Election Results – We hate PG&E, except we hate government supplied electricity more.

The referendum to require a vote of the people before government can take over electric power generation failed to get enough votes to pass.  It seems like an odd result to me.  People voted to deny themselves the right to vote on something.

Probably PG&E could have run a better campaign.  It was about more than just politicians spending money.  In addition it was about the collective right to steal or “take” property from the PG&E owners (millions of shareholders throughout the state).

What may have won the day was this feeling that “corporations are greedy evil bastards!” and “they are always ripping us off!”  Fair enough.

It reminds me of the campaign against the railroad companies in the late 19th century.  Then the complaint then was about how “unfair” it was that some railroad routes were shorter and cost more than some longer routes.  It was an obvious rip off!  (Or so they thought, the actual reason was economics).  So, after the public demanded action, the government took over the pricing and raised the prices of all the cheaper routes.  Now things were “fair” and everyone was “happy!”

So the question is, if PG&E are greedy bastards, then what is SSJID or other government entities?   They are men, not angels, just as politically greedy as any corporate board.  So, in effect the voters decided that greedy men serve you better if they have guns and can extract money from you by force. (Through taxation.)

Look at the results of the election, by county below left.  And the map of PG&E “territory.” (There are some small govt utilities in that “service area though)

In the dark counties, the voters rejected prop 16, i.e. they hate greedy PG&E.  Notice anything odd?  These are generally the counties served by PG&E!  At first glance, sure, it makes sense, PG&E must be terrible, they would know, right? 

But on the other hand, look who approved prop 16.  They hate the government power worse. 

Is it just a case of “the grass is greener?”  That’s for you to decide.  But if public power was all it’s cracked up to be I would have expected people served by government power to not hate it so much.  It seems like they wish they could be served by PG&E!

Note particularly, the high level of hatred of government power in Orange and Riverside counties.  (Just about 60%).  Also, why did San Joaquin approve the measure and demand a vote on the matter?  Could it be that we’re tired of the propaganda from SSJID? (15% less than what?)  What about Stanislaus county, also rejecting public power.  That is the place where SSJID is telling us “they are so happy they got rid of PG&E!”  Well it doesn’t seem so from the election results.  The warning is clear; people with government power are telling us “don’t do it, it’s worse than PG&E if you can believe that!”

Election Results - June 8, 2010, Statewide Direct Primary - California Secretary of State

Technorati Tags: Proposition 16,PG&E,SSJID

Editorial - Rand Paul and the Limits of Libertarianism - NYTimes.com

Or, as the New York Times tells us, “the importance of enlightened government.”

Rand Paul’s comments are a great chance to expose the propaganda of “the conventional wisdom.” The CW is this unstated cannon of general principles that just about everyone in the press lives, frames their world, and is so indoctrinated by, they can’t even see their own bias. Like the fish that’s covered in water its whole life, “the fish doesn’t know it’s wet.”

And this editorial hits them all. Or at least the big ones. Lets look at them; one at a time!

Where are these philosopher kings of an enlightened government? How do we find these people? Even if they existed, how would they be elected? If mankind is greedy and evil, then why would you want to put other greedy and evil men over your life to rule it?

How was it possible for “neighborhood associations” to discriminate based on race? Who upheld those contracts as valid? The courts, a part of the government. Based on laws.

Who fixed the “lunch counters” that refused to seat blacks? Was it the government or public shunning? The NYT editorial laughs at you if you thought “public shunning.” Did you notice that? But guess what; read history, it was public shunning, and not any court orders that ended the now famous Woolworths lunch counter discrimination. (This was in the ‘50’s and the “civil rights act of 1964” was almost a decade later.) But the government takes credit for “giving you civil rights!”

How has “liberty” been shown to be ineffective at promoting a “civil” society? (Set aside for a minute if being “civil” is more important than being “free.”) What do they mean the “freedom of a few to discriminate meant generations of less freedom for large groups…?” Not in a free market! Only in a powerful, top-down government can “a few” control “many.” In a free market, there’s very little a few persons can do.

The next example -- we should be so thankful the government ended slavery and something they call “Jim Crow.” (Usually they are called “Jim Crow Laws” but that would have been too obvious.) Let me get this straight. We should be thankful that the government that enabled slavery saw fit to stop enslaving us? And if the government that enforced separatist, “Jim Crow” laws has seen fit to stop doing that, we should be grateful?

Slavery could never have existed but for government support. Neither could “Jim Crow” laws. Or separate (but equal) schools, or even water fountains, which were chiefly in government buildings. I’ve read reports of frontier towns in Kansas territory that educated all their children “white” and “negro” in a one room school house. But the state officials commanded them to build two separate schools! The townsfolk didn’t see any need and thought the school was perfectly fine. (History Channel) But that was the point, the state couldn’t allow whites to “accept” negro children in their school! What would that lead to? Equality and everyone just “getting along?”

Who is the editor to say “neither (slavery nor Jim Crow) would be eliminated by a free market?” These were both created by the government, of course the free market would have ended both sooner than they were but for government action. (See Milton Friedman).

Next are the two big doozies. The two big lies we’ve been taught by the government schools since we were children. And in the press all the time, and most of us believe:

1. The government rescued the economy from the Great Depression! Oh god does anyone still believe this? I know we’ve heard this our whole lives, but there’s a large body of scholarship that says exactly the opposite. The “Great Depression” was a blip or hiccup in the economy until both Hoover and FDR “tried to fix” it. Everything they did made things worse. Hoover made it worse, he was voted out of office and FDR came in and did more of what Hoover was doing, making things even worse than they were. The result was more than a decade of poverty.

2. The government promoted safety and equality in the workplace. John Stossel goes over this better than I can. The result of free enterprise was that the workplace was getting safer and safer. When the government finally stepped in and formed “OSHA” the safety record continued about the same as it was before (getting better all the time). But the government stepped in front of the parade and took credit for the “improved workplace safety.” As is common. (See Stossel.)

So far as promoting equality? See the congressional hearing in the 1930’s regarding the new laws to protect and enable the labor union movement. The main reason the unions were asking for special protection from the government was to protect the white workers from competition from “negro labor.” And we should be “thankful” that the government grants us equality?

Editorial - Rand Paul and the Limits of Libertarianism - NYTimes.com

Featured Article - WSJ.com

This is one of the last interviews with Milton and Rose Friedman together.  Milton died in 06 and Rose just last year.     

That last part, about the war of aggression I found interesting.  And I wonder if he’d lived the last few years, he would have even further realized the futility of “winning.”

Also he settles the issues with Keynes, and with why the deficits were “under control” in the ‘90s (it wasn’t Clinton!) and what really killed the Republican party. 

Featured Article - WSJ.com

Questions? What questions? What ordinance?

Just for the record.  I sent a letter to the city council with a list of questions about the new “code enforcement” ordinance.  You know, the one that turns Manteca into a giant homeowners association.  There was no response from any council member.  That was over two weeks ago.

At the meeting I asked if any had received my questions.  The City Clerk verified that “her staff sent a copy to each member.” 

I also asked if any of the council members had read the law they were voting on.  None of them, as best I recall, said anything definite about having read the text of the proposed ordinance.  In other words, they were voting on something they had not read.

After I left the podium the mayor was kind enough to acknowledge that he remembers getting my thoughtful letter but that “I didn’t read it.”  I’m sorry for wasting His Honor’s valuable time.  I’ll include pictures next time.

From “Enforcement” law:

Here’s page 7.  Read the second paragraph “Authority to Inspect.”  You thought I was kidding?  (click on image to enlarge)

Enabling law on agenda tonight

There’s an odd item on the “consent” calendar at tonight meeting of the Manteca City Council called Administrative Enforcement Provisions.  (Consent Item 12 CC)

Only the introductory remarks are on the city’s website.  The PDF file doesn’t include the actual language of the new law.  But after obtaining the actual text, a couple things got my attention:

• The law involves “code enforcement” and claims to be needed to protect the “health and safety” of the people of Manteca.
• Section 1.10.040 – Authority to inspect.  Grants just about any city employee the authority to enter upon any property or premises within the city to ascertain whether … this code, … uniform codes, or … state codes are being obeyed.
• In other words, the code enforcer doesn’t even need a reason or any suspicion of any violations.  He can simply demand entry to any home or business in Manteca at any time?
• The code enforcer is permitted to set up scientific equipment and take photographs and to take “samples.”  In other words, he can enter your home, take pictures, and if he sees anything interesting, he can simply take it?
• If you refuse to permit entry, they can attempt to get an “administrative inspection warrant” and then charge you a fee for their trouble.
• The procedure for administrative hearings ends with failing to comply with the administrators decision is a misdemeanor.
• Further, a companion ordinance will establish a $100, $200, and $500 fine for every citation.  In the definitions a citation is a document issued by an enforcement officer … for violating … this code or … state code.  You don’t get a hearing, you don’t get to plead your case to a judge, the “officer” can simply look at you or look at your home, and issue you a fine. 

I don’t usually write things before the meeting but this law is so outlandish, I don’t even know what else to say about it it’s shocking.  Has the constitution been repealed and I wasn’t notified?  I’m still reading.  I urge you to find out about this regulation and tell the council what you think.

Plunder!: How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation - Book TV

Don’t miss this talk about government unions.  The author is from California.  Note how many things sound familiar: from issuing edicts on Friday afternoon and voting then into law on Tuesday night to how we are getting less and less government “services” for more and more taxes we pay.  And how the union’s plan is to simply keep raising taxes – forever.   From the website:

Steven Greenhut takes a critical look at government workers and the unions that represent them.  Mr. Greenhut argues that government employees, who receive salaries, benefits, and a level of job security that far outpace workers in the private sector, have become a huge drain on state and federal coffers.  He spoke at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Orange, California. 

Economics - Plunder!: How Public Employee Unions Are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation - Book TV

Click on the “watch” link on the right side of the page to view the video of the presentation.  It’s about an hour.

Schools are bad for your kids…

I thought this was an interesting (if thorough) read into the problems of the government schools.

How Did We Get Into This Mess? by James Ostrowski

Idiocy in Lodi

What’s wrong with these two stories?

Redevelopment to top Lodi agenda in June

Lodi moves to cap lunch wagons

It seems to me that on the one hand, they are saying the city is poor and blighted and they need to borrow tons of money to “re-develop” the city.  And in the 2nd story, they are “cracking down” on hard working people who are making jobs for themselves, providing a service, feeding their families with their own initiative, etc.

Do you need any better illustration of what’s wrong with the central valley and the People’s Republic of California?

Manteca Bulletin - Free car wash for veterans Wednesday

As far as I’m concerned, Quicki-Kleen can keep their free car wash for veterans. I see no reason to participate in any public relations stunt that brings credit to the people who orchestrated the bullying of a fellow citizen who wanted to open up a competing car wash.

The owner of Quicki-Kleen was listed among those who led the “cause” of blocking a new car wash from opening in the 300 block of Yosemite Ave a few months ago.

What does this have to do with veterans you ask?

Well what veterans fought for was freedom. That means the freedom to do business back at home. Anyone who would try to block a competitor using socialistic arguments and questionable “petitions drives” is nothing more than a freedom hating bully. All the free car washes in the world won’t make up for that.

Manteca Bulletin - Free car wash for veterans Wednesday

More on cable customers taxed

Two other things I forgot.

Regarding the cable TV tax, the editor claims “There is little doubt the revenue is needed.” Little doubt? “Needed” by whom? For what? There are a lot of us who don’t believe the tremendous growth of government over the years has been a good or “needed” thing.

Next, he says “No one in Manteca at this time should have the stomach to push for new taxes. In time, though, the need will come.”

Why will the need come to raise new taxes? What is going to happen that will cause such a need?

Let me dispel two myths of why people think “new taxes” are “needed.” What about growth of the population? Does that cause the need for “new taxes?” NO! If there are more people, more houses, more businesses, then the government collects more taxes from the new people, houses, etc., in exactly the proportion of the growth.

If the population of Manteca goes from 60,000 to 120,000 there will theoretically be no need for “new taxes!” Why? Because there are twice as many people using government “services” and there will be twice as much tax collected. It all evens out.

Of course this never stops the government propaganda machine from telling us a new tax “is needed” because of “the growth in the population,” but that’s just the way it is.

The other excuse sometimes used is “inflation.” We need to raise taxes because “inflation” has made everything cost more. Sounds half-logical until you think about it. If a loaf of bread costs $1 today they collect x taxes. If the price of a loaf of bread goes to $2, then they collect 2x taxes. In other words, if the cost of everything doubles, then the taxes collected doubles. Once again, everything “evens out.”

No, the real question was raised by the author of A Monetary History of the United States; namely, why were taxes more or less stable at about 7 percent of GDP for the first 150 years of the nation, and then suddenly started skyrocketing in the later part of the 20th century. What was so “needed?” And why is the growth in the cost of government so “inevitable?”

Manteca Bulletin - Cable customers ‘taxed’ by Manteca, satellite users aren’t

Teacher attacks citizen at board meeting

In this video, Ken Johnson, the head of the teacher’s union is speaking.  I follow (with the camera) Mr. Johnson back to his seat to film the audience and applause.  A woman sitting next to Mr. Johnson yells something at me.  I got the idea she didn’t like the video when she hid her face behind some papers.  Next,  I’m trying to film the events (the union leader) without getting the woman who doesn’t like being filmed in the frame.   Then Mr. Johnson comes over where I’m sitting and goes back to his seat, next the woman comes over from across the room and starts yelling at me some more and smacking me with her papers/book and her hand!

I apologize for my impolite words, I tend to be a little short when someone chases me across the room to hit me with their papers.  Although you’d think by now I’d be used to that.

Straight talk from City Manager

The Manteca City Manager has some interesting and straight talking Comments on a blog.  Of course, he's getting the usual flak from the usual suspects but I agree with his economic analysis. (And then some!)

A labyrinth of government panhandlers

Ok, they used the term “public-sector” as a euphemism for “government.”  But this reminded me of this week’s meeting where the firemen asked for permission to charge you for their services.

The term “panhandlers” surprises me because this isn’t coming from a manifesto from a mimeograph machine in the Montana back woods, but rather, the New York Times.

States, Counties and Towns Using Fees to Fix Budget Problems - NYTimes.com

What happened in ‘82?

This is from the report on “affordable housing” that’s to be presented at tonight’s council meeting. (Pg 10, fig 1) It’s a graph of how much money people make (personal income) in this county over the years and compared to the average of the nation (United States) and the state (California.)

According to this, the rest of the state has done pretty well over the years. One of the more prosperous places in the nation. (Many lucrative industries, Hollywood, aerospace, silicon valley, etc). So what went wrong with San Joaquin country?

And in particular, what happened in 1982? SJ was more or less about as wealthy as the nation as a whole, just a little less than California as a whole. But according to this chart, the bottom fell out in the early ‘80’s. You can see the red line (San Joaquin) diverge from the national average about then, and the “gap” in poverty increases.

So what went wrong? Did people suddenly get stupid? Prop 13? Williamson act? The ascendency of “central planning?” State takeover of school funding? Ronald Reagan? (no, the nation prospered under Reagan). Then what was it? Maybe someone should ask the expert tonight.

Politician training simulator

If you have some time to kill, or you want to try your hand at redistricting, you can play this exciting and challenging game!  It’s based on real political science.  See if you can get your candidate elected!  And you’ll learn a lot about this otherwise esoteric way politicians stay in power.

(click on link below to start game)

The ReDistricting Game

Ayn Rand quote for today:

“Freedom has been given a chance and failed. Therefore, more stringent controls are necessary. . . . I need wider powers!”

Why Ayn Rand Is Still Relevant - Bullish on Books Blog - CNBC.com

Why I care about the free market

I remember this every time someone accuses me of being “greedy” or non-caring or insensitive to the plight of the less fortunate.  (The last time was by the consultant hired by the city.  She was astounded that I didn’t think the housing project for the old people was a great idea.)

 

The answer for why I believe so strongly in the free market, and why it’s important, is explained in a mere 40 seconds.  (1:00 to 1:40 in this video.)  Also this is background for some of the claims I made in a previous entry.

YouTube - Milton Friedman - Greed

The ED show sounds like Manteca officials

This is very similar to a discussion I had with city planning officials at the Planning Commission meeting two weeks ago.  At one point I asked the consultant “tell me a little about your background, what commissar did you train under?”  Now I realize they don’t learn this stuff from Communist Party leaders, they get it from MSNBC!

YouTube - The ED Show - Peter Schiff (President & Chief Global Strategist at Euro Pacific Capital)

Columnist spews economic nonsense

There are probably some Americans who blame “capitalism” for our current economic woes.  Maybe they would also like to elect a communist.  (Maybe we did?)

What annoys me about Fitzgerald’s account of his encounter with a communist is that he can’t elucidate a single reason why the "communist/socialist” is wrong.  So, I thought I’d help out a little.  Here’s why he’s wrong:

1.  Our economic problems were caused by government policy.  By those who thought they could determine (with their own superior minds) what the interest rates should be, what lending standards ought to be, who should be “allowed” to build houses and where.  Even the color of houses roofs and the shape of windows was specified by some commission.  All of these policies restricted competition and drove up the price of housing.  (City councils would often talk about how great it is they are “boosting” the “values” of property, that is, making housing more costly, driving the bubble.) All instead of letting people make their own choices in a free market.

It’s not a failure of “capitalism.”  In fact it’s exactly the opposite, we tried to “help” or “correct” capitalism.  Is it any wonder that the places hit worse in the “foreclosure crisis” are exactly the places that had the most interventionist zoning and planning commissions? 

2.  The communist says that Stalin gave communism a bad name.  Just a little.  What more needs to be said?

But it wasn’t Stalin that “ruined” communism or just didn’t let it work the way it was supposed to.  Communism creates “Stalins.”  That’s the only way it works.  There is no example of “nice” communism.  Which leads directly to point 3, the real reason communism got a “bad name.”

3.  No matter where you look on planet Earth in the present time; or no matter what period of time in history you look at you’ll find that when “capitalism” was practiced mankind flourished and was most free.  And under every other system people lived in tyranny and misery. 

Have people forgotten what it was like before the Berlin wall came down?  Compare West and East Germany, North and South Korea, Haiti Vs. The Dominican Republic, The old Soviet Union and the United States.

4. No, “if Karl Marx opened a Capitalist Hall of Shame, the San Joaquin Valley would be an early inductee” only if we wanted to created a monument to the corrupting influence of Marxism.  All the “failures” listed in the article, the bailouts, the housing bubble, the politically well connected getting favor and riches – those are not capitalistic, those are the ideas of Marx and Engels!!!  By their very nature, they are government actions – decisions made by a central planning, er, I mean commission or council or legislature and imposed on people by force of law.  That is not capitalism!

It’s our straying from the principles of freedom (capitalism is freedom) that caused our current problems.  And more “communist answers” would only make things worse, as they always have.

Drawing parallels between Irish, Valley economic woes | Recordnet.com