Congress. Seinfeld. Both offer amusing forms of entertainment, one being about nothing and the other starring people that know nothing. The entertainment value of watching Congress is that their intentions and the effects of their actions are frequently 180 degrees from each other. Kind of like that Seinfeld episode where George Costanza decides to do the exact opposite of his instincts. For example, he insulted the owner of the New York Yankees during an interview, yet he got the job. Unfortunately, America is not a Seinfeld episode and such legislative failures can cause devastating...
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Texas Prosecutor Worked for Judges in ‘Fundamental Conflict of Interest’
Weldon Ralph Petty Jr. spent decades working in the Midland County District Attorney's Office in Texas as a prosecutor before returning in 2018. Just a year later, a scandal was unearthed, showing Petty had spent much of his career working as a clerk for judges on cases in which he was also a prosecutor. Petty is documented to have worked on both sides of the bench in at least 355 cases, writing decisions and jury instructions. He also gained access to information that aided his cases against defendants. The same corrupt arrangement even occurred in the death-sentence conviction of...
Texas Is Not Free: A Case of Civil Asset Forfeiture
On May 14, 2019, Ameal Woods drove from rural Mississippi to Houston with $42,300 in cash. He was ready to achieve a major goal he and his wife had worked, saved and borrowed for: Purchasing a second semi truck for the fledgling trucking business he operated with his brother, and perhaps a trailer, too. Along Interstate 10 in Texas, however, his entrepreneurial dream turned into a nightmare. It started when Woods was pulled over by a Harris County sheriff’s deputy who claimed Woods had been following too closely behind the truck in front of him. The deputy asked Woods if he was carrying...
Paying Your “Fair Share” of the Warfare-Welfare State
A recurring theme in national tax debates is the idea that everyone should pay their “fair share” of taxes. While that aspiration’s validity is widely taken for granted, the stark reality is there’s no such thing as a “fair share” of federal taxes. To understand why, let’s first scrutinize what’s meant by “fair.” When paired with “share,” the most fitting definition is “reasonable, right and just.” If the United States government were limited to its only morally sound function—protecting rights, liberties and lives—perhaps one could entertain the theoretical notion of a “reasonable, right...
News Roundup 4/27/21
US News NFL player Sean Culkin covered his 2021 salary into Bitcoin. [Link] Two DC police crash their cars drag racing. [Link] A Virginia police officer shot Isaiah Brown. Brown is in critical condition. Reports say the police officer shot Brown because he believed the phone in his hand was a gun. [Link] A judge required a woman who is accused of committing crimes on Jan. 6th to wear a mask anytime she leaves her home. [Link] The FBI - without a court order - searched NSA’s archive of foreign correspondence for information on racists in America. [Link] The Supreme Court will hear a case...
11/11/20 Danny Sjursen on the Profitable Post-Military Careers of his Afghanistan Commanders
Scott interviews Danny Sjursen about where his former commanders from Afghanistan have ended up in the years since the surge. Sjursen goes through a handful of these men: almost without fail, his former generals have ended up with profitable jobs in the arms industry or at hawkish think tanks, and his colonels have been promoted to take the place of those retired generals—and will surely join them in the private sector soon enough. The fact that none of this surprises us should be a reminder of just how corrupt America's military-industrial complex is. A path to a six- or seven-figure...
NYPD Values Abusive Cop’s Pension Over Child He Starved and Froze to Death
New York, NY — The death of 8-year-old Thomas Valva shocked the nation earlier this year when it was discovered his New York cop father was alleged to have beat him and starved him before throwing him into an unheated garage where he froze to death. As the investigation unfolded, we learned that authorities were warned by multiple people on multiple occasions that NYPD officer Michael Valva was horrifically abusing his children, and, in a disgusting display of blue privilege, no one acted. In fact, the only actions taken were against the mother, and helped Valva continue the abuse. Now,...
Police Threaten to Quit If Public Keeps Demanding Accountability
Faced with an armed assailant at the Parkland school shooting in 2018, sheriff’s deputy Josh Stambaugh ran away and hid while children were gunned down. He was later fired for his lack of action, but last month arbitrators ruled that Stambaugh must be rehired by the sheriff’s department, and he will likely receive more than $100,000 in back pay. In 2018, at the time of his firing, Stambaugh earned $152,000 in base pay and overtime. It looks like he’ll soon be back on the payroll “protecting and serving” the community. When faced with unarmed suspects, however, some police officers are...
What ‘Experts’ Miss About Economic Inequality
How can the U.S. reduce economic inequality? That’s a question USA Today posed to three “policy experts on the left and the right” in this recent article. The responses, while unsurprising, were nevertheless disappointing. For libertarians, economic inequality itself is not problematic, as long as it is in the context of an unfettered market economy free of government privileges and interference. Of course, that’s not what we have. But instead of advocating for a more free economy to address inequality, the “experts” consulted by USA Today advocate for more state interference that would...
Generals Are Bureaucrats With Extra Stars
The United States has always had a love affair with certain generals. George Washington, of course, was immensely popular, and thirteen U.S. presidents were generals before they were president. But prior to the Second World War, generals as a group were not revered or treated with any particular veneration or respect. In fact, in the nineteenth century, full-time U.S. military officers were often treated with suspicion and contempt. While state militia officers were regarded as indispensable night watchmen who preserved order, the full-time government employees who served in the federal...