So Much for ‘We the People’ – Thomas Sowell, National Review
New laws passed in Obamacare will force some buyers and sellers of gold coins and bullion to disclose their purchases to the IRS. With that information the IRS could easily develop a list of Americans who have purchased or sold gold coins. Is that information Americans want their government to have? Is that even information the government should be allowed to have? What happened to rights to privacy? This administration has promised to be the most transparent in history, but the only thing getting more transparent is your life. More and more of your information is being catalogued by government bureaucrats every day. Between provisions in the Patriot Act and an increasingly probing tax code, you are an open book. – Deborah Young
Bye-Bye to the Fed-Funds Rate – Benn Steil and Paul Swartz, The Wall Street Journal
Inflation is a ticking time bomb. There is no way that banks can sit with piles of near-zero yielding treasury securities forever. To do so would kill the banks’ return on equity and earnings, and in the process dividend growth. The big banks are publicly owned companies. Who would want to own such a poorly performing entity? For investors it is much better to own a relatively high yielding public utility where the return on capital is known and barriers to entry are high. Any sap with a group of friends and some money can charter a bank. I was an investor in a bank startup not that long ago and was surprised at just easy the process appeared to be. The bank was started with the intention of sale. During the period I owned the bank, I was a little horrified at how the bank was run. Nonetheless, the bank was indeed sold, and I doubled my money. It’s a great country. – Dick Young
How to Win the Clash of Civilizations – Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Wall Street Journal
As I wrote to you yesterday, nuclear Pakistan’s biggest threat is no longer nuclear India. No, for the first time since 1948 it’s from domestic terrorists, who are now using a natural disaster and charitable aid to recruit a new generation of terrorists. How hard is it for us to help? If you were to ask American Greg Mortenson he’d likely tell you it’s pretty tough, but that didn’t prevent him from starting with nothing and building sixty schools in Pakistan. And he’s just one guy. In the article above you’ll learn that the Saudis have invested over $2 billion a year over a 30-year period to spread their brand of fundamentalist Islam. Imagine if we had more Greg Mortensons. We wouldn’t need to fight a war to teach people about a better way of life. – E.J. Smith
Unfunded Public Pensions—the Next Quagmire – R. Eden Martin, The Wall Street Journal
Democrats are already trying to bail out private sector unions, now the next fish on the hook is the public sector union pension funds. Many of them have made bad decisions with their members’ money and rather than tough it out, want you to make them whole. Just one more theft of taxpayer money for people who don’t deserve it. – The Editors
Last U.S. Combat Brigade Leaves Iraq – AP, The Wall Street Journal
It is great to see the last combat brigades leave Iraq. Now the 50,000 strong nation-building force should be pulled back too. I fear that these troops will be in Iraq for decades. This will be a new base, like South Korea, Japan, and Germany, where thousands of Americans are stationed, defending the world. Bring the troops home to defend America. – Dick Young
