A Quick Look at Recent Headlines

News in recent weeks has left me unsettled. All of these recent developments deserve some treatment. But when the violations against (or proposal to violate) economic liberty, personal accountability, and the general good of the nation are as egregious and foolish as they have been lately, I'm left with little to say.

Making an argument against the state giving media/newspapers funding is about as exciting as explaining why telling the truth is an honest thing to do. There's really no argument to be made. But we'll break it down for you, with our exclusive Founders Porch take on the issues of late.

Healthcare: By my reckoning, it seems that Obama and his pawns are making the case that his plan (if it actually exists in writing) will reduce healthcare costs so much, so drastically in the long-run, making it a net-positive for the tax payer. This is pure speculation, an all-in bet that a government that fumbles the ball in taxes, bailouts, social welfare liabilities, wars, the postal service, (and pretty much everything else it makes a sad attempt to conquor) can finally get it right with healthcare.

Turning the charm-knob to 11, the Sugar-Daddy-in-Chief has gone on a primetime media blitz to drum up support for the healthcare overhaul. It seems that he has failed to gain traction of any note. It might help if he didn't repeat the same interview, with several different "journalists". In between spells of swooning and grovelling, these reporters managed to ask a few questions. However, it would appear they all got together an concluded that they should lob easy pitches throughout their interview.

That said, we are perpetually just and fair here on the Porch, so if you're going to watch Obama's primetime soap-box extravaganza, check out George Stephanopoulos' take. He actually included some substance in his interview, I'll give him the respect he deserves for that.

Personally, I'd rather bet on the Vikings to win a Superbowl than to assume that this time, just this once, the government can solve a problem properly. If history is indicative of future performance, I'll take my chances without the government's help. And they can stick their plan right up next to where their heads seem to be.

Acorn's Demise: Frankly, I wasn't suprised to hear that Acorn's minions had encouraged a couple (filming the catastrophoe, posing as a pimp and hooker) to import young girls from a foreign country for the purpose of human trafficking...and then use them as a tax write-off. And book the young mistress as an "entertainer" for tax purposes. Of course the best part of this video is that the ficticious pimp and his female associate didn't ask for suggestions on how to cheat. It was the default answer for Acorn's professional staff.

Oh yeah, and although it wasn't part of the formal Acorn counseling, their now infamous workers made sure to instruct the couple to "train the girls to keep their mouths shut". This tax scheme would make even world-class heavyweight title-holder in tax cheating Timmy Geitner blush. It should cost Obama some restless nights of sleep as well. The WSJ issued a report stating his ties go back 20 years with the organization. The radioactive fallout from the Acorn bomb will leave the Obama administration glowing a neon shade of green; they're knee deep in it.

In addition to the embarassment and hilarity, perhaps some substance will come from this series of events with Acorn. First, corruption and manipulation are no laughing matter, but they seem to be one of Acorn's main business opportunities. Now that they've been exposed, I hope there's more pressure than ever to review the rest of their practices. And second, Acorn has stated they are reconsidering voter-regristration efforts in upcoming elections. I am unsure as to what degree of voter-registration fraud they are responsible for in the past, but there is no doubt there will be less if Acorn abstains from their usual business.

CIA Witch Hunt: In a bold move, defying reasonable political action Atty. Gen. Eric Holder will continue to hunt down CIA operatives. Not for breaking the law or over-stepping their authority, but for being on the the current administration's naughty list. This is the stuff of "banana republic" totalitarian nightmares. Going after the previous administration with this legal vigor is a dangerous game. We should never tolerate the persecution of political enemies, liberal or conservative alike but with Obama's blessing, Holder will proceed. Where's Joe McCarthy when you need him? I say we should try some folks in Obama administration for being communist sympathizers. Sound outrageous? It is, but that's your attorney general at his finest.

Mass transit: "Every demon unleashed"

Ali G, Sacha Baron Cohen’s gangsta TV host persona, once posed an empirical counter-point to his anti-drug official guest: What about his mate Dangerous Dave, who took 22 Ecstasy pills in one night, and “found it difficult to get to sleep. But next day, he was really buzzin’, and the people on the Egham to Ruislip bus said he drove it better than he ever done before”?

Perhaps the DC metro employee that tested positive for drugs after being caught putting too many rail cars on a train found Ali G’s point convincing. Yet after a summer of embarrassments – including a June crash that killed nine, maintenance fatalities, subway suicides, and a growing budget deficit – the case for public rail-lines is becoming less convincing.

Ironies abound. As the economy collapsed, 9.3 billion stimulus dollars got earmarked for high speed transit. As its unemployment rate reaches 12.4% (second only to New York), Oregon blazes the “urban planning” trail. As the planet cools (since 1998), global warming remains a justification for mass transit. As people blame Detroit for failing to compete, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood promotes mass transit because, “it’s a way to get people out of their cars,” and the Energy Secretary Steven Chu says, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” And as DC’s metro system unravels, Maryland hopes the federal government will pay half of the $1.5 billion construction cost for an addition to the system that would, it admits, run a deficit.

Public transportation has its place. Just as it’s pleasing to find a road at the end of your driveway, it’s satisfying to have a bus or subway at the end of your busy downtown block, even if these humble guarantees require the imperfections of government intervention. The New York subway and the Chicago “El” train may run deficits, but the population densities of these cities make it hard for even the government to mess up the service.

Yet in cities with smaller population densities, like DC and Minneapolis, the costs begin to outweigh the benefits. Urban rail proponents justify the fact that fares only cover a quarter of operating costs by saying it relieves traffic congestion. According to the Minnesota department of economic development, however, only 4.8% of Minneaopolis-area commuters use light rail, and most of them would otherwise swallow their pride and ride the bus, where riders are 25% poorer. The Arizona Transportation Research Cetner found that operating costs for one person to travel one mile are 6 cents on roads and $2.75 on light rail. Furthermore, Transportation expert David Hartgen, a professor at UNC-Charlotte, says that an interstate mile costs $10 million to construct, compared to a $20-30 million transit rail mile that transports 1/5 as many people. For the $300-400 million cost of the proposed commuter line to Big Lake, MN, he adds, you could fix every bottleneck in the metro area. The fact that light rail benefits mainly its passengers, while roadway expansions and traffic light coordination improvements benefit everyone relying on goods shipped on roads, magnifies the opportunity cost of light rail.

Urban mass transit proponents use “smart growth,” too, as a justification for their costly venture. They say that such systems keep people concentrated, reducing suburban development – an environmental threat. But less than 6% of the U.S. is currently considered urban. Also, by limiting suburban development (a dollar spent on urban transit is one that could have been spent on roads to suburbia), housing prices in the city soar and, as we’ve seen, burst.

Most importantly, roads are more conducive to liberty than mass transit. Unlike light rail, two lanes can take you anywhere. The car represents the social mobility that makes America great. Who is the federal government to socially engineer Americans away from it? One fifth of every federal gas tax (18.4 cents per gallon) increase goes to mass transit. If it let states decide for themselves how to spend this money, perhaps states like Minnesota would opt for, say, bridge repairs instead.

As the DC Metro Transit Authority reflects on its disastrous summer, it should consider spending less money on rail expansions and a hybrid bus fleet, and get back to basics. Just last Friday, after a Metro employee was hit by a train while working on the tracks, the Metro Board Chairman said, “At a time when I feel like the heavens have opened and every demon has been unleashed upon us, we have this budget.” Meanwhile, a D.C. councilman noted, “Every year we're writing a blank check and the program is expanding and expanding.” Like Ali G and his Dangerous Dave story, some would have us believe that spending billions of more dollars on mass transit will help cities function better than they "ever done before." Me thinks they need to read up.

A Simple Thought...

"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

- Adrian Rogers, 1931