But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers
only deluding your own selves
James 1:22
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
Image of the Day
The 3D Revolution
Here's a recent related story from Missouri. (Technical issues embedding the related video.)
Remy: A Golden Oldie From 2011: Add $3T to the Bill
Apparently There's a Movie About the Obama Administration On the Constitution
The First Law of Politics
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| Via Dollar Vigilante |
I have worked with at least 2 Venezuelan-Americans, a couple of the finest people I know. (I've developed a taste for spicy chocolate.) Let us pray for the liberation from the shackles of socialism. For those who have never lived through the inevitable shortages under that failed system, here is a set of relevant pictures before collapse of the Soviet Empire in the 1980's.
My Greatest Hits: Feb. 2014
- SCOTUS, the Voting Rights Act and a Rant
- Miscellany: 2/15/14
- Miscellany: 2/09./14
- Miscellany: 1/18/14
- Miscellany: 1/19/14
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| Via LFC |
(Tom Woods). As I approach episode #100 of my podcast, I'm interested in diversifying the guest pool a bit. I've had a whole bunch of great guests on many interesting and diverse topics. But I'm interested in having more people, from time to time, who aren't predictable guests for me. I've interviewed Ian Anderson and Robb Wolf, for example. I am going to shoot for Jon Anderson after his tour, and Steve Hogarth (extra points if you know who they are).
Who else would fit into that category? Can't be people making debatable scientific claims that I'm not in a position to evaluate.
How about a cleric, say, a Joel Osteen or a RC bishop/cardinal, that Louisiana pastor whom commented on the Walter Block kerfuffle? One of your social justice critics or one of those left/thick/bleeding heart libertarians like Matt Zwolinski whom started a debate in libertarian circles on a minimum income? A. Barton Hinkle has written some brilliant satire. Penn Jillette is always interesting, and Greg Gutfeld of Red Eye would be a hoot.
On your more typical guest list, I love love to hear Gary Johnson, George Will, Don Boudreaux (I love his signature pithy letters to the editor), Jonah Goldberg, Mark Perry of Carpe Diem, and if you could lasso the great Thomas Sowell...
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| Via the Independent Institute |
Via Justin Amash thread, a "progressive" troll:
Things go better with the Koch brothers money.
Idiot!
OpenSecrets.org tallied the top donors in federal elections between 1989 and 2014. Koch Industries -- privately owned by the Evil Koch Bros -- is on the list, to be sure, but doesn't appear until the 59th slot, with $18 million in donations,
So who occupies the 58 spots ahead of the Evil Koch Bros? Six of the top 10 are ... wait for it ... unions. They gave more than $278 million, with most of it going to Democrats.
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| Via Dollar Vigilante |
(LFC). "Ohio lawmakers are making a fresh attempt to outlaw Tesla Motors’ retail model — company-owned dealerships...The proposal, Senate Bill 260, was introduced at the request of the Ohio Automobile Dealers Association"
Almost all political action is rent-seeking, though it's seldom this transparent. No different than: "Ohio lawmakers are making a fresh attempt to outlaw Coke at the request of Pepsi." (Teal)
Beyond the obvious violation of economic liberty and the corrupting self-serving influence of special-interest groups, these Luddites clearly worry that the business model will be successful: what if the consumer orders directly from the company and cuts out the middleman?... Wait a minute.
In theory, you shouldn't have to buy a car through a dealer any more than you have to buy insurance through an agent. (I've never bought insurance through an agent; I've been with the same company since I served in the military.) I've had some negative experiences with dealerships; the last time I bought a new car, I used a car buying service.
(Justin Amash). I voted yes on #S25, which has been amended to replace the original text of the bill with text to reverse the one-percent reduction in the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for working-age military retirees enacted as part of the Ryan-Murray budget deal last December.
I opposed Ryan-Murray, which increases spending on defense contractors while cutting spending on veterans. Even at the time Ryan-Murray was passed, it was widely acknowledged by negotiators and those who supported the deal that Congress would reverse the cuts affecting military retirees. Why, then, were they ever included in Ryan-Murray? Because negotiators needed to show enough savings to give Republicans cover to support Ryan-Murray, even if everyone on the inside knew those savings would never materialize.
This bill restores the previous COLA for servicemembers who joined the Armed Forces before January 1, 2014 (i.e., prior to passage of Ryan-Murray). The nearly $7 billion cost of restoring these benefits over the next 10 years is "paid for" by extending mandatory sequester cuts for one additional year, through FY 2024. Just like the pension cuts, however, everyone in Congress recognizes that this is just a shell game and the savings from an extended sequester will almost certainly never come to pass.
I cast my yes vote on this bill in further protest of Ryan-Murray. We should never cut veterans to boost defense contractors.
This is a point where I disagree with Justin. We need to deal with long-overdue pension reform across the board; the military pension system is chronically underfunded. This COLA reform was a baby step in the right direction. We are talking half pay for life in some cases by their early 40's; not talking about COLA reforms for six-figure officers, whom likely have multiple opportunities to start a second career, is financially irresponsible. We need to understand that spending is no more prudent in Defense than elsewhere; in fact, the last thing I heard there were problems just doing an audit of DoD.
(LFC). Are you a libertarian? If so, why do you hate roads?
Yes. Because all government roads lead to Serfdom.
(Bastiat Institute).It's easy to see the effect of state ownership of the means of production in regards to food: Bread lines and starvation. What is the effect of state ownership of the means of education?
"Just 74% of respondents knew that the Earth revolved around the Sun, according to the results released at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago."
And more than half don't accept evolution either. The public education monopoly is producing results--the wrong kind.
(Libertarian Republic). Should We Use Private Contractors To Assassinate Terrorists? | The Libertarian Republic http://buff.ly/1nzYxcJ
We should not be intervening outside our borders, period.
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| Via Bastiat Institute |
There is something wrong when the land of the free imprisons proportionately more people than almost any other advanced economy. I have never used drugs and think it's a terrible abuse of one's body, but the collateral damage from the "war on drugs" is unacceptably high. The costs of the war and imprisonment are a drain on government coffers and, of course, taxpayers.
(Illinois Policy Institute). Here’s a startling statistic: despite having only 11% of students performing at grade level in math and reading, Illinois’ lowest-performing high schools graduate more than 60% of their students within four years.
And only 6% of these students are college-ready according to the ACT.
All of this indicates that the state’s lowest-performing schools are pushing students through without giving them the knowledge and the skills necessary to be successful in a career or in college.
I have been in education for five years and I can tell you it's not only bad parenting. I don't think the US Departnent if Education should be become a national board of education but considering that these schools are receiving federal funds through Title I, we need to audit these schools and/or sanction them with fund cuts
Because crowding classrooms even more will make them perform better?
Because government is clearly incompetent in the education market and only a moron would throw good money over bad.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of the original artist via Patriot Post |
Wham/George Michael, "Careless Whisper".
