The Problem Isn’t the Plan, it’s the Planning, Part I

4 01 2012

Now that Gov. O’Malley has implemented PlanMaryland via executive order, more than a little ink and plenty of angst has been spilled over it.

It’s been declaimed as part of a War on Rural Maryland, an example of executive overreach, an assault on private property rights, and an effort to undermine local planning boards. All of these are true characterizations of PlanMaryland, but they’re also all wrong.

Alright, they’re not exactly wrong. But they miss the real problem and in doing so the obscure the real issue with PlanMaryland. Simply put, the real complaint against PlanMaryland isn’t what it proposes to do, it’s that it proposes to do.

Take a moment and pick up one of the pencils that is undoubtedly on your desk. Consider it for a moment. Just how did it come to be there?

This is a question explored in the famous essay “I, Pencil.” As Leonard Reed, its author explains, not a person in the world knows how to make a simple pencil. Simply obtaining the raw wood alone is a monumental task, requiring the coordination of hundreds of people and skills – not just to cut the wood, but the mine and smelt the saws and other tools, to grow hemp and make it into rope, to run and maintain the lumber camp, even to make the coffee the lumberjacks drink.

As a simple a task as that would seem, it only continues to grow more complex. To transport the wood, to mill it, to fill with graphite and finish the pencils, to ship it to stores across the world, to produce the energy that powers all of this and to generate the capital that finances it all – all of this involves the unplanned coordination of untold thousands and thousands of people.

With such awe-inspiring complexity, what person in the world could ever make a pencil on their own. And in a vacuum, without the way having been shown first, what person or even group of people could ever centrally plan the process? What minds could ever conceive of, much less manage such an intricate and intertwined system, one that spans not just countless humans across the globe but across time as well.

The answer is simple, none could, and only a fool would think they could.

But if the creation of a pencil is such a complex process, how much more complex is a whole house. And how much more complex a community, or the network of communities we call counties? And for someone to think that one person or even a committee could mastermind the collection of counties we think of as a state?

What hubris. What bald-faced arrogance.

But, in spite of his egotistical belief that government is up to the task of capably managing a system of such infinite complexity, Gov. O’Malley doesn’t deserve all the blame. We all need to accept our share as well. I’ll explain why in Part II.


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Big Government, Central Planning, Economics, Maryland, PlanMaryland, Spontaneous Order, Zoning

If You Care About Limited Government, You Don’t Wave Away Abuses of State Power

29 12 2011

As someone who is both a libertarian and a Republican I have a somewhat complicated relationship with conservatism and what some self-identified conservatives claim it means to be conservative.

Chiefly the trouble lies in the fact that most every conservative claims they are supporters of individual liberty and limited government, but then toss away those concerns the moment it involves liberty for someone they don’t approve of, whether they be gays, immigrants, Muslims, or other unpopular minorities.

Mostly I’ve focused on immigration and how many on the right so easily reject the free market in order to subsidize American labor interests. This time though, I want to focus on another aspect of so-called conservatives enabling statism.

In a recent post Ann Corcoran of Potomac Tea Party Report responds to a report highlighting incidences of police brutality by cavalierly dismissing it as so much political agitprop from the Left.

This is unconscionable if you honestly believe in limited government. I care about things like the tax code and land use policy, and I certainly recognize how the state uses them to restrict individual liberty. But the police being free to brutalize innocent people and even to egregiously violate the civil rights of actual criminals is a massively bigger threat to individual liberty.

And contrary to Corcoran’s implication, this isn’t something that was made up by the Obama administration or George Soros or some other bogeyman leftist.

I spent about 5 minutes on investigative journalist and libertarian activist Radley Balko’s site and found the following:

  • Over 380 cases of police breaking into people’s homes and terrorizing the occupants while doing no-knock drug raids. These incidents frequently feature physical harm being inflicted on occupants and put both young children and elderly relatives at risk. In virtually every case they either found only miniscule amounts of marijuana or actually had hit the wrong house.
  • Over 320 cases of police shooting people’s dogs when the dogs posed no threat to the officers. In many cases people pleaded with the officers to allow them to pen the dogs or otherwise restrain them but the officers refused to do so and shot the dogs instead.
  • Something like 700 cases of police getting away with flagrant violations of the law either because other police officers refused to enforce the law against them or courts refused to consider as valid testimony that contradicted the claims of the offending officers.

Spend a bit of time reading through the linked material. It’s horrifying to think that this sort of thing happens in America today. We’re a far sight better than places like North Korea, China, or the various authoritarian tyrannies of Africa and the Middle East, but the state is still egregiously violating individual liberty in the United States and in ways a whole lot worse than excessive marginal tax rates.

Just because those abuses aren’t terribly visible to people like Corcoran or myself it doesn’t mean they aren’t real and it certainly doesn’t mean that they aren’t an issue that limited government advocates ought to be outraged about.


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Big Government, Hypocrisy, Liberty, Radley Balko, War on Drugs

Does America Really Welcome Immigrants?

12 08 2011

Heritage’s Erika Anderson says that the country does and makes the case for why. Her post well states some of the reasons why we welcome immigrants. Surprisingly, considering this is Heritage, her post even recognizes that free migration is one of the inherent rights of the individual (although that point is bizarrely undercut by the simultaneous claim that the U.S. can legitimately curtail that right).

There’s a huge problem with the piece though – it’s entirely assumed that America actually does welcome immigrants. The fact is, this country does not welcome immigrants.

The evidence of America’s hostility to immigrants is overwhelming.

There’s the individual examples of course, like Andres Lopez, who was “guided into a wall” of his home by federal immigration officers.

Image of Andres Lopez next to the wall immigration officers slammed him into

And then there’s the case of Air Force Staff Sergeant Luis Magana and his wife Karina, a permanent resident who nearly got deported as a result of her naturalization interview. Apparently she had accidentally misfiled some of the paperwork and the government processed it (knowing it was incorrect) only to accuse her of fraud when she applied to naturalize and become a U.S. citizen. She and her husband (who was about to be deployed when this nightmare began) spent the next 2 years in terror she would be deported because of an innocent mistake and bureaucratic incompetence, but luckily a competent immigration lawyer was able to come to the family’s aid and she has been able to finally resume the naturalization process.

These aren’t just isolated incidents. They’re part of a broad mosaic of hostility and ill-treatment of immigrants in America, an injustice that stems squarely from our byzantine, hopelessly complex web of immigration laws and the mainstreaming of attitudes that immigration is a problem for America and that we are too permissive of immigration and immigrants.

Sure, as Anderson’s post and other (usually) anti-immigrant commentators note, the U.S. accepts more immigrants than any other country in the world. But that doesn’t change the insane and illegitimate barriers we put up to the legal immigration process. It isn’t ok for a man to beat his wife just because all his neighbors break their wives’ legs – being less bad is never a justification for being wrong and it certainly isn’t a goal to strive towards.


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Immigration, Understanding Immigration

Big Box Benefits

8 08 2011

A lot of ink, both digital and physical, has been spilled over the proposed zoning text amendment that would potentially allow big box stores here in Queen Anne’s County.

I support the passage of that amendment. I can talk about a lot of reasons why. I could talk about property rights, or savings to consumers, or reducing gas costs for Queen Anne’s County residents, or all sorts of other sound, but abstract reasons. But that’s not what I’m going to highlight, at least not right now.

What I’m going to highlight is a simple, personal anecdote.

My wife and I have a young son. Since she works and we’re not keen on using formula, she pumps milk to  be fed to him while she’s gone during the day. Well this past Sunday evening, the electric pump we rely on for that stopped working. And that highlighted for me, in simple terms, the benefits of having big boxes.

Is there a small, local business that carries electric breast pumps? Maybe.

But how long would I have to scour through the phone book to try and figure out what place that is?

And even if it exists, and I succeeded in finding it, what are the odds it would still be open at 6:30 PM on a Sunday?

In contrast, with a big box store like a Wal-Mart or a Target, one can count on them to carry something like breast pumps and you can count on them be open well after a small local business will have closed for the day, regardless of the day of the week.

Rural character and local charm can count for a lot, but when it comes down to it, accessibility and reliability count for a lot more in my book and most other people’s too.


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Queen Anne's County

Immigration Reform Essential for Economy – an Update from CEI

26 07 2011

I got this press release from the Competitive Enterprise Institute and wanted to pass it on as the points are well worth recognizing – and far too few in government seem to realize that.

Immigration Reform Imperative for Economic Growth

Senate Subcommittee Hearings Confirm Economic Necessity of Immigration Reform

Washington, D.C., July 26, 2011 — The Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security held hearings today highlighting the economic importance of immigration reform. The economic benefits of immigration are underappreciated according to Policy Analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Alex Nowrasteh.

“Removing barriers to legal immigration would be an enormous benefit to our economy,” said Nowrasteh. “Immigrants of all skill levels, from the highly skilled to the lower skilled, create jobs and economic opportunities for Americans.”

In a recent report published by CEI, Nowrasteh highlights the enormous benefits of highly skilled immigrants:

“Highly skilled immigrants and workers are typically well educated, English speaking, and young.  They are well paid, do not take many government benefits, and are not prone to criminality.” “Because the skills of highly skilled foreigners are different from Americans, there is little direct competition between them and natives. In fact, they work well together and increase productivity.”

The hearings today invited experts and industry representatives to testify on the benefits of immigration. “Creating legal pathways to immigration like our ancestors enjoyed would quickly make the unauthorized immigration problem evaporate. The goal of any sensible immigration reform should be to increase legal immigration of non-violent and healthy people. Restrictions should be only limited to accessing the welfare state, legitimate security, and health concerns,” said Nowrasteh.  “Recognizing that immigration is a net economic benefit is the first step toward taking real reform.”

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org and blog, Openmarket.org.

I don’t have much to add, but will note this is particularly timely as WordPress ate a post I did over the weekend about the revival of Know Nothing sentiment in the United States. I’ll be attempting to recreate it and post it sometime this week.


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Economics, Immigration, Political News, Politics

Independence Day Thought

4 07 2011

I’d be interested in seeing to what degree people who complain about illegal immigrants breaking the law correlate with people who illegally shoot off fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Also, I think it’s worth linking to my Independence Day post from last year.


Comments : 2 Comments »

Categories : Hypocrisy, Immigration, Liberty, Thoughts

Six Simple Principles for Budget Reform

26 06 2011

The following op-ed piece was published in this week’s Bay Times and Record-Observer.

This past week our commissioners have sought input from Queen Anne’s County residents on the proposed budget and tax increases. Now they face the daunting task of finalizing the budget and the county tax rates.

It’s a job none should envy. Passions run high and the end result will leave many, if not all, unsatisfied.

In light of this formidable endeavor, I’d like to offer some advice to the commissioners in the hope of easing their burden.

However, they have far better knowledge of county government than I possibly could, so I won’t try to give specifics on what to cut or how much to reduce a given department’s resources. I’ll limit myself to six simple principles:

1) Don’t Raise Taxes

At every hearing, person after person came forward and made clear that a tax increase will be an impossible burden for Queen Anne’s County families, deterring new people from coming to Queen Anne’s County and pushing out people living on the margin. Tax increases might seem a short-term fix, but they’re a long-term disaster.

2) Cut Spending by Cutting Programs

Most cuts that have been discussed have focused on maintaining the status quo, but doing it for less. That isn’t enough. The commissioners need to look hard at county government and decide what it needs to do and what it doesn’t. If a program isn’t necessary, get rid of it. Permanently. Only by reducing the scope of government activity can we possibly tame the budget.

3) There are no Sacred Cows

While much of county government is worth keeping, no part of it can be shielded from its share of the burden – no one can be exempt from budget cuts, not the Board of Education, not the Sheriff’s Office, not a single department. Everyone enjoyed the excess over the last 4 years, everyone must share in the sacrifice now.

4) Seek Alternate Sources of Revenue

Cuts aren’t enough. The county must pursue bold, outside-the-box approaches to generating non-tax revenue. From the modest, like relaxing ordinances limiting billboards and charging fees for new ones, to the extreme, like leasing naming rights to our county schools, every opportunity must be explored.

5) Cap Future Spending Growth

Our county is in this mess because county government spent the last 4 years turning soaring revenues from the housing bubble into huge spending increases. Never again. The commissioners have to implement rules preventing any future budget from growing in size by more than the rate of population growth plus inflation without a unanimous vote of the commissioners.

6) Mandate Sunsets on all Tax Increases

While tax increases are unnecessary to fixing the current budget woes, if the county commissioners do use them, it’s imperative they have a sunset provision. Any tax increase must come with language such that after two years rates will revert to the current levels, adjusted for constant yield. Indeed, this requirement should be made a requirement for all future tax increases.

While any of these six common sense principles are a useful tool for budget reform, taken together they will be a powerful force for fiscal discipline and a strong guarantee against finding ourselves in the same situation again.

I look forward to seeing the county commissioners’ budget and hope to see all six principles as core components of it.


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Categories : Economics, Maryland, Op-Ed, Politics, Queen Anne's County

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