T (S) and A!

Anyone planning on flying this holiday season is in for an awkward choice.  Due to the latest security measures put in place by the TSA you can either walk through a full body scanner which takes pictures of you without that pesky clothing that you put on that morning in the way or you can opt for the enhanced pat-down complete with groin check.  If it sounds ridiculous and Orwellian, that's because it is.

An example of an actual body scan picture

Although they've only been in place for a short time, The U.S. Marshals Service recently admitted saving some 35,000 images from a full body scanner at a federal courthouse in Florida.  Understandably many people do not want to have their picture taken without their clothing on (I mean, that's why we wear it, right?) with the possibility that their image could be saved for posterity so there is an alternative.  The alternative is getting an enhanced pat-down including a groin check to move through security.  John Tyner found this out the hard way when he shot this youtube video after opting for the pat-down.  After the pat-down was explained to him he now famously stated, "Don't touch my junk" and had a conversation with the TSA supervisor before leaving the airport and deciding not to fly.  He was later told he had to pay an $11,000 fine (referenced in the video) but that has since been rescinded.

 

Of course everyone wants to be safe while flying but the politically correct route of looking for bombs and not bombers is causing nuns and 3 year olds to be subjected to groin checks. I guess we should be lucky they drew the line at our crotch, the DHS reports a terrorist tried to hide a bomb in his anal cavity last year.

So what is the alternative in a time where a terrorist could very well have a bomb sewn into his underpants?  The Israelis have been the target of terrorism since long before 9/11 and they don't pat down every person who gets on a plane.  They have a few minutes of conversation with each passenger to determine who needs extra scrutiny and who does not.   Critics of this policy believe that the screeners would target Muslim men at a higher rate than other races but as Mona Charen points out, some terrorists have been blond-haired, blue-eyed females so anyone who raises flags on the initial check should be pulled aside regardless of race. 

We can make airline travel much less intrusive without trampling on the civil rights of any one group (or all groups, as it stands now) but the White House seems reluctant to even try the Israeli style security for fear of discrimination.  In fact Janet Napolitano, head of DHS, says the scanners could be expanded for use on trains, boats and the subway system.  All this makes me pine for the days when the closest the government came to impinging on my civil rights was tapping overseas phone calls.  I guess the Left forgot their "passion" for civil rights the day they got elected. 

Less We Can!

Meteoric, historic, a tidal wave, all of these terms have been used to describe the recent midterm elections.  Most surprising of all, these words are actually pretty good descriptors of the events of November second.  Pundits opined that the midterm could be a repeat of the '94 elections when Republicans gained 52 House seats and control of that chamber.  Some conservative pundits shushed other conservative pundits, worried that such rosy optimism would suppress turnout and cause the Republicans to lose seats they would have gained otherwise.  As of the current count right now Republicans have won 60 seats in the House, their largest sweep not since 1994 but since 1938.  State legislatures broke big for Republicans as well, not only was the sweep a large one but now the total percentage of Republican state legislators is the largest it has been since 1956.  With all these Republicans now in power, does that mean that we are headed towards fiscal sanity?  Well, probably not.

Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner have introduced legislation to end earmarks, the pet projects that Senators and Congressmen attach to bills with little to no oversight.  Last year earmarks cost taxpayers $17 billion.  Although that sounds like alot of money, that's less than one-half of one percent of the annual budget. 

Republicans are also touting that they will cut government waste, fraud and abuse from the budget but if economics teaches us anything it is that government is inherently inefficient and rife with waste, fraud and abuse because government is a non-profit driven monopoly.  With no incentive from either competition or profit, there is no incentive to be efficient.  Although some Republicans have talked about privatizing various functions of the government, no broad based support exists to do this.

What about the deficit commission that recently released its report advising some tax raising measures like doing away with home mortgage interest deductions and some cost cutting measures such as reforming entitlement programs?  Doing away with the home mortgage interest deduction might very well tank the real estate markets (again) and would effectively raise taxes on the middle class in the midst of a recession.  Reforming entitlements is a great idea and the only one likely to put a dent in the budget. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense spending and interest on the debt add up to more than 80% of the annual budget.  Any serious talk of cutting spending must include these sacred cows.  Of course, how serious could the commission be on reforming entitlements when they made no suggestion of repealing the latest one, Obamacare?  Also, Americans have no appetite for cutting entitlements.  Among the signs at Tea Party rallies about cutting spending are also signs that say "Get The Government Out Of My Medicare!"  When asked generally, Americans want the government to cut spending but when asked on specifics still consider 80% of the budget untouchable. 

Entitlement reform is not coming anytime soon and it would be a miracle to even preemptively reform Obamacare, forget repeal.  Republicans may slam the brake on this administration's big spending ways by virtue of gridlock but there's no sign that they want to turn the car around.  Worse yet, there's no sign that Americans want them to.  As Alexis de Tocqueville said, "In a democracy, we get the government we deserve." 

Funny Birthday Card

I've been celebrating my birthday over the weekend with my family and fell behind on my post schedule.  This week's column will be up no later than Wednesday with next week's column going up no later than Sunday.  In the meanwhile, I figured I would share a humorous birthday card I received from my parents.

Front of Card

Inside of Card

F.A Hayek and John Maynard Keynes Rap Battle For America's Future

Since Republicans have taken the House and are already talking about combating Obama's Keynesian economic model with their own (somewhat more) Hayekian one, I figured it might be time to dust off this gem.  This video of  two economists dressing up as Hayek and Keynes and rap-battling is too bizarre not to pass on:



For those who don't know, John Maynard Keynes was FDR's main economic advisor during the Great Depression and advocated big government solutions like the stimulus we are using today.  F.A. Hayek was an Austrian economist who advocated free markets and laissez faire government.

The video is a bit buggy as an embedded object so you can also find the source video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk