6.       Employee Unions

29.   Constitutional Amendmens: a) Referendum, b) Balanced Budget

Part B:
A.   Recommended Authors, Books, and Sources
B.   Older Books that Gave Warning

1. The Constitution: We have observed many examples of people (including some in government who should know better) treating the Constitution as a set of laws and rules that control citizens. Wrong! The purpose of the Constitution is to decree what the government must, may, and may not do, by making it a short list of  'enumerated powers'. Congress (the Legislature) makes the laws! That's one of the reasons the 18th amendment (alcohol prohibition) was wrong, it put restrictions on the people. The same applies to a proposed amendment for abortion. Such issues should be passed as laws at the state level, or not at all (if unconstitutional, or none of the government’s business, as is true of most things). It is the job of us citizens, and our elected 'leaders', to maintain those limits and keep the government (at ALL levels) on a short leash. The intent was, 'if it is not on the list, the government can't do it!' Many Founders, led by George Mason, balked even at this restraint. They didn't trust the government (and its power-seeking elected members) to stay within the limits, so they wouldn't support ratification until a 'Bill of Rights' (the first ten amendments) to protect the rights of the people and States was included. They were right! The Constitution has been abused to gain power for Federal politicians and their friends. Today, more than half of laws and spending are unconstitutional. Abuse of the 'implied powers', 'general welfare', and 'interstate commerce' provisions account for most deviations. A further misunderstanding is that we are a Democracy. Wrong. In a Democracy the citizens vote directly to make laws, and tyranny of the majority soon rules. We are a Constitutional Republic, where we vote for Representatives who in turn are restricted by the Constitution.

  1) 'The government's proper role is to protect the personal and property rights of its citizens, and legal residents (for treatment of illegal aliens,, see # 17 below), as individuals, by preventing or stopping threats to, or violations of, their rights by others', and

  2) Each person can legally do whatever they want to, short of violating, or threatening, the rights of others (people and organizations). 

It follows from Principle #1 that the government should NEVER violate the rights of its citizens (The Patriot Act, eminent domain, and the military draft, come to mind.There are thousands more violations in our laws).

Notice that both the 'government role' and 'personal activity' principles above are based on protecting rights, not particular actions such as 'not initiating force', or being 'peaceful and honest' as guides. The 'rights' approach is more clear and comprehensive. For example, a crook could 'peacefully' steal your car, or approach you and 'honestly' say 'I'm taking your wallet', even though both violate your rights.

a) Our Federal and State governments were created by, and are still controlled by, 'we the people' to protect our rights (a short list of 'natural rights' you are born with, which does not include subsidized or free health care, education, a job, etc.). Thus, the government is our servant, not our owner, manager, funder, boss, or nanny; No  Paternalism by force!

Property rights are; " The right to use and dispose of your property (use, sell, loan, lease, give, etc.) however you see fit, short of violating the equal rights of others." Property includes tangibles, your body, and intellectual property owned by a person or legal entity organization (corporation, etc.).  While 'organizations' have no personal rights, their owners and managers representing them do. 

Notice that 1. Words like ‘manage our money, social system, and economy’, ‘mother’, and ‘police the world’ are not included in Principle #1, and 2. We are not ‘created equal’ as to mind, body and circumstances, but all citizens have equal rights under the law.

c) There are no group rights (by sex, race, age, etc.). Every citizen has the same rights. We should not create 'preferred minorities' with special privileges, which are easily abused. There should be no subjective versions of laws, such as a 'Hate Crimes'. Theft is theft, murder is murder. It follows that Dave does not favor any group or issue (pro-labor, pro-business, pro-environment). He is  

e) Your body is your property. If you hurt yourself, or put yourself at risk, it is none of the government's business. Note that the Core principle above ends in 'by others'. It follows that if another party causes pollution and damages your health, it is a violation of your property rights.

j) The government cannot do things that are illegal or immoral if done by citizens. This includes our immoral 'progressive' tax system, where high earners not only pay more per person under a flat tax (same % to all), but are stung again by a higher percent. I call this gang-theft-by-vote!

k) A 'threat' must be active and uncontrolled in order to justify government or police involvement. Thus kitchen knives in a drawer, or a dog on a proper leash or inside a fence are not a threat. However, a drunk wielding a knife or driving a car (a drunk driver doesn't have to 'do something' to be a threat; just being impaired and driving means anything could happen), or a nasty dog running loose, are threats to others.

C. Taxes: Taxes divert money to the government so people can’t use it to spend or invest. History shows that the government uses it unwisely, so the economy and standard of living suffer. We must reduce taxes and spending of all types, and abolish most taxes. Once the spending and borrowing cuts are in place, Dave says cut taxes by 50% or more. We recommend ‘user fees’ (school tuition, toll roads, some ‘public services’ -such as libraries and pools-, etc.), plus excise, tariffs, and sales taxes to replace the personal income (retain corporate), property, interest, capital gains, and inheritance taxes, all of which should be abolished. The latter is the most egregious form of targeted gang-theft. The sales tax is non-intrusive to personal affairs, less 'progressive' (zero or less ‘penalty on success’; except that big spenders pay more), has no disincentive to work and earn, and is easy to manage. It would be set at a percent consistent with plans for reduced spending (note that the proposed 'Fair Tax' is set high to yield as much money as today's income tax). There would be no  'exceptions' (applies to food, clothing, rent, tuition, etc. for everyone), or  'deductions', no ' loop-holes', and the same rate for all. This 'Coordinated Attack' (it works for the military) of reduced spending and taxing is how we can balance the budget and save our economy from ruin!

Note that some countries have a 'value-added' (VAT) tax (Canada has a ‘Goods and Services’ tax, GST) but these can be applied and changed secretly to various phases of the production and sales process so are more subject to abuse than the sales tax which appears on the sales receipt.

Many well informed, well educated, and sincere people have concluded that the government at least 'facilitated' the 9-11 attack as a 'trigger' for their plans to invade Iraq and expand 'Empire-USA'. A likely explanation is that the Israeli and DC leaders learned of the Arab plot and decided to accommodate and exploit it. Remember, the property was owned by a Zionist (L. Silverstein), and he could have arranged access for Mossad to wire the buildings for controlled demolition, and this would account for 'no leakage' of this plan in the years afterward. The Israeli and DC leaders both wanted an excuse to invade Iraq and Iran. How else does one explain the series of events such as; 1) FBI inputs on pilot training by Arabs was ignored, 2) NORAD planes were not launched, 3) The towers and building 7 fell straight down at free-fall speed (this can only happen by controlled demolition !), 4) A demolition company (said to be owned by a relative of Bush) was at the tower site the next morning to haul away debris to a restricted site, then ship it overseas for scrap. (this prevented analysis of how the tower I-beams were cut in 30 to 50 foot sections before falling, and was a massive violation of the crime scene), and 5) the debris and damage at the Pentagon were more consistent with a missile than an airliner crash. The list of suspicious events goes on. A further dimension is that the WTC owner, L. Silverstein, faced a huge expense in ridding the buildings of asbestos, and had put a big insurance policy on the buildings (with a terrorist clause) a few months before 9-11. For more info, see www.scholarsfor911truth.org. The case is not closed!! The 'official' 9-11 report is full of errors, bias, poor research, and voids; and was meant to be so by Bush. Calling the citizen investigators 'kooks' working on 'conspiracy theories' will not stop discovery of the truth. Go to this link 'http://www.activistpost.com/2011/06/911-and-orwellian-redefinition-of.html#more' for an excellent June 20, 2011  update by P.C. Roberts on how the government uses 'conspiracy theory' as a pejorative to label as kooks those who do not believe the government 911 report (or any other government lie).

 Margolis also gave us early warning with his March 2, 2003 article ‘Bush's War is Not About Democracy’, which said, in part;

Likud and its powerful American supporters want the U.S. to crush Iraq into pieces. A principal beneficiary of the war against Iraq will be Israel. From Washington's viewpoint, the TAPI deal has the added benefit of scuttling another proposed pipeline project that would have delivered Iranian gas and oil to Pakistan and India.

Energy is more important than blood in our modern world. The U.S. is a great power with massive energy needs. Domination of oil is a pillar of America's world power. Let's be realistic. Afghanistan and Iraq are about oil, nothing else. " 

There is a cause-and-effect connection between oil, value of the US Dollar, and 9-11. The two huge problems, shown in A. and B. below, were known by the Bush Team when they entered office in Jan-01.They had a warfare plan to control oil and politics worldwide, but 9-11 gave them cover to get started sooner and bigger.

Failure to capture Osama bin Laden was no accident. having him at large helped keep Bush and Obama as 'War Presidents' so the above issues can be pursued as part of the forever War on Terror. The phony murder of Osama in May-2011 was a hoax to help Pres. Obama's sagging popularity,  which relates to his plans to run in 2012. The same applies to onerous checking and restrictions by the TSA on carry-on luggage for air travel, while the checked baggage is barely inspected. This keeps 'the people' on edge about terror, so they will not object to loss of liberties. The illegal and desperate measures (domestic spying, torture, etc.) taken by Bush showed his concern about avoiding new attacks on US soil, which are made even more likely by his ongoing intervention for the above issues in the Mid East.

In their effort to solve the above problems and gain power worldwide, Dave says the Bush Team operated as an Imperial Presidency, with excess use of force and secrecy, which conflicts with stated core Republican principles. They are using: 1) foreign aid, intervention, and war in a plan to control the world’s politics and oil, and 2) high spending, funded by debt, to pacify the folks at home. The first version of the warfare plan was secretly issued in Sep-00 by the ‘Project for a New American Century’ team (PNAC, a DC think tank) which started in 1997. The plan called for increased military force worldwide to promote control of oil and their special-interest politics. When Bush was elected in Nov-00, many of the authors (including Rumsfeld, Perle, Kagan, Feith, Abrams, and Wolfowitz: Cheney was a cofounder) joined the Bush team. For details, refer to the 25Feb03 essay, ‘The Project for the New American Century’, by William Pitt and Scott Ritter (former UN Inspector for Iraq weapons). As shown by the demise of all previous empires in history, this approach never works. It is a path to military, economic, and ethical failure.

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1) See www.pacificresearch.org. Their CEO, Sally Pipes, is from Canada and knows their problems well,

2) An essay from The Independent Institute: www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=740

3) A collection of articles from The Cato Institute: www.healthcare.cato.org

4) ‘A Four-Step Health-Care Solution’ written by Hans-Hermann Hoppe in 1993 (http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=279)

5) A list of essays on health at Downsize DC, a think tank for 'less government': http://www.downsizedc.org/bySubject/health

6) An analysis of state health programs

‘The Lesson of State Health-Care Reforms’ on Oct. 6, 2009 by Peter Suderman of www.Reason.com . Go to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574455560453947646.html

also; ,  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104576122172835584158.html

‘An ObamaCare Appeal From the States’, by Gov. Mitch Daniels (IN), 7 Feb 2011 

Twenty-one governors representing more than 115 million Americans have written to Kathleen Sebelius asking for more flexibility on health-care reform. 

7) An October 13, 2009 essay by Kevin Williamson  ( kwilliamson@nationalreview.com) ‘Real Health-Care Reform: Ten things that ought to be in the health-care bill (but probably won’t)’,http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWUzNjI2NGM4M2Y1Yzk4MWY5Y2Q4ZjEwMmJjZmQzOGI=&w=MA==

8) The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons ( http://www.aapsonline.org/ , US Senator Rand Paul MD is a member) is a group of liberty-oriented doctors and health care practitioners who haven't sold their members down the socialist river as have other medical associations, such as the ‘money-first’ AMA ( http://www.ama-assn.org/ ).

9) An October 26, 2009 essay by Attorney Jonathan Emord, ‘FREE MARKET HEALTHCARE ALTERNATIVE TO OBAMACARE’ ( http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan103.htm )

He says ‘The cost of medical services rise each year faster than the rate of inflation. There are many reasons for this, but one primary reason, seldom discussed, is the affect of Medicare on those costs.’
10) Another essay by Attorney Jonathan Emord (April 5, 2010), ‘A "RIGHT" TO HEALTH FREEDOM, NOT HEALTH CARE’, ( http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan126.htm ). He says; ‘A right to health freedom and a right to health care are not synonymous. In fact, they are contradictory.’ 

9. Employer Pensions

10. Social Security

11. States Rights (Federalism)

• Repeal the Protect America Act. The PAA legalizes warrantless wiretapping of U.S. residents, which the Bush Administration secretly began in 2001, and violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the Fourth Amendment. (H.R. 3773 and 3782 would repeal the PAA.)
• Restore the requirement for individualized warrants for wiretapping of U.S. communications and email. U.S. Intelligence agencies cannot oversee themselves. The judicial branch has a necessary role in preventing abuses of power. (H.R. 3782 would restore individualized warrants for any wiretap of U.S. calls or emails, whereas H.R. 3773 would permit the wiretapping of some international calls and emails of Americans without individual warrants.)
• No immunity for telecommunications companies that broke the law by permitting the government to conduct surveillance of their customers' phone and email records. To grant those companies retroactive immunity condones presidents and private industry collaborating to ransack the public trust. (Neither H.R. 3782 nor H.R. 3773 currently grants immunity, but administration allies may introduce amendments that do so.)
• Let the public see the text of Congress's bills BEFORE they are passed. Fourth Amendment rights to privacy are among our fundamental and inalienable rights. The specific text of any bill that may affect these rights must go before the American people for comment.  

13. Abortion

3) If pregnant, a) give birth, or b) have an abortion.

14. Separation of Church and State

15. Education

Today’s K-12 government schools offer essentially only one flavor of education. In some districts parents can choose a school, but this offers minimal variation. They all preach 'government approved' mush that promotes government as the source of 'good and nice' things, and hide the many lies, and unconstitutional, criminal acts of the government, at all levels. Kids learn the wrong lesson when school is 'free' (paid by others), because most funding is by property taxes, without regard to whether the taxpayer has kids in school. This teaches them that the government is the source of 'free' benefits. Administrators have a perverse incentive to promote poorly educated kids to keep them enrolled so the state and federal money keeps coming. Our students test lower than students in European schools under similar circumstances. A big part of the difference is the poor work ethic we engender in our kids due to lack of discipline, including almost no risk of expulsion for causing trouble. Union contracts restrict; a) termination of incompetent teachers, and b)  raises for good performance, since seniority and degrees are often the only basis.

Our college and university 'industry' is also in trouble due to government intervention. The administrations, faculty, and students have all become dependent on federal financial 'assistance' in the form of subsidies, grants, and student loans. This has flooded the industry with money, with the distortions you would expect in the form of; a) Higher fees for students (the admin's keep raising prices and never lose customers, because they just borrow more and graduate with big debts), b) Many professors spend half or more of their time writing grant applications, then doing the project, and teach few or no classes, and c) The administrators (Deans, Chancellors) spend more on buildngs and excess staff to enhance the school's (and their own) stature. All of these funds from DC are unconstitutional and do more harm than good by distorting prices, causing excess spending, and making the admin's and faculty beholden to DC. This applies most to the Economics departments which kow-tow to Federal spending and fake money programs (the Federal Reserve), to keep their money-line secure. The 'tenure' concept started centuries ago when kings funded the universities and often dictated what should be taught. It has long lost its purpose and results in unneeded staff that hampers management of the school's finances and evolution of courses (stuck with unneeded faculty). Professors don't deserve guaranteed jobs any more than anyone else!

Dave's solutions: Education of children is the responsibility of parents as to amount and type. The same benefits we enjoy from a free market in food, cars, etc. (as to variety of types, and cost) would apply if schools were all private (for-profit or non-). By paying tuition, parents would instantly ‘be involved’ to be sure they were getting their money’s worth. School administrators would instantly treat students and parents as customers who seek a good service, and can shop around for it! Good teachers would get raises the same way an engineer does (ask if you feel you deserve it, or quit and go to a competitor). Good teachers attract customers. Parents would monitor curriculum content and teacher quality and negotiate for changes, or leave. Poor quality schools would be exposed by independent testing services or college entrance exams. This would reduce incentive for administrators to engage in grade inflation, because they would get caught.

I recommend: 1) Allow creation of private (profit or non-) K-12 schools without government controls, 2) Phase-out property taxes as a source of revenue for government schools (this is immoral gang-theft-by-vote) since payments have no relationship to having kids in school, and replace with tuition. Note that some schools would be run in homes by volunteer teachers, and have used (tattered?) books, but would get a better edu than they get today, at about 10% of today's costs per student. They tried this in Harlem, NY and were shut-down by the government!, 3) Terminate all federal  money to schools at all levels (K to PhD) such as grants, subsidies, 'No Child Left Behind', abolish Dept. of Education, etc. All are unconstitutional and often violate states rights, 4) End all tenure programs (K to College), and 5) Write tax laws that encourage donors to create scholarships and endowments to provide affordable access to these private nonprofit schools for needy students. At the K-12 level, all of these changes will allow parents to choose the school that best fits their children’s needs (including religion) instead of pouring more tax dollars into the present failing system. 'Do-gooders' will complain that the above approach does not guarantee a certain level (to 9th or 12th grade?) for every child due to negligent or poor parents. They prefer equal mediocrity for all. However, history shows that incentive, parents, and liberty produce much better results than government schools, while private charity helps those in need. 

At the university level, these changes will result in more focus on teaching, rather than research grants for extra income for the faculty. Let industry do more of its own research! We're not saying 'end research', but just reduce it to about 25% or less of faculty time, not the over 50% that often occurs now (especially in engineering, science, and economics).

16. Environment

Dave's position: Local and occasional problems can be handled from a property rights perspective by suing the source for restitution (not just a fine paid to the government). For example, toxic smoke, underground or surface liquid toxics that enter your body, land or other property can be litigated as property damage. Nuisance items (no permanent damage) such as odors and noise that come upon your property are the same. Sometimes the polluter will claim; "We were here first, so have a 'grand-fathered' right". The answer usually is; 'Sorry, but you just got away with pollution for a while until someone complained.' A classic case is building homes next to an existing pig farm with its odors and flies (or a noisy 7 day X 24 hr. factory, etc.). Must the pig farmer cease or control his 'nuisance emissions', or must the new neighbors beware? For non-owned items such as wild animals, or natural 'wetlands', protective legislation can be passed, but it is important to not violate property and personal rights (such as farmers) in the process. Protection from, or elimination of, long-term pollution (electrical, chemical, and manufacturing plants, and vehicles, etc.) requires a legal program that is on-going, as discussed below. This all ties-in with Energy policy, as discussed in Item 23 below.

As to the false-hype about the causes and dangers of earth-warming, look at the report 'Enviro Effects of Increased Atmospheric CO2' at

http://www.oism.org/pproject/GWReview_OISM600.pdf, published in the 'Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons' in 2007. The report shows that the causes and dangers of global warming are based 100% on junk science. A key chart is in the Summary on P.1 of the report, where the current warming trend of earth is shown to be still recovering from the 'mini-ice age' of years 1500-1700. We are still below the 3,000 year average temperature. Yes, the earth is warming, but it is just part of a normal cycle that ice-core samples prove has been happening for eons due to natural causes (sun spots, etc.), and is in fact beneficial to plants and animals (including humans). Yes, there could be coastal flooding, but human production of CO2 is not the cause. The most vocal promoters of Global Warming as a man-made disaster are not interested in the details of physical science. They are interested in two things: political control over the general public and the establishment of international socialism. Notice the political orientation of the 'control' pushers.

Minimum wage laws are a big part of this problem. Most laws require pay in the $5 to 7 per hour range, and many jobs don't justify this pay (i.e., employer can't make a profit), so employers look for other solutions. Cheap immigration labor is one alternative. It is said that Americans won't take the below minimum wage jobs, so immigrants are needed in order to get unskilled work done. WRONG! Americans will do the work, but wage laws prevent them being offered at low rates. If the competitive market doesn't support the prices needed to cover the high minimum wage, the jobs disappear, or are secetly given to illegals. When displaced by cheap illegal immigrant workers, our unskilled citizens may just go on welfare, leading to cultural problems and higher government expenses. Illegal immigration is not the answer to achieving price reductions! The 'Anchor Baby' loophole ceated by the 14 th Amendment to our Constitution allows illegals to become a legal 'US Family'. 

5) Immigrants must agree to follow U.S. laws. If you want to live under Islamic 'Sharia', don't come! Religious activity, such as Islamic calls to prayer on loudspeakers which cover a neighborhood, must be treated as a violation of the neighbor's property rights. 

19. Gun Ownership

20.  Social Programs; Welfare and Culture

Restrictions and favors do more harm than good as to improving social, and economic success of minority groups. Special rights and subsidies reduce incentive for self-improvement, and create the opportunity to abuse such rights. Intrusion in people's lives is unconstitutional and none of the government's business.

For more, go to the essay ‘Freedom of Association and Rights’, May 22, 2010, by Dr. Tibor Machan at http://www.thedailybell.com/1066/Tibor-Machan-Freedom-of-Association-and-Rights.html .

23. Energy

Problem: Energy costs and consumption are going up worldwide, while oil reserves and production (barrels per day, B/D) are going down. The world’s daily production averaged 83 million B/D in 2004, and the USA consumed about 25% of it. Production of ‘cheap oil’ (cheap to pump and refine) is forecast to decline to 39 mill. B/D by 2030 while consumption increases to 118 ! This is the 'peak oil' concept, where wells in liquid oil pools start to produce less per day. The difference will have to be made up by coal, natural gas, tar-sands, shale-oil, nuclear, wind, solar, and bio-fuel, algae farms, etc., OR CONSERVATION !! Each fuel has its own economic, technical, and enviro issues. Oil has been cheap to get, and convenient to use, so has been the first choice so far. As the price of oil goes up, these alternate fuels will become more attractive, especially if renewable and/or sustainable.

Consumption by China and India is growing faster than any other country. They are shopping for long-term OIL DEALS, big time! This ties-in with why Bush invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and is threatening Iran (as of NOV-07); namely to control the Greater Mid East oil producers (including Uzbekistan, other ‘xxstans’, the Caspian area, and North Africa) before other countries make deals for it. Bush and Cheney wanted it ALL!

Solution: Dave recommends; 1. End the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and engage in peaceful oil-supply negotiations with all producers worldwide (we are a big customer, and they need us!), 2. Allow eco-friendly oil drilling in all parts of the USA. Note that the Audubon Society has done this well in their preserves, 3. Encourage development of alternate fuels and methods (such as electricity from new-generation engines, solar, hydro and nuclear), and 4. Allow gas and oil prices to rise to their free-market levels, without subsidies or control, but with appropriate anti-pollution laws based on property-rights (of your body, water, air, and land) for those people and places at present or future risk. The past errors, distortions and fears of nuclear energy need to be updated and corrected so the new and safe methods for generation of electricity can be employed.

These four changes will give incentive for conservation and production of alternate energy. The free market is very good at responding to demand. Government bureaucrats always spend more and accomplish less than people using their own money, and their projects usually do more harm than good. For example, consider the politically-driven scandal of subsidies for ethanol, which is toxic, expensive, causes land misuse by excess corn production, is bad for the environment, and increases food prices, etc. BOO !  Algea farms, using flooded ponds, have good potential because they; use minimal fertilizer; can use areas with bad soil; and can use saltwater. New 'external combustion' engines are more efficient, and can burn low grade fuels. For a comprehensive list of energy choices, see www.peswiki.com). This all ties-in with Environmental policy, as discussed in Item 16 above.

24. Traits of Capitalism and Corporations:

Liberals, Socialists, and Progressives like to attack 'Capitalism' and label it as a 'social system', and 'corporations' as bastions of greed and abuse. However, Capitalism is defined in my 1953 and 1961 dictionaries as an 'economic system' based on private ownership and free enterprise. Current editions have crept toward defining it as a 'social system' as Liberal editors take control; very convenient, but false. A Corporation is just a legal structure to allow shared ownership and financing. Liberals like to say that corps are a way to avoid personal responsibility. These definitions were invented by Liberals as straw men to avoid their own complicity in corrupt and unconstitutional government. It is bad 'people' (as usual; same for churches and governments), bad laws, corrupt government (including legal 'favors', subsidies, etc.), and perverse incentives that cause the trouble. Liberals avoid criticizing government because they want it to keep giving the legal favors and welfare, but only to their projects. What a stash of ignorance and hypocrisy! For example, the June 26, 02 main editorial in the Wall Street Journal, by Dr. Henry Manne (George Mason Univ., Univ. of Chicago, etc.), made a great point that the Williams Act of 1968 (now rules 13d and 14d of the 1934 Securities Act) was the birth of the Boardroom and Officer fraud and self-dealing we have been seeing since the '80s (it took a few years to set in). The new law required takeover groups to announce their intent once they had 5 % of the target stock, which gave warning so officers could protect themselves. This allowed officers of many firms to get lazy and corrupt without risk of getting booted out. Remember, corporations become takeover targets only because their profits, and return on assets, are low, usually due to bad management. In takeovers, the shareholders win, but bad managers lose! Thus, at-risk bad managers whine to the government for protection (can you say 'campaign donation'?). Many states have passed laws to ‘protect’ their local firms from ‘outsiders’, and the ’poison pill’ was born to fend-off the takeover groups! It wasn't long (and quite predictable) that biased 'Buddy' Directors were selected by Officers (a ‘slate’; a reverse of the proper order). The self-dealing started, and the combined 'Chairman and CEO' position was born (an inherent conflict) ! These hot-shot CEOs plundered their firms with huge salaries and stock options, while trying to set a glorious, resume-enhancing, growth record with short-term profit enhancements (reduce staff, announce grand plans, etc.), and excess debt, spending and risk They often got themselves and their firms in business or legal trouble, but left with ‘golden handshakes’ or hung around a while with ‘retention bonuses’ (read, ‘scoop up the last few bucks’).  Exodus, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, and Georgia-Pacific are examples. There are hundreds! Why should a low-performing, or corrupt, CEO get a multi-million dollar bonus when fired?? It is white-collar theft!

Solution: ARTS says the solution is to repeal the Williams Act, and other distortions of the free market, not pass a slew of new regulations. Let the free market do its work; Then Shareholders will wake-up and vote for honest, competent Directors that select and monitor the officers.

25. Origins of 2008 Crash and Effect of Bailouts

The rush of home loan defaults and bank problems started in late 2007, and peaked in Sep-08, and is continuing at this writing in Aug-08. The underlying cause was Fake Money, as described in Chapter 3. This excess supply of money, delivered to lenders by the Fed and its pals at FreddieMac and FannieMae, was the ‘mother’s milk’ of market distortion. 

It all comes back to how distortions of the free-market by the intended beneficiaries, as is the case with these subprime mortgages. The main ongoing effect of the crash is government intervention in the ‘repair’ process of failing firms. Instead of letting the free market and laws take care of troubled companies, the Obama regime wants to own and control the process.

26. Occupational and Business Licenses:

Problem: Licenses are touted as a way to protect citizens from faulty or fraudulent services, but in fact limit choices to the citizens. This applies to lawyers, doctors, plumbers, beauticians, restaurants, contractors, etc. where the licensing is often abused by; 1. The government, and incumbent licensees, to restrict new entrants to protect themselves and friends from competition (unions, donors, etc.), and 2. By associations (unions, medical, legal, etc.) to impose rules such as minimum fees to clients, controlled or no advertising of rates, etc.  Another category is when the citizen is subject to, or can be threatened by, the service provider without initiating choice. An example is a truck driver or airline pilot, where one can be run into, or be in a crash, if an unqualified person is providing the service. These should be licensed to PROTECT the citizen, a proper function of government.

Solution: Dave recommends that licenses be optional when the citizen can initiate choice of the service provider. This would; 1. Allow individuals and firms to offer services, and set and advertise prices, without permission from the government or a 'professional society' or union (let the buyer beware, and decide), 2. Allow groups to form 'professional societies' or unions that set their own standards of quality, disclosure of member skills and performance records, and membership requirements, and advertise them, without government control, and 3. Bring the benefits of competition (better quality, lower prices) to the trade groups (yes, doctors and lawyers are a trade group). Buyers who prefer a government-licensed provider, could use one; but all buyers (patients, clients, etc.) would have a CHOICE of licensed or unlicensed. Of course, it follows that the chooser would be responsible for the results and not seek free repairs or restitution.

27. Limits on Terms and benefits for Congress

Problem: One cause of corruption in DC is that officials will do almost anything to keep their prestigious and profitable jobs (pork to voters; favors to campaign donors, etc.). Furthermore, they vote themselves pension, health and other benefits that far exceed what they bestow on their constituents. Can you say 'Privileged Upper Class'?

Solution: Dave recommends that: 1. No U.S. Representative may serve more than four terms (8 years), two terms (12 years) for a Senator, or a combined fourteen years if they have worked in both jobs (all a combined life total), and 2. All elected officials get the same pension (Social Security) and health (Medicare) benefits as the 'common' people, and with the same rules for calculating fees, and reimbursement of claims.

28. Eliminate 'Earmark' Pork Funding:

 Most Congresspersons like to 'bring home the pork' to fund state projects and win votes. These 'earmarks' are hidden, unconstitutional, add-ons to other funding bills such as transportation, and 'Omnibus Appropriations Bills' (5 or 10 funding bills combined), and are not discussed in the normal approval process, yet add-up to billions of dollars per year. Even worse, the omnibus bills are usually many hundreds of pages and few Congresspersons read any part of them! Since the government is already 'in the red', this spending is a serious add-on to our national debt problem! ARTS will promote a bill to make earmarks and Omnibus Appropriation Bills (and sneaky 'Minibus' bills) illegal for all Congresspersons. This will eliminate cries by some voters of; 'We're not getting our share of pork'. Of course we will also fight for reductions and elimination of improper grants and subsidies. Unfortunately, in May-09, Pres. Obama blessed earmarks by saying; ‘The local Congressperson knows best what his/her District needs.’ Another campaign pledge trashed!