House Rejects Bailout — For Now

Art Thompson writes:

The tactic has always been to scare the people when the Powers-That-Be want more control over the people and economy. In reality, control of the economy is control over the people. It is called socialism...

We see no change in the course government is on as a result of this election. The major candidates all talk about the CEOs making a lot of money but never the fact that the economy is coming under more centralized control, consolidation of wealth under fewer companies and personages — all using our money...

What the President and the Congress are doing is converting the American free enterprise system into socialism...

The free enterprise system must be free to work. Good decisions are rewarded with gain. Bad decisions are rewarded with loss. All do not pay for the mistakes of the few, no matter what the ripples.

Institutions that fail should be allowed to fail.

If a private person or company makes a wrong decision, a few suffer. If government does it, all suffer.

There is only one way out of this mess, and that is to allow the bad to go bankrupt; if fraud is involved, prosecute those responsible; abolish the Federal Reserve; and return to real money: gold.

The combination of more borrowing (even from China!) and allowing the Fed to print paper with different numbers on it, backed only by “faith,” is what got us into this mess to begin with.

House Rejects Bailout — For Now

Restore a Free Market to America

Wise words from Jacob Hornberger:

The root of America’s financial and economic woes lies with the federal government and, specifically, with decades of such socialist and interventionist federal programs as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. There are the thousands of federal agencies and departments. There are the tens of thousands of rules and regulations. There are the armies of bureaucrats, inspectors, and regulators regulating and controlling financial and economic activity. There is the income tax, which sucks massive amounts of what ordinarily would be productive capital out of the pockets of the American people. There are the millions of dollars in welfare that is paid out to welfare recipients, both at home and abroad. There are multitudes of trade restrictions and immigration controls that interfere with people’s ability to enter into mutually beneficial trades that would increase their standard of living. There is the Federal Reserve that, decade after decade, has debased our currency, induced enormous misallocations of investment, and nurtured a culture of spending rather than saving among the American people. There is the massive, out-of-control federal spending to fund the welfare, the regulatory enforcement, the drug war, and imperial adventurism, including the invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. There is the ever-growing national debt.

All this is bound to bring about financial crises. There is no way to avoid it...

But what’s important to keep in mind is that Bush’s bailout could not solve the crisis simply because the roots of the crises are being left intact. Instead, all that Bush’s plan could accomplish is to ensure that Wall Street cronies wouldn’t have to share in the pain of it. Under Bush’s plan, his cronies’ financial losses would simply be transferred to the American people...

Let’s not forget that as long as our nation remains in the grip of the welfare-warfare paradigm, the crises will continue regardless of what socialist-interventionist plans are put into place to address them. Thus, the only real solution to America’s financial and economic woes is the restoration of a free-market paradigm, one in which people’s economic activities are free of government control, regulation, and intervention.

Restore a Free Market to America

The illusion of freedom - Tocqueville 1835

Prophetic words from Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835.

"Our contemporaries are constantly excited by two conflicting passions: they want to be led, and they wish to remain free. As they cannot destroy either the one or the other of these contrary propensities, they strive to satisfy them both at once. They devise a sole, tutelary, and all-powerful form of government, but elected by the people. They combine the principle of centralization and that of popular sovereignty; this gives them a respite: they console themselves for being in tutelage by the reflection that they have chosen their own guardians. Every man allows himself to be put in leading-strings, because he sees that it is not a person or a class of persons, but the people at large who hold the end of his chain. By this system the people shake off their state of dependence just long enough to select their master and then relapse into it again"

Tocqueville: Book I Chapter 1

The Forgotten Iraqi-Sovereignty Sham

James Bovard writes:

The sovereignty transfer did not impede the U.S. military from continuing to heavily bomb civilian areas and sweep up vast numbers of innocent Iraqi civilians for interrogation and detention...

But Iraqi sovereignty from the beginning was intended to be a sham. The Iraqis would have self-government — and the proof would be that the American military will constantly remind them that they have self-government. The U.S. government did not intend to permit Iraqis to govern themselves in any way that did not suit the interests and demands of the Bush administration...

That is akin to the sovereignty that the Soviets awarded Eastern European nations after World War II. U.S. government officials made it clear that they intend to maintain 14 permanent military bases in Iraq. “Do what we say and you won’t get hurt” will be the de facto meaning of sovereignty for Iraqis.

Bush apparently defined self-government for a foreign country as being under benevolent American domination. It is another case of Bush’s assuming that people are dumb enough to fall for a bogus label...

Sovereignty hoopla convinced millions of Americans that the Iraqi problem had been or would soon be solved...

Bush re-subjugated Americans by claiming to have liberated Iraqis. Far more Americans recognize the futility of the U.S. attack on Iraq now than at the time of Bush’s reelection. But a cowardly media and a docile opposition party have permitted Bush to turn his folly into a long-term albatross around the necks of both Iraqis and Americans.

The Forgotten Iraqi-Sovereignty Sham

Bernanke PROVED Paulson Plan Bankrupt - The Market Ticker

"Ben and Hank made the mess over the space of several years, they have had over a year to clean it up, they have refused to do so, instead choosing to throw money at the problem instead of resolving the issue and now having been told "Not no but hell no!" by the United States public they are continuing to stick to a proven failed policy!"

Bernanke PROVED Paulson Plan Bankrupt - The Market Ticker

LewRockwell.com Blog: Ron Paul on the Bailout Vote

Excellent five-minute commentary by Congressman Paul after yesterday's surprise vote (which I really liked).

LewRockwell.com Blog: Ron Paul on the Bailout Vote

Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty » Blog Archive » Dr. Paul’s House floor remarks on the bailout

Congressman Ron Paul on the house floor today said:

In conclusion, there are three good reasons why Congress should reject this legislation:

a. It is immoral—Dumping bad debt on the innocent taxpayers is an act of theft and is wrong.

b. It is unconstitutional—There is no constitutional authority to use government power to serve special interests.

c. It is bad economic policy—By refusing to address the monetary system while continuing to place the burdens of the bailout on the dollar, we can be certain that in time, we will be faced with another, more severe crisis when the market figures out that there is no magic government bailout or regulation that can make a fraudulent monetary system work.

Monetary reform will eventually come, but, unfortunately, Congress’ actions this week make it more likely the reform will come under dire circumstances, such as the midst of a worldwide collapse of the dollar. The question then will be how much of our liberties will be sacrificed in the process. Just remember what we lost in the aftermath of 9-11.

The best result we can hope for is that the economic necessity of getting our fiscal house in order will, at last, force us to give up our world empire. Without the empire we can then concentrate on rebuilding the Republic.

Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty » Blog Archive » Dr. Paul’s House floor remarks on the bailout

MWC News - A Site Without Borders - - Eat Your Cats and Dogs

Joel S. Hirschhorn writes:

"Americans cannot vote their way out of this mess. Their only real opportunity this year is to vote AGAINST the two-party plutocracy by voting for any of the four third-party presidential candidates. We need the world to see tens of millions of votes protesting the failures of both major parties."

"This electoral rebellion would keep faith with Thomas Jefferson’s correct view that America would need a revolution every generation or so. To keep voting for Democrats and Republicans just makes gullible and delusional citizens co-conspirators in the vast criminal conspiracy that is our political system."

MWC News - A Site Without Borders - - Eat Your Cats and Dogs

An Austrian Bailout Plan - Mises Economics Blog

I like seeing an alternative to $700 billion of taxpayer money (and / or running them all out of the fiat money press).

An Austrian Bailout Plan - Mises Economics Blog

The Austrian Economists: PLEASE, Just Say No!

Peter Boettke writes:

If instead, we were to use the current financial mess to learn the right lesson and get government out of the business of doing business, and instead restrict government to the minimalist role of the "nightwatchman state" we will see market adjustment proceed ruthlessly and quickly cleaning out the malinvestments and redirecting resources to more efficient uses and people to more effective employments of their time and talents. Get government out of the financial industry, let businesses fail, let reallocation of resources and people take place, and lets build effective restraints on government so that we don't end up in this mess again.

Instead if we provide this bailout, as it almost inevitably appears we will, we will move even further away from economic decisions based on "market" pricing and the disciplining of those decisions based on "profit and loss" statements. We will get an even bigger orgy of spending backed by easy credit and imprudent and irresponsibility rather than wealth creation will characterize the US economy...

To try to throw money at a problem that was caused by a system of incentives that said we will bail you out when your risky investments go sour is merely to reinforce the perverse incentives that caused the problem in the first place --- JUST SAY NO.

The Austrian Economists: PLEASE, Just Say No!

Morton Marcus: Hoosiers Angered by Inequity of Mortgage Mess | Howey Politics Indiana

Morton Marcus writes:

Main Street business owners, who take risks every day, have little sympathy for Wall Street wizards who have earned millions buying and selling mysterious, risky financial instruments. The idea that taxpayers should save these people from the consequences of their actions is alien to those who insist that individuals accept responsibility for their behaviors...

If we promise aid to borrowers when they get behind on their mortgage payments, what incentive do they have to stay out of trouble? If we bail out the lenders today, what message are we sending about responsibility tomorrow?

Morton Marcus: Hoosiers Angered by Inequity of Mortgage Mess | Howey Politics Indiana

Pro Libertate: Rubicon in the Rear-View, Part II: Perpetual War, Here and Abroad

Scary article.

"It is impossible to maintain a republic at home while supporting an empire abroad. Imperial commitments abroad inevitably mean the corruption of the currency, the destruction of the rule of law, the liquidation of the middle class, and a descent into national bankruptcy, undisguised oligarchical rule, and the imposition of some variety of martial law. We are likely to learn, very soon, in very painful ways, we enjoy no happy immunity to the consequences of the policies we have permitted our rulers to impose on us."

Pro Libertate: Rubicon in the Rear-View, Part II: Perpetual War, Here and Abroad

The Constitution vs. the Federal Reserve - Vox

"Rightly understood, the Constitution authorizes -- and indeed, requires -- the government to mint silver and gold coins denominated only by weight and fineness, but denies it any power to emit paper money... It denies the government any power to enact legal-tender laws... It permits private banks to issue their own nonfraudelent monetary notes, and deal honestly in deposits denominated in silver, gold, or foreign currencies... It permits free entry into private banking, throughout the United States... It outlaws any government sponsored banking monopoly or banking cartel, such as the present-day Federal Reserve System... And it disables the government from levying discriminatory taxes on privately issued money..."

"Thus, in the most fundamental sense, the United States needs no reform law, or restoration law, to return to sound money. For the necessary law already exists, in the Constitution itself."

"So as the politicians swear to uphold the Constitution, their actions repudiate their promise"

The Constitution vs. the Federal Reserve - Vox

LewRockwell.com Blog: Murdering the word "accountability"

"The purpose of the bailout is to destroy accountability for making and taking bad loans, yet we are assured that "accountability" must be part of the bailout."

LewRockwell.com Blog: Murdering the word "accountability"

LewRockwell.com Blog: The Republican Party Is Not the Lesser of Two Evils, Example No. 5,395

McCain believes that Bush appointments John Roberts and Samuel Alito "will serve as the model" for his judicial nominees. If so, then we are in trouble. Both recently voted against the right of habeas corpus in the case of Boumediene v. Bush.

LewRockwell.com Blog: The Republican Party Is Not the Lesser of Two Evils, Example No. 5,395

Mr Bailout - Antony Mueller - Mises Institute

Antony Mueller predicts the economic fiasco of 2008 back in September 2004.

"The key to the power of a central bank is maintaining the illusion that fiduciary money is wealth. It is a con game, and in this respect there can be few doubts that Alan Greenspan has been a master at this game. Under his rule, the arcane machinery of the central bank has turned into a fountain of cheap money, which has inundated the globe. This policy of repeated bailouts and the provision of unlimited funding for government expansion in the face of a decreasing savings rate and a shrinking productive sector is the way toward an economic Armageddon. By functioning as bailout agents central banks use the power to create money as a power to destroy."

Mr Bailout - Antony Mueller - Mises Institute

The Bailout Reader - Mises.org - Mises Institute

Great resource for those who want to educate themselves and their legislators on the way out of the mortgage and Wall Street crisis.

The Bailout Reader - Mises.org - Mises Institute

Is the United States fascist?

Comparing the U.S. today to John T. Flynn's 1944 definition of fascism is eye-opening.

The Chalcedon Foundation - Faith for All of Life

The Housing Bubble in 4 Easy Steps - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute

Mark Thornton writes, "Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, mortgage-backed securities, and credit derivatives were simply the conduit that made all these bad loans and investments seem less risky than they really were. In this manner the Federal Reserve can fool the market, at least temporarily. In the end the market always reasserts itself."

The Housing Bubble in 4 Easy Steps - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute

What is the "Dark Side" and Why Do Some People Choose It? - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute

Mark Thornton compares the backgrounds of Hitler and Darth Vader.

He concludes, "Unfortunately, we see the dark side all too often in government, but this is the brilliance of Lucas to capitalize on real life in order make science fiction meaningful to a mass audience. Once again he has taught us a valuable lesson about ourselves and our society. The next new hope is that such lessons will be a force in our future."

What is the "Dark Side" and Why Do Some People Choose It? - Mark Thornton - Mises Institute

Partners at the Destruction - WSJ.com

I agree with John Fund.

"We will look back on the failure of Congress to reform the government-sponsored enterprises at the heart of the mortgage meltdown as one of the most expensive derelictions of its duty ever."

Partners at the Destruction - WSJ.com

Sermon on the stump: Pastors to violate IRS law

Good. This law needs a challenge.

Sermon on the stump: Pastors to violate IRS law

FOXNews.com - Poll: Most Americans Against Bush's Bailout Plan - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum

"There is scant public support for President Bush's $700 billion federal rescue plan for the U.S. financial industry and little expectation it would solve the crisis that has roiled the markets and hobbled some of the country's largest investment firms, according to a poll released Friday."

FOXNews.com - Poll: Most Americans Against Bush's Bailout Plan - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum

The Mystery of Banking - Joseph T. Salerno - Mises Institute

Joseph Salerno writes, "With the US housing crisis metamorphosing into a full-blown financial crisis in the United States and Europe and the specter of a global stagflation looming larger every day, the Fed's credibility and reputation is evaporating with the value of the US dollar. The time is finally ripe to publish this new edition of the book that asked the forbidden question about the Fed and fractional-reserve banking when it was first published 25 years ago."

Read for free at "http://www.mises.org/Books/mysteryofbanking.pdf".

Or buy a copy at "http://www.mises.org/store/Mystery-of-Banking-P528.aspx".

The Mystery of Banking - Joseph T. Salerno - Mises Institute

United Liberty » Blog Archive » From the Desk of Ron Paul: My Answer to the President

Congressman Ron Paul writes:

The financial meltdown the economists of the Austrian School predicted has arrived.

We are in this crisis because of an excess of artificially created credit at the hands of the Federal Reserve System. The solution being proposed? More artificial credit by the Federal Reserve. No liquidation of bad debt and malinvestment is to be allowed. By doing more of the same, we will only continue and intensify the distortions in our economy - all the capital misallocation, all the malinvestment - and prevent the market’s attempt to re-establish rational pricing of houses and other assets.

Last night the president addressed the nation about the financial crisis...

We are told that “low interest rates” led to excessive borrowing, but we are not told how these low interest rates came about. They were a deliberate policy of the Federal Reserve. As always, artificially low interest rates distort the market. Entrepreneurs engage in malinvestments - investments that do not make sense in light of current resource availability... that would not have been made at all if the interest rate had been permitted to tell the truth instead of being toyed with by the Fed.

Not a word about any of that, of course, because Americans might then discover how the great wise men in Washington caused this great debacle. Better to keep scapegoating the mortgage industry or “wildcat capitalism”...

Speaking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the president said: “Because these companies were chartered by Congress, many believed they were guaranteed by the federal government. This allowed them to borrow enormous sums of money, fuel the market for questionable investments, and put our financial system at risk.”

Doesn’t that prove the foolishness of chartering Fannie and Freddie in the first place? Doesn’t that suggest that maybe, just maybe, government may have contributed to this mess? And of course, by bailing out Fannie and Freddie, hasn’t the federal government shown that the “many” who “believed they were guaranteed by the federal government” were in fact correct?

Then come the scare tactics. If we don’t give dictatorial powers to the Treasury Secretary “the stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet.” Left unsaid, naturally, is that with the bailout and all the money and credit that must be produced out of thin air to fund it, the value of your retirement account will drop anyway, because the value of the dollar will suffer a precipitous decline. As for home prices, they are obviously much too high, and supply and demand cannot equilibrate if government insists on propping them up.

It’s the same destructive strategy that government tried during the Great Depression: prop up prices at all costs. The Depression went on for over a decade. On the other hand, when liquidation was allowed to occur in the equally devastating downturn of 1921, the economy recovered within less than a year...

To combat the depression by a forced credit expansion is to attempt to cure the evil by the very means which brought it about; because we are suffering from a misdirection of production, we want to create further misdirection - a procedure that can only lead to a much more severe crisis as soon as the credit expansion comes to an end...

The only thing we learn from history, I am afraid, is that we do not learn from history.

The very people who have spent the past several years assuring us that the economy is fundamentally sound, and who themselves foolishly cheered the extension of all these novel kinds of mortgages, are the ones who now claim to be the experts who will restore prosperity! Just how spectacularly wrong, how utterly without a clue, does someone have to be before his expert status is called into question?

Oh, and did you notice that the bailout is now being called a “rescue plan”? I guess “bailout” wasn’t sitting too well with the American people.

The very people who with somber faces tell us of their deep concern for the spread of democracy around the world are the ones most insistent on forcing a bill through Congress that the American people overwhelmingly oppose. The very fact that some of you seem to think you’re supposed to have a voice in all this actually seems to annoy them.

I continue to urge you to contact your representatives and give them a piece of your mind. I myself am doing everything I can to promote the correct point of view on the crisis. Be sure also to educate yourselves on these subjects - the Campaign for Liberty blog is an excellent place to start. Read the posts, ask questions in the comment section, and learn.

H.G. Wells once said that civilization was in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.

United Liberty » Blog Archive » From the Desk of Ron Paul: My Answer to the President

Muse with Indy Jane: Hot Dogs: a Homeland Security Threat?

"The discovery of several hot dogs in packages outside Citizens Bank Park brought the bomb squad out and forced the temporary evacuation of the stadium Wednesday evening."

Muse with Indy Jane: Hot Dogs: a Homeland Security Threat?

Prolonging and Deepening the Recession - Vox

The Paleo Blog writes:

The fear that the world as we have known it will end if it is not for government bailouts (a.k.a. "welfare for the rich") is ridiculous, even if we assume the very worst. Under the assumption of the very worst, so to speak, it is especially essential and vital that the market allow the failures to take place and to then allow the market to readjust to reality.

That the government, its left-neocon bodyguards, and those who are at the receiving end of the bailouts paint such a picture should not be surprising. All that needs to explain this is that they gain at the expense of the public at large by painting this "world-is-going-to-end" picture.

However, as great economists like Murray Rothbard have shown, by not allowing the market to readjust to reality, which requires a non-interventionist governmental policy, it will take that much longer for reality to set in. The economic crisis will thus be deeper and longer than it otherwise would be if the current statist ideas succeed. Trying to hold together this bubble (which was created by the government) or, worse, trying to inflate it to a larger size is going to only delay the inevitable. It will make that inevitable result only worse. Therefore if one was to ridiculously assume the very, very worst possible, it would only be prudent, and even more so in this case, to let the market readjust and liquidate what it needs to liquidate. The worst thing to do is to follow what Hoover and FDR did. Doing that would truly create a crisis of gloom and doom.

Prolonging and Deepening the Recession - Vox

The War No One Mentions

Jacob Hornberger writes an excellent article.

Frédéric Bastiat, a 19th-century French legislator, perfectly described the nature of the government in which Americans are living today. He said, “The state is that great fiction by which everyone endeavors to live at the expense of everyone else.”

Is there another way? Of course there is. There is a way based on simple moral principles: Everyone keeps his own money. Everyone decides what to do with his own money. No income tax. No IRS. No government grants or assistance to anyone. All charity is voluntary.

It’s called freedom. It’s a peaceful, harmonious way of life, one that Americans once believed in.

The War No One Mentions

Carpooling: Good for the environment, too bad it's illegal -- Western Standard Shotgun Blog

"Of course, it was a competitor who raised the objection... And that's what regulations are for, generally: Make sure the current crop of businesses don't have to actually outcompete competitors by offering cheaper or better service. They can just lean on a stack of regulations to keep profit margins high."

Western Standard

Coyote Blog: I'm Sure This Is Not In Any Way Relevant To Recent Events

Prophecy in the New York Times 30 September 1999

"In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's."

Coyote Blog: I'm Sure This Is Not In Any Way Relevant To Recent Events

LewRockwell.com Blog: REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

Great spoof on the Nigerian e-mail scams, applied to Wall Street bailout request!

LewRockwell.com Blog: REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP

Why Paulson is wrong on the financial bailout -- The Economists' Voice

"There are alternatives to a massive government bailout of the U.S. financial industry, according to Luigi Zingales--they just would be more costly for financiers and cheaper for taxpayers."

The Economists' Voice

The Potential End Of America's Government - The Market Ticker

Karl Denninger writes:

Congress MUST stop The Fed and Treasury from printing any more money. The institutions that are insolvent must be forced into the open and put through bankruptcy.

We CANNOT wait until the next Congress and the election to stop this nonsense; that's five months in the future. By then The United States could easily be quite literally broke and forced into a hyperinflationary spiral!

The Potential End Of America's Government - The Market Ticker

Congressman Ron Paul - Predictions vs. Reality in Iraq - Texas Straight Talk

Dr. Paul writes, "Keep in mind - the doomsday predictions on the Iraq War from six years ago, sound like a cakewalk today. While what leaders in the administration had predicted, reads like a fairytale. Ask yourself, when listening to the same foreign policy “experts” explaining situations around the world and suggesting policy positions: In light of the facts of today, and the predictions of yesterday, how expert have they shown themselves to be?"

Congressman Ron Paul - Predictions vs. Reality in Iraq - Texas Straight Talk

United Liberty » Blog Archive » Time to Fight the Real War on Terror

Dr. William “B J” Lawson is a Republican Congressional Candidate for NC, Dist. 4. He writes and quotes:

Gary Larson’s classic Far Side cartoon says it all. The Federal Reserve has heaved a gigantic brick through the window of our nation’s economy. Jobs are getting scarce, retirement savings and housing values are declining, and basic necessities are less affordable. Using the current crisis as an opportunity to further empower the Federal Reserve at the expense of the people is not the answer.

We need to restart past conversations, and restore a Constitutional money and banking system that removes moral hazard from the equation entirely. We cannot allow a private monopoly to create money out of nothing to loan to us at interest. The Federal Reserve is welcome to compete in a free market, but accepting private debt-based currency should not be compulsory — it should be voluntary, and other forms of money that facilitate trade and local economic growth should be welcomed.

Alan Greenspan noted that our money system is not a free market — the power over our money is centralized in the hands of the Federal Reserve.

The government is only authorized to establish a level playing field with accurate “weights and measures.” In particular, Congress was given the authority to coin money, and regulate its value — it is not authorized to delegate monopoly authority over our money to a private central bank.

Since 1913, however, our money comes from a monopoly run for the benefit of private banks. The banks have the power to create money through debt, and the people and our governments thus accumulate debt instead of wealth.

What should Congress do? Follow the Constitution: eliminate the money monopoly that is crippling our country.

Competition between different money systems keeps people honest, and elimination of fractional reserve banking and fraudulent “deposit insurance” keeps banks honest.

Relentlessly seeking another hit of debt will not cure our unsustainable addiction. The poison is not the cure.

It’s time to get off the treadmill of a collapsing debt-based currency and empower local economic growth through an honest, Constitutional money system that will strengthen communities by empowering local producers of real goods and services.

United Liberty » Blog Archive » Time to Fight the Real War on Terror

lowercase liberty » Blog Archive » unfettered?

"Commenting on blog.Mises.org, ChrisR makes a concise and excellent point: You can't have the biggest government on the planet and "unfettered competition." It's either one or the other. Evidently, many people seem to think we have both."

lowercase liberty » Blog Archive » unfettered?

Incredible Documentary Footage of Mass Arrest in St. Paul | War On You

Wow! Is this really America?

Incredible Documentary Footage of Mass Arrest in St. Paul | War On You

BOVARD » Ron Paul Supporters Vindicated?

Jim Bovard writes, "Many of the brokerage and investment firms richly deserve bankruptcy for their shenanigans and irresponsibility. If taxpayers are forced to bail out the “Masters of the Universe,” that will be one of the biggest financial crimes in modern history. But the fact that many companies made foolish decisions does not entitle politicians to seize more control over the economy."

BOVARD » Ron Paul Supporters Vindicated?

The Liberal and Conservative Box

Jacob Hornberger writes:

When along comes a libertarian and says, “I favor the repeal, not the reform, of all those government programs,” conservatives and liberals become befuddled, confused, and sometimes even angry. Their entire world-view is being shattered by libertarians because their paradigm of “free enterprise” is based on the existence, not the absence, of those programs. Dealing with a libertarian causes liberals and conservatives no small amount of discomfort and dis-ease because it makes them confront their life of the lie and their life of unreality.

The Liberal and Conservative Box

The Superfluous Man: Lèse majesté

"Like the flag, for many people the vote seems less a political matter than a religious one. It really is remarkable how voting has become the central American right, the right that constitutes and defines “freedom.” Nothing else -- the right to property, to free speech, to bear arms, to your own labor, to control your own body -- has such a sacred character."

The Superfluous Man: Lèse majesté

Vote for Change 2008 -- Anarchy In Your Head » Archive

Good cartoon on the value of voting in U.S. presidential elections.

Anarchy In Your Head » Archive » Vote for Change 2008

How to Rule: For Women -- VisionaryDaughters.com

Challenging quotation from William H. Felix (1838-1912), in his essay “The Work and Sphere of True Womanhood”.

"Woman’s work is foundation work for society, for the state, for the kingdom of Heaven. In the homes of America are born the children of America; and from them goes forth American life. Who has the hand upon these springs of life? Woman. These children of American homes go out with the stamp of these homes upon them, and only as these homes are what they ought to be will these children be what they ought to be. …Woman may think her sphere and work are limited and contracted, but in this she was never found in a graver mistake. In the home she is imprinting herself upon the man; in him she builds up society, in him she builds up the state, in him she legislates, in him she executes, in him she rules. She makes man what he is, so far as human power can operate. Yes, if she never does anything else but “nurse babies,” she can do no grander work. May God impress upon our women the high, heavenly, holy duty of rearing the children of our country, and making our homes places of joy and comfort. Alas! for the state! if our women are to leave the work of our homes and run hither and thither in search of larger rights and larger powers."

VisionaryDaughters.com

Coyote Blog: Volume Gouging

Excellent economic analysis of gasoline pricing, supply, and demand.

"These stations gouged me on volume, simply because they didn't have the simple courtesy to re-price their product upwards in a shortage in order to ensure continued availability of supply. By the way, memo to news guys -- telling everyone to run out and fill their tanks RIGHT NOW in order to avoid a possible gasoline shortage will only precipitate said shortage. If everyone fills his or her tank at the same time, this shifts inventory from large regional reservoirs to individual reservoirs (e.g. gas tanks), the most inefficient of inventory storage models. Having every car's gas tank go nearly instantaneously from 5/8 full to full requires something like 600 million gallons of draw down from retail and wholesale inventory to car fuel tanks. The system cannot survive that in 24 hours, and the hypothesized shortage becomes a reality."

Coyote Blog: Volume Gouging

The Perpetual Adolescent

Interesting sociological analysis by Joseph Epstein of the quest for unending adolescence.

More and more people nowadays are working, as earlier generations were not, with a strong safety net of money under them. All options opened, they now swim in what Kierkegaard called "a sea of possibilities," and one of these possibilities in America is to refuse to grow up for a longer period than has been permitted any other people in history...

The old hunger for life, the eagerness to get into the fray, has been replaced by an odd patience that often looks more like passivity...

Political correctness and so many of the political fashions of our day--from academic feminism to cultural studies to queer theory--could only be perpetrated on adolescent minds: minds, that is, that are trained to search out one thing and one thing only: Is my teacher, or this politician, or that public spokesman, saying something that is likely to be offensive to me or members of any other victim group? Only an adolescent would find it worthwhile to devote his or her attention chiefly to the hunting of offenses, the possibility of slights, real and imagined...

Self-esteem, of which one currently hears so much, is at bottom another essentially adolescent notion. The great psychological sin of our day is to violate the self-esteem of adolescents of all ages. One might have thought that such self-esteem as any of us is likely to command would be in place by the age of 18...

The coarsening of American culture seems part of the adolescent phenomenon. Television commercials have gotten grosser and grosser. The level of profanity on prime-time television shows has risen greatly over the years. Flicks known to their audiences as "gross-out movies," featuring the slimy and hideous, are part of the regular film menu...

At a certain point in American life, the young ceased to be viewed as a transient class and youth as a phase of life through which everyone soon passed. Instead, youthfulness was vaunted and carried a special moral status. Adolescence triumphed, becoming a permanent condition. As one grew older, one was presented with two choices, to seem an old fogey for attempting to live according to one's own standard of adulthood, or to go with the flow and adapt some variant of pulling one's long gray hair back into a ponytail, struggling into the spandex shorts, working on those abs, and ending one's days among the Rip Van With-Its...

The Perpetual Adolescent

LewRockwell.com Blog: Another Neocon Proxy War

"Back when the USSR was collapsing, the US made a deal: if Gorbachev would not use violence to prevent secession, the US would not extend its military empire into former Soviet territory. American Indians could have told the Russians about the value of US promises."

LewRockwell.com Blog: Another Neocon Proxy War

Look Me In The Eye: A summer's flood on the Connecticut River

Not sure how to categorize this. Liked his book. Really like this story.

Look Me In The Eye: A summer's flood on the Connecticut River

Ron Paul: The Prophet « Doug Wead The Blog

“The cost in terms of liberties lost and the unnecessary exposure to terrorism are difficult to determine, but in time it will become apparent to all of us that foreign interventionism is of no benefit to American citizens, but is instead a threat to our liberties.” - Ron Paul (spoken in the year 2000.)

Doug Wead writes, "This is not a pro Arab or pro Islamic statement. To anyone who has traveled to Islamic countries, as I have for years, this is only common sense. It has been no help to us or our important allies, such as Israel, to unnecessarily provoke and ignore the sensibilities of so vast a people. The idea that someone could see this, before it happened, and had the courage to speak up about it, is encouraging. The fact that none of us even knew it was said, that it didn’t rate mention on the evening news, and even now, after the fact, is still ignored by politicians and journalists alike, who can’t abide to be wrong about anything, is exasperating."

Ron Paul: The Prophet « Doug Wead The Blog

Congressman Ron Paul - In Government We Trust? Part 2 - Texas Straight Talk

Ron Paul writes, "Imagine if the money you earned had honest, stable value, or even appreciated like an investment! No such special measures, like converting dollars to gold, would be required to ensure that your savings would sustain you in your golden years. That is the way it could be and is supposed to be. However, the government's thirst for power will not be easily, or cheaply, quenched. Fiat currency is one tool governments have to extract wealth quietly from the working class. It is time for the people to wake up to this ruse and look to the Constitution to restore sound currency."

Congressman Ron Paul - In Government We Trust? Part 2 - Texas Straight Talk

LewRockwell.com Blog: Take the Libertarian Red Pill

"Here we have the central principle of libertarianism illustrated: the state is not above the moral law. What is wrong for you or me is also wrong for Bush or Petraeus acting in his official capacity."

LewRockwell.com Blog: Take the Libertarian Red Pill

Judges loved it; fairgoers didn't | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

Sad.

Judges loved it; fairgoers didn't | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

Hat tip to Indy's Painfully Objective Political Analysis.

Indy's Painfully Objective Political Analysis: Christian Marital Love Porn: "Indy's Painfully Objective Political Analysis"

Back to School -- Project for the New Anarchist Century

Funny, but sad too. Government schools, I assume.

"So, to review: Only atheists don't say the pledge and anarchists don't like Christmas."

Project for the New Anarchist Century » Back to School

Pro Libertate: Behold a Palin Horse

William Norman Grigg writes:

To put the matter in unadorned terms: Most self-defined conservative Christians are as apathetic about the slaughter of innocents in foreign wars as they are agitated about the annihilation of the pre-born through abortion, and they are expansively suspicious of government except when it is engaged in mass-murder abroad...

Although second on the ticket to arch-warmonger McCain, Palin is now the sentimental leader of a party that defines its priorites entirely in terms of winning one war of aggression, and carrying out several more. And the dim-witted incumbent of that party has very thoughtfully arranged the resumption of hostilities with Russia, the only nuclear-armed regime that presents a plausible threat to the security of the United States...

Pro Libertate: Behold a Palin Horse

Pro Libertate: Idolatry and State-Sanctioned Murder (Updated, 9/2)

William N. Grigg writes:

Indeed, government -- particularly the despicable state that rules us -- is little more than a perpetual organized assault on the Ten Commandments. The defining act of a government is extracting wealth from people through the threat of lethal violence, and swaddling such acts in invidious rhetoric about "social justice." Thus at its very foundation, the State institutionalizes violations of the commandments against theft, murder, and covetousness...

Alexander Solzhenitsyn offered this admonition to those who wanted to bring about the end of that totalitarian state, with respect to the proper treatment to be given to agents of that state: "Don't believe them, don't fear them, don't ask anything of them."

In other words, treat them with politeness and respect, and ignore entirely the conceit that they are clothed in some peculiar sanctity that permits them to use or require the use of lethal violence to compel submission to their will. To behave otherwise is to act on premises that are essentially idolatrous.

Pro Libertate: Idolatry and State-Sanctioned Murder (Updated, 9/2)

Judge for Yourself! -- Dangerous Talk Blog

Thomas Eddlem writes, "The only argument he made was to try to make me swear an oath to ignore the clear wording of the Constitution. And explicitly making jurors swear oaths to ignore the Constitution is something that clearly "strikes at the heart" of our legal system."

Dangerous Talk Blog

'Rogues' and Humpty Dumpty Judges by Thomas Eddlem

Thomas Eddlem has some great comments on his federal jury experience.

The Constitution was written in simple, declarative English language sentences by farmers. It was written in our name, "we the people." Not only does Young’s view belie the first three words of the preamble of the Constitution, "We the people…", but his philosophy essentially charges every social studies and civics teacher across the country with conspiring to make their students ineligible for jury service...

Juries cannot judge the law, Young says, even though he makes all jurors who enter his courtroom swear an oath to judge the “facts and the law.”
...
The opinion of the judge is all that matters to Young, not the clear and unequivocal wording of the U.S. Constitution...

Juries must judge the law as well as the fact, which is why the federal oath of jury service requires them to judge both with guidance from a judge. This was true even in Young’s courtroom up until he made me swear a second oath...

Indeed, if judges can legitimately instruct juries to enforce congressional bans against newspapers criticizing public officials, as Young clearly said they can, then juries are nothing more than stage props for pretended legitimacy. Indeed, if judges can legitimately instruct juries to enforce congressional bans against newspapers criticizing public officials, as Young clearly said they can, then juries are nothing more than stage props for pretended legitimacy...

I am against the type of "rogues" Judge Young describes in his memorandum, the kind of people who ignore their oaths to judge the "facts and the law," throwing the law to the wind to substitute their own political agenda. But as a whole, the handful of "rogues" across the nation are far less dangerous to the rule of law than Humpty Dumpty judges.

'Rogues' and Humpty Dumpty Judges by Thomas Eddlem

Who predicted the Fanny and Freddie Fiasco 5 Years Ago? : The New Liberty

Ron Paul.

Who predicted the Fanny and Freddie Fiasco 5 Years Ago? : The New Liberty

So Where Did All The Ditchweed Go? by Paul Armentano

"So why would the DEA abruptly want to cease taking credit for destroying hundreds of millions of pounds of marijuana each year? Perhaps it’s because unlike cultivated marijuana, feral hemp contains virtually no detectable levels of THC – the primary psychoactive component in cannabis – and does not contribute to the black market marijuana trade. Or perhaps it’s because the public was finally beginning to smarten up to the fact that they’ve been paying their police millions of dollars each year to do nothing more than pull a few weeds."

So Where Did All The Ditchweed Go? by Paul Armentano

The American Conservative -- Come Home, America

Excerpt from "Ain't My America".

"Liberals need another George McGovern—and perhaps conservatives do too."

The American Conservative -- Come Home, America

The XX Factor : Sarah Palin's Political Eros

"In the end, the night held two firsts: the sight of a VP candidate onstage quipping about foreign policy while her husband held the baby in the audience. And the glimpse of a novel problem for a presidential candidate: sexual tension with his VP."

The XX Factor : Sarah Palin's Political Eros

Will Wilkinson / The Fly Bottle » Blog Archive » Eat Local, Yokel

Good point.

"But it is not the comparative advantage of some localities to grow anything. In that case, refusal to trade beyond local bounds will leave the local economy poorer. That is, you’ll succeed in keeping food dollars in the local economy only at the price of fewer total dollars for food and everything else."

Will Wilkinson / The Fly Bottle » Blog Archive » Eat Local, Yokel

YouTube - Ron Paul Rally For The Republic Bill Kauffman Part 1

Excellent antiwar speech at Minneapolis.

Read the book too -- "Ain't My America..."

YouTube - Ron Paul Rally For The Republic Bill Kauffman Part 1

GovTrack: House Record: EVEN THE SOLDIERS WILL TELL YOU: "NOTHING'S... (110-h20070117-61)

This is my kind of antiwar Republican conservatism.

"Mr. Speaker, as a teenager I sent my first paycheck as a bag boy at the A&P grocery store as a contribution to the Barry Goldwater campaign. I have been a staunch conservative since high school. This war in Iraq went against every conservative position I have ever known. We need to return Iraq back to Iraqis and start putting our own people first once again."

Representative John Duncan (R-TN)
17 January 2007

GovTrack: House Record: EVEN THE SOLDIERS WILL TELL YOU: "NOTHING'S... (110-h20070117-61)

Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. on suppression of antiwar sentiment.

"The purpose of this ridiculous campaign is to throw the country into a state of sheer terror, to change public opinion, to stifle criticism, and suppress discussion. People are being unlawfully arrested, thrown into jail, held incommunicado for days, only to be eventually discharged without ever having been taken into court, because they have committed no crime. But more than this, if every preparation for war can be made the excuse for destroying free speech and a free press and the right of the people to assemble together for peaceful discussion, then we may well despair of ever again finding ourselves for a long period in a state of peace. The destruction of rights now occurring will be pointed to then as precedents for a still further invasion of the rights of the citizen."

Robert M. La Follette, Sr. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Congressman Duncan on war and the state

Congressman Duncan wrote, "I hope more of my fellow conservatives will soon wake up and realize that an unnecessary war and a greatly exaggerated threat of terrorism are being used to expand government at a faster rate than any time in our history."

Commentary by Howard Phillips. The Constitutional Government Blog

YouTube - Rep. John Duncan on Iraq

Excellent antiwar Republican perspective.

YouTube - Rep. John Duncan on Iraq

The American Conservative -- The Right Choice?

I may not agree with his recommendation, but I certainly agree with his views on American empire.

Andrew J. Bacevich writes:

Accept that definition and it quickly becomes apparent that the Republican Party does not represent conservative principles. The conservative ascendancy that began with the election of Ronald Reagan has been largely an illusion...

The presidency of George W. Bush illustrates the point. In 2001, President Bush took command of a massive, inefficient federal bureaucracy. Since then, he has substantially increased the size of that apparatus, which during his tenure has displayed breathtaking ineptitude both at home and abroad. Over the course of Bush’s two terms in office, federal spending has increased 50 percent to $3 trillion per year. Disregarding any obligation to balance the budget, Bush has allowed the national debt to balloon from $5.7 to $9.4 trillion. Worse, under the guise of keeping Americans “safe,” he has arrogated to the executive branch unprecedented powers, thereby subverting the Constitution. Whatever else may be said about this record of achievement, it does not accord with conservative principles...

Finally, there is President Bush’s misguided approach to foreign policy, based on expectations of deploying American military might to eliminate tyranny, transform the Greater Middle East, and expunge evil from the face of the earth. The result has been the very inverse of conservatism. For Bush, in the wake of 9/11, ideology supplanted statecraft. As a result, his administration has squandered American lives and treasure in the pursuit of objectives that make little strategic sense.

For conservatives to hope the election of yet another Republican will set things right is surely in vain. To believe that President John McCain will reduce the scope and intrusiveness of federal authority, cut the imperial presidency down to size, and put the government on a pay-as-you-go basis is to succumb to a great delusion. The Republican establishment may maintain the pretense of opposing Big Government, but pretense it is...

Above all, conservatives who think that a McCain presidency would restore a sense of realism and prudence to U.S. foreign policy are setting themselves up for disappointment. On this score, we should take the senator at his word: his commitment to continuing the most disastrous of President Bush’s misadventures is irrevocable. McCain is determined to remain in Iraq as long as it takes. He is the candidate of the War Party. The election of John McCain would provide a new lease on life to American militarism, while perpetuating the U.S. penchant for global interventionism marketed under the guise of liberation.

The essential point is this: conservatives intent on voting in November for a candidate who shares their views might as well plan on spending Election Day at home. The Republican Party of Bush, Cheney, and McCain no longer accommodates such a candidate...

As part of the larger global war on terrorism, Iraq has provided a pretext for expanding further the already bloated prerogatives of the presidency. To see the Iraq War as anything but misguided, unnecessary, and an abject failure is to play into the hands of the fear-mongers who insist that when it comes to national security all Americans (members of Congress included) should defer to the judgment of the executive branch. Only the president, we are told, can “keep us safe.” Seeing the war as the debacle it has become refutes that notion and provides a first step toward restoring a semblance of balance among the three branches of government.

Above all, there is this: the Iraq War represents the ultimate manifestation of the American expectation that the exercise of power abroad offers a corrective to whatever ailments afflict us at home. Rather than setting our own house in order, we insist on the world accommodating itself to our requirements...

But this much we can say for certain: electing John McCain guarantees the perpetuation of war. The nation’s heedless march toward empire will continue. So, too, inevitably, will its embrace of Leviathan. Whether snoozing in front of their TVs or cheering on the troops, the American people will remain oblivious to the fate that awaits them...

The American Conservative -- The Right Choice?

LewRockwell.com Blog: The Prince Georges Whitewash

Bill Anderson writes:

The real problem is that the police and their supporters have become powerful political forces in this country, and consider any criticism of the police to be "un-American."
...
Nothing will happen to the police in Prince Georges County, and this latest version of the Government Home Invasion will ultimately pass unnoticed. Every officer who participated in that "raid" should be thrown into prison, but, instead, they will be feted as heroes.

LewRockwell.com Blog: The Prince Georges Whitewash

LewRockwell.com Blog: Sarah Palin, Motherhood, and the Christian Conservatives

Laurence Vance writes, "The difference between me and the Christian conservatives who are in love with Palin (she soothes their consciences which have been destroyed by their support for McCain) is that I would recommend that Palin take motherhood over being the assistant warmonger in chief. They would make an exception."

LewRockwell.com Blog: Sarah Palin, Motherhood, and the Christian Conservatives

Look Me In The Eye: Why do people read Look Me in the Eye?

I enjoyed the book and enjoy the author's comments.

Look Me In The Eye: Why do people read Look Me in the Eye?

Why Sarah Palin Inspires Us -- VisionaryDaughters.com

Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin (Visionary Daughters) write:

But it is not a day to rejoice when the best man in the room happens to be a woman — Sarah Palin nor is it a cause for cheer when men can’t compete with women in doing their own job. During this year’s unprecedented election, the key players have been strong women and flaky men. This is a sign of judgment. The scenario is reminiscent of Gloria Steinem’s boast, “We are becoming the men we wanted to marry.” Men have been stepping into the background — women are trying to become the men they wish existed. We challenge any young woman to see this as a happy prospect. It’s hard to be inspired by the abdication of real men and the subsequent rise of pseudo-men...

American Christians may be turning their ears from the plain teachings of Scripture to harken to what they believe is “the crying need of the moment.” They may decide our desperate need for a conservative VP trumps the teachings of Scripture. But we know from Scripture that we are to fear God, and not men — not even liberals. It has been rightly noted that people usually get the government they deserve. If we continue to make pragmatic compromises based on fear of man, God may see fit to continue chastising us with the government we deserve. God is on the Throne, regardless of who is in the White House, and He declares: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Psa. 3:6)...

Looking back over the last year, what’s glaringly obvious is that what America needs is more qualified male leaders. The real cry of the moment is: Give us men!

Seeing women in leadership does not inspire men to be better leaders. We believe Sarah Palin’s example will not inspire men to be men — it will inspire them to make way for more Sarah Palins...

So let us resolve to give the world what it really needs, in the way that only women can give it. We have our work cut out for us, building strength into our men; It will call out every gift and talent within us. In doing so, we’re not just answering the cry — we’re obeying God, Who holds our first allegiance.

Mrs. Palin, you have inspired us to take stronger action for our God and for our country.

As for us, we don’t aspire to become the presidents we wish we could vote for. We aspire to raise them.

VisionaryDaughters.com

Getting Closer to Debasing the Currency - Thorsten Polleit - Mises Institute

Thorsten Polleit writes:

"As the unhampered market finds a new equilibrium via price changes, it exposes malinvestment. Some of the investments made and some of the jobs created prove to be unprofitable. It is the process of altering prices for capital and labor that brings the economy's production structure back in line with people's preferences. In that sense, a so-called crisis, or bust, is actually a correction of bad decisions made in the past; the term crisis would appear to be inappropriate."

"In fact, the term crisis should be attributed to the boom period. It is here where scarce resources, mostly due to artificially reduced interest rates through monetary policy, are being channeled to unprofitable businesses. While the period of building up malinvestment is typically hailed as a period of economic expansion, it is actually a period of squandering."

Getting Closer to Debasing the Currency - Thorsten Polleit - Mises Institute

YouTube - Prime Minister - s02e07 - The National Education Service(3/4

Humorous video on government's role in education.

YouTube - Prime Minister - s02e07 - The National Education Service(3/4

Hat tip to SchansBlog.

SchansBlog: hilarious school choice video

The Liberty Zone: It's about choices

Good food for thought from The Liberty Zone.

The community does support its local schools - through the taxes that are extorted from every individual, whether they have children in public schools or not. And why shouldn't home schooling parents feel superior to public schools? Fact of the matter is that public schools are failing. Much like lack of competition breeds complacency and stunts progress, lack of competition in public schools, due to the fact that they're a monopoly breeds a lack incentive to succeed. And it's NOT a lack of funding that's the problem...

Don't assume that just because a parent chooses to educate their children at home, that they isolate them socially. Home schooled children still have friends and participate in sports and other activities...

Why home school?

Maybe I want my children to know the difference between a democracy and a republic and which one the Founders intended this nation to be...

Self righteous? I wouldn't call it that. I would call it loving one's kids and caring about what they're taught. As a parent you care about what they put in their bodies and what they eat. Why wouldn't you care about what goes into their minds?

The Liberty Zone: It's about choices

YouTube Exonerates Biker Brutalized By NYC Cop

Wow. Going to see more and more of this I suspect as camera/video becomes ubiquitous on cell phones.

YouTube Exonerates Biker Brutalized By NYC Cop


Hat tip to Lew Rockwell blog.

LewRockwell.com Blog: Youtube Exonerates Biker

Ron Paul and Stephen Colbert -- Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty

Good interview of a very good man.

Ron Paul’s Campaign For Liberty » Blog Archive » Ron Paul and Stephen Colbert

I McCain : The New Liberty

The New Liberty writes, "The Republican National Convention is not a convention at all, but more like a staged coronation made for TV... A real convention would have a lot of competition amongst different delegates for different candidates, yelling, sign waving and general anarchy. Instead McCain black hat storm troopers roamed the aisles ready to put down any sign of true republicanism and decent (sic) from neocon dogma... In a McCain world, freedom is not popular... Of course if you are politically naïve... you probably think the neocons are the defenders of limited government, peace, capitalism, the constitution, and fiscal responsibility too."

I McCain : The New Liberty

LewRockwell.com Blog: I, I, I, I

Lew Rockwell summarizes John McCain's nomination acceptance speech as follows, "I am a victim, a dedicated if imperfect servant of my country, not perfected until I realized that the State is far more important than I am, I love peace, I hate war, I will wage war, I will smite the Muslims, I will kill the Russians, I will strike down anyone who fails to bow the knee to me, I will drill, I will build nuclear power plants, I will care for the jobless, the homeless, the bankrupt, the sick, the oil men, the bankers, the arms merchants, the soldiers, the lobbyists; I was a POW, I bear the scars of Jesus on my body, I was wounded, I was hurt, I was crippled, I was jailed, I was tortured, I was imprisoned, I was gaoled, I was in captivity, I was behind bars, I was held against my will, except when I decided to stay, I told nothing, I told nothing, I told everything, country first, country first, freedom, low taxes, I will stand at your side, not in front of you, world empire, everything for the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State, hail me, hail me, hail me."

LewRockwell.com Blog: I, I, I, I

Just Asking: Five Questions for the Restoration Movement -- Christian Standard

Jim Tune writes:

D.A. Carson was reflecting on how denominations lose their doctrinal edge when he said, “One generation believes something, the next generation assumes it, and the third generation denies it.” If we neglect our heritage and if we fail to teach sound doctrine, will our legacy be a generation that denies both?

Christian Standard

As a member of a Restoration Movement Christian Church, I find myself noticing too that our sense of heritage seems to be growing weaker.

first christian church | the family place - Home

The Market Process in Action - Art Carden - Mises Institute

Art Carden writes, "Competition in the market economy separates the good ideas from the not-so-good and helps us economize on scarce resources. We cannot predict which technologies will emerge or how problems will be solved, but we can understand the institutional conditions under which this process will emerge."

The Market Process in Action - Art Carden - Mises Institute

Lower Labor Costs Now! - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

Great recommendations from Lew Rockwell.

"A dramatic initiative to lower the costs of hiring could end up having great effects. It could wean us from the World War II–era mistake of pushing the costs of health care onto employers. It could force a desperately needed reform of Medicare and Social Security. It would shift the locus of control over employment contracts from government to those affected most directly by those contracts: namely, the individual workers and the firms for which they work."

"Of course what you read here is roughly the opposite of current policy trends, which are to increase rather than reduce the costs of hiring. This is how government ends up taking a bad situation and making it worse, which is what it has done consistently throughout history. This won't change until the public makes its demands known to the elites."

Lower Labor Costs Now! - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

LewRockwell.com Blog: Sarah and Secession

Lew Rockwell writes, "Those who hate and fear decentralism and secession love the central state, and - like their hero Abe - think it blasphemous to break up the monstrous imperial Union, or even to contemplate it."

LewRockwell.com Blog: Sarah and Secession

No controlling interest - Orange Punch - OCRegister.com

Steven Greenhut writes:

Tucker Carlson kicked off the Rally for the Republic event and captured the essence of the Ron Paul movement: “Ron Paul sincerely has zero interest in controlling other people.” No one admits they want to control others, he said, but most politicians are devoted to the idea of passing laws that force other people to behave in certain ways or to fund certain things. Most people want to be left alone, but they don’t want to extend that freedom to others, added Carlson.

No controlling interest - Orange Punch - OCRegister.com

Sarah Palin's Career Ends in Tragedy - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

Lew Rockwell writes, "There is something about Sarah I really like, especially that she seems to have had some sympathy for an Alaskan secession movement, which, contrary to media hysteria, is a perfectly reasonable and liberal position to take. But you can be sure that if she plans to be a successful vice president under a McCain administration, all of this will be swept under the carpet, and her primary accomplishment in life will have been to dupe many people into supporting an administration that promises to be the worst thing that has happened to this country since Bush was sworn in."

Sarah Palin's Career Ends in Tragedy - Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. - Mises Institute

In Wasilla, Pregnancy Was No Secret - TIME

Good coverage of Bristol Palin pregnancy.

In Wasilla, Pregnancy Was No Secret - TIME

Hat tip to Weekly Standard blog.

The Weekly Standard

Sarah Palin was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party -- Western Standard Shotgun Blog

Shotgun Blog reports:

Sarah Palin, vice-presidential candidate for the Republican Party, was once a member of the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP), and may still be sympathetic with their mission, according to Lynnette Clark, Chairman of the AIP.

The AIP believes that the vote for statehood was invalid, and that there should be a vote on Alaskan secession...

As for Palin's current views about the AIP, Clark wrote, "I cannot say where Governor Palin now "stands" regarding the AIP Platform, however, she did send a wonderful DVD from her office for the 2008 AIP Statewide Convention sharing her opinion of the importance of this Party."

Western Standard

A Tale of Two Philosophies -- No Left Turns Archive

"Senator Obama wishes to diminish the consequenes of mistakes that young people (and adults for that matter) inevitably make. Not an unreasonable wish. On the other hand, Governor Palin's philosophy is that the best way to help someone grow up is to force them to live with the consequences of their actions, however difficult that might make life. It's more of a tough love philosophy."

I prefer the second.

No Left Turns Archive

Criticism of U.S. foreign policy is patriotic

"During recent years a theory has developed that there shall be no criticism of the foreign policy of the administration, that any such criticism is an attack on the unity of the Nation, that it gives aid and comfort to the enemy, and that it sabotages any idea of a bipartisan foreign policy for the national benefit. I venture to state that this proposition is a fallacy, and a very dangerous fallacy threatening the very existence of the Nation."

U.S. Senator Robert A. Taft, 1951

The Mediaburn Radio Weblog


Hat tip to Bill Kauffman, page 109.

Amazon.com: Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism: Bill Kauffman: Books

Burkean wisdom from Mr Republican -- A conservative blog for peace

"The principal purpose of the foreign policy of the United States is to maintain the liberty of our people. Its purpose is not to reform the entire world or spread sweetness and light and economic prosperity to people who have lived and worked out their own salvation for centuries, according to their customs, and to the best of their abilities."

Senator Robert A. Taft, 5 Jan 1951

A conservative blog for peace


Hat tip to Bill Kauffman in "Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism ", page 108.

Amazon.com: Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism: Bill Kauffman: Books

Fish Oil Supplements Help With Heart Failure - washingtonpost.com

"Daily supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids -- the kind found in fish oil -- reduced deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure, an Italian study found. But a cholesterol-lowering statin drug had no beneficial effect in a parallel heart failure trial."

Fish Oil Supplements Help With Heart Failure - washingtonpost.com