DEATH OF A PATRIOT: At Capitalism Magazine, Peter Schiff describes his 87 year old father’s last days, writing that “my father [Irwin Schiff] was most known for his staunch opposition to the Federal Income Tax, for which the Federal Government labeled him a ‘tax protester:'”

His crusade to force the government to obey the law earned him three prison sentences, the final one being a fourteen-year sentence that he began serving ten years ago, at the age of 77. That sentence turned into a life sentence, as my father failed to survive until his planned 2017 release date. However, in actuality, the life sentence amounted to a death sentence. My father died from skin cancer that went undiagnosed and untreated while he was in federal custody. The skin cancer then led to a virulent outbreak of lung cancer that took his life just more than two months after his initial diagnosis.

* * * * * * *

As the cancer consumed him, his voice changed and the prison phone system no longer recognized it, so he could not even talk with family members on the phone during his finale month of life. When his condition deteriorated to the point where he needed to be hospitalized, government employees blindly following orders that kept him shackled to his bed. This despite the fact that escape was impossible for an 87 year old terminally ill, legally blind patient who could barely breathe, let alone walk.

Whether or not you agree with my father’s views on the Federal Income Tax, or the manner by which it is collected, it’s hard to condone the way he was treated by our government. He held his convictions so sincerely and so passionately that he continued to espouse them until his dying breath. Like William Wallace in the final scene of Braveheart, an oppressive government may have succeeded in killing him, but they did not break his spirit. And that spirit will live on in his books, his videos, and in his children and grandchildren. Hopefully his legacy will one day help restore the lost freedoms he died trying to protect, finally allowing him to rest in peace.

Read the whole thing.

(H/T: 5’F”)

UH OH: Consumer Reports Downgrades the Tesla Model S to “Not Recommended” on Reliability. “Sure, CR loves the P85D’s blistering performance. But the 1,400 Model S owners they surveyed had a number of reliability issues.”

“BACK TO THE FUTURE” DAY REMINDS US HOW FAR WE HAVEN’T COME: Is Big Government Holding Us Back…From the Future?

Really, a president described as the next FDR and obsessed with crony corporatism, socialized medicine and building a “high speed ‘intercontinental’ (sic!) railroad” leaving America stuck in about 1939? I just can’t see it myself…

JOE BIDEN WON’T RUN: “Biden announced his decision not to run from the White House, after several weeks in which groups supporting his run pour millions of dollars into the effort to lure him into the race.”

As with Mario Cuomo before him, Biden allows himself to maintain the narrative of all that could have been had he run — without actually having to endure another round on the campaign trail.

And with Bernie taking one of the team on the debate stage, only the FBI can prevent Hillary from locking up the nomination now.

BIDEN WON’T RUN IN 2016: Yep, it’s official. Uncle Joe has bowed out of the 2016 presidential race.

DAVID DAVENPORT: Republicans As Disruptors: Unfortunately They’re Not Uber. Well, Uber offers a product people want. The GOP establishment offers a product that its donors and consultants want.

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 895.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: How the Federal Government Makes College More Expensive.

The study, which was completed by Boston Consulting Group, found that the 13 colleges and universities varied in how much of their budgets were consumed by compliance activities. Compliance with all federal requirements accounted for between 3 and 11 percent of the institutions’ operating expenditures, excluding any expenses associated with running a hospital.

Brett Sweet, Vanderbilt’s chief financial officer, said in an interview that the university’s goal was “to start a conversation at the national level of the cost of regulation and compliance at universities.”

“It’s not to point fingers at regulatory bodies,” he added. “We’re hoping schools themselves will question, ‘where do we fall on this?’”

Sweet said that one of the most significant findings was that small and medium-sized colleges are disproportionately impacted by federal regulations, with compliance eating up a much larger share of their expenditures than their wealthier peers.

Vanderbilt’s focus on the regulatory burden that colleges faces comes amid a debate in Washington over whether the federal government should pare back or streamline some of the requirements it imposes on colleges.

Colleges and universities have long said they think they’re spending too much time and money trying to comply with the federal government’s rules.

Well, they are. But there should be both fewer federal rules, and less federal money.

WELL, YES: Hillary’s TPP Switch Shows She’ll Sell Out Anybody To Get Elected.

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THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: NASA Supervisors Charged in Chinese Spy Case. Plus, a connection to Hillary’s email problems. And note that Hillary’s casual attitude toward security looks a lot like Administration policy:

A knowledgeable NASA official who requested anonymity said “the whole Bo Jiang incident was brought to management’s attention. They ignored it. They asked us to ignore it.”

The official said foreigners have more, not less, access to NASA operations at present.

Before the Bo Jiang case all foreign nationals, including green card holders, could be monitored and restricted. But now green card holders are treated like U.S. citizens with unrestricted access to all parts of the space research facility.

“If you have a green card, your allegiance may still be to China, but the green card gets you legal authority to work in the United States,” he said. “Therefore we don’t track them. They don’t have restrictions to transfer technology control plans. They’re given access the same exact way as a U.S. citizen because they have a green card.”

Well, that’s just great. But don’t worry, it’s not as if there are no consequences at all here: “Whistleblowers who went out on a limb to disclose the Bo Jiang case continue to face difficulties.”

HAPPY BACK TO THE FUTURE DAY! “We children of the 1970s and 1980s have anticipated this day for 30 years. Now, though, 2015 is a bust.” The 21st Century is not turning out as I had hoped.

SURE, THAT MAKES SENSE: General in charge of failed $500 million Syrian rebel program to be promoted to more senior counterterror position. This is the Obama Administration, where there are penalties for disloyalty, but not for failure.

SHOCKER: States With More Marriages Are Richer. “According to new research, states with a high concentration of married couples experience faster economic growth, less child poverty and more economic mobility than states where fewer adults are married, even after controlling for a variety of economic and demographic factors. . . . What might be behind those links? The researchers suggest it’s the effects of marriage on men – particularly younger, lower-educated men. They believe getting married and becoming a father motivate those men to work more hours, bargain for more money and make better strategic decisions — such as drinking less and not quitting a job before another one is lined up — to improve their earning power.”

Bourgeois values — they’re not just transgressive, they actually work!

WOMAN OF THE PEOPLE: More CEOs donate to Clinton than to any GOP candidate.

The GOP is often considered the party of business — but it looks like the nation’s CEOs may not agree.

Hillary Clinton has received more donations from CEOs than any Republican candidate so far this year, according to a Big Crunch analysis of the last complete batch of individual Federal Election Commission records.

More than 760 people have given to Clinton’s campaign and identified their occupations as “CEO” or a variation of “chief executive” — that’s about as many CEO backers as Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz combined.

They know that her class-warfare rhetoric is just a smokescreen for feathering their nest in exchange for donations and speaking fees. Just like President Goldman Sachs. Or, should I say, President Goldman Sachs The First.

Related: Everyday Americans: Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Bankrolled by Corporate Law Firms, Lobbyists, Wall Street Banks, Ivy League Stiffs.

MARK STEYN: “CLOCK BOY HAS TAUGHT US ALL A VALUABLE LESSON WITH HIS DROLL AND SPECTACULARLY SUCCESSFUL PROVOCATION:”

The US Department of Homeland Security’s slogan is “If You See Something, Say Something” — unless it’s something that might get you accused of Islamophobia, in which case keep it to yourself.

Which is where we came in, on the morning of Tuesday September 11th 2001 at the US Airways First Class check-in desk:

I got an instant chill when I looked at [Mohammed Atta]. I got this grip in my stomach and then, of course, I gave myself a politically correct slap…I thought, ‘My God, Michael, these are just a couple of Arab businessmen.’

Clockmed has raised the bar on that one. My God, this is just a young Muslim male. So what if he’s ticking? Do I really want to be tied up in sensitivity-training hell for the next six months?

Read the whole thing.

THEY ‘WENT THERE’! THE ONION PISSES OFF PRO-ABORTS WITH PLANNED PARENTHOOD SATIRE.

ROBERT MCMANUS: Donald Trump Is Doing America A Service.

Disquiet rooted in a persistently weak economy, a chaotic foreign policy, growing national-security concerns and domestic social turmoil is aggravated by the sense that dissent — or even questioning conventional wisdom as defined by America’s condescending elites — is not only improper, but also immoral.

Resentment?

You betcha.

And that’s a pony Trump seems determined to ride as far as it will carry him. Which has been pretty far.

And guess what? He’s served the nation well — if only by dragging these issues to center stage, thereby forcing a discussion of them.

True.

SHOULD MAKE FOR GOOD CAMPAIGN ADS: Senate Democrats block bill to strip federal funds from ‘sanctuary cities.’

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a presidential candidate and co-sponsor of Vitter’s bill, acknowledged before the vote that the bill was likely to fail but said it would put Democrats on the record for voters to see. He urged Republican Senate leaders to try again later by attaching the bill to some piece of must-pass legislation.

“If Democratic senators choose to value partisan loyalty to the Obama administration over protecting the lives of the children who will be murdered by violent criminal illegal aliens in sanctuary cities…that will provide a moment of clarity,” said Cruz.

Democrats accused Cruz and other Republicans of exploiting the Steinle murder to pander to right-wing GOP primary voters.

At least Democrats would never stoop so low.

THE CIRCULAR FIRING SQUAD ASSEMBLES: Panicked GOP establishment gets ready for war against Trump.

And thus, all roads lead to Hillary?

Related: Can You Remain a Republican with Trump as the Nominee?

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN CANADA (FROM A CANADIAN): “I know you all like Stephen Harper, and I agree he looks pretty good from a foreign conservative’s perspective. But Canadians didn’t reject that Harper, or even (intentionally) his policies. They just got caught up in a shiny, pretty new thing. It happens to the best of electorates. (US in 2008, anyone?) Here are some things you don’t know.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Non-existent hate crime prompts $1 million diversity initiative.

The Daily Caller reports that the University of Delaware is launching a $1 million “diversity” initiative in response to a non-existent hate crime. The “hate crime” consisted of “nooses” supposedly found hanging from a tree on campus. But the police found, and demonstrated through a video, that the alleged nooses were just the remnants of paper lanterns from an earlier campus event.

No matter. One administrator said the mere thought that paper lanterns could have been nooses shows the school has a toxic racial environment. That will be $1 million, please.

It seems to me that the mere thought that paper lanterns could be nooses suggests that some students have been conditioned to find racism (and, more broadly, victimization) where none exists. “Diversity training” will further inculcate this mentality.

You can’t make this stuff up. Sadly, you don’t have to.

THE ERA OF BIG ANGRY GOVERNMENT IS BACK WITH A VENGEANCE: 6 Things We Learned About The Democrats Last Week.

MORE CEOS DONATE TO CLINTON THAN TO ANY GOP CANDIDATE: What else would you expect for the next potential President Goldman Sachs?