Tag: Free Trade

MLLG

State of the Union 2024

George Noga

State of the Union 2024

This is my state of the union address

GEORGE NOGA
March 3, 2024

My fellow Americans:

The state of our union is precarious. Unless we take immediate and drastic actions, that heretofore would have been considered unthinkable, to slash spending and cut the deficit, we face an imminent crisis equal to, or likely worse than, the Great Depression. We also face a constellation of geopolitical threats from China, Russia and Iran. Moreover, we must meet these threats when America’s internal divisions seem irreconcilable. But we are out of time and our survival requires bold action.

white concrete dome museum

Our most serious and certain crisis is our spending and debt which has reached a tipping point. We must immediately reduce our annual deficit by $1 trillion. To accomplish this I am appointing a select committee comprised of political leaders from both parties and other prominent Americans. They will have 100 days to propose immediate spending cuts of $750 billion – equal to 18% of all spending except for defense and interest on the debt. The committee also must propose new taxes of $250 billion. Congress then will be required to have a straight (up or down) vote without any amendments on the committee’s plan.

Nothing, other than defense and interest on the debt, is off the table including Social Security and Medicare. Also, I am freezing new hiring of government employees combined with an immediate 15% reduction in headcount – excluding the military.

Concerning geopolitical threats, we will follow John Quincy Adams’ admonition that “America is a friend of liberty everywhere, but custodian only of our own.” We will also observe George Washington’s advice that “The best way to keep the peace is to be prepared for war.” We will support our allies in Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel, but they must carry the burden of fighting. If Americans are attacked or taken hostage, we will respond with immediate and overwhelming (not proportional) force. We will maintain our military at such a high level as to deter any possible adversary.

Since the dawn of human history, governments have been instituted among men primarily for protection from violence – both domestic and foreign. America has failed miserably in protecting its citizens from domestic crime. I will take every legal action to stop crime, especially crime involving violence or the threat of violence. Anyone committing violence will be removed from society for at least a period of years. Anyone guilty of a second crime of violence will be removed for a lengthy term.

I will enforce all our laws as required by the Constitution. This means our borders are closed and all illegal immigration will end. I will construct a wall on our southern border and deport those here illegally.

In addition, I will take the following actions.

  • The Federal Reserve will have but one mission, to maintain sound money.
  • I will eliminate all tariffs and trade barriers, unilaterally if necessary.
  • We will become net energy exporters, end the war on fossil fuels and withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords – while continuing research on alternative fuels.
  • I will support universal school choice, the civil rights issue of our time.
  • I will work to privatize Social Security such that everyone owns their account.
  • All regulations automatically will sunset every ten years and any rule promulgated by the deep state with an impact over $25 million must be ratified by Congress.

I close my address by returning to first principles. Governments are instituted among men to protect their rights including to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, this is the only legitimate role for government.

Experience has shown that the sanctioned use of force, i.e. government is necessary to secure our rights. Government therefore is a necessary, albeit dangerous, force that always must be circumscribed, controlled and used sparingly. Government is inherently coercive; it is not about reason, logic or persuasion. It is about brute force. If citizens run afoul of a government diktat, ultimately men with guns will come to take away their property, their liberty and even their lives.

I hereby renew my promise to strictly confine government to its constitutional box and to return America to a nation of free people, free trade and free markets.

Good night. May God bless you, your family and these United States of America.

© 2024 George Noga
More Liberty – Less Government, Post Office Box 916381
Longwood, FL 32791-6381, Email: mllg@cfl.rr.com

MLLG State of the Union Address

George Noga

Biden’s SOTU address is this Tuesday. Following is MLLG’s SOTU speech.

MLLG State of the Union Address

By: George Noga – February 21, 2021

My fellow Americans:

I begin with first principles. Governments are instituted among men to protect their rights, which include life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. This is its only legitimate purpose. Experience shows legally sanctioned force, i.e. government is necessary to secure our rights and to protect us from foreign and domestic violence. Government is a dangerous, albeit necessary, force but is preferable to the alternative, i.e. anarchy.

All human history demonstrates that free people, free trade and free markets result in the greatest prosperity for everyone. Civil society and markets are 100% voluntary and non-coercive. No corporation, no matter how powerful, can compel you to buy its product. A consumer armed with a free choice is the most powerful force on earth.

In contrast, government is inherently coercive; it is not about reason, persuasion or logic. It is about brute force. If you run afoul of a government diktat, ultimately men with guns will come and take away your property, liberty or even your life. Because government is such a powerful and malevolent force, it must be limited, controlled, confined to its constitutional box and used only when absolutely necessary.

Ours is a government of laws and not men. Who holds executive, legislative, or judicial offices should be of little import to citizens, provided they remain inside the constitutional box. We must gradually shrink a severely bloated government back to its core responsibilities; this means we scale the government back to 15% of GDP, a level which empirically has been shown to maximize the well-being of all Americans.

The few legitimate functions of government should be vigorously carried out. Of these, none is more important than protection from foreign threats to our liberty; hence, we must make our military so strong no adversary would even contemplate challenging us. This means that we will spend whatever is required to defend our liberty.

We must begin to restore our constitutional republic back to first principles. Following are some of the other main goals and policies we will pursue in the time ahead.

– Free Trade: Prosperity is created by trade among people. The USA unilaterally will eliminate all tariffs and trade barriers – even if no other countries reciprocate.

– Sound Money: The Federal Reserve will have only one mission: sound money. It will be audited regularly and will take a hard look at returning to a gold standard.

– Taxation: As we scale government back to 15%, taxes can be reduced. All present taxes (income, payroll, etc.) will be repealed and replaced by a consumption tax.

– War on Drugs: The war is over; drugs won. Drugs will be legal, taxed, regulated and discouraged. Taxes from drugs will be spent on rehabilitation, not incarceration.

– Education: We will implement universal school choice and thereby solve the greatest civil rights issue of our time. Great God almighty – free at last!

– Regulation: All regulations automatically sunset after 10 years. Any regulations promulgated by bureaucrats and having an economic impact of more than $25 million must be approved by a vote of Congress before they become effective.

– Climate Change: Open scientific debate is encouraged. All climate spending will be subject to strict cost/benefit analysis. More funds will be allocated to mitigation.

– Entitlements: Social Security will be voluntarily privatized. All entitlements will be placed on the budget. Medicare will be converted to a premium support system.

– War on Poverty: This war also is over; this time we won. Americans living in poverty (by their own account) are down to 2-3% and consist nearly entirely of those with very low mental acuity, untreated mental illness and drug addiction. We will not abandon these people but will structure solutions better tailored to their problems.

There is more – much more. But the policy initiatives outlined above should provide a good idea of the direction we are leading America. Thank you very much. Good night and may God bless you, your family and these United States of America.

Next up on February 28th: Real doctors versus witch doctors.
More Liberty Less Government – mllg@cfl.rr.com – www.mllg.us

Inequality in America V – Putting it All Together

George Noga

Surprising answers to questions about inequality in America

By: George Noga – May 29, 2016

   Even socialists agree inequality from newly created wealth (even massive wealth a la Gates and Jobs) is an unalloyed benefit to society because it is the best metric for how well an economy is innovating, becoming more productive and responding to the needs of all people. Inherited wealth is mostly dissipated in a few generations, heavily taxed and often used charitably. Last, if Social Security and Medicare benefits were capitalized and included in wealth measurements, inequality would plunge markedly.   At the outset of this series, I promised to explore and to answer many questions about inequality in America based on facts and logic. Following are the answers.

    It is nigh impossible to get an accurate picture of inequality of income due to deeply flawed statistics based on AGI and household income, inconsistencies between income cohorts and flawed comparisons that don’t track the same people over time. One conclusion is certain. Accurate data would show much less inequality of income. Progressives oppose disparity in pay between CEOs and workers but are okay with similar clefts for athletes and movie stars. Steve Jobs took a nearly bankrupt Apple and created $750 billion of value; he made $2 billion, or 0.27%; was he overpaid?

    Data based on spending shows sharply less inequality; the lowest income cohort spends $2 for each $1 of income. There is no inequality based on taxation (including payroll taxes) as America has one of the most progressive tax systems in the world. Nor would a $15 minimum wage reduce inequality; less than 1% earn the minimum and their average household income is $50,000. Young, poor, minorities and the unskilled are harmed by minimum wage laws. The truly poor need jobs not a higher minimum wage. Progressives claim a moral imperative to increase the minimum wage knowing aforehand it creates unemployment. Where is the morality in that?

    The chasm between reality and rhetoric is wide. All measures of inequality, Gini, Theil and MLD, are markedly worse under Clinton compared to Reagan and under Obama versus Bush 43. Inequality is fueled by progressive policies including: (1) tepid economic growth; (2) higher taxation; (3) opposition to school choice; (4) energy policies; (5) ObamaCare; (6) opposition to trade; and (7) spending, debt and deficits. It is progressive dogma that creates inequality despite its self righteous rhetoric.

    All metrics show less inequality in Europe; however, we must ask if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Many Europeans lead lives of quiet desperation with no economic mobility and a permanently moribund economy; they even refuse to reproduce or to defend themselves. Europe produces no innovations in electronics, software, drugs or even pop culture. The former USSR would have scored favorably on measures of inequality as does Botswana; where everyone is poor, there is no inequality. The Gini coefficient for happiness in America is the highest in the world; that says it all!

    There are some things we should do to reduce inequality. Foremost is to stop corporate welfare as wealth created by government is illegitimate. Too big to fail needs to be eliminated as this is but another form of government largess. Capitalism must be based on both the carrot and the stick. Most Americans understand and accept inequality created by the marketplace; their beef is with government playing favorites.

    At its beating heart, inequality is mostly an imaginary problem. The vapid dogma of progressivism is incapable of solving real problems; therefore, it creates a series of phony problems for political maskirovka. As demonstrated in this series, progressives have created the very inequality they now hypocritically rail against. In sum, inequality in America is not a serious problem except when created by government.

The next post June 5th entitled “Hurricane Warning” is particularly pithy.

Inequality in America IV – Reality versus Rhetoric

George Noga

There is an abyss between what progressives say and do. They vehemently condemn inequality while advocating policies that create and exacerbate it.

By: George Noga – May 22, 2016

    There is a staccato drumbeat from progressives asserting there is a grave and metastasizing crisis of inequality in America. In this fourth part of our series, we reveal the specific policies of Obama and progressivism that result in greater inequality.

1. Tepid economic growth is the 900-pound gorilla. Under Obama, coming off a bad recession, there has never been a year with 3% growth. It is the worst economy ever under these circumstances. The lack of growth is due to Obama’s policies for taxes, regulation and health care amidst great uncertainty. A languishing economy coupled with tiny wage gains is radioactive for poor and minorities and exacerbates inequality.

2.  Black youth unemployment is over 50%. Obama refuses to consider a temporary entry level wage. Instead, he wants to increase the federal minimum wage by 40%.

3.  Higher taxes are like steroids for inequality. Obama’s tax increases on dividends, capital gains and small business constrain capital investment and are a death-knell for job creation. His refusal to lower the corporate tax rate keeps trillions locked up abroad instead of financing jobs at home. Tobacco taxes have skyrocketed, disproportionately harming the poor; one pack a day costs $1,000 a year more in taxes – more inequality.

4.  Opposition to free trade is harmful. Obama deserves credit for the TPP; however, progressives led by Clinton and Sanders are demagoguing it to death and want to kill it. The underclass benefits more than any other group from free trade. For liberals however, obeisance to labor unions trumps the welfare of the underclass.

5.  Opposition to school choice keeps poor kids in failing schools. School choice is not only the civil rights issue of our time, it is a potent economic issue. Liberals choose to pander to teachers unions while throwing poor kids under the school bus. Lack of school choice could very well be the number one contributor to increased inequality.

6. Higher prices for food and energy wreak havoc on the poor. Food prices have surged due to Obama and progressive support for ethanol subsidies. Energy takes 25% of the income of poor families but only 10% for a high income household. The average price of a kilowatt hour was up nearly 40% under Obama – until the recent drop in oil and gas prices – which occurred despite, not because of, Obama’s policies.

7.  ObamaCare is a disaster and poor Americans bear its brunt. Health care costs are rising along with taxes to fund it while access and quality of care plummets. Doctor shortages, rationing and death panels will have more impact on the poor. Meanwhile, the legions of 29ers and 49ers are growing due to perverse incentives in the ACA.

8.  Obama’s spending, debt and deficits savage savings. Poor elderly Americans have seen incredibly low interest rates damage their lives. For every $25,000 a retired couple has in savings, monetary policy under Obama costs them $100 per month.

9.  Increasing the minimum wage fuels inequality. Progressives claim a moral imperative to raise the minimum wage knowing it costs poor and minority jobs. The real minimum wage always is zero, and that is exactly what the wage will be for many.

10.  Obama has created a poverty trap. If a low-middle income family with children has a second worker enter the labor force, the effective tax rate on the extra earnings is up to 80% due to phaseout of benefits. Under Obama, the number of single earner households has increased 2.6 million and households with no earners by 5 million.

    Every one of the above factors increases inequality and every one is a creature of progressive dogma. The difference between progressives’ rhetoric and reality is indeed a bottomless abyss. Progressives created the inequality in America they now demonize.

Part V, the final post in this series, is scheduled for May 29th.

MLLG

MLLG State of the Union Address

George Noga
By: George Noga – October 1, 2014
      My fellow Americans: I begin with first principles. Governments are instituted among men to protect their rights which include life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, this is the only legitimate purpose for government. Experience has shown that legally sanctioned force, i.e. government is necessary to secure our rights including defense against foreign threats, protection from domestic violence and enforcement of contracts. Government therefore is a necessary, albeit evil, force that must be tightly controlled and used only for the carefully circumscribed purposes noted supra and then only to the absolute minimum extent necessary.
      All of human experience demonstrates free people, free trade and free markets result in the greatest prosperity for all. Government is inherently coercive; it is not about logic, reason or persuasion; it is about brute force including the threat of force. In contrast, civil society is always voluntary and cooperative. No company, no matter how big or powerful, can compel you to buy its product or service. A consumer armed with a free choice is the most powerful force on earth.

     The principles identified supra lead to twelve major initiatives I now announce. There is much more to be done; however, this is where we must begin to restore our Constitutional Republic.

  1. The Constitutional Box: We are a government of laws and not men. The identity of those who hold executive, legislative or judicial offices should be of little consequence to citizens provided they act within the confines of the Constitution, i.e. stay inside the Constitutional box. This means shrinking government to its core responsibility of securing our rights and, to a very limited extent, providing infrastructure. Accordingly, we will scale the federal government back to 15% of GDP, a level which empirically is demonstrated to result in the maximum rate of economic growth and hence the maximum well-being for all our citizens.
  2. Free Trade: Wealth and prosperity are created by trade among peoples. Traders take substantial risks and can accrue riches; however, their wealth ultimately depends on improving the lives of their customers. If they fail to make you better off, they do not prosper. Free and unfettered trade is universally good – always and everywhere. For that reason I announce the United States unilaterally will eliminate all tariffs and trade barriers – even if other countries do not reciprocate. We will be better off for that action and those who do not follow will be worse off.
  3. Sound Money: The Federal Reserve will have one mission only: to maintain sound money. This means purchasing power will be maintained, inflation eliminated, and increases in the money supply subject to strict constraints. The Fed will be audited regularly and we will take a hard look at reestablishing a gold standard.
  4. Taxation: As we scale government back to 15% of GDP, taxes can be slashed. I am asking for repeal of the 16th amendment to eliminate the income tax. We also will eliminate the death tax and Social Security/Medicare payroll taxes. These will be replaced by  a consumption tax at the lowest rate possible – likely in a single digit. The 60% of Americans who currently pay no income tax (net of credits) will begin to enjoy the dignity that comes with being a taxpayer. Moreover, they will have a personal stake in controlling spending and holding taxes to the absolute minimum. The crisis of spending, debt and deficits will end instantaneously.
  5. Defense and Foreign Affairs: We will follow the admonition of President John Quincy Adams that “America is a friend of freedom everywhere, but a custodian only of our own.” Simultaneously, we will observe George Washington’s advice  that “The best way to keep the peace is to be prepared for war.” We will strengthen and then consistently maintain the military for the long term at such a high level as to deter any possibly adversary.
  6. War on Drugs: The war on drugs is over. As we learned with prohibition, the drug war is unwinnable and never should have been fought. Henceforth, all drugs will be legal but regulated, taxed and discouraged just as with tobacco. Drug taxes collected will go solely for rehabilitation of those who continue to abuse them. We immediately will realize benefits including: (a) releasing non-violent drug offenders; (b) ending drug related crime; (c) putting drug cartels out of business; (d) reducing police corruption; (e) refocusing our foreign policy; (f) ensuring safety of drugs; and (g) eliminating drug dealers as role models.
  7. Regulation: All regulations will automatically sunset ratably every 10 years. Congress must enact any that need to be replaced. Any regulations promulgated by bureaucrats that have an economic impact of over $25 million must be voted on and approved by Congress before taking effect.
  8. Role of Juries: Henceforth, defendants (and their attorneys) will have the right to explain to juries that juries are sovereign and, as intended by our nation’s founders, have the final say about the legality and enforcement of all laws. The grand jury system will be reformed to stop prosecutorial abuse and to allow citizen grand juries.
  9. War on Poverty: The war on poverty is finished. The percentage of Americans who, by their own reports, lack a healthy level of food, shelter, clothing or medical care is 2%-3%. This cohort is identical to the 2% to 3% of Americans with very low mental acuity, i.e. those who struggle to fill out a simple form. We will therefore refocus our attention and also our solutions to better deal with the real problem. Even though the percentage in poverty is low, it still equates to 7-8 million of our countrymen to whom we pledge a strong safety net.
  10. Entitlements: Obamacare is to be repealed and replaced with free market solutions. Entitlements  will be placed on budget. Social Security gradually and voluntarily will be privatized. In the interim, benefits will be maintained by changing indexing and lengthening eligibility ages. Medicare benefits will be maintained by gradually lengthening eligibility ages and changing to a premium support model; also, medical costs will moderate given real prices.  Medicaid will be block granted to the states to administer as they see fit without interference.
  11. Energy/Climate: The Keystone Pipeline will be built and natural gas exported. We will drill and frack in ANWR, offshore and on federal lands – all ASAP. Our national delusion about manmade global warming  is over. Warming is a solar phenomenon to which man’s contribution is minimal. We will continue to develop alternative fuels for the future while eliminating subsidies for wind, solar and biofuels. The EPA’s mission will be refocused.
  12. Education: School choice is the civil rights issue of our time. We will move with all deliberate speed to universal school vouchers. We will bring education into the 21st century with technology and by furthering alternatives such as online and home schooling and by creating entirely new paradigms.
          Thank you and may God bless the United States of America.

Lessons From the Bangladesh Tragedy

George Noga

By: George Noga – June 17, 2013

    Our hearts go out to the victims of the building collapse in Bangladesh; they were hard workers striving simply to build a better future. The government building inspectors and all others who are complicit deserve severe punishment. However, it is crucial we learn the correct lessons from the workers’ terrible sacrifice. The media and their liberal camp followers have been quick to draw conclusions and to apportion blame; among the things they believe are:

  1. Greedy capitalists choose to pay subsistence wages for working in intolerable conditions;
  2. Capitalists’ ill-gotten gains can be used for higher wages and better working conditions;
  3. Desperate conditions in Bangladesh are due to an absence of government regulation;
  4. Globalization and free trade harm the poor and exploit child labor; and
  5. Boycotts of companies that sell products made in bad conditions help the poor.

    Each and every one of the above beliefs is wrong; they are voodoo economics and the consequences of acting on these beliefs is highly destructive. The masses in Bangladesh already are living at bare subsistence; anything that increases the cost of employing them – be it higher wages or better conditions – comes at their expense and results in unemployment. The higher the price of anything, the less will be bought; this applies universally including in Bangladesh.

“Economic Liberty – not government intervention – creates wealth.”

    Everyone desires higher wages and better working conditions for third-world workers. Ignoring the laws of economics (media and liberals) only worsens the situation. To actually bring about such results  requires the maximum degree of economic freedom and the dead minimum of government and outside interference. We have seen time and time again – in Hong Kong, South Korea, India, and now China that within one generation workers are much better off. New factories open with more advanced equipment and competition for labor intensifies leading to higher wages. As wages rise, workers are willing to trade off for better conditions.

Globalization – Free Trade – Child Labor – Boycotts

    Globalization and free trade benefit the poor in particular. To the chagrin of elitists, the poor grasp this viscerally; that’s why, inter alia, they embrace Wal-Mart. The greatest beneficiaries are those who live in poor countries (including Bangladesh) with whom we trade. Voluntary labor – yes including children – and even at low wages and less than ideal conditions – is not exploitative.  Workers choose to work because it is better than what they had before  and offers a path to a better life. This is how they work their way out of poverty.

    Workers (including children) in Dickensian England were better off in the factories than the life they voluntarily left. It was the same in the United States where child labor was common until the early part of the twentieth century. My uncle began working in the coal mines at age six because young children with their small, lithe bodies could crawl into small places.

“Who do you trust to look out for children: government or parents?”

    In England and the US, child labor had vanished well before the passage of child labor laws. As soon as humanly possible, parents remove their children from the labor force. It comes down to who do you trust to have the best interests of children at heart – their parents or government?

   Boycotts are primarily the province of economically illiterate movie stars with too much time on their hands. Even if a boycott could be effective, the greatest harm would befall the displaced workers trying desperately to lift their families out of poverty. Low income Americans also are harmed by having to pay more for many products just to pander to the falsetto angst of Hollywood types who feel but do not think.

   The media and liberals set up straw men, in this case greedy businessmen, and then rail against them. They don’t understand economics and they don’t know what they don’t know. They ignorantly call for boycotts that harm those they seek to help. Then, satisfied they have demonstrated their compassion and good intentions, they retreat back inside their plastic bubble where life is so much simpler than in the real world, where thinking rather than feeling counts.