitutional amendment to require a balanced budget is just the reform that can concentrate the minds of voters and rally them in favor of an effort to balanced budgets. We are encouraged that Democrats and Republicans are committing to support H.J. Res 1, the Balanced Budget Amendment.

Balanced budgets, declining federal debt, lower taxes, low interest rates, and government reform is a recipe for prosperity. It’s not a secret. This is what we did to achieve prosperity in the 1990s. We can do it again.

Newt Gingrich is a senior fellow at AEI. U.S. Representative Mike Coffman represents Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.

Photo Credit: iStockphoto/andyd

May 18, 2011 – 9:10 am Categories: President Obama | Post a comment

Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part 7)

 

Maria Shriver Asks – How Do You Handle Transitions in Your Life?

Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to his wife several months ago that he had fathered a child about 10 years ago with a member of their household staff. Maria moved out, but has not filed for divorce. In the you tube clip above she comments:

“Like a lot of you I’m in transition: people come up to me all the time, asking, what are you doing next?” she said, adding: “It’s so stressful to not know what you are doing next when people ask what you are doing and they can’t believe you don’t know what you are doing.”

“I’d like to hear from other people who are in transition,” she said. “How did you find your transition: Personal, professional, emotional, spiritual, financial? How did you get through it?”

Mrs. Shriver has asked for spiritual input and I personally think that unless she gets the spiritual help that she needs then she will end up in the divorce court. I am starting a series on how a marriage can survive an infidelity. My first suggestion would be to attend a “Weekend to Remember” put on by the organization “Family Life” out of Little Rock, Arkansas. I actually posted this as a response to Mrs. Shriver’s request on you tube.

 I read the article “ Recovering Intimacy After an Affair – FamilyLife.com,”by Dave Carder. I  got the article from Family Life’s website and here is the sixth portion:

Share Your Intimate Self

It’s standard fare for stand-up comedians, but it’s sad when you really think about it. The guy who, for thirty years of marriage would never think of doing anything but drive the same car slowly and deliberately to work and back, suddenly begins to tool around town with sexy young blondes in a new red Porsche!

Yet caricature differs only slightly from real life: one of the common reports from the spouse in an affair is the complete change in behavior in the infidel as expressed with the partner. For example, with the spouse, the infidel never talked; with the partner, he talked for hours. With the spouse, he never read poetry; with the partner, he not only reads it—he writes it! There are dozens of examples: with the spouse, he never took walks, never had bar-b-ques in the park, never spent lazy afternoons in a motel, never bought shiny trinkets for gifts, or planned rendezvous, but with the partner, he does all those things. It’s comical in one way but sad in another.

Usually the illicit partner sees a very different person in the infidel than the spouse had come to see over the many years in the marriage. Yet that side of the infidel’s personality needs to be revealed. It is a part of his psyche and of the marriage relationship that the couple has allowed to atrophy.

It is true that different people bring out different sides of our personalities, but an affair so opens up a marriage and the individuals in the marriage that there is almost unlimited access to the psyche of both mates. In affair recovery, we need to take advantage of that unique view into the other’s needs and turn something bad into a growth opportunity.

One of the ways to reveal who you are and how you became that way is to talk nonstop about yourself for twenty minutes. This self-revealing exercise is usually nonexistent in marriages but extremely frequent in affairs. Talking about who you are is part of the central fascination on which the friendship builds in an affair.

At first, individuals are afraid to initiate this kind of activity with their marital partner. They think it’s boring, selfish, or even narcissistic, but it doesn’t have to be. They also may be uncertain about how they will be accepted, or they may suspect that what they say will be used against them.

Resist those fears and try it. Remember, lack of deep communication is usually part of the message of the affair. We all want to reveal who we are, and we all want to be known by someone who loves us and accepts us unconditionally.

Choose some safe topics. The following list might be helpful:

  • Your earliest set of memories
  • Grade by grade in elementary school
  • My first boyfriend/girlfriend or first date
  • My happy childhood memories
  • My birthdays—happy and unhappy
  • My favorite teacher and all of my memories about him/her
  • The first time I drove a car
  • My first car accident or traffic ticket
  • My first kiss, job, and so on
  • The favorite child in my family, why he or she was the favorite, how I felt about that, experiences and feelings I shared with him/her
  • My favorite parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin
  • All the houses I lived in; my craziest neighborhood friends
  • All the schools I attended
  • The longest walk I ever took
  • The ways I always spent my allowance as a kid
  • My parents’ favorite sayings and how they used them; which ones I liked and didn’t like
  • Things that I would have changed if I had been the parent in my family of origin
  • The favorite year of my life
  • The age I would like to remain forever
  • Any others you think of

All of those experiences have feelings attached to them. Share with your mate how those subjects made you feel. That is the part that is important to tell at this point in your relationship. Facts are helpful; perceptions are important; but feelings are crucial to reestablishing intimacy. Feelings form the core of intimacy—that special closeness that assures you that, although your mate knows you and sees inside of you, he/she still loves you and accepts you completely.

One of the best ways to do this exercise is for each mate to take turns on successive days talking about himself or herself. The wife might do it one day; the husband the next.

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Requirements to Resolve Conflict (pt 4)

To resolve conflict effectively and Biblically there are two absolutes that both parties must agree on – do you know what they are? Without this framework, you can try all kinds of things to avoid or resolve conflict in your marriage and relationships, but you probably won’t be successful. Listen and discover the common ground that can literally transform even the most challenging points of conflict. Want to learn more? Download the full message from guest speaker Tim Lundy for free at: http://www.venturechristian.org/files/sermons2/t032011.mp3

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The clip above has some material that originally came from a video from Family Life. I have mentioned this organization several times in this post. Contacting “Family Life” (out of Little Rock, Arkansas) would be a great place for Arnold and Maria to begin their recovering. I am hoping that Maria realizes that this family is worth saving. It will take a lot of forgiveness and she will have to turn to Christ for his supernatural help to make it happen.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver and their family photo

Weekend to Remember Story – Dennis Rainey

May 18, 2011 – 8:37 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no, Part 26 (Milton Friedman tells us how to stay free Part 5)

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Steve Brawner in his article “Safer roads and balanced budgets,” Arkansas News Bureau, April 13, 2011, noted:

The disagreement is over the solutions — on what spending to cut; what taxes to raise (basically none ever, according to Boozman); whether or not to enact a balanced budget amendment (Boozman says yes; Pryor no); and on what policies would promote the kind of economic growth that would make this a little easier.

I am going to continue this series and mainly include the opinions of Milton Friedman concerning these matters. Today I have included some comments from Milton Friedman from his Film Series “Free to Choose: Episode 10 How to Stay Free,” which addresses several issues concerning how to control our spending.  This is part 5 of this series concerning Milton Friedman’s thoughts from this video clip.

Lawrence E. Spivak: Milton, all through your discussions, you hammer away at two things, the theories of Adam Smith on the free market and of Thomas Jefferson on central power. One thing that troubled me a little bit about your discussions is that it seemed to me that you are little bit the way psychoanalysts used to talk about Freud. That you believe they had given us the word and that even thought 200 years have gone by, it was still in the world, that circumstances had not changed the meaning anyway. Are you that fixed about their ideas?

Friedman: There’s a great difference between principles and the application of principles. The application of a principle has to take account of circumstances. But the principles that explain how it is that an automobile operates, are no different from the principles that explain how a horse and buggy operated or how a bow and arrow operated. The principles that Adam Smith enunciated, the philosophy that Thomas Jefferson enunciated, are every bit as valid today as they were then. But the circumstances are different and therefore the applications in many cases are very different. In addition, there has been a great deal of work and study and scholarly activity that has gone on since then. We know a great deal more about the way in which an economy works than Adam Smith knew. He was wrong in many individual details of his theory but his overall vision, his conception of how it was that without any central body planning it, millions of people could coordinate their activities in a way that was mutually beneficial to all of them. That central concept is every bit as valid today as it was then, and indeed, we have more reason to be confident in it now than he had because we’ve had 200 years more experience to observe how it works. 

Lawrence E. Spivak: Let’s go back to Jefferson. You say cut the functions of central government to the basic functions advocated by Jefferson which was what? Defense against foreign enemies, preserve order at home, and mediate our disputes. Now, can we do that in the complicated, the complex world we live in today, without getting into very serious trouble.

Friedman: Suppose we look at the activities of government in the complex world of today. And ask to what extent has the growth of government arisen because of those complexities? And the answer is, very little indeed. What is the area of government that has grown most rapidly? The taking of money from some people and the giving of it to others. The transfer area. HEW, a budget 1_1/2 times as large as a whole defense budget. That’s the area where government has grown. Now, in that area, the way in which technology has entered has not been by making certain functions of government necessary, but by making it possible for government to do things they couldn’t have done before. Without the modern computers, without modern methods of communication and transportation, it would be utterly impossible to administer the kind of big government we have now. So I would say that the relation between technology and government has been that technology has made possible big government in many areas, but it’s not required it.


May 18, 2011 – 7:28 am Categories: Milton Friedman | Post a comment

Comparing pictures of young Arnold Schwarzenegger to Mildred “Patty” Baena’s son

  

a arnold schwarzenegger young 8 A young Arnold Schwarzenegger (15 photos)

Picture: Mildred Baena and son to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

New York Daily News reported:

The mother of Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s mystery love child was identified late Tuesday as 50-year-old housekeeper Mildred “Patty” Baena.

Multiple outlets including TMZ.com and Radaronline.com identified the woman citing anonymous sources.

Baena described herself as a “proud parent” with a body type that included “some extra baggage” in a MySpace.com profile that included photos of her with a young boy.

The boy bears more than a passing resemblance to the “Terminator” actor, with an eerily similar gap-toothed grin and flowing sandy blond curls like Schwarzenegger’s “Conan” character.

Baena, who bought a new four-bedroom house with a pool about two hours north of Los Angeles last year, filed for divorce from her husband in February 2008, court records show.

The longtime employee struck up a sexual relationship with Schwarzenegger in the late 1990s and didn’t tell the actor he was the father until the boy was a toddler, TMZ reported.

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I have written many times about Arnold Schwarzenegger before. Here are just a few of the times:1. President Reagan having a photo taken with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. 8/23/84.2.Here is a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger using an Airlight
Broom as a prop for “cleaning house” in the California Recall
Election as seen on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, ect in 2003. The
Airlight Broom is manufactured by Little Rock Broom Works.3. I heard John Fund of the Wall Street Journal speak in Little Rock on April 27, 2011 and in his speech he mentioned the struggle that Arnold Schwarzenegger had with the envirnomentalists in California. I took time to repeat a lot of the facts about that in my blog post that day. 4. At that same luncheon on April 27th that I mentioned earlier, one subject that John Fund brought up was the red tape that Arnold Schwarzenegger had to deal with in California. I wrote about that too.5. St. James Palace has confirmed  that Kate Middleton and Prince William – or, more officially, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – will be visiting California from July 8-10 this summer. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to greet the Royals as they touch down.6. Which is better for setting up a business: California or Texas? Arnold Schwarzenegger is mentioned in this post too.7. Arnold Schwarzenegger is fond of quoting Milton Friedman but he rejected fiscal conservative idea to cut spending.8. Pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver through the years. Video clip of them at Ronald Reagan’s funeral.

9. I wrote a post on American Exceptionalism and put in a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger doing the introduction to an episode of “Free to Choose.”

10. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of  infidelity? I hope so (Part 1).

11. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part 2)

12. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part 3 )

13. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part  4)

14. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part  5)

15. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part  6)

In this series “Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so,” there has been a great reaction to it by the public. I have included articles from “Family Life” of Little Rock, Arkansas about how to recover from an infidelity. I have also included info on how to take part in a “Weekend to Remember,” where you can hear “Family Life” speakers with your spouse. The only hope for Maria’s marriage will come from the power of Christ in her life to forgive. “A Family Life Conference” would be a great first step. Below is some info on that:  

In just one November weekend, for example, more than 6,200 people attended 10 Weekend to Remember® marriage getaways around the country. Here are a couple quotes from those who went:

We are moving from a place of being ready to divorce to looking forward to growing together through Christ. This has given us important tools to do so.

We’ve been walking separate roads for many years. Infidelity was the final straw leading us to divorce. I was filling out the papers two days before we came to this event. Over the course of the weekend we found each other, wrote love letters that will be kept as reminders of our true love for each other. I granted forgiveness that my husband really needed. We are going to burn the divorce papers when we get home!

In today’s culture, the issues of marriage and family are open doors for the gospel–the Good News of Christ. Because people want their marriages and families to succeed.  

Benefits of Attending a Weekend to Remember


May 18, 2011 – 7:05 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Balanced Budget Amendment the answer? Boozman says yes, Pryor no, Part 25 (Milton Friedman tells us how to stay free Part 4)

Photo detail

Steve Brawner in his article “Safer roads and balanced budgets,” Arkansas News Bureau, April 13, 2011, noted:

The disagreement is over the solutions — on what spending to cut; what taxes to raise (basically none ever, according to Boozman); whether or not to enact a balanced budget amendment (Boozman says yes; Pryor no); and on what policies would promote the kind of economic growth that would make this a little easier.

I am going to continue this series and mainly include the opinions of Milton Friedman concerning these matters. Today I have included some comments from Milton Friedman from his Film Series “Free to Choose: Episode 10 How to Stay Free,” which addresses several issues concerning how to control our spending.  This is part 4 of this series concerning Milton Friedman’s thoughts from this video clip. 

Milton Friedman:

This is where much of the future strength of the United States lies. In places like Utuma, Iowa where ordinary hardworking American people live. People of all economic levels live in Utuma, but there are no extremes of either wealth or poverty. All are part of a community. Each part of which depends on the others for a stable and happy life worth living. This is a kind of community that formed the character of democratic America.

We began this series by stressing two ideas, the idea of human freedom as embodied in Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, the idea of economic freedom as embodied in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Those two ideas working together, came to their greatest fruition here in the heartland of America. But the basic character of the society that they created has been changing as a result of the rise of another set of ideas.

We have forgotten the basic truth that the founders of this country knew so well. That the greatest threat to human freedom is a concentration of power whether in the hands of government or anyone else. Throughout the Western world, more and more of us are coming to recognize the dangers of an over-governed society. But it will take more than a recognition of danger. Freedom is not the natural state of mankind. It is a rare and wonderful achievement. It will take an understanding of what freedom is, of where the dangers to freedom come from. It will take the courage to act on that understanding if we are not only to preserve the freedoms that we have, but to realize the full potential of a truly free society.


May 18, 2011 – 7:04 am Categories: Milton Friedman | Post a comment

Picture of Arnold Schwarzeneggar’s son with mother Mildred Baena

 How does a young Arnold compare in looks to his son?

A young Arnold Schwarzenegger (15 photos)
 
Picture: Mildred Baena and son to Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mildred Baena PicturesThe mother of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love child has been named as Mildred Baena by US media outlets.The LA Times revealed Tuesday Arnold Schwarzenegger had the child ten years ago to his long time employee who was revealed as Mildred Baena hours later.Outlets linked to a Myspace page of Mildred Baena with pictures of her son.50-year-old Mildred Baena had worked for Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver for the last 20 years and only left her job last year in the Schwarzenegger mansion.Housekeeper Mildred Baena was confirmed as the mother of Schwarzenegger’s ten year old love child this evening after severl sources confrimed to Radar Online. The news organizations were able to see Mildred Baena Myspace page.“They (Mildred Baena and Arnold Schwarzenegger) have a son together,” one source said when shown a picture of Mildred Baena.“I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family,” Schwarzenegger said on Tuesday to the LA Times, hours before Mildred Baena was revealed as the mother.

“There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.”

Maria Shriver said of the news made public about her husband and former housekeeper, Ms Mildred Baena: “This is a painful and heartbreaking time.”

__________________
I have written many times about Arnold Schwarzenegger before. Here are just a few of the times:1. President Reagan having a photo taken with Arnold Schwarzenegger at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas. 8/23/84.2.Here is a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger using an Airlight
Broom as a prop for “cleaning house” in the California Recall
Election as seen on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, ect in 2003. The
Airlight Broom is manufactured by Little Rock Broom Works.3. I heard John Fund of the Wall Street Journal speak in Little Rock on April 27, 2011 and in his speech he mentioned the struggle that Arnold Schwarzenegger had with the envirnomentalists in California. I took time to repeat a lot of the facts about that in my blog post that day.4. At that same luncheon on April 27th that I mentioned earlier, one subject that John Fund brought up was the red tape that Arnold Schwarzenegger had to deal with in California. I wrote about that too.5. St. James Palace has confirmed  that Kate Middleton and Prince William – or, more officially, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – will be visiting California from July 8-10 this summer. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to greet the Royals as they touch down.6. Which is better for setting up a business: California or Texas? Arnold Schwarzenegger is mentioned in this post too.7. Arnold Schwarzenegger is fond of quoting Milton Friedman but he rejected fiscal conservative idea to cut spending.8. Pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver through the years. Video clip of them at Ronald Reagan’s funeral.

9. I wrote a post on American Exceptionalism and put in a video clip of Arnold Schwarzenegger doing the introduction to an episode of “Free to Choose.”

10. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of  infidelity? I hope so (Part 1).

11. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part 2)

12. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part 3 )

13. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part  4)

14. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part  5)

15. Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so (Part  6)

In this series “Will Maria Shriver’s marriage survive Arnold Schwarzenegger’s admission of infidelity? I hope so,” there has been a great reaction to it by the public. I have included articles from “Family Life” of Little Rock, Arkansas about how to recover from an infidelity. I have also included info on how to take part in a “Weekend to Remember,” where you can hear “Family Life” speakers with your spouse. The only hope for Maria’s marriage will come from the power of Christ in her life to forgive. “A Family Life Conference” would be a great first step. Below is some info on that:  

In just one November weekend, for example, more than 6,200 people attended 10 Weekend to Remember® marriage getaways around the country. Here are a couple quotes from those who went:

We are moving from a place of being ready to divorce to looking forward to growing together through Christ. This has given us important tools to do so.

We’ve been walking separate roads for many years. Infidelity was the final straw leading us to divorce. I was filling out the papers two days before we came to this event. Over the course of the weekend we found each other, wrote love letters that will be kept as reminders of our true love for each other. I granted forgiveness that my husband really needed. We are going to burn the divorce papers when we get home!

In today’s culture, the issues of marriage and family are open doors for the gospel–the Good News of Christ. Because people want their marriages and families to succeed.  

Benefits of Attending a Weekend to Remember


May 18, 2011 – 6:37 am Categories: Current Events, Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan | Post a comment