Category Archives: Throw Da Bums Out

Roads! We Need More Roads!

Posted on by

This bright idea is making the rounds among the True Believers on social media these days:


Millions are unemployed and our roads and bridges are falling apart!

Will all these political proposals really create jobs? If so, why not just keep adding new programs until we achieve full employment? Heck, according to USDOT, we get 47,000 new jobs per $1 billion spent building roads. Let’s guess that it costs about $5 million to build the average mile of road (not so far off overall), so that works out to 235 jobs per mile.

The US labor force stats show 7.9 million unemployed.

Bernie’s right. All we need is to build about 34,000 miles of road and there won’t be a single, solitary unemployed person anywhere in the country!

My work here is done.

 

Is Congress Incompetent?

Posted on by

I am furious.

If you have a car older than 2001, or a lawn mower or generator or snowblower or outboard motor… get ready for even more fuel-derived annoyance. My guess is that most gas stations will be reset to put 50% more ethanol into your gasoline than you were already contending with, losing even more fuel economy, clogging fuel systems and trashing catalysts on your car (so you won’t pass emissions.)

Why?

Because Congress is incompetent!

EPA has set the ethanol usage mandates for 2016 and they will require more than 10% ethanol on average to be blended into gasoline; to facilitate this they have approved use of E15 (15% ethanol i.e. 50% more than current blends) in cars newer than 2001. (I have two cars older than that, plus small engines e.g. lawnmowers. E10 has been enough trouble… E15 will be more.) This regulation impacts the poor more than it does the rich, since they can’t afford newer vehicles. (I have older vehicles for other reasons.)

Even with all this, the volume of ethanol used will be less than the enabling legislation (Renewable Fuels Act of 2007) requires.

So … who writes the laws? The EPA? Or Congress?

This predicament is the fault of Congress. They wrote legislation based on projected consumption rates (since the real reason was to guarantee a market for distillers!) We are not using gasoline at those rates, so EPA is increasing the percentage to keep the volume up for the distillers. This means people will get less MPG and have even more damage to their engines (especially small engines and older cars.)

Congress needs to amend the Renewable Fuels Act now to cap the ethanol at 10%. (Actually there is a lot more… but I thought we should start here.)

–Robert L. Post

More info:
US breaks 10% ‘blend wall’ for ethanol in gasoline
EPA finalizes renewable fuels mandate for US refiners through 2016

 

We’re from the Government. We’re Here to Help

Posted on by

Last month, I talked about the best technique to handle spam/scam/sham calls. I.Don’t.Answer.The.Phone.

Unfortunately, my friend Missy answered the phone.

She Skyped me in tears.

Missy wears bling which dangles and jangles when she dips her minnows out of the bait tank so she’s always fun to watch. She usually prefers to talk about fishing and motorcycles and her job so I clicked out of my Facebook news stream and paid attention.

Sample Form 1040“The IRS called me,” she said. “They said I owed $3,841.60 from 2010 plus interest and penalties. The agent said he had the local cops on their way to my house arrest me for not paying.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I called you.”

The FTC announced it will “crack down” on bill collectors. In fact, they announced 30 new law enforcement actions last week as part of a joint effort among federal, state and local authorities to crack down on troubling practices such as false threats that people would be arrested or have their wages garnished, and harassing phone calls. It even shut down a dozen “rogue” debt collectors who will spring up tomorrow under a new name. The 30 brings the total number of actions the group has taken against debt collectors up to 115 so far this year.

Meanwhile, Congress just gave bill collectors free rein. Nestled in the “emergency” budget bill (that would be emergency budget bill #8,752) were a few paragraphs that amended the Communications Act to exempt debt collection robo calls. This change will open the door to millions of Americans being targeted with automated debt-collection calls on everything from back taxes to student loans to mortgages.

On top of that, the IRS will go back to using outside collection agencies, despite the fact that previous programs failed twice. Plenty of people in and out of Congress oppose the use of outside bill collectors, but not Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) (Motto: “We’re from the Government. We’re Here to Help YOU!”). Also thinking they are “Your Voice at the IRS,” Sens. Grassley and Schumer snuck that one into the Highway Funding Bill.

And we think Congress can’t get stuff done.

Side note: According to data from the Council of Better Business Bureaus debt collectors have dropped to fifth place — out of 3,959 industries listed — among the most complained-about service providers by consumers. That places these collection agencies one step above used car dealers and two steps below cable companies and the U.S. Congress.
The FTC receives more complaints about debt collection companies than any other industry. Apparently the FTC doesn’t accept complaints about the U.S. Congress.

Go Chucks!

There is good news for Missy.

The IRS will never call you without first sending a letter. Usually several increasingly intimidating letters. At least not until now.

A collection agency will never call on behalf of the IRS. At least not until now.

Missy’s “IRS caller” was definitely a scammer.

If you get one of these calls and you do, in fact, owe taxes or think you might, call the IRS direct (800.829.1040). An IRS agent really will help you figure it out

If you get one of these calls and you know you don’t owe taxes, report the incident to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration who goes by the cool acronym “TIGTA” (800.366.4484) or visit tigta.gov.

Sadly, thanks to the U.S. Congress, it will be harder now to tell the bad guys from the scammers.

 

Let It Snow!

Posted on by

City residents in Plattsburgh NY will be cited and may be fined if they don’t clear the snow off their own property.

The earliest snowstorm on record struck New York, Connecticut and other parts of New England yesterday, burying some areas in more than a foot of snow that closed roads and airports, knocked out power to more than 300,000 homes and turned russet autumn to wintry solitude.
The storm — an Oct. 4 marvel caused by a collision of cold and soggy air masses — was the earliest in the region since the Army Signal Corps began keeping weather records in 1870. It eclipsed one that blew in on Oct. 10, 1925, and it even toppled the 150-year-old unofficial record — a blizzard that almanackers say hit on Oct. 6, 1836. The National Weather Service reported snow accumulations of up to 20 inches in places. Pownal, Vermont recorded 18. It caught forecasters by surprise.
NYTimes, October 5, 1987

Blizzard of 78 in AlburghNWS Blizzard of 78 VolkswagenThat was 1987. We made it through the fourth this year and no snow will surprise us today. Not even any frost. It was 42°F on the porch with beaucoup sunshine. Mostly sunny all day with a high near 60°F. Mostly cloudy tonight so it won’t get quite as cold.

42°F is not warm, people.

Now the rest of the story. Getting rid of the snow.

Plattsburgh law requires property owners to clear sidewalks within 24 hours of a snowstorm.

“Some residents have stopped by the City Hall expressing concerns about a fine on top of the snow-removal fee. We’ve had others thinking a fine is the way to go. Many cities throughout New York state, as well as many states, do have a fine that they use,” city Counselor Dale Dowdle told WPTZ.

Say what?

So if Bobby jumps off the roof, you have to jump, too?

What if Bobby does something dangerous, like rob a bank or do a home invasion?

Plattsburgh law requires property owners to clear sidewalks within 24 hours of a snowstorm.

There are two issues here.

(1) If the sidewalk belongs to the property owner, that law is a taking that happens over and over again; or (2) If the sidewalk belongs to the city, that law places the property owner in involuntary servitude.

The Fifth Amendment’s just compensation rule applies not only to outright government seizures of private property, but also to some government regulations. “Property is taken in the constitutional sense when inroads are made upon an owner’s use of it to an extent that, as between private parties, a servitude has been acquired either by agreement or in course of time.” United States v. Dickinson, 331 U.S. 745 (1947).

Many states have passed laws that limit the mandates a state government can put on a Town government without money to pay for them. In Connecticut, state regulations on storm water runoff are in contention because they are unfunded mandates.

Imagine the outcry if the law demanded We the Overtaxed People to perform other tasks without just compensation like, say, change our septic systems to mound systems or buy health insurance.

Oh. Wait.

We already do that.

The bottom line here is simple. The Plattsburgh law is yet another example of creep. It’s a government reaching farther and farther into its citizens’ private lives. And we keep letting them do it. It’s an example of the other kind of creep, too.