The Frugal Libertarian

It has been a while since I have posted a ridiculous letter to the editor because of my boycott of the KC Star, but out of morbid curiosity I spent a little time on the Star’s website and found this little gem.  I did not read all the letters from this week, but I don’t think I would have found a more ridiculous liberal letter if I did.  This is what Rodney Miller of Overland Park had to say:

We’ve all known people who have hung on to jobs they didn’t like and didn’t afford them the possibility of reaching their full potential for one reason: health insurance. How tragic.

The benefit to our country and, specifically, to our economy of freeing everyone from this burden could unleash untold creative and entrepreneurial ideas to build a stronger, better country.

Health care for all citizens should be a right, not a fringe benefit.

What if we replaced health insurance with food?  How tragic that people have to work at a job they don’t like so they can afford to eat. Why not free everyone from the burden of having to purchase food? We could just provide it for them.  Oh wait, that has been tried and it doesn’t work.   When everyone has a right to eat, very few will actually have enough food.  Ludwig von Mises taught us why in his book Socialism . It is because of what he called the economic calculation problem.   The same is most likely true with health care.  I would rather health care not be a right so I will actually have access to it.

I know health care cost are a heavy burden for many people, but for most people the cost of health care is far less than their grocery bill.   And, last time I checked it is pretty difficult to live without food, so if you are going to try to justify socialized health care by saying it is expensive and people need it to live, you have to be willing to agree that all things essential to staying alive should be provided by government.  Otherwise, you are not being consistent.

Mr. Miller’s theory that freeing people of burden will “unleash untold creative and entrepreneurial ideas” seems to have things backwards.  Living with burdens is what unleashes creativity and innovation.  What else would motivate us if not our burdens?

I knew it was just a matter of time before liberals started to call for a maximum wage.  I mean, if it is okay to set a minimum wage why not a maximum wage, right?   Now since the federal government will have control of the purse strings for many businesses they have the perfect vehicle to do just that.  Unfortunately, the idea that a maximum wage is advantageous for the taxpayer is just as preposterous as the idea that a minimum wage is advantageous for the worker.  What if the CEO that is the most talented and qualified to bring one of these companies back from the brink of ruin will not work for $500,000?  Why wouldn’t that CEO go work for a company that is free to pay what he or she is really worth?

But, a maximum wage is not the only stupid idea included in the ridiculous “stimulus” package that Obama will sign into law tomorrow.  Let’s look at a few of the highlights.

Energy: The economic dingbats in Washington seem to think that spending billions of dollars on alternative energy and encouraging people to spend money on hybrid cars and insulation for their homes will make things better.  The government is unlikely to choose the technology that will help usher us into an era of renewable energy.  What they can do is create a perfect opportunity for malinvestment in the wrong technology.  Technology that would be dismissed in the marketplace as inefficient or not cost effective will have resources wasted on it because that technology is being subsidized by the government.  This could come at the expense of a technology that could be quite efficient and cost effective.  The saddest part is that we may never know what technology is lost because resources were directed towards something else by a coercive government.  Just look at ethanol.  What a disaster!

Unemployment: If you subsidize something you will get more of it, so if you subsidize unemployment you will get more of unemployment.  The provisions in the bill that will extend benefits for the unemployed will do nothing but keep people from taking jobs that are available to them but do not pay as much as their benefits.  It creates a de facto minimum wage.  Why work for $8.00 an hour if I can make $7.50 an hour sitting on my ass at home?  Not to mention that the money has to come from somewhere and there is no better example of stealing from the productive and giving to the unproductive than unemployment benefits.

Tax Breaks for First Time Homebuyers: This is nothing more than a scheme to prop up over inflated housing prices.  It will encourage people who would otherwise choose not to purchase a home to go ahead a do so, even though it may not be in their own best interest.  These type of tax incentives send the wrong signals and convince people to act in a way that they would not otherwise act.  This is a recipe for more malinvestment and disaster.  Price controls did not work for FDR and they will not work today.  Let home prices fall.  As they fall, home sales will increase and eventually home prices will begin to work their way back up.

Tax Cuts: Don’t get me wrong, I love getting more of my own money back, BUT, it does me no good if you do not cut spending when cutting taxes.  If you do not cut spending then you will have to borrow and print money and that does nothing but further debase the currency you so generously returned to me.  So, thanks but no thanks.

The Pork:  Charles Krauthammer said it best, so I have nothing to add.

A trillion dollars is almost impossible to fathom.  It is to difficult to comprehend, so think about this.  If we spent 4 million dollars a day since Columbus landed in San Salvador in 1492 , we would still be short of a trillion dollars.

I believe that tomorrow will go down in history as a day of economic infamy.  It will be the beginning of the end for the U.S. empire.  Our descent into economic fascism will be well on its way.  Such a system is not sustainable and is not compatible with freedom.  We will pay with are livelihoods and our liberty.  Is it too late to reverse course?

Being a libertarian can often be quite lonely.  It can make you feel a little crazy to think you are the only person in the world that really knows what the hell is going on, who’s to blame, and how to fix it.   John Hasnas wrote a nice little piece; What it feels like to be a libertarian.  I couldn’t have said it better myself