We need a bailout!

While all these people are paying $1200 for $750 Double Star ARs, it occurs to me that some may be putting these purchases on credit cards.

This means that in a few months when all this nonsense dies down, people will be stuck paying for a rifle that's worth less than they owe on it!

Obviously we need an Assault Rifle Bailout.

A benefit of Free America

Apparently, in Free America, citizens may barter, buy, or trade lawfully purchased property without the Federal Government's express approval on the transaction!

INCONCEIVABLE! Everyone knows you can't let the proles exchange goods freely just as everyone knows to never get involved in a land war in Asia! It's a wonder this backward state isn't in a state of anarchy with all this free trade going on! Won't someone think of the regulators?!

Not having to pay DROS and wait 10 days for a private party transfer really opens up the options to firearm owners. After a bit of time on Armslist, which is like a Craigslist for guns, I found there are plenty of folks who have grown tired of their personal flavor of shootie goodness and are looking for something your taste buds might be growing bored with.

I enjoy the notion of bartering because the value of the item does not have to be transfered into dollars, and both parties can essentially trade at cost.

Of course, it should be noted that in any bartering where a profit (as described by the Internal Revenue Service) is gained must be reported on your income ta--BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh wow, I really thought I was going to get through that whole thing without laughing. Of course no one would dare make a profit without reporting it to their local arm of the Federal Government! That'd be mala prohibita, and no one wants that.

To prove my point, here's a hypothetical: Lets say I found a nice gentleman interested in the AK parts kit I bought in '06 for $99. But the price for Romy G kits has increased as the supply has reduced in the past 6 years, so he was willing to trade something worth $300 for it, like, oh I don't know, a Benchmade Infidel. What is a good little citizen to do?

Well, I would take the trade and request his Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to put on the form 1099-B I file with the IRS and possibly send an inquiry to the International Reciprocal Trade Association to see if my trade incurs any other taxes or trade tariffs.

It's not like I could just hand him a few pieces of metal and receive some other pieces of metal! That would just be... uncivilized...

Six reasons why the capital gains tax should be abolished

These videos are great. They're short, they're easy to understand, and it's hard to argue with them.

From HotAir

How short sighted are you? Really?

I had a short conversation with a coworker who was talking about how all the goodies the gov is handing out are ok because they're only taxing the rich and the corporations.

After a short tangent to keep him from following the logical progression of thought (if that was even possible), I asked him if he thought it was fair for a landlord to raise rent on a tenant. He predictably answered that raising rent too much was unfair, and that the government should be able to stop them from doing that. I agreed that it was unfair, and in the case of businesses, higher rent meant more overhead, and less money for workers leading to lay-offs and decreases in benefits or pay. He agreed.

I asked him what he thought happened when the government raised the taxes and paperwork overhead for the same businesses.

You could almost hear the teeth popping off his gears as they ground to a halt.

His face was on the way to angry, but stopped in the middle, and his mouth opened to respond, but stopped half way too. I seized the opportunity,

"You know that great healthcare bill? The one about healthcare? It also changes the way companies issue 1099s, it makes it so they have to issue 1099s to any business they do more than $600 worth of business with a year. You know how many vendors we do more than $600 worth of business with a year? Our fucking paper towels and tissues probably qualify. Now accounting is going to have to figure out how much they paid every vendor for the year, figure out how to issue them 1099s, issue them, and track the tax implications of those. That takes time, money to comply with, and that's not even a direct tax."

"But they're using the money for better things than a landlord would."

"Who cares what they spend it on? A lay-off is a lay-off. It's bad for the economy and, humorously enough, bad for tax revenue."

He changed the topic (sigh) and railed on how this was Bush's fault. I know he understands the implications of these taxes, he just never connected the dots that increased overhead is increased overhead. Wherever it comes from. How short sighted can you be?

Quote of the United Socialist States of America

I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money.
~Barack Obama

Disgusting.

He goes on to talk about how people work for the economy, which shows a complete failure to understand the very basic tenants of our economy.

The reason America is an economic superpower is because her people do not have a cap on their earning potential. This allows them to tap into their most basic human function, self interest. But since one person can't succeed in a vacuum, other people benefit and succeed specifically because that one person was driven to the heights of success.

The power of America doesn't lie in that big chair you happen to be renting for four years, it lies in the spirit of free men and women. Free men and women who work for themselves, not for society, not for the economy, and certainly not for you.

But I guess that's the problem, isn't it?

Real world impact of ObamaCare menu mandate

Buried deep inside the ObamaCare bill was a bit of "health" legislation requiring restaurants with more than 20 locations to post caloric counts for each item on their menu. This information is to be made available on all signage, menus, and brochures.

Is it expensive to update all that information every time an ingredient changes?
How will businesses react to these additional costs?
How will restaurants with 19 locations, ready to expand and hire, react?
Will consumers react differently when they are confronted with the shocking reality that a large pepperoni and sausage pizza with ranch dressing on the side is not as healthy as a bag of carrots?
Most importantly, how will the added expense to these the providers of unskilled labor affect the employment of lower income workers?

If you have half a brain or even an elementary grasp of economics, you already know the answers to these questions. But if you're a liberal or a half-retarded marmot, click through and watch the video and find out why this seemingly innocuous addition to the bill will make things harder on businesses during "The worst financial crisis since The Great Depression" ~Obama

Obama, Legalization, The Economy, Change, Violence in Mexico, and Economics.

At a town-hall style meeting, Obama answered questions voted upon via internet.

But after 3.6 million votes were cast, one of the top questions turned out to be a query on whether legalizing marijuana might stimulate the economy by allowing the government to regulate and tax the drug.

Note, please, that the question was not; "Dude, like, dude, you should totally make bud legal, bro!" This was a legitimate question, made even more legitimate by California's consideration of doing the very same thing.

Obama's answer came as a surprise to me.

"I don't know what this says about the online audience," Obama said in the session in the East Room, drawing a laugh from his live audience, which included teachers, nurses and small-business people. "The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow the economy."

Of all the presidents in recent memory, I would expect Obama to be the one not to crack a joke at this question. Especially considering he was for legalization, before he was against it.

The debate tape from Jan. 21, 2004, at Northwestern University shows Obama proclaiming the war on drugs an "utter failure."

"We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws,". he said to scattered applause. "But I'm not somebody who believes in legalization of marijuana. What I do believe is that we need to rethink how we're operating in the drug war. Currently, we're not doing a good job."

This must be part of the change he was promising. I'm not sure what he means by saying we should "decriminalize our marijuana laws," even though he says he's "not somebody who believes in legalization of marijuana." I'll just say he Kerry'd that line, and move on.

So Obama says, "I don't think that is a good strategy to grow the economy." Lets play for a moment in the fantasy world that the income from taxation of legal Marijuana, would be nonexistent. Lets assume marijuana sales bring in no additional income. What income does legalization free up?

How many people are incarcerated for minor drug offenses, and sucking money from state and federal coffers every day? How many man hours, and overtime hours are spent pursuing these same offenders? How much money is spent on investigations to stop large shipments of marijuana? How much federal money is paid out to families of accidental victims of the drug war? How much money is spent in court costs trying those same cases? How much money does the coast guard spend seeking, and destroying smugglers' boats? How much money can be saved by cutting the overhead and processing of almost every police agency in the country?

How much money (and lives) is that President Obama? How much money will that free up, which can be spent on economic problems elsewhere?

California estimates it can charge $50 per ounce of marijuana, and almost guarantee sales, because those prices still beat the black market. Do you have any idea what percentage tax $50 is on an ounce of a plant that grows in the dirt? It's practically criminal. But people will pay it. You will instantly have income from a billion (trillion?) dollar market, already in full swing.

There's also the added effect of striking a heavy blow against the drug cartels south of the boarder. Want them to stop fighting over territory? Take their buyers away. Stop a large chunk of their income. Give them less to fight over. I keep hearing you talk about the violence in Mexico, well now you have the chance to do something about it.

Hillary Clinton was wrong when she visited Mexico, and said America had an "insatiable" appetite for illegal drugs.

America has an insatiable appetite for drugs that have been declared illegal.

Politicians declared these substances illegal.
Politicians created the black market for these items.
Politicians are responsible, not the nature of humans to seek what they want.

All the force in the world will not eliminate market pressure.

The DEA commands billions of dollars, top-of-the-line guns, and even tanks. TANKS. Let that sink in! They're still being beaten. Soundly.

What does the DEA have to show for itself in THIRTY SIX YEARS in operation? Except a bottomless pit in which we dump money, people incarcerated and living off tax dollars, the blood of innocents caught in the crossfire, and an availability of illegal drugs that has never so much as stopped to catch its breath?

As long as someone wants something, and someone's willing to sell it to them for a reasonable price, that transaction will always take place.

You can either profit from that transaction, or waste money trying to stop it.

How's the latter been working out for us so far? I seem to recall a certain Senator calling it an "utter failure."

So what has changed since then, Mr. President?

Politics or reality?

3 ways to lower gas prices from Newt

A few ways to lower gas prices, some immediate.



I rather like number one.

UPDATE: Blogi changes my mind on number one in the comments.
UPDATE the second: Josh fires back!