"The Tax Man is Stealing Our Savings'' by Brian S. Wesbury in The Wall Street Journal, November 19, 1998, p A22, shows that the United States government is now sucking dry the last remnant of real capital available for technological advancement.
American savings as a percentage of personal income have fallen from a rate of 5% in 1992 to a current rate of about 0%. Meanwhile, taxes as a percentage of personal income have risen at a rate of 9.9% per year for the past five years. With personal consumption staying approximately constant, Wesbury shows that Americans have kept their standard of living approximately level by using all of the money they previously saved - to pay increased taxes.
The 5% savings rate - down from 8% in 1982 - was already far too low to provide the capital required to maintain and improve American industry and to ensure the continuation of American living standards.
Clinton employee J. Brian Atwood, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, stated on the CBS "The Morning'' show that Central Americans experiencing hurricane destruction were suffering "classic greenhouse effect.'' This is reported in "Classic Political Effect'' in The Wall Street Journal, November 17, 1998, p A22.
Not only do the facts show that Atlantic storm frequency and intensity have been decreasing since 1945, but also there is not a shred of evidence that carbon dioxide or the greenhouse effect had anything whatever to do with the storm that damaged Central America.
The Journal correctly points out that this push to to demonize coal, oil, and natural gas is largely a prelude to taxes levied to ration hydrocarbons. The government needs new demons to protect us from in spite of ourselves - by means of new taxes to enhance its power.
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries published monthly from Gunsite Ranch, P. O. Box 401, Paulden, AZ 86334. Two months ago, we recommended Jeff Cooper's book To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth. His ongoing commentaries add to this.
Honor, self-reliance, integrity, absolute morals, and civilized ethics are fast disappearing from American culture. It is essential for all of us to read the thoughts of those who exemplify these characteristics and continually remind us of their applications in today's society.
"Killing Kyoto Without Regrets'' by Jonathan H. Adler and "Climate Science Briefings Debunk Greenhouse Scares'' by Paul J. Georgia in the Competitive Enterprise Institute Update11, Number 10, October 1998, available from CEI, 1001 Connecticut Avenue, N. W., Suite 1250, Washington, DC 20036.
Dr. Paul Reiter, chief of entomology at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated in a CEI-sponsored lecture that claims that higher global temperatures will cause the spread of insect-borne tropical diseases are false. Vice-President Al Gore has been making this claim, as have many enviros.
At a recent meeting where I spoke, a University of Washington en-viro claimed that insect increases would be so severe that all of the extra plant growth from carbon dioxide would be gobbled up by them.
"Mixed Blessing'' by Peter Brimelow in Forbes, October 5, 1998, pp 58-59, shows that poverty (now defined as before-welfare income of less than $16,000 for a family of four) has not decreased in the United States since 1973 even though the seizure of American property through taxes in order to "fight poverty'' has risen enormously.
