SBA Report: The Impact of Regulatory Cost on Small Firms

http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs371.pdf

The cost per employee of all Federal regulation is over $8,000 per employee.  That leaves me speechless when you consider that is pretax.  Now I know why virtually everthing I own has "made in China" on it! 

The Regulatory Burden

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/10/red-tape-rising-obamas-torrent-of-new-regulation#_ftn1 

$1.75 trillion is the annual cost of the Federal regulatory burden.  Nearly 2x's individual income taxes paid last year or about $6,000 per capita.  It is justified that we are all scared of the government printing money but we should fear equally the government printing regulations.  Let us not forget the additional burden of regulations imposed by State and local governments.  So when we are discouraged by high prices at the pump and the grocery store who should we direct our frustration to?  The oil company and the merchant is the default but perhaps the government is to blame?  In a capitalist economy prices are kept in check by fierce competition between numerous firms...what keeps government in check?  The Code of Federal Regulations is 157,000 pages and I doubt that is number 12 font.  America was built by the individual not the government.  I'm afraid that today we are unable to "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps" because the boots our nailed down by the Code of Federal Regulations! 

Public Schools Need More Competition - think of sending your kid to school at the DMV or the post office!

Interesting comparison of a public school monopoly to the Department of Motor Vehicles in this Cato Institute post.  Granted, public schools do not have a true monopoly except in rural areas and (hopefully) they will always face some competition from home-schooling.  However, they do have an unfair funding advantage as you have to pay twice to go to private school and this does create an unfair playing field.  A voucher system would go a long way towards bringing some good old fashioned competition into the school system.  This will benefit all, most importantly our children.  Interesting fact that Washington DC spends more than any of the states per pupil, over twice the national average, and yet they have a high shool graduation rate that is well below average.  And how will less competition benefit education?    

NY Times Risk vs. Reward what is wrong with our banking system

This NY Times editorial gets it half right.  No doubt that bonuses have an impact on bankers and how they weigh risks and rewards as they go about their job on a daily basis.  What they fail to point out is how a long history of government bailouts has provided a safety net for the banking industry that has stystemically corrupted how they run their businesses.  As humans we are motivated to take risks based on the potential reward.  The greater the reward the greater the risk we are willing to take.  The negative consequence of failure helps temper this behavior.  The rewards and risks should balance out so a large risk should have both a large reward and an equally large consequence.  Government bailouts have disrupted this equilibrium by lessening the consequences to banks so a big risk gets a big reward but a lesser consequence (bailout).  In my opinion the long history of federal bank bailouts is the primary driver of banks taking on risky behavior and a contributing factor that motivates banks to pay large bonuses. 

Teenager held up at gunpoint in medical marijuana home invasion

For two plants!  Do we want this in Durango's neighborhoods? 

Fort Collins Medical Marijuana Home Invasion

An fine example of the type of people we are attracting into Colorado communities with our current medical marijuana laws. 

Talk of the Town Medical Marijuana

City Councilor Paul Broderick, attorney Stuart Prall, and Micki Browing from the Durango PD discuss the current state of medical marijuana in Durango. 

Medicine? Link to Durango Herald op ed on medical marijuana

Colorado voters were duped into voting to have marijuana considered medicine.  It's obviously about recreational use.  Given the way the industry has played out I doubt the voters would pass this amendment today.  The supporters and the industry should be honest and have the real debate to legalize or not.

Durango Herald link "Durango City Council Getting Ready for Budget Season"

Durango collects over $3,000 per resident each year in taxes and fees.  That equates to 10% of our per capita income and is probably more than most Durangoans spend on their mountain bike!  It is well worth getting involved in the process.  Imagine if every resident of Durango spent as much time on the City budget as they do picking out their bike!