tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-122750522011-11-27T17:13:21.692-07:00Author, columnist, and strategic planning consultant, Craig has been covered by The New York Times, USA Today, Business Week, Smart Money, ABC Network News, US News & World Report, CNBC, and national radio networks. He makes his home and a particularly prickly presence in Scottsdale, Arizona.Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.comBlogger3011100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-43274639985108804912009-07-26T14:49:00.001-07:002009-07-26T14:49:55.974-07:00

It is with deep regret that we inform the readers of the blog that Mark Yannone died on 17 July 2009. Pursuant to his wishes, there will be no memorial or service. Anyone wishing to send letters to the family may send them via email to cherieyannone@aol.com. All notes to the family will be delivered directly.

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-13953075793295267572009-07-13T16:33:00.001-07:002009-07-13T16:35:22.930-07:00

(Washington - 2013) The Obama administration's promises about the benefits of nationalizing the pizza industry have not materialized. Since the industry was nationalized three years ago, Americans are facing pizza shortages, pizzas in only one size and topping, and pizzas that taste like the cardboard box they come in.When announcing the pizza program in 2010, President [sic] Obama had promised

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-84211867412884476002009-07-12T16:16:00.003-07:002009-07-14T14:55:29.254-07:00

Your Excellency:This is your humble servant. I'm writing from my home in the Sonoran desert of Arizona, where it's 113 degrees outside and 82 degrees inside. I'm sitting here half-naked with the ceiling fan whirring so fast that papers are flying off my desk.It gives me solace, though, to know that you and Michelle probably have the thermostat set at a comfortable 72 degrees in that big white

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-28093688445987069932009-07-09T11:46:00.001-07:002009-07-09T11:49:44.259-07:00

The following is a fictional but realistic scenario of things to come.My 88-year-old mom needs surgery to extend her life and not live in pain. However, she is worried about spending part of her savings on the surgery instead of leaving the money for her grandson as part of her small estate. In a family meeting on the issue, I tell her to go ahead with the procedure, because, after all, she had

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-79324242168723445792009-07-08T17:05:00.001-07:002009-07-08T17:07:19.565-07:00

After writing two books and at least a thousand political essays and newspaper columns in favor of individual rights and in opposition to statism, collectivism, and militarism, I've learned from readers on the Left and Right that I'm a simpleton, a jerk, an ideologue, a peacenik, a warmonger, a utopian, an anarchist, and various kinds of excrement. Unfortunately, I haven't learned anything of

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-18522798909126742542009-07-04T15:25:00.001-07:002009-07-04T15:29:14.371-07:00

by Craig J. CantoniOnly 58 percent of Arizona high school students know the name of the ocean on the east coast of the country.And we think Americans can understand political philosophy and economics. Silly us. This explains the popularity of Obama, carbon restrictions, TV commercials, and the mass hysteria over the death of Michael Jackson.No doubt 98 percent know the titles of Jackson's

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-34831448426928496332009-06-23T13:10:00.000-07:002009-06-23T13:12:23.523-07:00

The above title is the title of a talk that I recently gave to an audience that was probably at the 90th percentile of education, intelligence, knowledge of history and current events, and wisdom that comes with age. Yet even that impressive audience had not previously seen the longstanding fiscal and economic trends that I presented with the help of slides.I'll summarize the sobering trends for

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-12454547212670138072009-06-20T12:39:00.002-07:002009-06-20T12:56:45.327-07:00

During his recent visit to Cairo, President [sic] Obama said that he was committed "to governments that reflect the will of the people." There, in a nutshell, is the problem with his thinking, as well as with the thinking of his predecessor, the thinking of almost all members of Congress and the Supreme Court, the thinking of most of the nation's intelligentsia and commentaria, and the thinking

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-32659134516084052472009-05-29T22:46:00.000-07:002009-05-29T22:48:06.342-07:00

Dear Hispanics:Ugh! I hate that word. No, not the word "dear." I'm referring to the word "Hispanics."I know you very well. You see, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I lived among Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans in the barrio, attended a university with probably the largest percent of Mexican nationals and Mexican Americans in the nation, served alongside Mexican Americans in the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-30523317060321110682009-05-28T04:08:00.000-07:002009-05-28T04:10:18.456-07:00

The political debate in America is essentially a debate between good and evil. It goes like this:Democrats claim that George W. Bush, Republicans, and conservatives are evil capitalists, jingoists, militarists, and racists. The story line is that these evildoers want to incinerate other nations, discriminate against brown and black people, torture anyone whose religious compass points towards

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-74316261553068774472009-05-22T20:12:00.001-07:002009-05-22T20:15:03.989-07:00

On the May 21 broadcast of the PBS Nightly Business Report, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) espoused the party line of the Democrat Party, which is identical to the party line of the Republican Party, except that Democrats use different burglary tools than Republicans and fence the loot through different dealers in stolen goods.Reaching into his burglary kit of collectivist sophistry and

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-53336270109906930612009-05-15T13:47:00.003-07:002009-05-15T17:16:45.546-07:00

It was sophistic, fatuous, platitudinous, inane, hypocritical, and frightening. Yet it was met with thunderous applause and cheers by the huge crowd. It instantly brought to mind the 1930s newsreels of starry-eyed German youth with their individuality and independent thinking discarded and with their shovels at the ready to follow the leader in service to the collective.What was it? It was

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-56667592785139936142009-05-14T16:21:00.000-07:002009-05-14T16:23:14.918-07:00

Not only is President [sic] Barack Obama articulate, charismatic, hip, unflappable, seemingly tolerant of opposing views, and blessed with a charming, toothy smile, but he is also a genius. In other words, he is everything that his predecessor, President Dim Bulb, wasn't.An example of Obama's genius is his plan for the government to take over the student loan business and give a free college

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-37617836103349060292009-05-12T00:18:00.001-07:002009-05-12T00:21:08.172-07:00

I keep reducing my television viewing. The first to be clicked off years ago was network news. Next was 60 Minutes. Then local news. Now I'm down to watching golf tournaments, although I don't play golf.The same with reading material. The first to go were Newsweek and Time. Next was the New York Times. Then I even stopped reading the local daily newspaper.As my reading and watching of the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-24850501378521703892009-04-29T06:40:00.000-07:002009-04-29T06:41:56.446-07:00

Their offices are in the marble Beaux Arts-style Federal Reserve Board building in Washington, in the granite Greek-Revival Treasury building in Washington, in the imposing and fortress-like Romanesque-Revival Federal Reserve building in New York City, and in the soaring glass towers of major banks.From these impressive buildings, the masters of the financial universe have had a front-row seat on

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-28102032072009315302009-04-22T22:00:00.000-07:002009-04-22T22:01:18.841-07:00

President [sic] Obama has been on a world atonement tour in which he has apologized for the sins of America and Americans while absolving himself of any sins, as if he had been born in another country and had never swum in the cesspool of Illinois politics. Other leaders have been trying to outdo him this week in urinating on one's own people. To wit:Influential descendants of the Mayans and

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-58649347142869715692009-04-18T19:59:00.000-07:002009-04-18T20:00:11.640-07:00

The tea party demonstrators have a lot in common with the anti-war demonstrators of the 1960s. They also have a lot that is not in common.The anti-war demonstrators were clubbed by Chicago police in Grant Park and shot by the National Guard at Kent state. One even immolated himself outside of the Pentagon office of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, an amoral, greasy-haired weasel from the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-82167130483336098762009-04-17T19:35:00.000-07:002009-04-17T19:37:32.036-07:00

In 1872 Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. wrote, "A wise man recognizes the convenience of a general statement, but he bows to the authority of a particular fact."If you're wise and not a partisan imbecile, you might want to bow to the following facts, or at least read them. They are facts on how the United States compares to other industrialized countries in selected areas. They are important facts to

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-38845528276716409892009-04-15T23:38:00.000-07:002009-04-16T00:14:36.969-07:00

I didn't attend the tea party today in my hometown of Phoenix, but I was there in spirit and imagined the following interviews with several partygoers.Here is my imaginary question to an imaginary partygoer who had an AARP pin in his lapel: "One way to reduce taxes is to cut Social Security and Medicare and not bequeath $65 trillion in unpaid entitlement bills to our children and grandchildren.

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-73048336728362005982009-04-09T07:17:00.000-07:002009-04-09T07:18:30.551-07:00

It's far from being the worst injustice that governments have inflicted on their subjects throughout history, but it is symbolic of what America has become: a kleptocracy, and a stupid, suicidal one at that. I'm referring to the $4,130 that my son, a high school senior, has to pay in taxes on April 15 to the federal kleptocracy, which will pass the loot to assorted moochers, who pay little or

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-71627842394446648012009-04-03T20:28:00.000-07:002009-04-03T20:29:22.930-07:00

Below is a final exam for liberals, conservatives, and libertarians that will test their core beliefs about immigration, multiculturalism, diversity, anarchy, and gun bans. Warning: This is very politically incorrect. It's also factual. In other words, it meets the mainstream media's two conditions for keeping the information from the American public.1. What part of the world has the highest

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-35052312594397757572009-03-27T21:24:00.001-07:002009-03-27T21:41:08.597-07:00

Hallelujah! After a two-year ordeal, my son has picked a college. No more college tours conducted by coeds with identical spiels and worldviews, no more sitting through infuriating and prejudicial presentations on diversity, no more wasted hours studying the Princeton Review and other college guides, no more SAT-prep expenses, no more days spent completing mind-numbing applications and

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-33153747151364921462009-03-25T20:24:00.002-07:002009-03-25T20:26:44.032-07:00

Americans and their government have gorged on credit and borrowed from future generations for decades. It will take decades to pay off the debts, either through higher taxes, the hidden taxes of inflation and the debasement of the dollar, the government defaulting on its debts, the government reneging on its promises of pensions and medical care, or some combination of these ugly options.

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-34529472892793831382009-03-24T16:16:00.000-07:002009-03-24T16:17:23.820-07:00

It's a little-known fact that in their prior lives, Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernancke, and Barack Obama were in charge of the Dutch economy during the tulip bubble, or mania, of 1634-36.At the height of the bubble, when the equivalent of 12 acres of land and buildings was being exchanged for one tulip bulb, the dynamic trio in Gucci wooden shoes declared that it would be bad for the Dutch economy

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-66576695857934907182009-03-20T22:34:00.002-07:002009-03-22T01:14:47.870-07:00

Hypocrisy, double standards, and hubris have existed in politics ever since humans invented hierarchies and allowed sub-humans like Barney Frank to rule over them. As far back as 413 BC, Euripides wrote, "Often a noble face hides filthy ways."Well, there is nothing noble about the face of Frank or the faces of Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, and Obama. Nor was there anything noble about the faces of Bush,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-32855362775382264422009-03-18T13:08:00.002-07:002009-03-19T20:07:26.623-07:00

Continuing with his new policy and legal theory that contracts can be voided with greedy people who take government money, President [sic] Obama announced today that Social Security and Medicare benefits will be suspended until the unfunded liabilities for both programs are paid in full by current retirees.He spoke at the Martin Luther King/Caesar Chavez/Che Guevara High School near the White

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-11111013440782798352009-03-17T11:24:00.002-07:002009-03-17T11:29:04.391-07:00

Oooo, you gotta love it when the serfs get riled up and remind our overlords that their apathy isn't as unlimited as it seems. Ohhh, you gotta worry when their justifiable anger is directed at the wrong people.The obnoxious derivative traders at AIG are the wrong people, although it wouldn't displease me to see their heads on pikes -- figuratively speaking, of course.The pontificating, po-faced,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-13837792223058054382009-03-14T07:01:00.000-07:002009-03-14T07:02:31.588-07:00

The media are reporting that Americans have lost trillions in home equity. They need a lesson in finance, so I'm obliging with the personal case study below.Case study: In 1992, my wife and I bought our home in Scottsdale, Arizona, for $78 per square foot. If that price is adjusted for inflation between then and now, it comes to $117 per square foot in today's money. At the peak of the real

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-43392281867251878412009-03-11T13:23:00.001-07:002009-03-11T13:27:41.473-07:00

Dear Thinkers:Below is a June 6, 2003, Bloomberg article in which various "experts" at Fannie Mae, the Fed, the federal government, and academia predicted that there wouldn't be a housing bubble. Only the Economist magazine got it right. (To its credit, the Wall Street Journal had consistently warned about the moral hazard of Fannie Mae.)In their past lives in Holland in 1634, the experts had

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-7117303865529893382009-03-11T01:03:00.000-07:002009-03-11T01:04:24.777-07:00

Mr. Bigshot's former house is in foreclosure and vacant. Weeds and leaves grace the driveway instead of his two gargantuan Hummers with the gigantic chrome wheels. The weeds and leaves are an improvement.Who is Mr. Bigshot? He is a guy with all of the trappings of success that credit can buy, but he has had very little success, due to looking and behaving like an immature dope all of his

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-76966353864924133032009-03-08T01:56:00.001-07:002009-03-08T01:58:02.610-07:00

A new species has been found in North America. Its scientific name is Stupido-Erudio americanus, and its common name is stupid-educated Americans.They tend to congregate along the Pacific coast, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts, and in big cities across the land, especially where neighborhoods have been gentrified, where trendy restaurants serve pretty and tiny haute cuisine, where trendy

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-81939074371548062892009-03-05T11:14:00.002-07:002009-03-05T12:06:20.610-07:00

March 5, 2009To: Treasury Secretary Timmy GeitnerFr: Craig J. Cantonicc: Barack ObamaHey, Timmy: You, your boss, and your IRS agents are chasing me, but none of you will be able to catch me, because the faster all of you go, the slower I'll go.I'm not referring to a foot race. I'm referring to slowing down my work and taxes. No, I'm not cheating on my taxes as you did. What I'm saying is

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-16783881436754620252009-03-02T21:00:00.001-07:002009-03-02T21:02:00.408-07:00

Dear Lilbigy659:Thanks for your email on the "10 really incredible things about Obama's plan." I don't know you and don't know how you got my email address, but I found your email to be fascinating.I'll comment on the 10 things momentarily, but, first I'll comment on the sources you cited at the end of your email. Most of the sources were from www.moveon.org, and a few were from the New York

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-7325868245743929612009-03-02T11:32:00.003-07:002009-03-02T21:03:43.852-07:00

Regarding "A Republican Road to Economic Recovery," by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI): Trusting the economy to Republicans instead of Democrats is akin to trusting banks to Clyde Barrow instead of Bonnie Parker. Both of these members of the bank-robbing duo known as Bonnie & Clyde proved that they were untrustworthy scoundrels. Similarly, both Democrat and Republican members of Congress have

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-48242597286098868402009-02-27T10:19:00.001-07:002009-02-27T10:21:21.892-07:00

My family's story is ordinary, Mr. President. That's what makes what you're doing to it so extraordinary -- so mean-spirited, so heavy-handed, and so un-American.Let me speak in the language of my working-class roots: You are pissing on the dreams, aspirations, and values of three generations of the Cantoni clan, starting with my grandpa, moving to my dad, and now to me. That pisses me off so

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-31146675745806508572009-02-26T18:59:00.001-07:002009-02-26T19:00:47.528-07:00

During the early years of his presidency and the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt erratically jumped from one utopian idea to the next, like a grasshopper on speed, often contradicting a previous idea with a new idea, thus keeping his administration, Congress, business, the stock market, and foreign governments in a state of uncertainty of what was coming next. Then, when he became

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-32617404434561967382009-02-24T11:45:00.000-07:002009-02-24T11:47:11.495-07:00

Yesterday, President [sic] Barack Obama pleased Saul Alinsky and his other socialist programmers. He announced that he was going to embrace pay-go and close the federal deficit by the end of his first term.Wait, isn't that something that should please fiscal conservatives?Yes, but only if they're brain-dead. (After eight years of George W. Bush, that may be the case.)You see, BO has put a

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-21038545517835709912009-02-24T04:18:00.002-07:002009-02-24T04:21:50.203-07:00

Being slow on the uptake, it's taken me six decades to become wise about human nature, politics, and government. To save you the embarrassment of taking that long to acquire wisdom, I offer you the following three bits o' wisdom.Bit o' Wisdom 1: Human genes haven't changed because we now wear jeans.We smell better and have less hair, but other than that we're the same as hirsute

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-53810333259743540222009-02-22T03:29:00.000-07:002009-02-22T03:30:15.688-07:00

Humor is a funny thing. George W. Bush was probably smarter than he looked and talked, but he wasn't funny. Barack Obama is clearly not as smart as he looks and talks, but he's hilarious.When a nation has declined into insolvency, it's good to have a funny president to keep the nation's spirits high. My kinfolk in Italy learned this long ago. They keep electing clownish presidents for

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-89204760369106873392009-02-20T19:10:00.000-07:002009-02-20T19:11:36.263-07:00

President [sic] Obama spoke this week at Dobson High School in Mesa, Arizona. Between Mesa and my home in Scottsdale is the Salt River-Pima Indian Community, which has two thriving casinos, where the huge parking lots are full day and night, and where retirees arrive on buses to spend their monthly Social Security checks a quarter at a time in slot machines. A 15-story hotel is being built next

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-64377338383645050642009-02-18T03:21:00.000-07:002009-02-18T03:22:36.378-07:00

The Treasury Department has written an obituary of the United States. You've probably not heard anything about it, because the mainstream media has been too busy covering the political game in Washington to read the obituary and thus understand that it's all over for the nation, except for the burial of the rotting, maggot-infected body politic.The obituary is the 2008 Financial Report of the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-4239860554600534582009-02-15T07:16:00.001-07:002009-02-15T07:16:50.574-07:00

It had been five years since Winston had been to the doctor. The last time was in January 2009, the month before the Stimulus Bill was passed.Although he was doubled over in pain from whatever ailed his digestive tract, Winston spent two hours standing on a packed public bus to get to the doctor's office. He could no longer afford gas for his car, because gas was selling for $8 a gallon, due to

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-10895877525756021662009-02-14T02:41:00.001-07:002009-02-14T03:02:41.043-07:00

You've probably seen the news coverage of House of Representative members grilling Wall Street executives about their extravagant spending while taking public money. You might not have seen the subsequent grilling of Tom, Dick, and Harry by the House Financial Services Committee. I've obtained a transcript of the hearing, and here are excerpts:Rep. Barney Frank: The next witness before the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-7234881671636230932009-02-11T11:46:00.002-07:002009-02-11T12:07:12.806-07:00

Statues of the author of the following should be erected outside the U.S. Capitol, the New York Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the homes of Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd. The statues would serve as a daily reminder to the fools in those buildings of what happens when they ignore history.Do you know who wrote the following?New homes were built in every

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-80824295539072502562009-02-10T07:20:00.001-07:002009-02-10T07:27:39.615-07:00

It is dawning on the American public that the system is rigged against them. Their anger, disillusionment, and frustration are palpable. Unfortunately, they are raging against everyone but the people most responsible for today's economic crisis: themselves.Memo to the masses: You were given a constitutional republic, but you traded it for a majority-rule kleptocracy. Stated differently, you

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-4050602967246394792009-02-07T08:32:00.000-07:002009-02-07T08:33:30.964-07:00

Before Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination for Health and Human Services Secretary, the trained seals in the American media were barking and clapping their flippers in unison that he was eminently qualified for the cabinet post, having been fed this dead mackerel by White House propagandists.In turn, the American public, having been lobotomized long ago by government schools, leftist universities

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-561667273533425042009-02-03T20:50:00.002-07:002009-02-03T20:53:51.435-07:00

Dear Larry Summers et al.:You and the rest of Barack Obama's economic team graduated at the top of your classes at Ivy League schools and have been operating the nation's economic buttons and levers for years at the top of government. (You've done a great job, by the way.) Other than a couple of college economics courses and some seminars, I'm self-taught in economics and thus know about one

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-45971026864453941662009-01-26T06:33:00.001-07:002009-01-26T06:35:07.947-07:00

There is a road called the Government Road. Let's take it and see where it goes.The road begins in a town called Anarchy, a town in which life, liberty, and property are at the mercy of roving bands of marauders. Good, decent, hardworking people left Anarchy as soon as Government Road was built.Eventually the people reached a bright, shining city on a hill. It was the City of Republic, which

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-81431778535045133302009-01-23T20:04:00.000-07:002009-01-23T20:06:14.138-07:00

I must be living in a parallel universe to those who rant, rail, and rent their garments over the imaginary failures of free markets and capitalism.Wherever I shop, the merchant provides what I want at the price, quality, and service that I want. If a merchant doesn't provide what I want, I shop elsewhere. Those who shop in the other universe must have a different experience. Maybe their

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-82503244735035304772009-01-22T16:08:00.001-07:002009-01-22T16:10:34.914-07:00

January 22, 2009 Dear Omnipotent and Omniscient One: An acquaintance of mine is an acolyte of yours and believes that you're actually going to slash the military-industrial complex. He has been nagging me to go to www.change.gov and send you, President Ooo, my ideas for changing the nation, as you've directed the masses to do. As you can see from my disrespect, I don't handle authority or

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-67498740378601290952009-01-15T12:43:00.001-07:002009-01-15T12:48:12.216-07:00

For 38 years, I've proudly kept them in a trunk in my house. I'm referring to my captain's bars, my cross-cannon insignia from Army Artillery, my old Army uniforms, my ribbons, my commissioning papers, my Distinguished Military Graduate certificate from college, and other memorabilia from my service to the country. It's time to put them somewhere else.Sorry for being crude, but maybe Nancy

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-28390902722975565552009-01-15T10:44:00.002-07:002009-01-15T10:47:39.383-07:00

You might know the horrible socioeconomic statistics about inner-city African Americans. Here's a refresher:Blacks commit almost half the murders in the nation, and most of these are by males, 14 to 24 years old, a segment that makes up only 1.2 percent of the nation's population.Although they comprise less than 13 percent of the population, blacks account for about half of Americans with AIDS.

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-65125306745698827782009-01-08T13:39:00.000-07:002009-01-08T13:41:06.417-07:00

The adoring fans of Barack Obama have come up with a new National Anthem. It's the song by John Paul Young, "Love Is in the Air." Here are the first two stanzas:Love is in the airEverywhere I look aroundLove is in the airEvery sight and every soundAnd I don't know if I'm being foolishDon't know if I'm being wiseBut it's something that I must believe inAnd it's there when I look in Obama's

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-88763874243140651312009-01-05T15:05:00.002-07:002009-01-05T15:10:13.249-07:00

M E M O R A N D U MTo: Subsidy seekers, rent seekers, bailout seekers, moochers, busybodies, scolds, nannies, egalitarians, collectivists, mercantilists, corporatists, utilitarians, nationalists, central planners, race mongers, war mongers, left wingers, right wingers, progressives, contemporary liberals, neoconservatives, and other statistsFrom: Classical liberals (aka libertarians)Dear Fellow

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-51220336896709730102008-12-27T14:45:00.008-07:002008-12-27T15:06:07.843-07:00

You've probably heard about the graph shaped like a hockey stick that purportedly showed a man-caused rise in global temperature. The graph was later debunked and is still the subject of a raging debate among scientists and pseudo scientists.Contrary to that graph, there isn't any debate about the hockey-stick graph on the right. It's an inflation-adjusted graph of home prices from 1891 to 2006

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-4455210365080914252008-12-23T20:16:00.001-07:002008-12-23T20:18:21.173-07:00

On December 22, the Public Baloney System, PBS, had a chirpy segment about Barack Obama's plans for massive public works. Masquerading as a balanced presentation of the issue, it was actually another example of the media faithful worshipping at the altar of their new high priest.I expect to turn on the mainstream news someday and see a goat being sacrificed in Obama's honor.These are the same

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-16677862274000019712008-12-23T18:10:00.002-07:002008-12-23T18:41:26.166-07:00

The fourth edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines "chump change" as "a relatively small or insignificant amount of money." Here's my definition: the phony change that presidential candidates sell to chumps to get their votes.For example, I voted for George W. Bush in 2000, believing his sales pitch about changing the country back to limited government and back to minding our

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-301703831737065372008-12-18T02:08:00.002-07:002008-12-18T02:11:13.940-07:00

If you're tired of bad news, the graphs and charts below should lift your spirits. They show encouraging economic trends in the nation.At first glance you might think that the trends portend disaster. But that can't be true, because if it were true, Americans never would have voted for Barack Obama, who will accelerate the trends faster than a Ferrari goes from zero to 60, fueled by his plans for

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-60946049322092071102008-12-13T15:08:00.000-07:002008-12-13T15:09:18.395-07:00

I feel so stupid. Maybe I am stupid. Yes, that's it: I'm stupid.You're smart, so please explain something to me.First, some background: A Wall Street crook by the name of Bernard Madoff was led away in handcuffs the other day for running a Ponzi scheme that bilked tens of billions from well-off adults who were seeking suspiciously high returns. The Wall Street Journal said it could prove to be

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-24768038093261582272008-12-12T10:46:00.001-07:002008-12-12T10:48:45.321-07:00

Thinking of reading a book? Thinking of giving someone a book for Christmas? Thinking of encouraging your children to read books?DON'T DO IT WITHOUT READING THIS FIRST!Books are bad for one's mental health, especially if the books are on economics, history, and philosophy. I know, because I'm a raving lunatic from reading such books for most of my life.To clarify, not all books on economics,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-21470826222719796812008-11-26T09:23:00.003-07:002008-11-26T10:02:28.218-07:00

Joining with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, President-elect Barack Obama has announced new hope and change for alcoholics."The federal government is going to give alcoholics all of the liquor they want," said Obama yesterday from his president-elect office, standing behind a lectern emblazoned with his president-elect seal of office. In a demonstration of bipartisan cooperation, a red-nosed

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-21302521879933969612008-11-20T15:24:00.003-07:002008-11-20T17:12:00.493-07:00

Scottsdale Republic asks: Should Scottsdale's city election continue to be held in the fall, or changed back to spring?Craig Cantoni replies: The question should be put to those who really run the city: developers, ASU President Michael Crow, the Scottsdale Chamber of Commerce, car dealers, and other subsidy seekers. But I'll answer the question anyway, by pretending that voting actually

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-26842058107379780192008-11-05T15:31:00.001-07:002008-11-05T15:33:23.367-07:00

Are you in the mainstream of American thinking? Do you have what it takes to be a member of Congress, president of the United States, reporter, pundit, K-12 teacher, college professor, or other trusted influencer or leader? Do you have the proper view of government, the economy, and other subjects?To find out, take the following 10-question test.Good luck!Question 1Business profits average

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-47218339093570196782008-10-31T00:25:00.000-07:002008-10-31T00:26:33.472-07:00

It's come to this. It had to come to this. But it's still frightening that it's come to this.We've now reached the point in our nation's history where tens of thousands of adoring fans of Barack Obama show up at his rallies to pay homage to coercion and to ask for even more of it. In a case of mass cognitive dissonance, they hate George W. Bush for the very same trait that they adore in their

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-59356631809965521222008-10-28T11:26:00.001-07:002008-10-28T11:36:42.730-07:00

As much as Americans make fun of the French, or Frogs, we've been following in their amphibian-like footsteps for over 200 years.For example, France came to our rescue during the American Revolution, and we later returned the favor by coming to France's rescue in the Second World War. France had a colonial empire, and we later had one of our own, albeit on a much smaller scale. France tired of

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-87104286592854446492008-10-24T21:57:00.000-07:002008-10-24T22:00:17.441-07:00

The October 22, 2008, edition of the Wall Street Journal carried a story about foreclosures in a small California town 80 miles from Silicon Valley. As is almost always the case in human-interest stories about the housing collapse, the foreclosed borrowers described in the article had gorged on credit like hogs gorging on slop.It's very difficult to feel sorry for the hogs but very easy to be

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-58896566116349941902008-10-22T16:48:00.001-07:002008-10-22T16:50:10.978-07:00

In 1961, Barack Obama was born to a black father and white mother in Hawaii. Two years later, in my junior year of high school, I began working as the only white (actually, olive) on a black janitorial, porter and kitchen staff of an exclusive country club in a wealthy St. Louis suburb on the other side of the tracks from my working-class neighborhood.The first day on the job, my black boss told

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-79623910137073326082008-10-21T20:11:00.000-07:002008-10-21T20:12:14.755-07:00

I'm ignorant of a lot of stuff, including how to perform surgery. That's why I can't get a license to practice surgery on my fellow citizens.Unfortunately, my fellow citizens practice economics on me, although most are ignorant in economics. In fact, they have a license from the government to go to the polls and cause great harm to me, to others, and to themselves, by voting for politicians who

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-83346549510151394052008-10-19T03:01:00.001-07:002008-10-19T03:03:39.258-07:00

Imagine if Barack Obama were running on a platform of confiscating 75 percent of the income of Chinese Americans as punishment for being too studious. Also imagine if John McCain were running on a platform of confiscating 60 percent of the income of East-Indian Americans as punishment for being too industrious.Would you vote for either of them?I assume that you'd say no, because you'd find both

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-33558563313138692052008-10-16T20:11:00.001-07:002008-10-16T20:14:09.858-07:00

Barack Obama might have learned his ideology from the likes of Reverend Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, but he owes his style to another Chicagoan, Phil Donahue, the left-liberal who started the daytime TV genre of the warm, sensitive, therapeutic talk-show host. His show ran from 1970 to 1996 and earned an Emmy despite its vacuity.Daytime TV is a large Lonely Hearts Club with about 40 million

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-43835772022764256592008-10-04T16:58:00.002-07:002008-10-04T17:02:44.056-07:00

Ho-ho-ho! I'm in a jolly mood today, because I finally found someone who is qualified to be president. There is hope for liberty.I heard him speak last night to an enthralled audience.He understands tyranny because he lived under it for three-fourths of his life. He has a proven record of reforming government and achieving economic prosperity and liberty. He is an economist by trade and thus

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-5692894683475090622008-10-01T09:45:00.002-07:002008-10-01T10:06:27.120-07:00

Yellow journalism has been reborn. A century after newspaper sensationalism was given a name, the pathetic press is coughing up disgusting yellow phlegm about Wall Street sticking it to Main Street.Contrary to what the yellow journalists say, the villain in today's economic crisis is not Wall Street. It is my street and probably your street.For example, up the street from my family's house is

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-25990812108316481852008-09-29T04:45:00.000-07:002008-09-29T04:46:27.388-07:00

"Are you going to watch the debate between Obama and McCain?" my wife asked me last night. "No," I responded, "why would I watch a glib, smart Marxist debate a dimwitted progressive/militarist about the best way to destroy the country?""I'll miss you," she said sweetly as she took her Paulaner Hefe-Weizen beer upstairs to our second family room.Later, she came downstairs, kissed me on the cheek,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-27051325651769064982008-09-28T23:12:00.001-07:002008-09-29T00:17:57.030-07:00

The FBI announced this week that it is investigating whether there was wrongdoing behind the mortgage meltdown and subsequent economic crises.Then why didn't we see hundreds of FBI agents leave the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C., and walk a few blocks to the Dirksen Senate Office Building, the Hart Senate Office Building, the Cannon House Office Building, the Longworth House Office

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-86811624519408480642008-09-20T04:47:00.004-07:002008-09-21T17:27:17.835-07:00

I've been invited to a hoity-toity dinner affair put on by a conservative think tank. After the keynote speaker has spoken, the vice-presidential debate will be broadcast live to the guests. I won't be staying for the debate. Why? Because Barack Obama, John McCain, Joe Biden, and Sarah Palin keep giving identical speeches. If you don't believe me, below are the recent speeches of the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-28526798046935545422008-09-18T11:13:00.001-07:002008-09-18T12:06:57.577-07:00

Assumptions are powerful. Two faulty ones have brought us to the edge of another Great Depression:1. That home ownership is good for everyone.2. That home prices always go up.In fact, many people are better off renting than carrying a mortgage, and home prices have declined in 52 of the last 100 years.The government, the media, and, of course, the real estate industry perpetuated the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-55327757406374187172008-09-04T22:12:00.000-07:002008-09-04T22:13:46.038-07:00

It's bizarre. A pink donkey was running around and eating the bunting at the Democrat convention, and a pink elephant was running around and fouling the floor at the Republican convention. But no one acknowledged seeing them -- not the candidates, the delegates, or the media.It's understandable that Barack, Joe, John, and Sarah ignored them. But the media? Why would reporters and pundits

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-34962619636096513532008-08-29T05:56:00.003-07:002008-08-29T06:00:30.236-07:00

Dear Democrats:Not to be nosy, but did you watch the Democrat convention or did you watch Andy Griffith reruns instead? The reason I'm asking is that I watched Sheriff Taylor, Aunt Bee, Opie, Goober, Barney, and the rest of the Mayberry characters instead of the convention. In fact, ever since Senators Obama and McCain announced their candidacy long, long ago, I haven't watched more than 10

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-27768082438524903322008-08-23T04:32:00.002-07:002008-08-23T04:36:33.261-07:00

An old adage says that if you find yourself in a hole, quit digging. So, my question for you, my fellow Americans, is why do you continue digging, and, worse, why are you thinking of electing another steam shovel to the presidency?What are you digging? You're digging not only the nation's financial grave but also your own. That's not hyperbole. Historians are already chiseling a tombstone

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-64196629161164695482008-08-20T22:02:00.000-07:002008-08-20T22:04:06.399-07:00

Barack Obama and John McCain were recently asked in a televised debate whether teachers should be paid more. Upon hearing the question, 200 million voting-age Americans cooed, "Ooo, great question," and then they vigorously nodded their heads in the affirmative that teachers should be paid more. The remaining 20 million voting-age Americans yelled at the TV in disgust, "What a stupid question!"

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-57073198110499177492008-08-15T22:20:00.001-07:002008-08-15T22:20:52.508-07:00

Remember me, big shot? You came to my office years ago to take a hardship withdrawal from your 401(k) plan for a down payment on a house, in accordance with IRS rules. But both of us knew that you had already borrowed money for the down payment and were actually going to use the 401(k) proceeds to buy an expensive BMW. When you walked out of my office, I shook my head in bewilderment,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-65005852905956081612008-08-15T01:39:00.001-07:002008-08-15T01:40:51.962-07:00

Dear Reporters and Editors:You're in the word business, right? Words have meanings, right? You're supposed to be a watchdog over government, right?Don't take this the wrong way, but if you worked for me, I'd fire your ass for incompetence. No probation, no severance, no farewell party. Just collect your things and leave the premises.You can give my name as a reference to prospective employers

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-11135639058437141852008-08-12T22:07:00.000-07:002008-08-12T22:08:09.616-07:00

This is scary stuff. All of the parents have disappeared from Coshocton, Ohio. They must have been abducted by aliens.Fortunately, their children were left behind. They are in the care of South Lawn Elementary School, a public school in Coshocton. A researcher from Stanford University is helping with their care. Most of the children are well-fed, so the care must be excellent. In fact, they

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-45506618413347996832008-08-12T03:31:00.000-07:002008-08-12T03:32:44.066-07:00

In all of the hype over the Olympics, perhaps the most hyperbolic was a TV commentator who said that the current Olympiad is the most important event ever to happen in China. Wow, that would make it more important than China burning its fleet and turning inward, more important than Western imperialism in China, more important than the Boxer Rebellion, more important than the Japanese occupation,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-31978357901583930622008-08-06T14:24:00.001-07:002008-08-06T14:26:59.081-07:00

by Thomas PaineEdited by Craig J. CantoniAugust 6, 2008Editor's Note: As every high school student should know, Thomas Paine established the moral and political case for the American Revolution in his pamphlet, Common Sense, which was written in the vernacular of the common man of his time. It sold 500,000 copies the first year. Adjusted for population, that would be equivalent to 60 million

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-54654440977716115912008-08-04T13:18:00.001-07:002008-08-04T13:18:55.632-07:00

Yesterday, two loyal readers of my columns stopped my wife and me on one of our walks to discuss politics. They suggested that I write a column advocating the idea of giving American left-liberals like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi one of the 50 states to turn into a socialist utopia.I responded that such a large-scale political experiment has already been done, but I wasn't referring to the Soviet

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-4683286275460929762008-08-01T11:00:00.000-07:002008-08-01T11:01:54.845-07:00

Bernard Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom, got 25 years; John Rigas, the former head of Adelphia Communications Corp., got 15 years; Andrew Fastow, the former chief financial officer of Enron, got six years; and John McCain, Barack Obama, Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, Russ Feingold, Arlen Specter, and other members of Congress got no years.I'm speaking of prison sentences for fraud.The fraud

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-57773845227023776932008-07-21T21:59:00.000-07:002008-07-21T22:00:18.659-07:00

My family and I recently made our annual pilgrimage to a professional baseball game, or to be more accurate, a feedlot. We were surrounded by corpulence that pressed in on us from all sides, making us feel claustrophobic, as if we were going to be smothered by rolls of fat.The family to our left was so overweight that I kept thinking about nationalized health care instead of concentrating on the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-20654739283659077132008-07-19T02:30:00.001-07:002008-07-19T02:31:44.462-07:00

The great divide in America isn't between whites and non-whites, between Democrats and Republicans, or between haves and have-nots. The great divide is between those who coo and those who guffaw when they hear pedantry, platitudes, populism, and pap from politicians and political pundits.Take a recent comment from Al Gore. He said that more solar energy hits the earth each day than all of the

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-46709417034892708392008-07-13T16:58:00.004-07:002008-07-13T22:09:06.167-07:00

It changed American politics and probably saved the nation.I'm speaking of the day 20 years ago, on August 15, 2008, during the presidential race between two mediocre senators, Barack Obama and John McCain, whom history would have quickly forgotten if it were not for what happened to them on that momentous day. It is the day we now celebrate as the Second Independence Day, or as some call it,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-64204060286163889262008-07-11T23:25:00.000-07:002008-07-11T23:26:06.019-07:00

What happens when our overlords in Congress, the White House, and the Federal Reserve destroy the economy and ruin millions of lives? They get invited to cocktail parties and news shows, and are treated with respect and dignity by the public.What happens when some poor schlemiel gets caught with several ounces of dope for his own use and hasn't harmed anyone? He goes to prison.HAVE WE LOST OUR

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-85150419783086357692008-07-04T12:30:00.001-07:002008-07-04T12:32:18.151-07:00

Now that the empty heads in the pathetic media have pontificated about the narrow Supreme Court decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, let's take a moment on this Independence Day for an intelligent discussion of something that trumps Heller's gun.First, as backdrop, the essence of the Heller decision is that citizens have a right to keep an assembled gun in their house for self-defense. As

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-40278461644295251382008-06-20T13:24:00.003-07:002008-06-20T14:12:15.194-07:00

If you read this and don't agree that the proposed arrests for fraud should be made, then the likely explanation is that you are either brainwashed, ignorant of the facts, a patsy, or in cahoots with the crooks. Or maybe you have the brain of a head of lettuce.Alternatively, if you have a real brain but don't become angry enough to take action after reading about the fraud, then you probably

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-64113954397587333452008-06-14T22:31:00.003-07:002008-06-15T12:51:19.077-07:00

Arnold S. Relman, M.D., is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and the former editor-in-chief of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. With those credentials, he is an expert in economics and thus knows how to fix the economics of the American health care industry. Similarly, although I never went to medical school, I'm an expert in heart

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-88370951996654997772008-06-11T23:27:00.000-07:002008-06-11T23:28:53.261-07:00

No, this is not a conspiracy theory hatched in an Idaho cabin by a crackpot. It's a fact, and a very alarming and sad fact at that.The fact is this: Barack Obama and John McCain, along with most of the rest of Congress and the other two branches of the government, are complicit in a plan to destroy the nation from within. At best, that makes them unpatriotic; at worst, it makes them

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-73069014895770434082008-06-05T13:02:00.001-07:002008-06-05T13:04:05.898-07:00

While watching one of Barack Obama's campaign rallies on TV the other day, I realized that I'd seen the throngs of adoring fans somewhere before but couldn't remember where.Then it came to me, and a shiver went up my spine.The thought was so disturbing that I had to make sure I wasn't mistaken. I got on my bicycle and rode to the nearby public library. Fortunately, the video was on the shelf

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-33072377183345678072008-06-04T01:05:00.002-07:002008-06-04T02:21:08.076-07:00

You undoubtedly saw the recent Congressional hearing on gas prices, where oil executives were grilled about oil company profits by politicians who should be grilled over burning vats of oil. You didn't see the Senate hearing that took place in 2006 during the real estate bubble. Here are excerpts:Senator Chuck Schumer: I'd like our first witness to state her name, occupation, age, and

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-20527603449435753612008-05-30T14:36:00.002-07:002008-05-30T15:02:59.171-07:00

Hillary Clinton's thoughtless and dangerous comments about assassination have triggered a lot of ugly jokes on the Internet about the shooting of her opponent, Barack Obama. At the same time, Obama has explained his economic policy. He said that even if higher taxes were to result in a reduction of federal revenue, he'd raise taxes anyway on higher-income people for reasons of "fairness."Let me

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-39071003290974329712008-05-24T16:29:00.000-07:002008-05-24T16:30:50.150-07:00

We're being ruled by morons. If you doubt this, consider the following crises brought on by the morons. At the end of the sobering list, you'll find suggestions on what you can do when the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of morons.The Monetary and Fiscal CrisisThe problems below have resulted from the Federal Reserve's easy money, the government's deficits and unfunded liabilities,

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12275052.post-49632920356798753472008-05-23T13:26:00.000-07:002008-05-23T13:27:22.128-07:00

The usual rabble-rousers in political office and the 24/7 soap-opera media have been stirring the public's emotions with stories of polygamy and child abuse at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Texas. The stirring is made easier by photos of women--oh, the horror!--dressed modestly in long dresses and wearing their hair in buns. How dare the women flaunt the popular culture and not dress like

Mark Yannonenoreply@blogger.com0