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Tuesday, June 9
Obama Tells American Businesses to Drop Dead: Kevin Hassett
by
Roland, the Gunslinger
on Tue 09 Jun 2009 08:58 AM EDT
At issue is Obama’s policy to end the deferral of multinational taxation.
The U.S. now has about the highest combined corporate tax rate, second only to Japan among industrialized countries. That rate is so high that U.S. firms have an enormous disadvantage versus competitors. The average corporate tax rate for the major developed countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2008 was about 27 percent, more than 10 percentage points lower than the U.S. rate.
U.S. firms have nonetheless prospered because our tax code allows a business to set up a subsidiary in a low-tax country. When that subsidiary earns profits, they are taxed at the rate of that country, and don’t face U.S. tax until the money is mailed home.
The economically illiterate partisan Democratic view is that this practice is unpatriotic and bleeds jobs from the U.S. The economic reality is that American companies use this approach to acquire market share overseas. The alternative is losing the business to foreign competitors.
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Judges and 'Bias': The Supremes trample on state courts
by
Roland, the Gunslinger
on Tue 09 Jun 2009 06:03 AM EDT
The march away from a credible, accountable judiciary took another leap yesterday, as a 5-4 Supreme Court majority gave federal judges unprecedented oversight of state court recusal standards. This is more damaging than it sounds.
West Virginia's Massey coal company CEO Don Blankenship spent some $3 million in 2004 on the judicial election of Brent Benjamin to the state Supreme Court of Appeals, including donations to outside groups. When a case involving Massey later came before Judge Benjamin's court and he ruled in favor of Massey, the loser sued and claimed a denial of due process because the judge didn't recuse himself. According to the Supreme Court's majority in Caperton v. Massey, a judge who receives support that has a "significant and disproportionate influence" on his election can't then be trusted to be neutral on the bench.
Heretofore, judges needed to recuse themselves on due process grounds only if they had a direct financial interest in a case, and in criminal contempt cases in which the judge provoked the original courtroom outburst. Under Justice Anthony Kennedy's Caperton standard, judges must now recuse if there is a "probability of bias." But this would seem to be open to, well, judicial interpretation. If $3 million in donations meets the probable bias test, what about $1 million, or $10,000? For that matter, should we assume judges feel a "debt of hostility" toward those who contribute to opponents?
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Canada's ObamaCare Precedent: Governments always ration care by making you wait. That can be deadly
by
Roland, the Gunslinger
on Tue 09 Jun 2009 05:56 AM EDT
Congressional Democrats will soon put forward their legislative proposals for reforming health care. Should they succeed, tens of millions of Americans will potentially be joining a new public insurance program and the federal government will increasingly be involved in treatment decisions.
Not long ago, I would have applauded this type of government expansion. Born and raised in Canada, I once believed that government health care is compassionate and equitable. It is neither.
My views changed in medical school. Yes, everyone in Canada is covered by a "single payer" -- the government. But Canadians wait for practically any procedure or diagnostic test or specialist consultation in the public system.
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Republican Coup in Albany
by
Roland, the Gunslinger
on Tue 09 Jun 2009 05:44 AM EDT
2 Democrats vote to support new GOP leadership
The battle comes only months after Democrats gained control of the Senate for the first time in more than 30 years.
However, their hold on power has been shaky since the party took a 32-30 majority after last November's elections. Leadership selections were delayed for weeks as the party cut deals with members to convince them to support Smith.
The flip puts in turmoil a number of legislative issues, including whether the Senate would vote to approve same-sex marriages in New York, whether farm worker rights would be strengthened and whether New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will retain control of schools in the city.
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Gravity's Shadow
by
Roland, the Gunslinger
on Tue 09 Jun 2009 02:12 AM EDT
In recent years, astronomy went over to the dark side and has yet to return. Baffling entities called dark matter and dark energy are the two biggest mysteries facing 21st-century astronomers. Their arrival is enough to turn Darth Vader dark green with envy.
It has been a jolt to learn that the universe we've become so familiar with -- all those planets, stars, swirling galaxies and glowing gases -- is just 4 percent of the overall content. Six times more consists of another type of matter altogether, possibly a subatomic particle yet to be discovered. The remaining three-quarters? A bizarre energy -- an anti-gravitational pressure -- that permeates space-time and has the potential to rip our cosmos apart in the distant future. We are mere flotsam within this covert cosmic realm
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