At a certain point, you start to wonder how many of these awkward situations Warren Buffett can be involved in and still retain the kindly squeaky clean image. First General Re, then, no matter what you think of the underlying case, Goldman Sachs, and Moody's. Now, according to the Bloomberg wire, there's a lawsuit from a former executive, Brad Mart, of a Berkshire-owned recreational vehicle company, Forest River, who says that he raised allegations of fraud at the company in six phone calls with Mr. Buffett:

When columnists like James Stewart or Fred Barnes tout Ford's "gamble to reject government aid and maintain its independence," we've been crying foul, citing Ford's $5.9 billion federal loan. Now, reports Bloomberg, Ford is going back to the government again, this time for a $250 million loan guarantee to finance exports to Canada and Mexico.

The New York Times, in the course of a catch-up story on the John Kerry-Teresa Heinz Kerry yacht, mentions in passing that "Rhode Island, which has been economically hobbled by the recession, is changing its business and economic climate to make it friendlier to businesses, including nearly halving its personal income tax."

A June 9 press release from the state's Republican governor, Donald Carcieri, has more:

Under the new law, the state will reduce the number of tax brackets from five to three, with the highest marginal rate at 5.99 percent, down from 9.9 percent. The law also increases the standard deduction for all taxpayers. The new system is effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2011.

The American Enterprise Institute's Norman Ornstein says Justice Kennedy got it wrong in the Citizens United case that struck down McCain-Feingold restrictions on corporate speech.

Which has been getting more press attention, the supposed intolerance of those who oppose the mosque/Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, or the decision by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to ban Blackberries?

The State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, was actually pretty strong when questioned about the matter on Monday: "We're disappointed ...It's not about a Canadian company. It's about what we think is an important element of democracy, human rights, and freedom of information and the flow of information in the 21^st century....It is our view that you should be opening up societies to these new technologies that have the opportunity to empower people....restricting technologies in the 21^st century, we think, is a move in the wrong direction."

Well put.

National Public Radio has a story about the Bush tax cuts: "These cuts were passed during the Bush administration at a time when the economy was a lot stronger than it is today."

Spiegel has a long look at the very successful German family-owned retailer Aldi, best known in America as the owner of Trader Joe's. F.A. Hayek isn't mentioned, but his concept of the information that is contained in a price is very much on display:

Aldi is Germany, and Germany is Aldi. This sense of order, this devotion to efficiency, the sparse logic of logistics and above all, determined thrift.

So it's no wonder that Germany isn't just the land of poets and thinkers, but also of discount shopping. The concept of super cheap groceries wasn't invented in the United States, it was invented by the Albrechts. The concept had nothing to do with customer service, just with providing discount food for the masses. "Our advertisement is the cheap price," Karl Albrecht said in 1953. That remained the only public statement he made in the entire history of the company.

Aldization also meant ... unshakeable faith in the power of the market in all areas of life -- from discount airlines to discount burials.

Thomas Sowell has a new column up warning about the federal budget on the basis of a report from the Congressional Budget Office, which is headed by a Democrat:

The CBO report points out that the national debt, which was 36 percent of the Gross Domestic Product three years ago, is now projected to be 62 percent of GDP at the end of fiscal year 2010-- and rising in future years.

Tracing the history of the national debt back to the beginning of the country, the CBO finds that the national debt did not exceed 50 percent of GDP, even when the country was fighting the Civil War, the First World War or any other war except World War II. Moreover, a graph in the CBO report shows the national debt going down sharply after World War II, as the nation began paying off its wartime when the war was over.

The Boston Globe tries to explain, based on a new book, Heavenly Merchandize: How Religion Shaped Commerce in Puritan America, by Mark Valeri, professor of church history at Union Theological Seminary. More discussion of the long shadow of usury.

Thanks to reader-participant-community member-watchdog-content co-creator E. for the link.

Another capitalist upset enough to speak up in public: Hotel and casino executive Steve Wynn, who in this YouTube video lambastes "wild uncontrolled spending," "the hypocritical SOBs in Washington," and taxes that "are changed every five minutes."

"We're on our way to Greece," he says. "Is there a businessperson or a media person in America that isn't frightened of the next crazy idea that's coming from Washington?"

He says he's going to spend half his time in Macau because the opportunities he sees abroad are "far superior" to those in America.

David Keyes, writing in the Daily Beast: "From 2005 to 2008, Saudi Arabia bought $11.2 billion in weapons from the U.S., more than any other country in the world." And, "In the next two months, Congress will be asked to give formal approval to a staggering new arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Valued at $30 billion, the deal includes selling the Saudis state-of-the-art missile technology, jets, ships, and helicopters." President Obama's ambassador to Saudi Arabia? James B. Smith, whose official bio on the Riyadh embassy Web site states, "Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Smith had served in a variety of executive positions with Raytheon Company involving corporate strategic planning, aircraft manufacturing, and international business development."

Well, at least President Obama is doing what he can to stimulate the American defense industry, though you've got to figure that's not much consolation to whomever the Saudis are aiming these arms at.

Roger Lowenstein has a Bloomberg column taking aim at the tax laws for managers of partnerships:

Managers of private-equity funds, and of other investment partnerships, enjoy an undeserved exception. The performance fee they charge investors, typically 20 percent of profits, is treated as a capital gain and taxed at the lower rate. This makes no economic sense; an outside investor has the same incentive to participate regardless of the tax paid by the manager. It makes sense only if you are Henry Kravis and prefer to pay less.

The House of Representatives has voted three times to end this unwarranted privilege. After the financial crisis, the Senate seemed likely to concur. Then, industry lobbyists stormed Congress. The matter now rests with the Senate Finance Committee. Since nothing is more arbitrary than the proper rate at which to tax, the only sure principle is consistency: what one party pays, so should the other.

George Kelling, the author with James Q. Wilson of the famous March 1982 Atlantic Monthly article "Broken Windows" about policing, disorder, crime, and fear, was a professor in a Harvard course on policing that I really enjoyed and learned from, so I hesitate to write a post headlined "The Broken Window Fallacy." But the YouTube video is really aimed at Paul Krugman, not at Professor Kelling or James Q. Wilson or their theory.

C-Span has footage of Rep. Maxine Waters, in 1995, railing against Rep. Newt Gingrich for his supposed ethical lapses: "The American public does not appreciate double standards. What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Chickens coming home to roost, as Peter Beinart/Malcolm X/Jeremiah Wright would put it.

Andrew Ross Sorkin has an intriguing column in the New York Times about Citigroup's $75 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

On its face, the settlement looked like a victory for the good guys. The S.E.C. was finally holding Wall Street responsible for misleading shareholders. But take a step back and ask this question: Who is paying that $75 million fine?

The answer is Citigroup's shareholders — the same people who were arguably defrauded by its failure to disclose its exposure to subprime mortgages in the first place. And that means you and I are liable, too. Taxpayers own 18 percent of the company.

The government fines a company it owns.