ISIS Training?

Following the thwarted attack in Garland, TX, ISIS took responsibility and said they have 70 other trained jihadists in 15 states. In the Garland attack, the two jihadis were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand guns. They were killed by a lone policeman with his service sidearm who was uninjured. I hope the other 70 are as well trained as those in Garland.

Pressing Hillary on Economics

A significant weakness for Hillary Clinton, if only someone will force her to reveal it, is her lack of understanding of economics. Certainly, the voters won't be able to rely on the media to ask her to explain her economic views because they are under the same misconceptions that the candidate is so it will be up to her potential rivals during the primary race and then during the general election.

Hillary's economic ignorance is typified by her statement regarding record oil company profits. In 2007 she said,  "I want to take those profits and put them into an alternative energy fund that will begin to fund alternative smart energy alternatives that will actually begin to move us toward the direction of independence." This has a very populist appeal for many but it begs some very important questions.

First, "From whom would you be taking those profits Mrs Clinton?" Apparently, she and many others believe there is some evil "1 per center" named Mr. Exxon or Mr. Mobil. The reality is that those profits would be taken from the pension funds of ordinary Americans - teachers, firefighters, etc. and the IRAs and 401(k)s of hard working Americans who are doing the right thing and trying to save for their own retirement.

The next question is, "If companies don't make a profit, why would they continue to operate?" I don't know if she has thought this through or not but the answer is they would for a short while but eventually they would not. Companies exist to make profits. They do other things too but those are just secondary benefits to society that are made possible by the existence of profits. Take away profits, lose jobs, goods, services, taxes just to name a few things.

Perhaps Hillary meant just excess profits so let's assume that to be the case. So who determines what excess means? People who believe in capitalism and free-market economics know that the market determines the price of goods and services and ultimately the profits a business receives. Those on the left like Mrs Clinton might believe otherwise but belief isn't fact.

There are other problems with Hillary's economic plan. To help shine a spotlight on them, one of her opponents needs to ask, "Don't excess profits serve some good?" To this she would certainly answer, "No. Excess profits are unfair." or some other such drivel. Here again she would be wrong because she is focusing on fairness which is misguided. The truth is excess profits serve a very important role in the market. When excess profits exist, other companies enter the market to try to take some of those profits away. Further, it encourages the development of alternative products and alternative technologies because they are suddenly affordable. The result is lower prices and greater choices for consumers. Reality bears this out.  During the period where there were so-called excess oil profits, market forces drove hydraulic fracturing technology that started the oil boom in the Bakken Shale fields of North Dakota, caused the price of oil to plummet and led to the United States becoming the world's leading producer of natural gas. That is the free market at work. By contrast, the left gave us Solyndra.

Lastly, someone needs to ask Hillary, "What is the model for a government "fund" to do something?" "The Social Security Trust Fund?" Yeah, that inspires confidence.