A Return to the Armchair

Once again a long hiatus (okay, extremely long) and again I will state that I could not care less.  I write strictly for mental relaxation/stimulation and thought organization.  The fact that you get to read it (if you choose) is simply a by-product of this great development of man known as the internet.  So let's get it started.  First on the docket, a personal story about new opportunities and challenges. I'll segue from that into a little Constitutional commentary and wrap things up with a few tidbits of Austrian Economic Theory.  Shall we dance?  If not, just click here.

Okay, so you may be a little curious as to why I haven't written in like 5 months.  Turns out that when you move your family to a new state, a new house, new schools, and a new job you get a little busy!  At the beginning of June I accepted a transfer with my company to join their startup in the state of Indiana.  It was (and is) an incredible opportunity for me to both advance and also to apply more of the principles I talk so often about.  The fact is, in Illinois I had some pretty serious job security and a very comfortable living. I was in a union, had protection, a mostly guaranteed income, awesome health insurance, kick-ass retirement plans, and a pile of vacation.

So why mess with a good thing?  There are two main reasons.  The first is that I had advanced about as far as I was going to go in Illinois without moving to Chicago.  Quite honestly, I saw no value in that.  Chicago is a cool city, it's just not for me at this point in my life.  In my mind, the cost to value ratio of Chicago seemed rather off balance.  The second reason is that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to start up a whole new state and tackle the challenges that come with it.  These far outweighed the seemingly posh existence I have enjoyed for the last 6 years.  Call me crazy (and some people have) I couldn't have been happier to make the move!

Now my wife, being the rice to my beans that she always is, took all of this in stride.  Of course, she got to "retire" once we moved which helped cushion the blow a bit.  We also get to live in what CNBC recently called "One of the Top 10 Cities to Move to"!  Only time will tell if we will be able to maintain this one income arrangement.  It turns out that owning 2 houses, and schooling 2 children is costly!  Not to mention covering a much more significant portion of our own health care (and it figures to get harder thanks to the so-called "Affordable Health Choices Act").  But anyway, you make choices and accept the consequences.  So far, so good!

On the job front, I am once again (as I was in Peoria) blessed with a magnificent group of individuals with which to go to battle.  They are good-natured, witty, and sharp.  I told them last week at a meeting how much better I feel when I am around them.  It really helps with the pressures of the job to be able to laugh with your teammates.  Our organizational structure is still very much in flux and probably will be for about another 4-6 months.  Our industry is not one for the inflexible or weak-minded!  We have started to make our mark on the Indiana market by raising the service level and not allowing our competitors to dictate our behavior.  As I tell my team, "I don't care what they do, I only care what we do!"

And there is the segue I have been waiting for (how about you?)  I continue to read a lot about "hate" speech, mosque building, gay bashing, etc.  It seems like there is always a "they".  Newsflash...if they are not violating your rights, why do you care?   I personally could do without a lot of it.  However, it's all protected by The Constitution!  It's pretty simple really.  You cannot have true freedom if freedom only exists for those who think like you.

Take for example the folks from that "church" in Kansas protesting at military funerals.  Pisses a lot of us off right?  Guess what, it is still their right to hold their asinine signs and shout their idiotic dogma.  We don't need a law.  We need more folks like the Patriot Guard Riders who exercise their rights to form a protective ring around the grieving family.  See the difference?

Here's another one for you.  A lot has been shouted about marriage being between a man and a woman.  Guess what? Marriage exists between two people who believe that it exists between them!  The state has no business in it except to recognize the contract.  Marriage is a contract (a covenant for you religious types out there) between two individuals that should be recognized by society as a whole. The only laws we need defining it are contract laws similar to a limited partnership.  Too unromantic for you?  Tough.  Marriage is about commitment and partnership not about wine and roses.  It's fucking tough, and who is anyone to say that two men or two women can be less committed than a man and a woman?  I love my wife.  Yes, we have some wine and roses (more wine than roses) but what it is really important to us is the partnership we share in building our lives, raising our children, and enjoying each other's company.  So there you go.

Moving on...ever hear of the Mises Institute for Austrian Economics?  It's motto is "Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito"  Which translates to "do not give in to evil but proceed ever more boldly against it."  If you are a fan of liberty and of free markets, I invite you to check it out here  There is a ton of material there regarding one basic premise:  leave man unrestricted with his own mind and self-interests and all will benefit in the end.  In other words, leave Zuckerberg alone!  Leave Gates alone!  Leave Jobs alone! A monopoly can only exist if the government creates one!  Say, for instance in the health care market, the home mortgage market, or perhaps the retirement market. I'm just saying....

Good night Romans, citizens, and countrymen.  Feel free to comment.  I need the exercise!  I'm very out of shape.  And to the Desolation Angel, sorry for being light on data, charts, and such!  Really just felt like picking up the electronic quill for a few...

A Few Great Lines on Envrionmentalism and an Even Better Line on Govt.

The first two are reader comments from a blog post at the Objective Standard:

"Environmentalism-- real environmentalism, not the bitter nonsense crackpots blabber on about in cheap magazines and blogs-- promotes individuals' rights to not be punished by the negligence of others, just as you might ask your upstairs neighbor to repair his leaking pipes if your ceiling is dripping."

"Had the environmentalist mentality prevailed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we would have had no Industrial Revolution, a situation that consistent environmentalists would cheer--at least those few who might have managed to survive without the life-saving benefits of modern science and technology."

This one is from an article on limited government.  Unfortunately, I forgot to write down the source for due credit.  Whoever you are, it's a great line, and I only take credit for forwarding the cause.

"The purpose of government is to protect the rights of every individual, not bestow upon whomever proclaims to be "the people"the power to dictate to others how to live their lives."

Boobquake...and a Shameless Solicitation!

Thanks to Kip, I am now aware of the event known as "Boobquake 2010".  The brainchild of Purdue student Jen McCreight.  I could not resist exploring this gal's blog.  I found her viewpoints both refreshing and challenging.  Her political views contrast mine in several ways.  This makes her logical approach to issues even more valuable.   Best of luck Jen...make sure you are on the ground floor tomorrow!

You can check out the whole scoop here: The Boobquake Facebook Page!

And sort of on the subject...Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is coming up on Myay 8th. Perhaps Christine and I should get the "I Survived Boobquake 2010" T-shirts?  We got our race packets yesterday!  Watch for our bib numbers in the mass of about 25,000......Christine's is 2546 and mine is 2655. 

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is the global leader in the fight against breast cancer.  87% of their funds go directly to their cause.  Their admin. costs are a paltry 7% (the other 6% is the cost of fundraising).   I am proud as hell to have sent them my entry fee for what will be my first ever 5K run!  I am even prouder to be running right next to the love of my life. 

I also invite you to sponsor me!  How's that for a shameless transition.  Anyway, if you want, here's the link:
Matthew's Sponsorship Page

Gott run...literally.

The Slippery Slope Continues

A month ago, I had a post about a potential government takeover of retirement accounts. This topic is back in the news this week as the deadline for public comment looms (May 3rd) on a request for information floated by the DOL and the Treasury. Under what the government is calling a proposal for providing a "lifetime stream of income" individual rights would once again be trampled.

Imagine handing control over your retirement savings to the federal government. No longer would you be able to determine how much of your savings you could draw at any given time. For those of us who have invested capital in both currency and time, the idea of this is reprehensible.

Why would this idiotic idea seem to be gaining steam?  Anyone who follows current events knows that government is broke at every level.  Congress has just passed the largest entitlement program on the face of the planet.  An enormous amount of funds will be needed in a very short time.  What is the single largest pool of funds available?  The retirement savings of millions of hard working Americans.  Sound far-fetched? 

From the DOL request for information:
The Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury (the ``Agencies'') are currently reviewing the rules under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the plan qualification rules under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to determine whether, and, if so, how, the Agencies could or should enhance, by regulation or otherwise, the retirement security of participants in employer-sponsored retirement plans and in individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) by facilitating access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a lifetime stream of income after retirement.

You can view the entire RFI here.

Input is solicited asking that we consider a GAO report entitled "Alternative Approaches Could Address Retirement Risks Faced By Workers But Pose Trade-offs'.  In Appendix III of this report (on page 74 of the PDF file) several options are listed for consideration, including the dreaded Guaranteed Retirement Accounts plan which I spoke about in March.  I also recommend that you read the entire GAO report. 

Here is an excerpt:
The private pension systems of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom represent alternative approaches to address these key risks, but they also pose trade-offs to consider in applying them in the U.S. We selected these countries from a larger group after an initial review indicated that their private pension systems addressed many of the risks that U.S. workers face and had the potential to yield useful lessons for the U.S. experience. Their systems offer ideas for mitigating risks in accumulating and preserving benefits, such as mandating coverage, sharing investment risk among workers and employers, restricting leakage, and using annuities to drawdown benefits. However, these approaches pose trade-offs. For example, in the Dutch and Swiss systems, sharing investment risk requires assets to be pooled and thus limits individual choice. Additionally, while annuitizing benefits at retirement can mitigate longevity risk, doing so also limits retirees’ access to their assets.
You can find it here.
Please take the time to read the RFI and tell Congress to STOP HELPING US!

A Few "Real American" Perspectives

The following are comments that were posted in response to CNN's blatant propaganda piece on the recently passed health care legislation.  At the bottom is blog excerpt from my friend Kip (a.k.a. The Desolation Angel) who always provides a well thought out, fact-based opinion. So here we go:

I am relatively young and healthy, too old to be on my parent's plan, and earning too much to qualify for subsidies. The mandate would likely force me to pay a wildly disproportionate share of the costs relative to what I use because of community rating, gender rating, and bloated minimum coverage requirements. Actuarial tables go out the window to "spread risk", so I would end up subsidizing the obese, Octomoms, the lazy, those who get free insurance, the elderly (who I already subsidize with Medicare taxes), and those who choose unhealthy lifestyles. Do we force safe 40 year old drivers into paying auto premiums at the level of a 17 year old male driver with 3 tickets? NO!
Not gonna happen. I'm opting out instead of paying artificially inflated premiums. It would save me thousands! Also under this bill, preexisting conditions must be covered so if something ever happens, I'll just buy insurance when I need it.

If enough people like me get shafted, adverse selection might get out of control and penalties for opting out might be increased. If that happens, I might be forced in, but I will feel compelled to greatly over-utilize the healthcare system as I refuse to be a low cost profitable cash cow for insurance companies, paying in artificially high premiums on a monthly basis instead of paying my fair share
 
I am a 39 year old father of three, a husband of 16 years, have a job with health insurance and my wife has a job with health insurance. We don't consider ourselves lucky. We consider ourselves smart enough and humble enough to know we had to get real jobs, be respectful to others, work hard, pay our taxes, get educated, and follow the rules of society to ensure we have a good life. I look at all the people above and see one or more things these individuals didn't do to allow themselves to be somewhat successful at life to ensure they have control of their own lives within the standards of decent society. They have created their own mess. Two of my children have chronic health issues. We have insurance. We figured the system out. Why won't others figure it out? And, now I have to bail out the "unlucky" ones. Luck has nothing to do with it. Get real for once.
 
Do you believe that every individual has something to contribute or do you believe that those who assume they are more intelligent should dictate what you contribute? If you stand for individual choice, speak up. Learn about the people you vote for. Life IS the gift. Don’t stand by while others act like spoiled teenagers asking that their fellow man give them more. Will you stand before your creator and say that the gift of life you were given was not good enough and you want man to make your gift better? FREEDOM is yours to lose! In Ben Franklin’s words, “We have given you a republic ma’am, if you can keep it.”


The people who are celebrating the passage of the bill are either not aware of the detrimental impact of this legislation our everyone's lives going forward or are simply interested in ignoring what has made America a great country, and should read our constitution. We all agree that health care needs to be reformed, but once you begin peeling back the layers, you will see that is not what this bill is all about. It is about government control, under the guise of health care reform, which is consistent with Obama and the democratic congress' ideology. There are ways of reforming health care and still allowing us to maintain our freedom and not bankrupt our country. I would ask that those who are celebrating the passage of the bill be open minded and listen to the true facts that are revealed in the coming months and get those facts from various sources, not just CNN and major networks. If you hate Republicans, and despise Bush, fine. But please get beyond that and listen to the facts about what was passed in this bill and the truth about the cost, financial and otherwise. CNN is obviously carrying the democrats water, including the mistruths about costs and impacts on American's lives. Just explore the facts please and then make an informed decision. I pray daily that God will continue to bless America. We will definitely need it!!
 
And from the Desolation Angel himself:

. . .What I know of the bill is this. It is called a $700 billion dollar bailout of health insurance companies. It's not a bailout, but a disguised transfer of wealth to them, those companies who are among some of the largest campaign donors out there. What I know is that on Monday, every health insurance company's stock soared. What I know is that the Health Care Insurance companies walked out on Monday with their anti-trust exemption still in place, the only one besides Major League Baseball. What I know is that the bill passed and there is no portability across state lines, what I know is that malpractice tort reform was not touched.

. . . .What I know is that if you are a woman, you got screwed and betrayed, royally, with a secret Executive Order signed with no cameras, behind closed doors that bought Rep. Bart Stupak's vote. What I know is that as someone who is an incorporated small business, I got screwed, as I will now be forced to buy insurance for myself that I otherwise voluntarily elect not to get, since I can, or could negotiate prices for any health care I needed. What I know is a portion of my federal taxes will go towards, now another entitlement program that will last forever, and that will be as unfunded or underfunded as any other program like Social Security or Medicare.
. . . .And if you cannot see that what this is all leading to is a V.A.T., a National Sales Tax of 1/2 to 1 percent, that will act as a literal money pump for the Federal Gov't, and that this is what the Federal Deficit Reduction Committee will come out with as a recommendation, then you truly deserve Beck, Limbaugh, Olbermann or Maddow as your predatory mind thieves telling you what to think and lying to you about how things are.


But of course, these people don't count.  Only the 10.38% in this country who were uninsured matter, right?  The other 89.12% of us should just sit quietly and take it.  To do otherwise would be hateful.

Code Red - Health Care Bill

Contact your "representatives" and tell them to vote "NO" on this bill!  Click on the link above to see if your representative is on the target list!  We are currently winning the battle, but it is going to be close!

Tell Congress that the American people do not want this bill!  Apparently, they cannot read polls!

Daily Awesome

Wanted to share this but did not want to tangle with the FB "causes" application.