Obama Open to Debate on Drug War, But Legalization Is ‘Not the Answer’

“I think it is entirely legitimate to have a conversation about whether the laws in place are ones that are doing more harm than good in certain places. I personally, and my administration’s position, is that legalization is not the answer,” Obama said at the Summit of the Americas.

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Posted by Daniel J. Mitchell

The Laffer Curve is a graphical representation of the relationship between tax rates, tax revenue, and taxable income. It is frequently cited by people who want to explain the common-sense notion that punitive tax rates may not generate much additional revenue if people respond in ways that result in less taxable income.

Unfortunately, some people misinterpret the insights of the Laffer Curve. Politicians, for instance, tend to either pretend it doesn’t exist, or they embrace it with excessive zeal and assume all tax cuts “pay for themselves.”

Read the rest here.

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Steven M. Sears

U.S. stock prices seem supported by a “smart-money” put.

Like the Bernanke Put, and the Greenspan Put of yesteryear, the smart-money put can be relied on to prevent stocks from falling too far. A put option offsets declines when associated securities fall, by allowing the owner to sell—”put” in options jargon—them to someone at a preset price.

Unlike the Bernanke and Greenspan puts, the smart-money put is harder to quantify, but it clearly exists, even if it wasn’t minted by a central bank.

Read the rest here.

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Charles Rettig

On April 10, 2012 the Internal Revenue Service issued a reminder (IR-2012-45) that taxpayers unable to meet file their 2011 income tax return by the April 17, 2012 deadline, can obtain an automatic six-month tax-filing extension IF REQUESTED ON OR BEFORE APRIL 17, 2012.

 

The filing date for 2011 tax returns and extensions is April 17 because April 15 falls on a Sunday and Monday, April 16 is Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia — a local holiday unfamiliar to many Americans but, by law, District of Columbia holidays are treated like federal holidays when it comes to tax deadlines. As such, the due date for 2011 tax returns and extensions is Tuesday, April 17.

Extensions can be obtained through a paid tax preparer, by using commercially available tax-preparation software, by filing a paper IRS Form 4868 (available at irs.gov) or online thru the “Free File” link on IRS.gov (http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html ). Of the 10.5 million extension forms received by the IRS last year, about 4 million were filed electronically.

Read the rest here.

 

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Four of last week’s five daily trading sessions saw the Dow move by more than a hundred points. The wide fluctuations of the index reminded investors of the unsettling market volatility of last year. In the process, and after a wonderfully strong first quarter, questions multiplied as to whether stocks would again be subject to a mid-year correction.

By looking at the factors behind the recent volatility, including how it played out in different segments of the global markets, you will see that a big part of the answer depends on policymaking here and in Europe — a particularly uncomfortable situation for those who rightly believe that valuations and correlations should reflect underlying fundamentals.

The renewed volatility in stocks was due to conflicting signs of additional central bank liquidity support, both in Europe and the US. By providing time (and hope) for economic and financial fundamentals to heal properly, such support is seen as critical to sustain the recent rally in risk assets.

Yet, in listening to different voices here and across the Atlantic, equity investors come to different conclusions as to whether additional liquidity will indeed be forthcoming.

Read the rest here.

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David Carr

ON the last night of February, Arthur Sando was having a drink at the Brentwood Restaurant and Lounge in Los Angeles when a bearded silver-haired man took a seat next to him, ordered a glass of pinot noir and began typing into his BlackBerry.

Mr. Sando quickly realized he was sitting next to Andrew Breitbart, the conservative blogger and author, and the two began to chat. As with almost any encounter with Mr. Breitbart, the next 90 minutes between the former strangers was punctuated by laughs, some outrageous political assertions and repeated interruptions as Mr. Breitbart checked his smartphone.

“We talked politics, television, college and living in Los Angeles,” Mr. Sando said, adding that Mr. Breitbart had a single glass of wine during the conversation and seemed to be in both good spirits and good health. “He said that conversations like ours were why he liked to go to bars and talk with people who had different political beliefs.”

Mr. Sando paid his tab and left. Not long after, Mr. Breitbart, 43, settled his own bill and apparently headed to the nearby home he shared with his wife, Susie Bean Breitbart, and their four young children. Minutes after exiting the bar, he collapsed in front of a Starbucks like a “sack of potatoes,” one witness said. Paramedics were unable to revive him. Later, his father-in-law, the actor Orson Bean, said that Mr. Breitbart had a history of heart ailments. (A final coroner’s report, with the official cause of death, is expected this month.)

The following morning, Mr. Sando, a marketing executive from Los Angeles whose encounter with Mr. Breitbart was first reported in The Hollywood Reporter, grabbed his iPhone. The first thing he saw was a headline saying Mr. Breitbart had died.

“I thought it was a prank,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “I thought he might have been in the habit of sending fake headlines to people he had encountered with different political opinions.”

It was a common response, particularly among people who knew him well. After a lifetime of pranks, capers and so many people wishing him dead, it would have been just like Mr. Breitbart to stage his own demise.

“I kept thinking, he is going to pull something off here,” said Representative Louie Gohmert, Republican of Texas, at a memorial held at the Newseum in Washington three weeks later. “He’s going to find out who hates his guts and who loved him, and I kept wanting to hear back, ‘O.K., the gag’s up.’ ”

On the Web, there was a huge outpouring of both invective and grief. Dark, unsubstantiated theories that he was murdered mushroomed immediately, while 24 of his friends used the hashtag #DJBreitbart on Twitter to offer a playlist of his beloved ’80s music. His own Twitter account (which included more than 80 tweets sent on the day before his death) now sits as a frozen memorial.

In the days following the death of Mr. Breitbart, many of his admirers adopted a meme of “I am Breitbart,” and vowed to continue his work. But even though his Web site, run by his business partner and lifelong friend Larry Solov, is fully staffed and unveiled a redesign after his death, there could be no real replacement.

For good or ill (and most would say ill), no one did it like Mr. Breitbart.

Read the rest here.

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Full article

 

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Source

“The old adage “Sell in May and go away” was good guidance for stock markets last year.  The market peaked on April 29 and bottomed on October 3.  For a detailed discussion of this period and the subsequent bull-market recovery, see our new bookFrom Bear to Bull with ETFs.  The eBook (ten bucks) is now available onAmazon.com.  Paperback by month end and other channels of distribution like iBook and Nook are coming.  Please note that profits from this book will be donated to the Global Interdependence Center, www.interdependence.org.

History shows that ‘Sell in May and go away’ has applied when the Federal Reserve was in a tightening mode during the six-month span from May to November.  If the Fed was actively raising interest rates, withdrawing or constricting credit, imposing additional reserve requirements, or taking an action that was of a tightening mode, stock markets were usually punished in that six-month period.

When we did the study we examined what the Fed did, not what it said.  We used actual changes in the Federal Funds rate to determine whether the Fed was tightening, easing, or neutral.  Once the Fed took the interest rate to zero at the end of 2008, the historical data series lost its power for forecast purposes, since the Fed cannot take the rate below zero.  However, we believe the concept is valid even if the present measurement problem exists.

What happens in the May-November period when the Fed is not tightening?  That is a different matter.  Other factors tend to drive the stock markets.  Last year, the market tanked from a fear of recession, not tight money.

We examine this in our book and discuss what it means to discount a recession and then not get it.  As the book documents, investors who bought into the recession scare suffered.  Those who used sensitive economic outlook models to guide them and concluded it was a slowdown and not a recession have profited.  The book explains the down cycle (April 29-October 3 bear market) and the subsequent up cycle since the October 3 final selling climax (bull).  At Cumberland, a hat tip goes to our colleague, Bob Eisenbeis, for keeping us out of the recession forecast trap.  Bob, 1400 Cumberland separate account clients thank you.

What do we know about the Federal Reserve for the rest of 2012?

We know that the members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) are divided in their views.  Five of the twelve Federal Reserve Regional Bank Presidents have articulated concerns about additional quantitative easing (QE).  David Hale discussed this in detail in his recent economic commentary.

A few presidents favor additional QE.  They seem to be in the distinct minority.

Lastly, we know that the folks who drive the majority and, hence, the FOMC decisions are on hold.  One of them is the FOMC vice-chair and New York Federal Reserve Bank President, Bill Dudley.  Dudley’s position carries the only permanent regional-bank vote.  The other eleven regional bank presidents rotate, with only four voting at any time.

It is clear that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Board of Governors Vice-Chair Janet Yellen also favor a holding pattern.  They are not ready to do more, and they are not ready to withdraw any stimulus.  So when it comes to Fed policy, the best way to describe it is (1) a continuation of “Operation Twist” until June 30^th, and then (2) the Fed will be on hold, unless there is some negative shock.

Remember, Bernanke is willing to tolerate dissenting voters.  As a chairman, he has pressed forward with this policy approach when three of the ten voters opposed him.  As long as the five sitting Governors and Dudley are aligned, Bernanke starts with a majority vote in the FOMC.  The division of the remaining eleven presidents means he will probably get one or two or even three to join him.  Therefore, Bernanke will set the policy, all the Fed rhetoric notwithstanding.

“Sell in May and go away” is a difficult prescription to accept when the Fed is on hold and there is no recession.  The Fed has created a very large amount of excess reserves in the banking system and is maintaining the short-term interest rate near zero.  One cannot describe that as a tightening policy.

Even more important is to view the collective actions of the four large central banks.  They are the Federal Reserve (Fed), the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of England (BOE).  All of them are maintaining a near-zero interest rate policy, so the short-term interest rate on cash equivalents, whether denominated in dollars, yen, euros, or pounds, is the same throughout the world.

These four currencies combined represent approximately 85% of the capital markets of the world when you add to them those markets in which the currencies are linked to one of the G4.  For example, the Hong Kong dollar is linked to the US dollar.  The Swiss franc is linked to the euro.  Therefore, the capital markets of the world are driven by this near-zero short-term interest rate maintained by the collective G4 central banks.

The significance of the G4’s common policy is critical.  We will get to it, but first let us dissect the four banks.

At Cumberland, we track the combined G4 central bank balance sheets, their assets, their liabilities, and their aggregate size.  You can find this data on our website at    http://www.cumber.com/content/misc/G4_Charts.pdf  .

In that chart stack, you will find the aggregate of the G4 on top.  Then you will see the breakdown of each of the four banks’ assets and liabilities.  Note that the size of the collective G4 has set a new, all-time record high at a 9-trillion USD equivalent.  The driving force to raise the total to that collective number did not originate in the Federal Reserve; 9 trillion was reached with the help of the ECB and its recent monetary policy actions (LTRO).  It was also helped by the BOE.

In fact, the Fed’s balance sheet has actually declined by a slight amount.  The Fed is busy twisting the yield curve, but it is not expanding the size of its balance sheet.

The BOJ continues to be somewhat passive.  However, one can begin to expect that to change.  David Hale carefully noted the political construction in Japan that could lead to a more dovish monetary policy board.  We agree with Hale.  We think the BOJ is headed towards much more expansive central bank activity as it attempts to weaken the yen, fight deflation, and bring on some inflation, if it possibly can do it.  Please note that the GIC has a meeting planned in Tokyo in early December so we can discuss this issue in detail.  Call GIC for details, 215-238-0990.

We expect the size of the G4 central bank balance sheets to grow to $10 trillion before this unprecedented process is over.  Watch for changes in Japan to gauge the pace of G4 collective central balance sheet expansion.  The ECB will face extreme pressure to launch another round of LTRO.  Spain, Italy, Portugal debt pricing suggests this may come sooner, not later.

Remember, central banks have only this tool.  Worldwide, national fiscal policies are too austere and too extended to be of any value in the attempt to encourage risk taking and economic growth; it all falls on the central banks.  They have taken their rates to zero.  They have twisted the yield curves where they can.  All they have left is an expansion of QE in one form or another.  Summarize: Fed on hold, BOE and ECB expanding, Japan likely to expand, all four at zero interest rate policy (ZIRP).

By this historically unique policy, the central banks have also disoriented the clearing mechanism between and among currencies.  When four different currencies all pay a zero interest rate, the market has no way to anchor shorter-term arbitrage among them.  It is the interest-rate differentials among and between currencies that allow for forecasts of changes in the FX market.  Foreign exchange trading and the derivatives that hedge these transactions depend on these interest-rate differentials.

Another element is the carry trade.  Loosely interpreted, it means “I borrow in one currency at a very low interest rate.  I convert the currency, with some form of currency risk hedge in place, to some other currency, and then I deploy the other currency in some investment asset.”  We are now seeing some stock market exchange-traded funds that are designed to allow investing in a foreign market with a currency hedge, so that the investor can play a country’s stock portfolio without the currency risk.  More and more sophisticated instruments of this type are being used in global investment management and construction.  We use them at Cumberland.  Remember, at very low interest rates, the currency hedging costs are low because the interest rate differentials are so tight.

What this means is that the collective central bank expansion is very important.  It drives financial markets.  With the entire G4 at a zero interest rate boundary, they collectively continue to expand their balance sheets.  They acquire additional holdings of sovereign debt securities from the G4 member countries.  Thus, the Fed may be on hold, but global monetary policy is not on hold.  It is still easing.  Moreover, it is likely to be easing for some time, given the events in the world.

Under these circumstances, we believe ‘sell in May and go away’ will prove incorrect this time.  With worldwide monetary policy so stimulative, stock prices have an upward bias.  We believe that they will continue to have an upward bias as long as this policy continues to be expansive.  We expect that to be the case for many more months and perhaps several more years.

Bond markets are a different matter.  Bond markets try to foresee the time when this policy will change.  Bondholders are worried about rising interest rates if and when the collective policy eventually changes.  You see that in the changes in credit spreads and in the changes of interest-rate spreads among and between high-grade bonds.  We track the most important ones and update them weekly on our website.

The conclusion is this: Sell in May and go away. Nope.  Not this year.  There are 9 trillion reasons not to do it.

Caveat, caveat, and caveat:   Change your mind at once if the central banks stop expanding their balance sheets in this collective fashion.  Yes, move rapidly once you see signs of tightening.  To see it you have to observe the central banks moving away from the zero boundaries.  Otherwise, stay the “risk on” course, because financial assets will rise in price as long as the collective central banks remain as is.

As we have said before and will say again, at Cumberland, we could change our position rapidly – in one day, one week, one month, or one year.  Our ETF strategies allow us this flexibility.  The book will help explain it.

We are fully invested today and have been that way since the bull market started.  We believe the bull market has made only half of its move, which started on October 3.  Note that 3% to 7% corrections can happen at any time in ongoing bull markets.  We are in one right now.  They may be scary.  They are buying and reallocation opportunities.

From the longer-term view, we are in the most uncertain times for investors.  We are in uncharted waters when it comes to worldwide monetary policy, and we are dealing with sovereign debt issues of a monumental and challenging size and scope.  The chapters of the new academic textbooks are being written before our eyes.  Meanwhile, we stay in May.  There are 9 trillion reasons why.”

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Source

“Here’s something interesting that happened in options pits in Chicago today.

Dow Jones is reporting that at the CME Group about 95% of the independent floor traders (aka “locals”) staged a walkout boycotting pit-trading options of Eurodollar futures on Friday.

Eurodollar futures are the most actively traded interest rate product at the exchange, the report said.

Here’s why they’re ticked off [via Dow Jones’ Newswires] (emphasis added)

The protest follows a massive block options trade performed in Eurodollar futures on Thursday. Block trades are privately negotiated transactions performed off the trading floor, but cleared by the exchange, and reported minutes later on the CME website.

The locals were upset because they weren’t able to participate in the trade, brokers said.

We’re reaching out to our trader contacts in Chicago for more on this story.

“This has been going on for years,” one trader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Business Insider in a telephone interview.  “The pit traders aren’t privy to the information and that’s the biggest gripe.”

The problem, he explained, is block trades are not in real-time and that there’s a delay that lasts several minutes so “you are so behind the curve.”

“When you get blindsided or T-boned ‘What just traded? Sweet Jesus!’  The delay — minutes by minutes — people can lose a lot of money.”

He explained that it’s not a level playing field for the traders in a pit because it’s “not a transparent market.”

“What are they doing? They’re just patsies making markets.  This is not what open outcry markets are about.”

What’s more is the trader we spoke to said the Eurodollar is the reason it’s picking up steam today.

“The Eurodollar is the busiest pit with the most volume.  As much as traders bitched and moaned, now the Eurodollar with the media present really made a splash,” the trader told us.

Here’s something interesting we noticed. Two other traders we spoke to had similar comments about the locals’ actions today comparing floor traders to “dinosaurs.”

Here’s one response:

“Dumb? Dunno but this dinosaur left the tar pit a long time ago
Where r they going? Cog hill?”

Here’s another.

“I think it’s just a sign of the times that the floor trader is probably becoming a dinosaur,” an independent commodities trader told us.  “It’s the last bastion in the pit.  Option locals make money off the bid-ask.  In theory, if they manage positions they get paid on volume and when volume doesn’t come to the pit, their ability to make profit is hindered.  It’s a sign that the pit trader is rapidly becoming extinct.”

In the meantime, check out CNBC’s Rick Santelli discuss today’s protests on the “Santelli Exchange.”

 

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Source

“The latest Commitment of Traders reports covers the week through April 17.  It shows that the net short positions in the euro, yen and sterling futures grew, while the net long Canadian and Australian dollar and Mexican peso futures positions were trimmed.

There does appear to have been a shift in market sentiment as the second quarter gets under way.  The European debt crisis is threatening to re-emerge and Spanish credit default swaps made a new high at the end of last week.  European bank shares appear to be leading the correction of European equities.

While the real test of the underlying improvement in the US labor market is still to come (in the coming months, the seasonal adjustment increasingly becomes a head wind, and weekly initial jobless claims are stabilizing), the US cyclical expansion is continuing and the world’s largest economy is set to post the strongest growth among the high income countries.

The episodic increase in the European crisis and the relative out performance of the US economy underpins dollar sentiment and this has been reflected in the general net short euro positions that have been maintained since last September.   It was essentially cut in half in Feb-March period, but the latest CFTC data may  mark the beginning of the re-building of net short euro positions.

Euro: The net short speculative position swelled to by about 32k contracts to 101.4k.  This is the largest in about a month.  A small number of longs (almost 600 contracts) capitulated, while 21.3k contracts joined the shorts, which now stood at 140.6k as of April 17th.  What the commonly cited net figures do not capture is when the short-covering rally began, the speculator short euro futures position peaked near 203k.
Japanese yen:  The net short yen futures positions increased by 1k contracts to 66.1k. Both longs and shorts among the non-commercial market segment (which is understood to be speculators) were increased: 1.5k and 2.5k respectively.  By looking at the net position, one misses that the absolute short position is the largest in a month.

The yen has appreciated by almost 4.5% against the dollar since mid-March and yet the yen bears have not capitulated.  They may be trying to hold on until the BOJ meeting on April 26-27.  The yen bears may be placing too much significance on the possibility of new asset purchases by the BOJ (QE).  While  the Feb 14 decision to increase asset purchases by JPY10 trillion did help weaken the yen, but thee are other considerations.  Then it was a surprise.  The speculative positioning in the futures market were long yen.  The euro debt crisis was in a low ebb.

British pound:    The net short speculative position rose by about 10k contracts to 18.8k.  Ironically both long and shorts added to positions.  Longs rose by a little more than 500 contracts, while the short positions grew by 10.5k contracts.  At 48.6k short contracts, the speculative short position is the largest in a month.

Swiss franc: The Swiss franc is an exception to the growth of net short foreign currency futures positions among the majors.  The net short franc position was reduced to 9.9k from 14.7k.  Short positions were shaved by less than 100 contracts but now stand at their lowest level in 2 months.  Fewer players want to bet with the SNB apparently.  The long positions fell by 4.8k contracts, which is the smallest since the start of the year.

Canadian dollar:  The net long speculative Canadian dollar position was trimmed to by about 1.5k contracts to 28k.  Both long and short got out by roughly the same amount 9.3k and 7.8 contracts respectively.  The net position does not allow one to appreciate the extent of the decline in participation by speculators recently.  The absolute long positions is the smallest in two months and that absolute short position is the smallest since last August.

Australian dollar:  The net Australian long positions fell by 10k contracts and is the smallest of the year, thus far.  Longs were trimmed by about 6.2k contracts, but at 79.8k is still substantial.  The shorts (top pickers?) grew by 3.7k contracts to 40.4k.

Mexican peso: The net long speculative peso position fell 14.2k to 68.6k contracts.  Some 7.1k long positions were cut, throwing in the towel as the dollar headed to and then beyond the MXN13.00 level in the spot market.  There remained 84.6k contracts long the peso.  Shorts (bottom pickers, maybe momentum players) doubled the absolute short peso position to 16k contracts.  “

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Of the 1400 stores BBY will close 50 of them and pink slip 400 people to save $800 million. Smaller ‘mobile stores’ will open in replace of bigger box stores.

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The government is hoping for a final say on the necessity of bailouts by showing the taxpayers will make a profit from the programs that prevented banks and the auto industry from failing.

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You got to pay for your services yo….

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A gift to mortgage holders in Iceland has been granted….

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HOUSTON (CBS Houston) – The evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigations gathered against an alleged Galveston hacker didn’t come from a techno-chase through the expansive Internet. Instead, the FBI used the information embedded in a photograph of his girlfriend’s breasts.

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President Obama today released his 2011 federal income tax, with he and his wife reporting an adjusted gross income of $789,674. The Obamas paid $162,074 in total tax – an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5%. The Obamas also reported donating approximately 22% of their income to charity — $172,130.

President Obama has been making a big political push for the “Buffett Rule,” which would require millionaires to pay a minimum of 30% of their income in taxes. To illustrate the point, the president has pointed out that billionaire investor Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than does his secretary.

President Obama’s secretary, Anita Decker Breckenridge, makes $95,000 a year. White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage tells ABC News that Breckenridge “pays a slightly higher rate this year on her substantially lower income, which is exactly why we need to reform our tax code and ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share. ”

It should be noted that president would not be impacted by the Buffett Rule, though he would see his taxes go up if the so-called Bush tax cuts on higher income wage-earners were allowed to expire, as the president says he wants.

-Jake Tapper

Source

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I see no set of factors, in combination, that would take global production of crude oil higher in 2012, or next year, or thereafter.

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Posted by Carol Rose, On Liberty  April 12, 2012 05:00 PM

No evidence was presented in court directly linking him to a terrorist group. He never hatched a plot – indeed, he objected when a friend (who went on to become a government informer and has never been charged with anything) proposed plans to stage violent attacks within the United States. He never had a weapon. He did lie to the FBI. And he has just been sentenced by US District Court Judge George O’Toole to 17.5 years in a supermax prison on various material support to terrorism charges.

Over 220 of Mehanna’s supporters in an overflow room watched on a screen as prosecutor Aloke Chakravarty in his pre-sentencing remarks stressed the “gravity” of Mehanna’s offenses. Over a decade ago, he claimed, “this defendant began to radicalize” and to radicalize others to “visit violence” on Americans. Although he failed in his efforts to find a terrorist training camp when he visited Yemen in 2004, he found his niche, the prosecutor stated, serving as the “media wing” of al Qaeda, translating documents, and sharing videos.

“The impact of the harms created through that work is huge,” Chakravarty asserted.  “We don’t know how many have been radicalized…people around the world are consuming his work…The damage he has done will linger.”

The prosecutor went on at length about Mehanna’s “reticence to assist the government”  – that is, become an informant. He maintained that nothing is wrong with soliciting cooperation if it is necessary to keep the country safe.

Defense attorney Jay Carney countered that Tarek Mehanna was being punished for activity protected by the First Amendment, for translating documents freely available in Arabic on the Internet and for his refusal to be an informant. The government, Carney said, does not want people to be able to read the views that other people hold.  “This case goes further than any other in attacking speech protected by the First Amendment,” and involved important constitutional issues at every turn.

The attorney asked the judge to focus on “what the defendant did and did not do” – he went to Yemen for one week eight years ago. He refused to go to Iraq with the friend whom the government later enlisted as an informer. He was under close FBI scrutiny for more than eight years – if he was so dangerous, why did the FBI wait so long to arrest him?

When Tarek Mehanna personally addressed the court he described the moment when he was approached by two federal agents who said he could do things the easy way or the hard way: if he chose the easy way, he would never see the inside of a cell.

Mehanna then eloquently talked about the world view he adopted during his childhood when he avidly read Batman comics and then books like Uncle Tom’s Cabin and began to see the world in terms of the oppressor and the oppressed. He talked of learning about the struggles against slavery and for civil rights, and how impressed he was by Malcolm X and his transformation from a petty criminal to a devout Muslim.  It was this, he said, that made him look more deeply into Islam and become increasingly devout.

And then he began to look to what was happening to Muslims around the world. He was horrified by the suffering caused by the sanctions on Iraq and Secretary of State Albright’s comment that the death of half a million children because of the sanctions was “worth it.” Deeply angered by the “shock and awe” US invasion, he described how affected he was by atrocities committed by American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In his view, what the government had really put on trial was his belief that Muslims in other countries had the right to defend their own land from foreign invaders, including Americans. He thinks “one day America will change. One day people will look back with horror at how hundreds of thousands of Muslims were killed by American soldiers.” Meanwhile, he is the one who will go to prison as a “terrorist.”

The Mehanna case ruling and sentencing suggest that Muslims do not have the right to protected speech, and that “venting” can cost them the long years in prison spared the Hutaree militia.

Read the rest here.

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The case for the Buffett tax keeps eroding. When President Obama announced the idea, he said it would help “stabilize our debt and deficits over the next decade.” Then came the inconvenient revelation that the new 30% millionaire’s tax would raise only $46.7 billion over 10 years, and would leave about 99.5% of the deficit intact in 2013. It was a far cry from “stabilizing the debt.”

Now we learn that the Buffett tax the Senate is expected to vote on early next week will make the deficit worse. That’s because both Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats have made it clear that their new “fairness” tax is to offset the revenue loss from another provision related to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

That measure would exempt more than 20 million middle class Americans with incomes as low as $80,000 a year from getting nailed by the AMT. This year’s Obama budget clearly describes their intent: “The Buffett Rule should replace the Alternative Minimum Tax, which now burdens middle-class Americans rather than stopping the richest Americans from paying too little as was originally intended.”

The Joint Tax Committee—the official scoring referee on tax bills—calculates that the combination of AMT repeal for the middle class and the Buffett tax would add $793.3 billion to the debt over the next decade. As Mr. Obama has said, “This isn’t politics, this is math.”

The Buffett Tax Loss

It turns out this Obama proposal will cost federal revenue.

The Buffett tax is losing any serious rationale by the day. Mr. Obama’s position now is that we need a new fairness tax, because the old AMT fairness tax that was targeted at millionaires and billionaires isn’t raising much money from the Warren Buffetts of the world. Instead it’s siphoning income out of more and more nonmillionaires. So they argue it’s time for a new Buffett rule, that is almost identical to the old Buffett rule, and no doubt in time will have the same unintended consequences.

The Buffett rule itself may die, but the name will live on as a metaphor for pointless public policy.

Source

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Having a tattoo has lost its original meaning. Having a tattoo now has no meaning. Having a tattoo means that you have a tattoo.

While there is no longer any compelling reason to get a tattoo, there are several reasons not to:

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