Category Archives: Government

More Dust Biting

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A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction placing the Xiden Administration’s vaccine mandate for federal contractors on hold. The injunction applies throughout the country.

Accordingly, the Court ORDERS that Defendants are ENJOINED, during the pendency of this action or until further order of this Court, from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or territory of the United States of America.

Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.

A Second Bite of the Dust

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The lawless CMS Mandate requiring over 10 million healthcare providers to be vaccinated against Covid ran aground on a preliminary injunction covering Missouri and its partner states in the Missouri, et al. v. Biden, et al. This evening, Judge Terry Doughty granted a preliminary injunction in Louisiana, et al, v. Biden, et al., which covers the entire country.

[T]he U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, along with their directors, employees, Administrators and Secretaries are hereby ENJOINED and RESTRAINED from implementing the CMS Mandate set forth in 86 Fed. Reg. 61555-01 (November 5, 2021) as to all healthcare providers, suppliers, owners, employees, and all others covered by said CMS Mandate.

Somethings are proceeding better than I have foreseen.

Another One Bites the Dust

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Another of Joe Xiden’s lawless acts has been put on hold. A U. S. District Court in Kentucky has granted a preliminary injunction in Kentucky, et al. v. Biden, et al.

The Government is ENJOINED from enforcing the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee.

Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.

Another One Bites the Dust

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Another example of the Xiden Administration’s lawless overreach has been put on hold by a federal judge. District Judge Matthew Schelp has issued a Memorandum Order in Missouri, et al., v. Biden, et al., relating to the vaccine mandate issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service—

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants are preliminarily enjoined from the implementation and enforcement of 86 Fed. Reg. 61,555 (Nov. 5, 2021), the Interim Final Rule with Comment Period entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination,” against any and all Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers within the States of Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming pending a trial on the merits of this action or until further order of this Court. Defendants shall immediately cease all implementation or enforcement of the Interim Final Rule with Comment Period as to any Medicare- and Medicaid- certified providers and suppliers within the States of Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.

Journalism or Jury Tampering?

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Yesterday, a person who claimed to be a producer for NBC News working under the supervision of someone with MSNBC in New York was caught tailing the bus taking the Rittenhouse jury from the courthouse to their secret parking area. Today, Judge Schroeder banned anyone associated with MSNBC from entering the courthouse for the remainder of the trial. The judge also said—

This is a very serious matter and I don’t know what the ultimate truth of it is, but absolutely it would go without much thinking that someone who is following the jury bus–that is an extremely serious matter and will be referred to the proper authorities for further action.

Certainly, the threat of doxing jurors could be considered a form of jury tampering. However, the prosecutor who would normally handle the case is the prosecutor trying to convict Kyle Rittenhouse and who has a potential interest in an unfair verdict. It will be interesting to see to whom the judge refers the matter.

I’ve Been Talking About the Xiden Administration’s Overreach

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The OSHA vaccine mandate is a prime example of the current administration’s lawless behavior, and today the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion to stay enforcement of the mandate pending further judicial review. OSHA has been ordered to take no further steps to implement or enforce the mandate.

Here’s the money quote from the court’s order—

The Mandate’s stated impetus—a purported “emergency” that the entire globe has now endured for nearly two years, and which OSHA itself spent nearly two months responding to—is unavailing as well. And its promulgation grossly exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority.

Chipping Away at the Supply Chain

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Milton Friedman once remarked that if the government were put in charge of the Sahara Desert, we would quickly have a shortage of sand. The looming supply problem for the electronics industry isn’t a sand shortage but one of silicon metal used to make semiconductors. SMM News is reporting that government imposed power restriction in China are adversely affecting silicon production.

The insufficient power supply will inevitably lead to a decline in the output in Q4. The impact of the dual control of energy consumption is more significant on the supply of silicon. The major silicon metal producing regions including Yunnan, Xinjiang, Sichuan will have to cut the production, where the silicon plants cannot maintain the normal production from September to November. The power shortage also restricts the production.

BTW, silicon isn’t rare; it’s the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust. Oh, and a vast array of products uses semiconductors. Even the toaster I bought last year uses an integrated circuit as the basis of its timer.

Taxing Unrealized Capital Gains

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Lots of folks have seen the value of certain capital assets rise significantly over the past couple of years. One of the reasons my 401k has done so well is that several of the mutual funds in that portfolio have positions in companies such as Tesla, SpaceX, and Apple. I haven’t become a billionaire, but I’ve been along for the ride.

So now, the some of the more economically-challenged on the Left are proposing a “wealth tax” as a way of funding the Build Back Better scam. I saw a tweet this morning suggesting that because Elon Musk had seen his stock portfolio rise $36 billion recently, he should be hit with an $8 billion dollar tax bill. Musk seems to be a very savvy enough businessman. I doubt he keeps that kind of cash on hand. I’ll bet he’d have to sell a substantial part of his holdings in order pay up.

That leads to these questions—

If he dumped a large chunk his stock in companies like Tesla and SpaceX, wouldn’t that cause a drop in the prices of those stocks? Supply would suddenly exceed demand in the stock market. What could happen to my 401k? If it suffers an unrealized capital loss, should I get a tax rebate?

If he had to sell so much stock that he lost control of the companies, would the new owners keep him? If not, would they be as well run? Would the value of the holdings in my 401k be further depressed. How many jobs might be lost if the companies’ are as well run?

If destroying the businesses run by one of the richest men on the planet would only provide $8 billion (less than 0.25 % of the $3.5 trillion advertised price of Build Back Better), are the enough other fortunes that could be raped to fund the scam? And with so many business trashed and jobs lost, what would happen to income tax revenue?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Following the Science

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The scientific method relies on running experiments to verify predictions made from testable hypotheses.

We have two competing hypotheses about how to manage public health and safety. One predicts that the better way to maintain and improve public health and safety is to require certain people, including public safety employees, to be vaccinated against Covid-19—and to fire those individuals, including public safety employees who refuse vaccination, The other predicts that public health and safety will be better maintained and improved if people are allowed to make decisions about being vaccinated for themselves and those decisions are decoupled from employment.

The two hypotheses are being tested experimentally as different states follow one approach or the other. It shouldn’t be too long before we know whether either approach was better. (They could both be wrong.)

When we know the results of this experiment, will we follow the resulting science?

A Letter and a Memorandum

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AG Garland has testified it was the NSBA’s letter suggesting that parents protesting at school board meetings should be investigate as domestic terrorists that provided the basis for his memorandum directing the FBI and US Attorneys to investigate and prosecute parents for protesting against school boards and teachers who insist on indoctrinating children with critical race theory. Now, that the NSBA has apologized for their letter (see below), it would make sense for the Attorney General to withdraw his memorandum. Given that he has also testified that he sees no ethical problem with ordering such an investigation even though his son-in-law is founder of a business selling critical race theory teach materials, I doubt that he will do the right thing.

Karmic Blues

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Blue is in charge in Washington, and the world economy is feeling the effects of their … um … management. Slashdot reports that the one of the supply chain disruptions is a shortage of blue pigments.

Dutch paint maker Akzo is running out of ingredients to make some shades of blue, the latest fallout from the global supply-chain disruptions that are spreading across manufacturers.

Heh.

Tracking Your Transactions

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The Democrats are proposing that the IRS should be informed of any bank transaction of $600 or greater.

Why? And why set the threshold at an amount that would cover most folks’ biweekly paychecks? Of course, as the gig economy grows, fewer people are on payrolls, but most of us who don’t get W2 get 1099s. Who are they targeting? Small business owners?

Or are they after the spending side? I suppose most families spend at least 600 bucks for rent or a mortgage? What else?

I tell you what—before the public submits to this kind of invasion of our privacy, I believe we should see some transparency from the people who want to do this snooping. Before the American people should submit to such nosiness, we should require that all members of the House and Senate, the heads of each executive department and independent agency, and all federal judges be required to make public any of their financial transactions equal to or greater than $600.

Fair is fair.

Consequences of Overreach

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I’ve been writing about the Democrats precarious situation caused by their underperformance in the 2020 elections. While they have nominal majorities in both houses of Congress, they don’t have a working majority because of the differing goals of various party factions. However, the inanely progressive wing has dug in their heels, overreaching, demanding more than the saner members of the party know is possible. Senators such as Manchin and Sinema understand they have to win elections in order to stay in office, and aren’t about to support legislation that will alienate their constituents. Nothing is getting done. Their agenda appears DOA. And lots of voters who lean Democrat are losing patience.

So we’re seeing an interesting struggle within the Inner Party, a struggle I suspect will lead the Democrats to disaster. Daniel Roman has a post over at AMAC about the Democrats disarray leading them to that disaster. He closes with these words—

… the real problem with this progressive clique of largely white, privileged, young college grads is not their views on specific policies, but their inability to listen or interact with anyone who is not part of their ideological in-group. That is on full display with the disputes that are currently tearing the Democratic Party apart, the left’s treatment of Sinema and Manchin, and the likely failure of Biden’s domestic agenda.

Read the whole thing.

The next year-and-a-half will be ugly.

Weren’t We Supposed To Be Turning Things Over To The Experts?

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I’m so old, I remember when the Xiden campaign was telling us that Joe would bring the competent adults back to the government to work for him. Putting Mayor Pete, who has no experience managing transportation networks, in charge of the Department of Transportation is another broken promise.

The oceans are full of container ships bound for America with no port facilities capable of receiving them. The FAA and some airlines suddenly have staffing issues. But the DoT has a newly-released Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan.

Meanwhile, you may want to do your Christmas shopping while there’s still stuff in inventory.