The Auto Bailout -- Intellectual Conservative Politics and Philosophy

Thomas E. Brewton writes, "However painful, the cleanest and most effective approach is to allow the Big three to file for bankruptcy. That might open the road to washing out all the crippling union contracts, creating new and economically viable corporations that could re-employ many of their former employees at competitive labor rates. Stockholders, of course, would likely lose their investment in the bankruptcy workout. But that too is the nature of a free-market economy. Investors take a risk in expectation of a profit. They can't always be successful, particularly when impending doom has been on the horizon as long as has the Big Three situation. Were the bankruptcy courts to approve such a settlement, the restructured, slimmed-down corporations emerging from bankruptcy would have a far better chance to survive against foreign competition. And their domestic suppliers would be in a sounder position, no longer squeezed by wafer-thin, cram-down prices and attenuated payment schedules."

Intellectual Conservative Politics and Philosophy

Stuff is cheaper? Time to panic - Mises Economics Blog

Jeffrey Tucker writes, "We once marveled that the New Dealers could have been so confused as to believe that low prices were a problem that needed to be solved rather than the best part of the downturn. But here we have a "consensus"-style article that says exactly this."

Stuff is cheaper? Time to panic - Mises Economics Blog

No, I’m not mean » Rational Review

Tibor R. Machan said, "Virtually every government program funded by taxation, money extorted from citizens, is justified by citing the needs and wants of people who will go without government support if the program is discontinued. So those of us who prize human liberty above every other social condition will seem, on casual inspection, to lack compassion and generosity."

No, I’m not mean » Rational Review

Why I Love Twitter - O'Reilly Radar

Tim makes a lot of good points. I'm enjoying trying Twitter again too.

Why I Love Twitter - O'Reilly Radar

Why the Lori Drew Decision Was a Bad One - GigaOM

@jeema wrote, "If we want to make a law against cyber-bullying, fine, but we should not abuse existing laws and throw away freedom of speech in the name of mob justice."

Why the Lori Drew Decision Was a Bad One - GigaOM

All Is Bright for Jupiter, Venus - washingtonpost.com

I like this astronomy stuff. Got my Palm PDA alarm set for 6 pm tonight to check this out.

All Is Bright for Jupiter, Venus - washingtonpost.com

When Government Makes Something "Affordable" -- State Policy Network | Blog

John LaPlante writes:

Walter E. Williams provides a good send-up of the desire to have government make health care affordable through activist measures.

"Shouldn't we ask ourselves whether we want the politicians who brought us the 'affordable' housing, that created the current financial debacle, to now deliver us affordable health care?"

State Policy Network | Blog

Chinese news exposes the Rand Corporations plans to start World War | Daily Newscaster

Interesting news / speculation from D. H. Williams.

The Rockefeller - Ford/Carnegie Foundation controlled Rand Corp. suggests that a war with a major world power will revitalize the economy helping the current banking elite to maintain their control over America...

This is likely the “generated crisis” Joe Biden discussed two weeks ago at an Obama fund raiser in Seattle. Madeline Albright and Colin Powell quickly confirmed Biden’s warnings, advising TV audiences of an international crisis that will be announced to the public soon after Obama’s inauguration.

Chinese news exposes the Rand Corporations plans to start World War | Daily Newscaster

-- THELIBERTYZONE.COM

Nicki Fellenzer writes, "I take my loaded gun into a toy store, and everywhere else it's legal, Councilman. What I DON'T do is use it in a criminal manner. I see that once again this type of incident will be used to vilify the law-abiding gun owner. And until those in power learn to ask the right questions and direct their ire where it belongs - not at those who legally exercise their rights, but at those who abuse those rights and commit criminal acts - we're going to continue seeing calls for more control from the gun banner crowd. After all, this type of incident represents their golden opportunity to push their agenda. And don't think for a moment that the opportunistic swine won't take advantage of it!"

THELIBERTYZONE.COM: "Who takes a loaded gun into a toy store"

Republican National Committee Chair Race Roundup - Jim Geraghty - The Campaign Spot on National Review Online

Lots of competition for GOP top spot.

Republican National Committee Chair Race Roundup - Jim Geraghty - The Campaign Spot on National Review Online

Hat tip to Dalton's Brief tweet.

Twitter / Steve Dalton: National RNC GOP chair rac ...

» PJB: Socialist Republic ::: Patrick J. Buchanan - Official Website

Pat Buchanan writes, "A family man in America’s condition, awash in debt, spending more than he makes, would cut back consumption, find a second job and get out of debt. Or declare bankruptcy, accept the shame and humiliation, change his wastrel ways and start anew. Is it different for a nation?"

» PJB: Socialist Republic ::: Patrick J. Buchanan - Official Website

techPresident – Change.gov Starts to Go Interactive, Intensively

I too am hopeful about "change.gov" and have left a couple of comments there.

Hopefully it's not just to give the appearance of "listening", but they actually pay some attention to it.

techPresident – Change.gov Starts to Go Interactive, Intensively

Larry Summers on Employer Mandates (Cato @ Liberty)

New head of Obama's National Economic Council and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers wrote, "There is no sense in which benefits become ‘free’ just because the government mandates that employers offer them to workers."

Larry Summers on Employer Mandates (Cato @ Liberty)

A Rational Choice for Election Day by Butler Shaffer

Butler Shaffer's words seem just as thought-provoking in 2008 as they were in 2004.

Voting is nothing more than a periodic public affirmation in the faith of systematic violence as a social system...

I suspect that many people have become implicitly aware – even as they refuse to openly admit it to themselves – that the society in which they live doesn’t work well anymore. They are not yet prepared to consider that the social structures they have been conditioned to think of as timeless and immutable are collapsing; and that new systems of social organization – grounded in peace and liberty – must be found. Faith in the dying regime must be reaffirmed, and voting becomes the most visible, collective expression of political piety...

Few are any longer convinced that the state can produce golden ages or great societies or workers’ paradises, but they dare not renounce their faith in an open fashion, and so content themselves with participation in the voting ritual...

While the political establishment will be satisfied with either [presidential candidate] in office, it will be even more pleased with a large voter turnout that would create the impression of a reinvigorated support for statism. But the establishment wants the expression of choices confined to its two entries in this race: third-party candidates (or what should more accurately be referred to as second party offerings) are to be discouraged – by the media, televised debates, and ballot access – because the establishment does not control these parties. The concerted effort to keep alternative political parties out of the process confirms the observation that, if voting could change the system it wouldn’t be legal.

A Rational Choice for Election Day by Butler Shaffer

In Praise of Bankruptcy - Henry Thompson - Mises Institute

Henry Thompson writes, "Bankruptcy is a normal part of economic life, covered by laws that guarantee stockholders will be compensated as much as possible. More efficient firms move in to take over what is left of bankrupt firms, buying what can be put to productive use. There is no crime in bankruptcy and, if handled quickly, little economic harm... The present financial problems would disappear quickly if the government let the markets operate and let inefficient firms go bankrupt. The irony is that the government is stepping in to solve the problems it created. The solution might "work," but the underlying disincentives in the mortgage and insurance markets will persist. Increased government meddling in the financial markets will only make the financial problems linger."

In Praise of Bankruptcy - Henry Thompson - Mises Institute

Andy Horning comments on the Indiana constitution

Worth reading for all Hoosier voters (and voters to be), even (maybe especially) if you're not currently taking an Indiana civics course.

ENDiana.com | Certificed genuis commentary from conservatarian perspective

The Melting Pot Project: Are YOU a Socialist? Use this Flow Chart to Find Out.

Cute quiz.

The Melting Pot Project: Are YOU a Socialist? Use this Flow Chart to Find Out.

When Everyone Is A Blogger, Nothing You Say Is Off The Record

Robin Wauters writes, "People, and especially politicians representing them, need to wake up and smell the coffee. The world is changing, and blogging is now a big part of it, with all of its good sides as well as its bad ones. Live and learn. The sooner you get the hang of social media, the more you’ll see the opportunities in there rather than the threats."

When Everyone Is A Blogger, Nothing You Say Is Off The Record

Hat tip to @soverpeck.

When Everyone Is A Blogger, Nothing You Say Is Off The Record - FriendFeed

Let me google that for you

Here's one that looks really fun to use.

Let me google that for you

Hat tip to @soverpeck.

Twitter / soverpeck

Seth's Blog: Don't know what you've got till it's gone

Excellent points from Seth Bodin.

It's simple, I think. In a world where consumers have so much power, we now have two responsibilities:

* If you don't like what an organization stands for, work actively to spread the word and force them to change

and

* If you will miss a product, a service, a book, a site or a professional when they close up shop, stand up, speak up and bring them masses of new business.

We get what we promote.

Seth's Blog: Don't know what you've got till it's gone

Hat tip to @soverpeck.

Twitter / soverpeck

Hit & Run > Are Inhumane Police Tactics Preferable to Murder? - Reason Magazine

Good questions from Mike Riggs:

How did a man who seemed to pose no danger to anyone besides himself end up being killed by the police in his own bathroom?

... there's also evidence -- enough to spark a rigorous MPD Internal Affairs investigation -- that the responding officers didn't make an adequate effort to engage Kerstetter before resorting to lethal force...

If police officers find themselves face to face with a potentially dangerous and mentally unstable citizen, are inhumane methods for restraint preferable to lethal force?

Hit & Run > Are Inhumane Police Tactics Preferable to Murder? - Reason Magazine

Hat tip to @soverpeck.

Twitter / soverpeck

LewRockwell.com Blog: You Know You're in a Depression When...

Funny.

LewRockwell.com Blog: You Know You're in a Depression When...

Forensic economists examine the effects of CIA-led coups on the stock market. - By Ray Fisman - Slate Magazine

Following the money.

Forensic economists examine the effects of CIA-led coups on the stock market. - By Ray Fisman - Slate Magazine

LewRockwell.com Blog: The US Has Been Semi-Socialist a Long Time

From an October 28, 1908, letter to the NY Times about Teddy Roosevelt: "Moreover, most of the Rooseveltian policies... are in strict harmony with Socialist principles.... The faith of our forefathers in the sacred principle of competition as the self-acting force which yielded ideal justice and rendered to every man according to his deserts, has departed as surely as the belief in witchcraft. [Socialists] can't threaten me worse than Theodore Roosevelt does with his inheritance and income tax schemes and the social workers of New York with their ever-increasing demands on the city budget." (Thanks to Paul Likoudis)

LewRockwell.com Blog: The US Has Been Semi-Socialist a Long Time

Channel Charles Murray, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Excellent questions from Bryan Murray. I've been wondering about this too.

Almost everything I do at work these days I learned on my own in the last seven years via reading on the web (thank you, Google) and used books and CDs I bought, mostly from "half.com".

Sure the seven years of college probably laid some sort of foundation, but at what a great cost.

In your view, why precisely does the market financially reward students for taking lots of classes that at best seem distantly related to job performance?

If you mentally review your years as a student, can you honestly say that your typical class raised your marginal productivity?

Channel Charles Murray, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

Bailout more expensive than anything, ever… | War On You

Incredible US govt "bailout" pie chart.

Bailout more expensive than anything, ever… | War On You

Constitution Conscious: 2008 Constitution Party Platform: Sanctity of Life

Good plank in 2008 Constitution Party Platform: Sanctity of Life.

"We declare the unalienable right of Life to be secured by our Constitution “to ourselves and our Posterity“. Our posterity includes children born and future generations yet unborn. Any legalization of the termination of innocent life of the born or unborn is a direct violation of our unalienable right to life."

Constitution Conscious: 2008 Constitution Party Platform: Sanctity of Life

Liberty For All » Blog Archive » Liberal Second Amendment

This is kind of cute (unless it turns out to be prophetic).

Liberty For All » Blog Archive » Liberal Second Amendment: "# Independence"

Thanksgiving, Socialism, and the Free Market

Jacob Hornberger writes, "Today, let us not celebrate the socialistic, spread-the-wealth system that has plunged our nation into chaos, crisis, and destitution. Let us instead celebrate the system of economic liberty that the Pilgrims discovered at Plymouth Rock. They pointed the way to an economic system that brings prosperity and harmony and that is consistent with the laws of nature and the laws of God. Today, let us not only celebrate their achievement, let us also rededicate ourselves to restoring a free-market system to our land."

Thanksgiving, Socialism, and the Free Market

Washington Times - RAHN: The Fed: Solution or problem?

Nice to see a reasoned look at abolishing the Federal Reserve from the mainstream media.

Richard W. Rahn writes for The Washington Times:

It is unambiguously clear that the Fed has failed in its charge to maintain a stable price level...

If those members of Congress who voted for the creation of the Fed in 1913 had been able to know what the results of their handiwork would be for the next 94 years, given the empirical data, it is unlikely the closely contested bill would have passed...

Gerald O'Driscoll, a former senior Fed official and very able economist, recently said it best: "The central bank is like an arsonist watching a fire he set, expressing amazement at how such an event could have happened. The Fed created a moral hazard by first, implicitly, then explicitly promising to bail investors out of risky commitments..."

Before the Fed and big government, previous bank panics usually ended quickly without "bailouts" or "economic stimulus" programs.

Washington Times - RAHN: The Fed: Solution or problem?

Libertarianism in the Age of Empire, by Justin Raimondo

Interesting history of "Antiwar.com" from Justin Raimondo, in the text of a speech delivered to the Libertarian Party of Illinois state convention, March 1, 2003.

If all intelligent discussion of war is about weighing risks, then what about the risks not only of policing the world but of preemptively attacking anyone who looks cross-eyed at us, or at Israel? We have troops in over 100 countries, from Bosnia to Afghanistan to Japan and Uzebekistan, but Washington, D.C., is a city besieged by fear, a terror so pervasive that Congress hardly dares stay in session long enough to conduct its business before scuttling out of town a.s.a.p...

"It is our true policy," George Washington averred, "to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world."

Why, why, why are we foregoing the advantages of our peculiar situation as we stand at the apex of our superpowerdom? 9/11 changed "everything", says the War Party. But did it? Are we not, still, the most powerful military power on earth? Why intervene in every conflict, globalizing its bloody consequences, when we can steer clear of all that by following the advice of the Founder?
...
How far we have come from the wisdom of the Founders, one of whom warned that "nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated."
...
What the alleged "libertarians" who talk of "liberating" the world using the U.S. military as their instrument don't seem to understand is that all of this costs money, and lots of it. And who is going to get the bill? You are, my friend, and it is going to knock your socks off...

They harken back to the stern republican virtues of the Founders, and then turn around and hail America as the New Rome. But it is one or the other: we cannot be a republic and an empire, simultaneously. It is either Jefferson, or Caesar...

Will America keep her old republic, or will the War Party take us all the way down the road to empire?

Libertarianism in the Age of Empire, by Justin Raimondo

The Libertarian Moment: Despite all leading indicators to the contrary, America is poised to enter a new age of freedom. - Reason Magazine

I appreciate these optimistic thoughts from Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch, "a glimmering of a fusion that just might appeal to most Americans: engagement and integration with the world via cultural and economic exchange, and a more personally autonomous society at home in which individuals are responsible for charting their own course."

The Libertarian Moment: Despite all leading indicators to the contrary, America is poised to enter a new age of freedom. - Reason Magazine

Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team | Join the Discussion: Healthcare

Send your recommendation or concerns to the president-elect.

My input was "The main thing I would recommend is to completely privatize health care. Remove the burden on employers of being the only ones who get a tax advantage for arranging health care for their employees."

Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team | Join the Discussion: Healthcare

Guns and Ammo Deter Tyranny

Excellent reminders from Jacob Hornberger:

The core reason that our American ancestors enshrined the right to keep and bear arms within the Second Amendment... is this: so that the American people could protect themselves through violent action from the tyranny of their very own federal government.

Now, that notion is shocking to some modern-day Americans...

Why in the world would Americans need to have weapons to protect themselves from their chief provider, protector, and benefactor?

The answer is simple: The federal government is the biggest threat to the freedom and well-being of the American people. That’s correct — it’s not the terrorists, the communists, the Muslims, the drug dealers, the illegal aliens, or any foreign dictator that constitutes the biggest threat to the American people. The biggest threat to the freedom and well-being of the American people is the federal government itself.

In fact, the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights is an explicit acknowledgement of that fact. That’s why those documents place express constraints on the powers of federal officials.

Could things ever get so bad that Americans would have to take up arms against their own government? Of course they could. That’s the whole idea behind the Second Amendment — to provide people with the means of violent resistance should such ever become necessary...

When would-be tyrants know that people have the means to resist tyranny with violence, the would-be tyrants are more cautious about implementing their tyrannical plans.

What is the first thing U.S. officials do when they invade some Third World country? They ensure that the citizenry remain disarmed. Why do they do that? To ensure that people readily obey whatever orders are issued to them. U.S. officials know what foreign dictators know: that a disarmed citizenry is an obedient citizenry.

Thus, the right to keep and bear arms not only serves as a sort of doomsday insurance policy in the event the worst were to happen, it also, at the same time, serves as an enormous deterrent to tyranny. The Second Amendment keeps Americans safe not only from burglars, thieves, and robbers but also from would-be tyrants.

Guns and Ammo Deter Tyranny

American Thinker Blog: The man who should be Treasury Secretary

Lauri Regan writes, "Ron Paul definitely had something on the other Presidential candidates -- an economic advisor who knew what he was talking about. Someone should send his resume to David Axelrod before it's too late."

American Thinker Blog: The man who should be Treasury Secretary

Twitscoop - Search twitter, see what's hot right now

Giving Twitter.com a second try.

Twitter / bill_starr

Just heard from @jamesdickey about Twitscoop. Looks pretty cool.

Twitscoop - Search twitter, see what's hot right now

Twitter / jamesdickey

Anti-Positivist: Making a list and checking it twice

Good questions from Jim Fedako.

Consider this: Does the fact that a neighbor misses a house or car payment create the same level of emotion or suspicion in those aroused by tax delinquencies? I don't think so.

A question remains: Are these tax rebels really that naughty?

Anti-Positivist: Making a list and checking it twice

Childish Homeschooler Syndrome, Part One -- VisionaryDaughters.com

Excellent advice and food for thought to grown up homechoolers from grown up homeschoolers. Probably pretty relevant regardless of one's educational experience.

Anna Sofia writes:

Of course, none of us were raised perfectly. Our imperfect parents, many of them first-generation Christians, often had to work out biblical marriage and parenting and family from the ground up. Homeschooling was an intimidating experiment for most. And yes, our parents made mistakes. However, once we consider ourselves adults we need to take responsibility for our own shortcomings.

There comes a point where every person must rise above his circumstances, for no circumstances are perfect. Each of us stands alone before God, individually responsible for his own deeds, misdeeds and lack of deeds, and God (we know from Scripture) does not accept blame-shifting.

VisionaryDaughters.com

History of Thanksgiving

Some interesting history on how we changed from last Thursday to 4th Thursday of November.

History of Thanksgiving

Best Explanation in One Sentence - Mises Economics Blog

From Llewellyn Rockwell in this piece: "If the money is used to prop up failing companies, that's particularly bad since it is an attempt to override market realities, an attempt that is about as successful as trying to repeal gravity by throwing things up in the air."

Best Explanation in One Sentence - Mises Economics Blog

This Book is So Me - Walter Block - Mises Institute

I've only read this book once so far, but feel about the same way about it as does Block.

This Book is So Me - Walter Block - Mises Institute

The Great Thanksgiving Hoax - Richard J. Maybury - Mises Institute

Richard J. Maybury writes:

Before these free markets were established, the colonists had nothing for which to be thankful. They were in the same situation as Ethiopians are today, and for the same reasons. But after free markets were established, the resulting abundance was so dramatic that the annual Thanksgiving celebrations became common throughout the colonies, and in 1863, Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

Thus the real reason for Thanksgiving, deleted from the official story, is: Socialism does not work; the one and only source of abundance is free markets, and we thank God we live in a country where we can have them.

The Great Thanksgiving Hoax - Richard J. Maybury - Mises Institute

Hat tip to @jeffreyjones for the tweet.

Twitter / jeffreyjones

Property and the First Thanksgiving - Gary Galles - Mises Institute

Gary M. Galles writes:

It is appropriate to remember the Pilgrims as Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Though we have incomparably more than they did, we can learn much from their "way of thanksgiving."

But we should also remember that our material blessings are the fruits of America's system of private property rights, whose power for peaceful and productive cooperation the Pilgrims began to prove by experiment almost four centuries ago, because those rights, and the freedoms and prosperity they entail, are under constant assault today.

Property and the First Thanksgiving - Gary Galles - Mises Institute

Hat tip to @jeffreyjones for the tweet.

Twitter / jeffreyjones

Congressman Ron Paul - The Bailout Surge - Texas Straight Talk

U.S. Representative Ron Paul has some words of wisdom on the proposed automaker bailout. He writes:

We must remember that governments do not produce anything. Their only resources come from producers in the economy through such means as inflation and taxation. The government has an obligation to be good stewards of these resources. In bailing out failing companies, they are confiscating money from productive members of the economy and giving it to failing ones. By sustaining companies with obsolete or unsustainable business models, the government prevents their resources from being liquidated and made available to other companies that can put them to better, more productive use. An essential element of a healthy free market, is that both success and failure must be permitted to happen when they are earned. But instead with a bailout, the rewards are reversed – the proceeds from successful entities are given to failing ones...

It won’t work. It can’t work. We need to cut our losses and get back on course. There is too much at stake for too many people to continue down this road. The bailouts thus far to AIG, Bear Stearns, Fannie and Freddie, and TARP funds amount to around $1.5 trillion... That amounts to an extra $5,000 that every person in the country needs to somehow produce just to keep up. It is obvious to most Americans that we need to reject corporate cronyism, and allow the natural regulations and incentives of the free market to pick the winners and losers in our economy, not the whims of bureaucrats and politicians.

Congressman Ron Paul - The Bailout Surge - Texas Straight Talk

Time Will Run Back - Henry Hazlitt - Mises Institute

Good arguments against central economic planning from Henry Hazlitt in 1966.

The U.S. should be careful that it does not follow in Russia's footsteps.

Time Will Run Back - Henry Hazlitt - Mises Institute

An Open Letter to Gary Becker re: Depressions - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute

I agree with Robert Murphy. He writes:

Ludwig von Mises and subsequent Austrians developed the theory that the business cycle is an unintended consequence of government intervention in the monetary and banking system. Specifically, the central bank (the Federal Reserve in the United States) pushes the interest rate down below its "natural" level by injecting new money into the banking system. This artificial stimulus sets in motion an unsustainable boom period of illusory prosperity.

During the subsequent (and inevitable) recession, resources are reallocated in light of the "malinvestments" made during the boom. Far from being "bad," the recession is part of the process of recovery, where entrepreneurs make the best of the untenable situation created during the boom. It is in this sense that Austrians say that recessions are a good thing. They are the recognition of the previous mistakes that entrepreneurs have made investing scarce resources, when they were misled by the distorted price signals reverberating from the Fed's interventions.

An Open Letter to Gary Becker re: Depressions - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Institute

Vox Popoli: Buckley was right

I agree with SarahtheCanucki, "The person who learns on their own...they are the ones whose opinion are truly worth noting, imo.", but I also puzzle with Alex, "how does one get around the societal demand for that piece of paper?"

Vox Popoli: Buckley was right

I Got My Start

This looks like a cool site. Maybe I'll post something here, but for now just following in Google Reader.

I Got My Start

Hoosiers For Fair Taxation: Was John F. Kennedy part of the tin foil hat wearing crowd?

Very interesting two-minute video.

Hoosiers For Fair Taxation: Was John F. Kennedy part of the tin foil hat wearing crowd?

How to Save Detroit [Mackinac Center for Public Policy]

Excellent advice to automakers from David L. Littman. He writes:

You reap what you sow. The consumer is the ultimate king. Consumers vote their hard-earned dollars in favor of producers and service providers, just as they cast preference votes for candidates to political office.

Thus, rather than petitioning Washington to be a tax agent for Detroit's account, it behooves auto execs to make their strongest case for lower corporate income taxes, less onerous corporate average fuel economy and environmental regulations, and an all-out effort to bring U.S. oil, natural gas and nuclear power to the market. Promoting these economic policies would enhance the U.S. economy at large as well as Detroit's prospects. Let's examine each one...

The economic world is a much more positive reality. Workers and firms who are eternally vigilant for the shifting demands of the marketplace are rewarded with expanded income, benefits and job opportunities. More dollars are voted their way. In other words, when sound economic principles are followed, the economy flourishes and we're all winners.

How to Save Detroit [Mackinac Center for Public Policy]

Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team | Economy -- Of the People, By the People

Just took Miss Rogue's suggestion and submitted my feedback to president-elect Obama on his proposed government jobs plan. I wrote:

Thanks for asking for feedback on the plan to save or create 2.5 million American jobs by 2011.

My feeling on the idea of creating jobs in the government sector is well-stated by the Virginia Rebel blog.

I encourage you to reconsider creating these jobs in the public sector and instead put policies in place that will encourage job creation in the private sector.

The Virginian Rebel: Emperor-elect Obama to Save Us From Unemployment, The Business Cycle

Government can only consume, it does not "invest." What they do not want to tell you is that this money has to come from somewhere. Instead of letting the masses of people decide what to do with their own money (i.e. what types of goods to produce), politicians in Washington have determined that what you really want is roads and bridges. This is not job creation, but a reallocation of money from the private sector to overpaid employees in the public sector. It will actually reduce employment. Whereas the private sector will pay employees close to their marginal productivity, the government pays well in excess of the productivity of the individual. Thus, given the same pool of capital to pay employees, the private sector will hire more and produce more goods.

Mon, 24 Nov 2008, 7:30 am EST

Change.gov: The Obama-Biden Transition Team | Economy -- Of the People, By the People

Twitter / missrogue

CARPE DIEM: Some Lessons From the Great Depression

Hoping (but not really expecting) this government takes this lesson to heart.

"The fact that the Depression dragged on for years convinced generations of economists and policy-makers that capitalism could not be trusted to recover from depressions and that significant government intervention was required to achieve good outcomes," Cole said. "Ironically, our work shows that the recovery would have been very rapid had the government not intervened."

CARPE DIEM: Some Lessons From the Great Depression

The Gun in the Room by Stefan Molyneux

"One of the most difficult – and essential – challenges faced by libertarians is the constant need to point out "the gun in the room." In political debates, it can be very hard to cut through the endless windy abstractions that are used to cover up the basic fact that the government uses guns to force people to do what they do not want to do, or prevent them from doing what they do want to do."

The Gun in the Room by Stefan Molyneux

Pro Libertate: Unwarranted Violence

William N. Grigg writes:

Every government function, no matter how mundane or apparently harmless, carries with it the implied (and often overt) use of lethal force against those who do not submit. Stefan Molyneux perceptively describes this as the principle of the “Gun in the room”: Whenever anybody refers to the supposed virtue of a given government undertaking, Molyneux sagely observes, the central question is not whether the end is desirable, but rather “whether I am allowed to disagree with you without getting shot.”

Pro Libertate: Unwarranted Violence

The Virginian Rebel: Emperor-elect Obama to Save Us From Unemployment, The Business Cycle

Words of wisdom from Virginia Rebel on the Obama job "creation" plan.

Government can only consume, it does not "invest." What they do not want to tell you is that this money has to come from somewhere. Instead of letting the masses of people decide what to do with their own money (i.e. what types of goods to produce), politicians in Washington have determined that what you really want is roads and bridges. This is not job creation, but a reallocation of money from the private sector to overpaid employees in the public sector. It will actually reduce employment. Whereas the private sector will pay employes close to their marginal productivity, the government pays well in excess of the productivity of the individual. Thus, given the same pool of capital to pay employees, the private sector will hire more and produce more goods.

The Virginian Rebel: Emperor-elect Obama to Save Us From Unemployment, The Business Cycle

Hat tip to Libertarian Republican.

Libertarian Republican: What libertarians and limited government conservatives are saying about Obama's Socialist Jobs Creation Program

Radio host jailed over couch - Homeland Stupidity

Michael Hampton writes:

Code enforcement activity has been on the rise nationwide with the failing economy reducing local governments’ revenues and local bureaucrats desperately trying to take money from anywhere they can get it, using any excuse...

When the laws are unjust, as the vast majority of today’s laws are, then a court of law will dispense injustice. Freeman’s protest of the injustice done to him has not gone unnoticed. Many liberty activists have said the court’s action has motivated them to get even more involved.

“The tyranny was stifling,” Everett said. “It’s the kind of experience that makes you rethink everything. And just to be clear, I don’t mean rethinking everything in terms of backing off. Quite the opposite.”

Radio host jailed over couch - Homeland Stupidity

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (November 21, 2008) - Mental Health Break

Bruce Lee plays ping-pong, with very "unconventional" paddle.

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan (November 21, 2008) - Mental Health Break

Obama Sets Expansive Goal for Jobs - washingtonpost.com

Bad news for the economy from Obama. Every job the government "creates" with tax dollars means at least one less job for private industry, since people don't have those dollars in their pockets anymore to spend on what they really want.

Obama Sets Expansive Goal for Jobs - washingtonpost.com

Repeal Insider-Trading Laws

Good argument opposing laws against insider trading.

Repeal Insider-Trading Laws

American Empire Project: Stuff Happens

I agree with Tom Engelhart:

You might say that, in the end, Bush's secret plan for never withdrawing from Iraq was but an extension of his shop-till-you-drop response to 9/11. The idea was to put so much stuff in the country that we'd have to stay...

when Barack Obama sits down in the Oval Office with his top commanders, he's going to hear about all that "stuff." For those who want to drag their feet on leaving Iraq, this is the argument of last resort...

When it comes to withdrawal, the most militarily profligate administration in memory has seemingly ensured that the highest military priority in 2009 will be frugality -- that is, saving all American "stuff" in Iraq...

American Empire Project: Stuff Happens

» PJB: Who Killed Detroit? ::: Patrick J. Buchanan - Official Website

I partly agree with Pat in that government mandates have gone a long way to forcing domestic business into a non-competitive position with foreign competition.

» PJB: Who Killed Detroit? ::: Patrick J. Buchanan - Official Website

Miss L's Political Meanderings: Meandering of the Day

I agree with Miss L. "I'd rather be too wary of government than not wary enough. What about you?"

Miss L's Political Meanderings: Meandering of the Day

Paul (TX14) - Speech and Statement - The Austrians Were Right

Ron Paul tells Congress, "Who’s being ignored? The Austrian free-market economists—the very ones who predicted not only the Great Depression, but the calamity we’re dealing with today. If the crisis was predictable and is explainable, why did no one listen? It’s because too many politicians believed that a free lunch was possible and a new economic paradigm had arrived. But we’ve heard that one before--like the philosopher’s stone that could turn lead into gold. Prosperity without work is a dream of the ages."

Paul (TX14) - Speech and Statement - The Austrians Were Right

netRightNation | the right's blogging hq

Robert Romano writes, "The real issue though is that the people do indeed have a fundamental right, as Mr. Biundo has suggested, to limit their government. And that includes limiting the rate of the growth of government."

netRightNation | the right's blogging hq

Ron Paul speaks; is someone listening? -- Western Standard Shotgun Blog

"After affording Ron Paul the same sort of indifferent hearing one gives to the ramblings of an eccentric uncle throughout his bid for the Republican nomination for president, some among the media, recalling that Paul kept repeating something about an impending financial crisis, are giving him a second, much more attentive, audience."

Western Standard: "Ron Paul speaks; is someone listening?"

Ron Paul speaks; is someone listening? -- Western Standard Shotgun Blog

"After affording Ron Paul the same sort of indifferent hearing one gives to the ramblings of an eccentric uncle throughout his bid for the Republican nomination for president, some among the media, recalling that Paul kept repeating something about an impending financial crisis, are giving him a second, much more attentive, audience."

Western Standard: "Ron Paul speaks; is someone listening?"

What's the Matter With Libertarians?: Thomas Frank blames the freedom movement for Jack Abramoff and George W. Bush - Reason Magazine

Good critical book review about conservatives and libertarians.

What's the Matter With Libertarians?: Thomas Frank blames the freedom movement for Jack Abramoff and George W. Bush - Reason Magazine

Hit & Run > Liquidate the Libertarian Party? - Reason Magazine

Good food for thought on the usefulness / effectiveness of the Libertarian Party.

Hit & Run > Liquidate the Libertarian Party? - Reason Magazine

Toxic Anger. Dr. Ron Paul Has the Cure, But Will Anyone Listen? by Sandra Hamilton

Sandra Hamilton writes, "I worry that we will see something similar in this country. What are we learning from all of this? What lessons are we teaching our children? Are we telling them that those that fail the hardest get to steal the most from those that do the best? You don’t have to be too bright to decide which side of that equation you want to be on. Charity used to be something you gave freely and felt good about doing. Charity at the point of a gun is not done freely and no one feels good about it. Those that are taken from are furious and those that receive are not grateful; instead, they feel entitled and ask for more. Nothing could be worse for us morally as a people. Forget about the toxic debt, what will we do with all this toxic anger?"

Toxic Anger. Dr. Ron Paul Has the Cure, But Will Anyone Listen? by Sandra Hamilton

Being Prepared by Scott McPherson

Scott McPherson writes, "Be they Fascist Republicans or Marxist Democrats, one common thread runs through their thinking: there is no right or wrong. There's only a desire to impose their will on the rest of us."

Being Prepared by Scott McPherson

Ron Paul Is My President, New York Times Interview Part 2 :: Liberty Maven

Marc Gallagher writes, "I don’t care that he is considered too old to run in 2012. He’s also wise beyond his own increasing age. The Republican Party nominated the wrong person, and the American people elected the wrong candidate. I don’t mean to idolize the man. I’ve been fairly critical of him over the past year and a half here at Liberty Maven, but I find myself repeating in my head (and now here) the words on the best homemade rally sign of Ron Paul’s campaign. Ron Paul Is My President."

Ron Paul Is My President, New York Times Interview Part 2 :: Liberty Maven

Hit & Run > eHarmony Forced to Create a Dating Service for Gay Singles - Reason Magazine

Jacob Sullum writes, "But even if he decided to focus on heterosexuals because he disapproves of homosexuality, that should be his right in a free society. Potential customers excluded or offended by that choice then would have a right to go elsewhere, instead of forcibly imposing their preferences. Likewise, competitors would be free to take advantage of eHarmony's perceived shortcomings, as they've been trying to do. Speaking of competitors, wouldn't the principle that justifies forcing eHarmony to match gay singles also require gay dating services to match heterosexuals and Jewish dating services to match Christians?"

Hit & Run > eHarmony Forced to Create a Dating Service for Gay Singles - Reason Magazine

LewRockwell.com Blog: Advertising is Making You Fat!

Karen DeCoster writes, "Of course, the case is being made that nanny state food fascism is needed to prevent the obesity "disease." As with all other national emergencies, children are targeted because we are supposed to care more about children than adults, and thus bad things associated with "children" are supposed to tug at our heart strings. Besides, the state doesn't want to wait until we are adults to start running our lives. By then, the state's influence can be greatly diminished and it takes far more resources to deploy successful control and brainwashing tactics."

LewRockwell.com Blog: Advertising is Making You Fat!

The Agitator » Blog Archive » eHarmony

Radley Balko writes:

I’ll stand arm in arm with the gay rights crowd when it comes to demanding equality under the law. But forcing a private dating service to spend money to reconfigure its website and retool its matchmaking formula to accommodate homosexuals isn’t a civil rights issue. It’s petulant and silly.

Ultimately, it’ll also be counterproductive... Because if feeds into the... claim that the gay rights crowd is forcing its lifestyle onto others...

Freedom of association means that when private parties choose to associate with one another, some people will under some circumstances be excluded. Deal with it.

It’s too bad eHarmony caved.

The Agitator » Blog Archive » eHarmony

A neo-con/libertarian riff that will kill the GOP -- The Facts Were These

I agree with this analysis from Chris Spangle. He writes:

So if the GOP wants to ever see the majority again, they need to move to a more libertarian stance. Social Conservatives will dwindle as my generation moves up in years. But the GOP has no guts, and are afraid to take a stance on principles. They won’t fight for more freedom and less government, because one isn’t popular with the base (the Christian Right/donor base/talking heads), and the other part isn’t popular with the media. So they don’t want to lose power, and will continue to make mistakes, move left, and be made to look like fools. Principled libertarians like myself will figure it out, get frustrated, and leave in disgust. That is why I believe the Libertarian Party will be competitive with the GOP eventually. The GOP will soon be considered the whigs.

The Facts Were These… » Blog Archive » A neo-con/libertarian riff that will kill the GOP.

No Place For Libertarian Thought In Huckabee's Republican Party -- Kole Hard Facts of Life

Mike Kole discusses the anti-libertarian views of 2008 GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.

Mike Kole summarizes:

We've come quite some way since 1975, when Reagan said "I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism."

Kole Hard Facts of Life

Murdock: Americans in need of civics lesson | ScrippsNews

Some sad statistics from this poll

Deroy Murdock writes, "In 1776, America's Founding Fathers broke with Britain and established a country where men and women liberated from monarchic despotism would rule themselves, provided they were equipped with the requisite knowledge and wisdom. Will a people mesmerized by the televised humiliation of wannabe pop stars maintain this essential capacity for self-government?"

Murdock: Americans in need of civics lesson | ScrippsNews

Freedom or Free-for-all? -- The Western Standard Shotgun Blog

Larry Reed writes, "Today, there is no longer any common view of the proper role of government or, if there is one, it is light years from Jefferson’s. Far too many people think that government exists to do anything for anybody any time they ask for it, from day care for their children to handouts for artists."

Western Standard

Free Mark Cuban and Abolish the SEC

Good commentary by Jacob Hornberger on Mark Cuban and the SEC. He writes:

Here’s how the slimy bureaucrat Dr. Floyd Ferris put it in Rand’s Atlas Shrugged:

“Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against — then you’ll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We’re after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you’d better get wise to it. There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted — and you create a nation of law-breakers — and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that’s the system, Mr. Rearden, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”

Free Mark Cuban and Abolish the SEC

Hit & Run > More Advice Obama Won't Take: Ron Paul for Treasury! - Reason Magazine

"Could this happen in the universe we live in? Nope. Good idea? I think so. Not for Obama politically, or Paul's reputation or future, but the greater good of this here nation."

I second the motion.

Hit & Run > More Advice Obama Won't Take: Ron Paul for Treasury! - Reason Magazine

Miss L's Political Meanderings: Rambling Thoughts for the Day

Miss L writes, "On another note while I am writing an impromptu post, I wanted to write about self-education. It's not very easy. I've been educating myself for a long time (you didn't think government education got me here, did you?), and I find that the more I learn, the more I find I need to learn. I feel more self-conscious about my lack of knowledge the more that I learn. I learn about something and find out about a dozen more topics I didn't know to exist before I began studying. So many books to read. So much to know, to master. So little time already!"

I can identify. The older I get the quicker my "to read" list seems to outstrip my time or commitment for reading.

Miss L's Political Meanderings: Rambling Thoughts for the Day

Yet Another GM Bailout - Briggs Armstrong - Mises Institute

Briggs Armstrong writes:

For years GM and Ford have produced a product that consumers do not value as much as the product provided by their competitors. Rather than changing their products or business model, they instead spent small fortunes on lobbyists. If the government does bail out GM, rest assured that this will not be the last time. But even if the government gives GM a check every week, there will come a time when no amount of government money will be enough to save them.

What is the best solution? In a word, bankruptcy. By filing for bankruptcy protection, GM can escape the death grip the UAW has on the business. Bankruptcy would allow for restructuring on an unprecedented scale. There is a good chance that a highly competitive company could rise from the ashes of what we today call GM. Even if GM itself was unable to survive bankruptcy, the resources freed from its grasp could be hugely beneficial to other automotive companies that make products that American consumers value more. As taxpayers, we have a right to object to this misuse of our money.

Yet Another GM Bailout - Briggs Armstrong - Mises Institute

Government Bytes: The Official Blog of National Taxpayers Union

Dominic Rupprecht writes:

But Mitt Romney has a prescription (I promise, last doctor allusion) for Detroit: let the Big Three go bankrupt. As Romney, who happens to be the son of the man who saved American Motors, notes, "A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs." A bailout will reward incompetent managers and keep the Big Three operating at a severe disadvantage to their foreign competitors. It will come at a high cost to the taxpayers. And it won't solve the problem.

Government Bytes: The Official Blog of National Taxpayers Union

Why I carry a gun | Red Pills

Excellent. First time I have seen it I believe.

Why I carry a gun | Red Pills

Freedom Fighters, A Review by Paul Beston

Working my way into this book. Very good so far.

Freedom Fighters, A Review by Paul Beston

Hit & Run > Sale of Single Cigars to Poor Blacks Banned - Reason Magazine

Someone's tax dollars at "work."

"In short, the only thing that has been banned are cheap cigars in places where poor black people buy them. Carry on with your commerce, white men, in your cigar stores, Elks Clubs, and golf courses."

Hit & Run > Sale of Single Cigars to Poor Blacks Banned - Reason Magazine

Hazlitt: "Saving the X Industry" - Vox

Hazlitt wrote (in 1946) about the proposed 2008 auto industry bailout.

“It is obvious in the case of a subsidy that the taxpayers must lose precisely as much as the X industry gains. It should be equally clear that, as a consequence, other industries must lose what the X industry gains. They must pay part of the taxes that are used to support the X industry. And customers, because they are taxed to support the X industry, will have that much less income left with which to buy other things. The result must be that other industries on the average must be smaller than otherwise in order that the X industry may be larger.

“But the result of this subsidy is not merely that there has been a transfer of wealth or income, or that other industries have shrunk in the aggregate as much as the X industry has expanded. The result is also (and this is where the net loss comes in to the nation considered as a unit) that capital and labor are driven out of industries in which they are more efficiently employed to be diverted to an industry in which they are less efficiently employed. Less wealth is created. The average standard of living is lowered compared with what it would have been.”

Hazlitt: "Saving the X Industry" - Vox

There's Nothing Wrong with a "Big Two"

Boy, this is eye-opening and puts a new perspective on the proposed bailout.

GM and other automakers with UAW contracts have to pay many of their employees to do nothing! It's called a Job Bank. Laid-off workers at Ford, GM, and Chrysler are paid 90% of their previous wages to sit in a room at the factory doing nothing!

Daniel J. Ikenson of the Cato Institute writes:

Management and labor consigned the Big Three to a future of troubles when they agreed to preposterous work rules... Those rules compelled General Motors in particular to keep pumping out vehicles in the face of shrinking demand earlier in the decade, ushering in the period of "0% financing" for five, six and seven years. Because labor costs were locked in, it made more sense to keep producing and selling at below the full cost of production...

Management also gave labor the "Cadillac platter" of health and retirement benefits, all of which substantially increased the cost of producing vehicles at unionized plants in America. Management and labor always assumed that the U.S. government would come to the rescue when the chickens came home to roost over this inefficient, uncompetitive cost structure...

On the demand side, Big Three management demonstrated an egregious failure of imagination, if not downright dereliction of duty, in assuming that large pickup trucks and SUVs would never fall out of favor. When SUVs and trucks are excluded, Big Three offerings barely make the list of the country's top 10 selling cars of the decade. None has been a top five seller. Shouldn't producers try to make things that people want to consume before scapegoating their failures and seeking bailouts?

But here's the equally important thing to realize: If GM fails - or even GM and Ford both fail - we are not facing the loss of the U.S. auto industry. There are plenty of profitable operations, particularly those operating outside of Michigan. In 2008, the Big Three accounts for roughly 55% of light vehicle production and 50% of sales. To speak of the U.S. automobile industry these days, one must include Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, BMW - and other foreign nameplate producers who manufacture vehicles in the U.S.

Those producers are the other half of the U.S. auto industry. They employ American workers, pay U.S. taxes, support other U.S. businesses, contribute to local charities, have genuine stakes in their local communities and face the same contracting demand for automobiles as does the Big Three. The difference is that these companies have a better track record of making products Americans want to consume and are not seeking federal assistance.

If taxpayers are forced to subsidize automobile producers, they should at least be able to subsidize the successful ones...

If one or two of the Big Three went into bankruptcy and liquidated, people would lose their jobs. But the sky would not fall. In fact, that outcome would ultimately improve prospects for the firms and workers that remain in the industry. That is precisely what happened with the U.S. steel industry, which responded to waning fortunes and dozens of bankruptcies earlier in the decade by finally allowing unproductive, inefficient mills to shut down.

Following the steel industry's lead to an auto industry reckoning makes more sense - to the taxpayers, to the country, and ultimately to the auto industry - than another bailout.

There's Nothing Wrong with a "Big Two"

Hat tip to "downsizedc.org".

DownsizeDC.org

Wayne Allyn Root's Libertarian Presidential Candidate Website: Root for America!

Lots of great ideas for liberty here.

Wayne Allyn Root's Libertarian Presidential Candidate Website: Root for America!

Miss L's Political Meanderings: Expanding the Libertarian Party: What must be done

Very well thought-out post.

Miss L's Political Meanderings: Expanding the Libertarian Party: What must be done

The Left Conservative: Mike Paul v. Ron Paul via Pat Buchanan

"There isn't a vacuum in the GOP right now, there are a bunch of power mongers looking to take the whole table for themselves without offering any one else, ESPECIALLY the populists, a seat."

The Left Conservative: Mike Paul v. Ron Paul via Pat Buchanan

Nov. 18, 1883: Railroad Time Goes Coast to Coast

Good history on a subject of high interest to me, the beginning of standard time zones.

Nov. 18, 1883: Railroad Time Goes Coast to Coast

Pro Libertate: Free Mark Cuban!

William N. Grigg writes:

The rulers of this nation are aware that the financial system is in an irreversible implosion; like their counterparts in the old Communist Party of the Soviet Union circa 1990, they are prepared to strip this country bare before the collapse is consummated, and they're willing to ruin anybody with the means to pose any kind of plausible threat.


Cuban denies the allegations and promises to fight the SEC. Taking on the Leviathan is an even more formidable prospect than throwing down with Karl Malone. It would be worthwhile for decent people in numbers as large as can be arranged to let Cuban know that we have his back.

Pro Libertate: Free Mark Cuban!

Now Who's Being Irrational? - Mises Economics Blog

S. M. Oliva writes:

But what about Mr. Kuhner's charge that Quebec sovereignty would "destroy Canada"? Well, so what? Canadian sovereignty -- like that of all nation-states -- is built on violence. The British conquered New France and renamed it Quebec in 1763. And this makes Canadian sovereignty permanent and irrevocable?. Heck, "Canada" itself did not exist as a confederation until 1867.

More to the point: If Quebec politics is dominated by "xenophobic, intolerant and irrational" secessionists, why should the rest of Canada want anything to do with them? Why force such people to remain in your union and, presumably, drag you down to their level? (Of course, the same could have been asked of Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans: Why were they so desperate to keep rent-seeking slaveholders as their countrymen?)

Now Who's Being Irrational? - Mises Economics Blog

Congressman Ron Paul - Restricting Freedoms and Choices - Texas Straight Talk

Congressman Paul reminds us:

These facts should also serve to remind social conservatives that they are better to leave the legislative remedies for important social issues at the level where they constitutionally belong, namely at the discretion of state and local officials. The centralization of power that seemed so attractive to many conservatives just a few years ago no longer seems pleasant at all in light of a more liberal-minded majority in both Houses of Congress and the White House.

This should be a good lesson for future conservative majorities, namely that the centralization of power never results in anything more than the most temporary of “gains” for those who are committed to traditional moral principles, and the power one administration consolidates for itself must inevitably be handed over to the next administration, which will use that increased power for its own agenda.

Congressman Ron Paul - Restricting Freedoms and Choices - Texas Straight Talk

Are We There Yet, Are We There Yet?: Newsroom: The Independent Institute

Robert Higgs hits the nail on the head in this comparison of our nation to the Communist Manifesto. He concludes:

So, here we stand, having come close enough to communism for government work. It is a mistake, however, to call it communism or socialism, because a major part of its genius is its preservation of the form of private property rights, even as the substance of such rights is progressively gutted. Properly speaking, our system is, and long has been, economic fascism. “It’s a free country,” the Red State voters keep yelping. But it’s not. In truth, it never was. But a hundred years ago, it came a great deal closer to being free than it does now.

So long as the rulers left even a semblance of private property rights in place, however, entrepreneurs kept finding ways to make a buck by serving consumers. Despite being ever more hogtied, they kept bursting the bonds, working around the obstructions, undercutting the looters and world-savers, and benefiting their fellow human beings. There’s a great deal of ruin in a nation, Adam Smith opined, and on that score he certainly must have been right. But we can continue down this fascistic economic road only so long. Therefore, in the present distressing circumstances, we may be warranted in asking: is our politico-economic system finally going smash in a frenzy of monetary inflation, bailouts, and government takeovers? We’ll know the answer pretty soon.

Are We There Yet, Are We There Yet?: Newsroom: The Independent Institute

LewRockwell.com Blog: Our Rulers: Are They Fools or Charlatans?

Great stuff from Bob Higgs:

As we consider the world’s rulers, one question overshadows all the others: are they fools or charlatans? Having thought about this question for nearly half a century, I lean toward the view that they are both. If the masses were to arrive at this answer, of course, the entire apparatus of legalized robbery and abuse we call government would quickly crumble to dust. Therefore, rulers appreciate that they must busy themselves in prominent displays of their deep concern for the public’s well-being and in make-believe efforts to “solve the problems” that trouble the common people.

The latest such exhibition took place in Washington, D.C., on Friday and Saturday, when the leaders of the G-20 nations met to give the appearance that they are, as AP reporter Jennifer Loven reports, “battling a dire and deepening economic crisis.” Fortunately for everybody, these clown princes failed to reach agreement on any Grand Plan to Save the World. Such plans invariably make matters worse. Let us pray for gridlock...

Very good indeed that no one spoke aloud about the “easy credit,” because doing so would lead too directly to a recognition that the Fed and other government agencies made such credit conditons both possible and, in certain areas, such as subprime mortgage loans, virtually mandatory...

It would have been a godsend if the president’s economic adviser had alerted him to the fact that the original Great Depression occurred not because the market system suddently went horribly awry, but because a relentless series of counterproductive government polices transformed what would probably have been a brief recession into an unprecedented economic catastrophe...

but nearly all economists now agree that in some way the severity and duration of the Depression may be traced to government policy errors, not to a spontaneous breakdown of the market system.

Ernest Hemingway is alleged to have said, “The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists.” Whether Hemingway made this statement or not, it’s true.

LewRockwell.com Blog: Our Rulers: Are They Fools or Charlatans?

The Neocon Movement (Somehow) Just Managed to Get Even More Boring | Young Americans for Liberty

It's even more incredible that she could say with a straight face that the mainstream conservatives have not done enough to banish the "kooks" from the movement. Given the way Ron Paul conservatives were treated by the mainstream right over the past year, and the banishment of all "come-home America" paleoconservatives a few years previous, one wonders who the hell else Parker would like to see excommunicated. Pro-life Christians, perhaps? Gun owners? If they do anymore banishing, who, exactly, will remain in their political coalition? Don't get me wrong, I'd love the Republican Party to officially disown its entire base -- the collapse of the GOP would provide a welcome opportunity to revive the anti-war, libertarian populism that was once a major force in this country. Let the Republicans see how their electoral fortunes wane if they rely exclusively epicene chickenhawks and rent-seeking CEOs to win their elections.

The Neocon Movement (Somehow) Just Managed to Get Even More Boring | Young Americans for Liberty

Peter Schiff Was (and Is) Correct on Economy

William F. Jasper reports:

Incredibly, many of the same talking heads who repeatedly ridiculed Peter Schiff's proven record on the housing bubble, the devaluation of the dollar, the recession, the stock market collapse, the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacles, the calamitous policies of the Fed, etc., still refuse to listen to his appeals to common sense and free market fundamentals concerning the enormous dangers of the bailouts and the other government "solutions" that are now being put in place.

Fortunately, thanks to YouTube, Google Video, and other websites, the obstinate economic idiocy of the smug prima donna "experts" is easily exposed.

Peter Schiff Was (and Is) Correct on Economy

LewRockwell.com Blog: Peter Schiff... Correct Before It Was Cool

Just starting to get acquainted with Peter Schiff. Anybody who is economic advisor to Ron Paul has my ear too.

LewRockwell.com Blog: Peter Schiff... Correct Before It Was Cool

Taki's Magazine: Youth Movement

Excellent article by Daniel McCarthy. He concludes, "The American public has not embraced the Left, it has repudiated Bush conservatism. If the GOP wants to regain power, rather than merely enduring as a congressional rump of resistance to Obama, it should try offering voters a choice of prudent antistatism rather than colossally corrupt and inept government. The party will not purify itself, however, nor does the conservative establishment have either the will or the power to clean up the party. An outside force, with dedicated activists, a financial base, and principled leadership, must take charge."

Taki's Magazine: Youth Movement

Nixon, Bush, Carter, and Obama -- The Right Angle @ HumanEvents.com

Very interesting comparison of Nixon with Bush and Carter with Obama.

The Right Angle @ HumanEvents.com

The Superfluous Man: Yes, just like all liberals 'hate America"

John Markley writes, "At least in this area, libertarians have a certain advantage. Our tiny numbers and rejection of many of the implicit assumptions that underlie almost all mainstream political discourse make it impossible to forget that not all people agree with us, and it’s much harder to imagine everyone who disagrees with you as a monstrous devil when you’re surrounded by and interacting with those people all the time."

The Superfluous Man: Yes, just like all liberals 'hate America"

What has government done to our money? - Mises Economics Blog

Working my way through this. Good book. Condensed version of parts of "Man, Economy, and the State, with Power and Market", which I am also working my way through.

What has government done to our money? - Mises Economics Blog

Henry Hazlitt on the Bailout - Scott A. Kjar - Mises Institute

Scott A. Kjar writes:

"If private capital wants to lend directly to the failing banks, it is already capable of doing so. The fact that such private capital is not lending to the banks is a clear indication that the government's current bailout is contrary to free-market principles."

"The argument that the government is somehow pumping new capital into the market is absurd. Government is actually borrowing the money from the capital markets that it is in turn injecting into the capital markets. There is no additional source of funding; there is only a diversion of funds from more-productive outlets to less-productive outlets, with government acting as the middleman."

"Even the failing banks pay lip service to their fiduciary responsibility, but any privately funded firm that took money from more-productive people to give it to less-productive people would soon go out of business. Only the government can violate Hazlitt's logic and survive, because only government can socialize its losses through the tax system."

Henry Hazlitt on the Bailout - Scott A. Kjar - Mises Institute

Henry Hazlitt on the Bailout - Mises Economics Blog

"Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson needs to change his reading list, writes Scott Kjar. Instead of reading the balance sheets and income statements of the failing banking industry, he needs to read Henry Hazlitt's classic book Economics in One Lesson. It will cost Paulson far less than the hundreds of billion that he is spending on the bailout, and he might just learn a little economics in the process."

Good book!

Henry Hazlitt on the Bailout - Mises Economics Blog

The Political Economy of the Bailout, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

"We got into this crisis because power was overly concentrated relative to knowledge. What has been going on for the past several months is more consolidation of power. This is bound to make things worse. Just as Nixon's bureaucrats did not have the knowledge to go along with the power they took when they instituted wage and price controls, the Fed and the Treasury cannot possibly have knowledge that is proportional to the power they currently exercise in financial markets."

The Political Economy of the Bailout, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty

The Chalcedon Foundation - Faith for All of Life

"War is a sign of impotence. A system or philosophy of life which has no power to convert becomes imperialistic. For the zeal and faith of peaceful missionary work it substitutes brutal terror. A failing faith resorts to war, because it lacks the contagion of faith and conviction and can only force men into its own system. War is the resort of those who lack true power and are declining."

The Chalcedon Foundation - Faith for All of Life

Did Public Schools Make America Great? «

"Remember that the gift to the United States of the Statue of Liberty from France was to celebrate our centennial in 1876. It was to celebrate the freedom and opportunity we represented and offered to the rest of the world – something we became with education almost entirely in the hands of private individuals who taught their own children, hired tutors and teachers for home study or community schools, and who funded schools for the poor."

Did Public Schools Make America Great? «

Pre-Election Angst for the Serfs

Jacob Hornberger helps us put today's election in perspective.

In fact, the only real value of democratic elections is that they provide the citizenry the means to effect regime change in society peacefully. In the absence of voting, the only way to effect regime change is through violence.

But we must never confuse voting with freedom. Freedom is achieved through the imposition and enforcement of external constraints on the exercise of power. With such constraints, the citizenry are the masters and the government officials the servants, regardless of who is elected to office.

Our 19th-century American ancestors did not suffer the pre-election anxieties that modern-day Americans suffer. Our ancestors knew that after Election Day, the president would continue to lack the power to tax their incomes, regulate their economic activities, provide them with welfare, conscript them, send them to die in foreign wars, force them to accept irredeemable paper money, confiscate their wealth through inflation, put them in jail for drug offenses, arbitrarily arrest them, indefinitely incarcerate them, spy on them, and torture and sexually abuse them.

Today’s Americans know full well that after tomorrow, either John McCain or Barack Obama will wield all those powers over the American people. It’s not surprising that such knowledge is producing pre-election anxiety within the serfs.

Pre-Election Angst for the Serfs

Obama Nation « Doug Wead The Blog

Doug Wead helps us put today's likely election outcome in perspective.

Keep in mind. We have just witnessed the socialization of the American Banking system and it has happened on the watch of your own, “conservative,” Republican, George W. Bush. Nothing the “liberal” Obama will do can really compare to such a “leftist” act...

Now, get ready. In the coming two years, as Republicans you are going to feel helpless. You are going to feel as if your heartfelt belief in free enterprise and the genius of the constitution and family values are forever lost. Because, make no mistake, the popularity of this president is only beginning on election night. It will rise and rise. And when the economy recovers, as it would have under McCain, or even Bush, for that matter, Obama will get the credit and be re-elected in an even bigger landslide next time...

The same people who cheer the left now, will one day see the need to re-embrace the best elements of the right. Don’t panic, enjoy the ride...

So don’t panic, don’t miss the moment. After the election ends, we will all be Americans again. No one says you have to relax your intellectual vigilance, or forfeit your views, or agree with everything that happens. But you can enjoy the fact that the American dream is real. And the long nightmare of the African American people is over. And incidentally, property values will never again be determined by the color of a person’s skin but by the content of their character, for the most socially important person in the country, the one who will dictate fashion and taste will be Michelle Obama. So, take some advice from one who has given his life to the study of presidential history. Relax. Be proud of a great moment. Pray for your new president and his family. And join the celebration.

Obama Nation « Doug Wead The Blog

Rands In Repose: Build Anything

"Regardless of who wins the election, the question remains, “Do we have it in us to re-invent ourselves? Can we rebuild our country into a place we respect?” Yes, we can."

I would add, "If God allows."

Rands In Repose: Build Anything

Voting early: What if there were no election day?

Interesting suggestion.

Voting early: What if there were no election day?

Congressman Ron Paul - The Moral Hazard of Regulation - Texas Straight Talk

Congressman Ron Paul writes:

Too many people trust government regulators so completely that they abdicate their own common sense to these government bureaucrats. They trust that if something violates no law, it must be safe...

It is much the same in any area rife with government involvement. Many feel that just because their children are getting good grades at a government school, they are getting a good education. After all, they are passing the government-mandated litmus test. But, this does not guarantee educational excellence. Neither is it always the case that a child who does NOT achieve good marks in school is going to be unsuccessful in life...

Nothing should take the place of your own common sense and due diligence...

These principles explain why the free market works so much better than a centrally planned economy. With central planning, everything shifts from one’s own judgment about safety, wisdom and relative benefits of a behavior, to the discretion of government bureaucrats...

The result then is that bad behavior, that would quickly fail under the free market, is propped up, protected and perpetuated, and sometimes good behavior is actually discouraged...

Regulation can actually benefit big business and corporate greed, while simultaneously killing small businesses that are the backbone of our now faltering economy. This is why I get so upset every time someone claims regulation can resolve the crisis that we are in. Rather, it will only exacerbate it.

Congressman Ron Paul - The Moral Hazard of Regulation - Texas Straight Talk

Hit & Run > Do Anti-Smoking Activists Know the Restaurant Business Better Than Restaurateurs Do? - Reason Magazine

"... since exposure to secondhand smoke in a bar or restaurant is not forced on anyone, there is no externality to be corrected and therefore no moral justification for the use of force by people who prefer a smoke-free environment."

Hit & Run > Do Anti-Smoking Activists Know the Restaurant Business Better Than Restaurateurs Do? - Reason Magazine

Libertarian Party News Release: Smoking Bans

"In a free society that respects property rights and freedom of association, business owners would work out smoking concerns with their customers and employees."

I certainly agree (and I am a non-smoker).

Libertarian Party News Release: Smoking Bans