I often wonder how political “leaders” can look at a problem and see such divergent paths to remedy the situation. In my adult life, this period is the worst that I have encountered. I don’t care that pundits say that the “recession is over” because it doesn’t feel that way to me or my wallet. Author Arthur Laffer 
About two years ago I wrote a post about what “poor” really means in America and what amenities many of those below the poverty line have. I don’t want to delve back into that because you can read the original post at this link. I was somewhat perplexed by the fact that the poverty line in the United States seems rather static in that we always have a certain percentage of folks below the line and I believe that there is political incentives to always have the poor. The poor seem to be a handy voting block for whoever will promise them the most entitlements. I generally stopped there in my deep thoughts, but there is more.
News briefs are a collection of interesting news stories. This edition is all about America the land of the free. The “free” used to refer to our God-given freedoms outlined in our founding documents, but the term has mutated over decades of 
nanny-state policies to mean what the government “gives” us for free. There is perhaps no better continuing example of the progressive, left-winged, drive-by, main-stream media’s collusion with Democrats than its continuing dumbing down of Americans. Although the scarier part is that many accept, even crave the handouts.
I love Milton Freidman. Economics can be rather dry so when I came across a series of videos of Friedman on common economic subjects I first enjoyed them and decided to share them with you. In one of these videos, Mr. Friedman compares a myth to an air mattress, full of nothing, but comfortable, and jarring when deflated.
The first is one that I posted a couple of years ago during features Friedman in an interview with Phil Donohue:
This one is about the myth of The Free Lunch or how taxes on corporations are really taxes on people:
“And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury.”
Mark 12:41-43
I would have expected the communist Castro to swing left-handed.
So what is “MLC” you ask. It is Major League Communism and it has been in existence here in Pittsburgh for many years. Major League Baseball has implemented a mini-communist experiment that would make Karl Marx proud “to each according to his needs and from each according to his ability” or as MLB calls it, revenue sharing. This seems like a fair thing that the “richer” clubs pay more to support the “poor” clubs. Maybe we should call this “Sports Justice.”
A famous economic fable by Henry Hazlitt is the Broken Window Fallacy where folks believe that there is economic stimulus achieved by breaking the window of a baker shop forcing the owner to replace the glass. The Crusty Conundrum is my foray into economic fallacies…
Our story starts at the Ché Pizza Parlor, a new age pizza parlor in that they make socially responsible pizza and deliver them in hybrid compact cars. One day the owner was in a pinch when one of her delivery persons called off to go protest something. You see Ché Pizza provided its employees with “social justice” time much like traditional employers provided vacation or leave time. Left with no other options the owner donned her cap and started to make deliveries.
As I prepared dinner this evening, I was listening to the Michael Savage show. The news-talk radio station that I regularly listen to finally put him on earlier in the evening and I can listen more often. He is perhaps one of the most interesting hosts on the air. This evening I tuned in and heard a discussion about Obama being described as a Robin Hood type figure who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.
This characterization drives me nuts.
Starting a book like this is a daunting task. Thomas Sowell 
Politicians, civic “leaders”, newspersons, and citizens seem to be engaged in some class warfare lately. This probably has always been true with what may be the most famous example in France. Did Marie Antoinette 
really say, “Let them eat cake” when told that the peasants did not have bread? Did the peasants have their fill when they later said “off with her head?”
The funny thing is that being rich or poor is a relative thing. Rich in America probably pales in comparison to rich in Dubai while poor in America looks rich to the citizens of Zimbabwe although there are probably a lot of billionaires there. A billion dollars there, however, will not buy you a loaf of bread.
