Hardcore Capitalist's Perspective - 12/1/2010

• Foreign Banks Got Most Fed Aid
  The Federal Reserve, originally only intended to be a lender of last resort for American banks, has taken "moral hazard" to a whole new level. Turns out the biggest beneficiary of the Fed's trillions of dollars worth of printing were foreign banks. Now foreigners know they too can take all sorts of wild gambles and fall back on the American taxpayer if their investments don't pan out. Thanks Bernanke.
• Biden Botches Senate Swearing-In
  As though it would make a difference. Why don't we just forget the whole swearing in thing altogether? Senators usually break their oaths with the first vote they cast, so it's not like oaths mean anything anymore. If they did, then we would be trying legislators for perjury the moment they cast their first unconstitutional vote.
• Courts May Gut Obamacare
  A federal judge in Virginia may soon declare that Obamacare's central element--the purchasing mandate--is unconstitutional and void. Yes, I'm aware that the federal government has, at times, forced Americans to purchase things as far back as the George Washington administration, but as Raoul Berger put it, "Usurpation, the exercise of power not granted, is not legitimized by repetition." Let's hope our courts still have some integrity left in them, and overturn the mandate.
• FCC Wants Internet Control
  Over the past twenty or so years, the Internet--with extraordinarily little government involvement or oversight--went from a handful of bland webpages that took minutes to load, to the ultimate information resource where virtually any piece of data you want can be accessed within a few seconds or less. And Internet service continues to get faster and faster. The government, of course, thinks it can improve on this (or rather, it feels compelled to try to control and suffocate an incredible and vibrant free market phenomenon, because of the State's libido dominandi).
• Treasury Bills Fall to Record Low
  Comments Peter Rudolph Zidek: "For the first time ever, the rate on 30-year mortgages slipped below that of 30-year Treasury bonds. In effect, the market was saying that an individual looking to borrow against his home is a better credit risk than the US government."
• Deficit Commission Wants More Taxes, Less Spending
  Comments David Shellenberger: "The plan naturally is focused on maintaining big government, rather than freeing the American people from it. The commission, merely tinkering, ignores the reality that most federal government programs are inherently not only a waste of taxpayer money, but also destructive of our freedom and economic well being. The commission’s bias is reflected in its caution that "budget cuts should start gradually so they don’t interfere with the ongoing economic recovery." To the contrary, huge budget cuts should be made immediately, to help restore both the economy and our liberty."

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Published at RightOSphere.com.