This is ridiculous.
Eduardo Saverin renounces his US citizenship because of high capital gains tax and Sens. Schumer and Casey come up with legislation that would stick it to him anyway.
The articles say the legislation probably won't get out of committees, but it's a little crazy that things like are thought up in our Congress.
The thinking behind this Ex-Patriot Act seems to be that America made you rich, now you owe your country. Why? Do hyper-successful/wealthy people owe anything to the government? Sure, one can extrapolate all sorts of things: public schools, police, roads, whatever, that may have formed a foundation for success. But what's the true value of all that? Why does a rich person owe more than a "normal" person?
Rather than government institutions being a catalyst for human success, I think that informal institutions like culture, morality, community and personal attributes are far more influential than anything the government would contribute. All that mixed with a little right-place-at-the-right-time.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Commenting on Regulations
Ever wanted a direct voice in federal regulation formation? I'm sure you've had that thought many a time sitting at home with nothing to do. Well, know that you can!
Check out Regulations.gov to review upcoming regulations and submit what they call "public comments." It is required by law that they read all comments in the allotted time frame before regulation becomes law. If a salient enough point is brought up, amendments have to be made.
Now, while this public comment feature is a good thing, having all these regulations coming through the pipe in an ever increasing number may not be a good thing. Kind of like awesome cinnamon rolls in prison or something: it brightens your experience, but the experience overall still stinks.
Check out Regulations.gov to review upcoming regulations and submit what they call "public comments." It is required by law that they read all comments in the allotted time frame before regulation becomes law. If a salient enough point is brought up, amendments have to be made.
Now, while this public comment feature is a good thing, having all these regulations coming through the pipe in an ever increasing number may not be a good thing. Kind of like awesome cinnamon rolls in prison or something: it brightens your experience, but the experience overall still stinks.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The State of Those Republicans
In reading this Reason article on why conservatives should hope for a Romney loss this November, I found one of the last paragraphs particularly poignant and agreeable:
"The GOP is in a state of intellectual flux, illustrated perfectly by the ideological heterodoxy of its presidential field. Various strains representing different interests are fighting for the soul of the GOP: The neocons are duking it out with anti-war Paulistas. Social moderates are trying to wrest some space from pro-life religious conservatives. Deficits and debt worry everyone, but there is no consensus on entitlement reform. The GOP allegedly stands for the free market—but it has yet to figure out whether Bush’s financial bailout was right or wrong."
"The GOP is in a state of intellectual flux, illustrated perfectly by the ideological heterodoxy of its presidential field. Various strains representing different interests are fighting for the soul of the GOP: The neocons are duking it out with anti-war Paulistas. Social moderates are trying to wrest some space from pro-life religious conservatives. Deficits and debt worry everyone, but there is no consensus on entitlement reform. The GOP allegedly stands for the free market—but it has yet to figure out whether Bush’s financial bailout was right or wrong."
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