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Liz Michael for United States Senate

Selected Essays in Political Economy
by Frederic Bastiat
He was the most uncompromisingly consistent advocate of laissez-faire in the 19th Century -- and the most quotable! Here, in a single volume, are this great political economist's most brilliant writings. They include his immortal classic, 'The Law,' as well as such unforgettable essays as 'The State,' 'What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen,' 'Property and Plunder,' 'Declaration of War Against the Professors of Political Economy' and many others.

The Hillary Trap : Looking for Power in All the Wrong Places
by Laura Ingraham

In The Hillary Trap, journalist and commentator Laura Ingraham turns her razor-sharp critical eye to this accepted wisdom about Hillary--and finds gaping holes. While, to many, Hillary represents the archetypal strong woman at the forefront of her career, scratch the surface of that success and you'll find a victim--a woman who symbolizes not personal triumph, but compromise, concession, and her own Faustian bargain for power. If anything, Hillary's mix of opportunism, acquiescence, and dependency sets women back, rather than leading them forward. This, in a nutshell, is the "Hillary Trap": the subtle and self-deceptive ways in which women sacrifice their own power and talents for superficial gains. More than anything else, it is what Hillary Rodham Clinton represents. With her characteristic wit, Laura Ingraham turns conventional wisdom and traditional feminist thinking on their heads.

The Budget and Federal Taxes

Siz years ago when I was running for Congress, the Federal debt, the total of all unpaid government liabilities from all previous years, was approximately 4 trillion dollars. Now it is approximately $5 trillion. Allegedly, the federal deficit, years in which government expenditures exceed government receipts, has been eliminated by our recent economic boom. However, the debt has not.

Consider that $5 trillion debt figure again. If it seems like it is too much debt, it should. The United States does not even have $5 trillion of money in circulation. Our national debt still far exceeds our liquid assets, even with the current boom.

The Consequences

If we do not stop this debt, we will face dire consequences as a nation. Obviously, no enterprise can continue to operate that way. At some point in time, a recession must happen. It always does. Either that debt will be defaulted upon or most government services would grind to a halt. While I am a libertarian, and would desire most federal government services do stop, I would prefer to do it in an orderly fashion, instead of the chaotic manner an outright collapse would cause.

The government defaulting on its debt would mean many things. Credit would be tight, and little new money would then be available for private investment into new technology, new plant and equipment, and new service businesses. Business will stagnate and the job market likely collapse. An inflationary pressure will also develop: the Federal Reserve will check it as best it can, because such pressures would be bad for business. Nevertheless, some inflation will necessarily occur.

This may seem implausible given the current good economic times, but such a good economy merely postpones, not solves, the problem. The government of the United States must cut spending immediately. The best way? Cease most of the functions of the federal government, delegate most duties to the states, and pay the debt via the sale of federal assets.

Government: Biggest Industry Today

Government is the larest growing industry today, and it doesn't produce a damn thing. What happened in the 80's will happen again: IF THE BUDGET IS NOT CUT DRASTICALLY. A mythical "reducing of the rate of increase" is a fallacy...it is a lie.

Will Republicans reduce the size of the federal government?

Don't bet on it. Between 1996 and 2000 the GOP Congress has spent $187 billion more than the Republicans promised when they assumed control in 1995. In its 'Contract with America,' the GOP pledged to kill three cabinet departments and 95 programs with budgets in excess of $10 million. According to Cato Institute analysts Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski, outlays on these programs have actually risen 13 percent since 1995.

Raising Taxes Won't Work

There is not enough revenue that can be raised through taxation to solve the deficit. The debt is also too far out of control to be solved by freezing spending, growing the economy and tax revenues with them. Our unpaid debt is about to destroy both the private economy and the government itself.

Income Taxes Are Theft

Additionally, most taxes, and income taxes in particular, essentially are theft unless collected in a primarily voluntary manner. The largest terrorist organization in the country is the Internal Revenue Service. As a free nation and a free people, we cannot allow this agent of slavery to continue.

Accordingly, if I were the President, I would issue an executive order, immediately upon my inauguration, that the IRS is to be disbanded, its employees furloughed, its records completely destroyed, and that the income tax is revoked, a moratorium on its collection is in place. Additionally, all owed income taxes will be forgiven, all income tax crimes pardoned, and all in prison on tax related crimes released immediately.

Social Security:  An Idea Whose Time Has Come ... And Gone

Social Security is racing toward insolvency.  George W. Bush is inclined to allow workers to invest some of their tax payments.  Al Gore is determined to respond with his usual demagoguery. Neither are offering the real and just solution to the Social Security dilemma.

Americans who are counting on Social Security for their retirement are in for a rude awakening.  Unless policy-makers act, the system will be bankrupt and the young and old will be locked in an acrimonious generational war.  Only a drastic step, done very soon, can rescue the system.

And that is to privatize the system immediately. How? Simple. Take every deposit that has been made into Social Security accounts by workers, and turn them over to the workers to invest as they see fit. For those at, near or past retirement age, allow them to choose to collect their benefits as they would have under the old system, from the general fund. Selling off federal assets, as well as the still remaining non-income taxes would pay for the benefits.

What Can We Cut, What Can We Change

In addition, I propose the following reforms:

MANDATORY SUNSET PROVISIONS - such provisions in every spending bill would require reauthorization at regular intervals. Much of the budget morass exists because of legislation enacted years ago. Under sunset provisions, such measures would be allowed to "die with dignity".

ELIMINATION OF THE CURRENT SERVICES BASELINE - the fraudulent accounting system used by politicians to shelter budget increases and hide true expenditures.

ELIMINATION OF FOREIGN AID SPENDING in the form of cash

CUTTING CONGRESSIONAL PERKS, STAFF SIZE, AND PENSIONS

THE SALE OF MOST FEDERAL ASSETS

TAX CAPS - to protect seniors, the poor, and small entrepreneurs. No individual or business should ever be driven out of their homes or business because of taxes alone: therefore, I will propose a national and state "tax cap", an exemption from taxes of any kind for any person or enterprise whose total tax burden exceeds 10% of their pretax net income: any taxes collected in excess of 10% must be refunded.

FIRST $10,000 TAX FREE - I propose a federal law forbidding the taxation by any entity of the first $10,000 of that individual's annual income. This is a critical measure needed to insure that the poor are not regressively taxed as they often are now.

PHASING OUT OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK SYSTEM

The Federal Reserve System is a system of twelve private banks, essentially given the power to print the nation's money. Statutorily, this should not be. The Treasury Department should be properly vested with this task. Moroever, much of the debt we as a nation currently owe is debt to the Federal Reserve.

Eliminating the Federal Reserve System is not completely necessary. A standing Executive Order exists, authored under President John F. Kennedy, to authorize the issue of United States Notes backed by the gold and silver reserves of the United States government. Bringing such legal tender into circulation, and ceasing to ask the Fed to issue money, would actually force the Fed to keep the value of money stable. This may not seem like a problem now. But it is often a problem around the world, and has been a problem for the United States in the past.

All Presidents since John F. Kennedy have refused to order the Treasury Department to print its own money. I urge President Bush to invoke the order of President Kennedy, directing the Treasury Department to do begin doing this upon his inauguration, and to begin distribution of the United States Notes immediately. Additionally, I urge that he appoint Congressman Ron Paul as Secretary of the Treasury. If I were the President, I would issue this order within the first hour of my inauguration.

WE ARE OVERTAXED

I oppose new taxes, and I will never, EVER, as an officeholder, to increase taxes or fees without reducing them elsewhere in a greater amount. I oppose any new gas taxes. I oppose all new proposed taxes on the internet. I encourage a reduction in utility taxes, sales taxes, and surcharges. I encourage the elimination of linkage fees. And I only support discouragement taxes, such as those on alcohol and tobacco, if they are revenue effective.

See: Welfare & the Minimum Wage
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