Quote of the Day
Courage is the greatest of all the virtues.Because if you haven't courage,
you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.
Samuel Johnson
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
 |
| Via Libertarian Republic |
 |
| Via Libertarian Republic |
 |
| Via Lawrence Reed |
 |
| Via Independent Institute |
 |
| Via Lawrence Reed |
Chart of the Day
Hall of Shame
HT Free Thought Project via We the Individuals
Facebook Corner
(IPI). Citizens and politicians agree: Illinois’ budget is a mess. Yet nothing ever seems to be done about it. Why not? Because one-third of the state’s spending — employee compensation — is off the table.
Until Illinois politicians have the courage to take a scalpel to government employee wages and benefits, Illinois’ budget will continue to be unmanageable. But doing so means challenging Illinois’ most deeply entrenched special interest: government unions.
People are in a state of denial until the moment, say, of bankruptcy or some similar crisis. It goes beyond the parasitic crony unionists. You have to confront quack economists, for instance, whom manage to convince the gullible masses whom want to believe the Ponzi schemes of senior entitlements are easily manageable and merely need tweaking. You have to take on the sacred cows of American politics, like the trite lip service expected of any aspiring politician paying tribute to "overworked, underpaid" public school teachers or public safety officers.
I have a couple of nieces whom are public school teachers and a couple of siblings in federal civil service whom are probably not comfortable with my libertarian-leaning views. In fact, one of them posted a "progressive" image suggesting that instead of asking teachers to share in taxpayer pain of unsustainable budgets, let's just slap a surtax on millionaires.... This is a young lady raised on the Ten Commandments, including the ones discussing coveting the goods of neighbors and against stealing. I pointed out public employees making a living at the expense of taxpayers and that public schools should be privatized. In the real world, businesses face competition, sometimes go out of business and employees get fired or layed off in percentages that dwarf the public sector. In public education, there is no effective competition; it's a rigged market that rejects economies of scale, where consumers don't make the decisions, where managers are prohibited from making staffing cuts based on merit instead of union rules protecting the highest-cost or most ineffective teachers. As Col. Jessup would say, my niece can't handle the truth. You get predictable nonsense back, like I work hard for my money, and in a market system, only kids from rich families would get educated. (Never mind, of course, a staggering number of Internet-accessible homeschooling and other curricula, videotaped lectures, a proliferation of education software, Catholic schools which operate at a fraction of public school costs, etc.) [I'm also speaking as a former professor whom held appointments at three state universities.]
(Drudge Report). IOWA PURGE: ESTABLISHMENT DECAPITATES RAND ARMY…
Perhaps it is time for the Tea Party and the Constitutional Conservatives to break off into our own party??
Never happen. Tea Party & Libertarians are ideologically opposed at their very core. Immigration.
No. Immigration restrictions are part of Big Government. Anti-immigrants predated the Tea Party and have attempted to co-opt it. Anyone who believes in the free market believes no one has the right to tell an employer whom he can hire.
(LFC). "These same costly procedures have resulted in the banking industry closing thousands of financial accounts...Banks have essentially blacklisted anyone in the marijuana business from opening a checking or savings account." "Every act of the gov't which can and must be done by administrative discretion with regard to the special merits of each case can be used for the achievement of the gov't's political aims." – Mises
I'm not one whom personally believes in recreational drugs, but the federal interstate commerce authority was intended to promote a free market among states, not micromanage traditional state markets. A clear violation of economic liberty, equal protection, and state police power, the kind of centralization made possible since the SCOTUS' abdication of protecting economic liberty in Carolene Products and the perverse Footnote 4.
(Cato Institute). "From the time that NAFTA’s sugar provisions were fully implemented in 2008, Mexico has been the only country in the world with unfettered access to the U.S. sugar market. Sugar interests now are hoping to clamp the fetters back on."
It's time to end corrupt protectionist/mercantilist policies at the expense of American consumers and declare unilateral free trade.
(Cato Institute). "Not only will the Obama Administration’s actions have no meaningful impact on the amount of future climate change, but it is far from clear that the rate of future change will even be enough to mitigate—or even to worry about."
99 percent of scientists must be wrong right? Climate change is real and man is a huge reason why. The debate is over
Politicization of science is a morally corrupting influence. Science is based on evidence, not some unilateral conclusion made by "progressive" fascists; I have zero confidence in scientists expressing an opinion on matters outside their expertise. The climate alarmists lack any credibility; Climategate, suppression of dissent at major scientific journals, observations inconsistent with existing, rudimentary climate change models--what self-respecting scientist would ever say "the debate is over"? Wishful thinking is NOT science.
Interesting Blurb: Jason Brennan's Research Biography
Civic Enemies: The Rule of All Against All is a sustained critique of democracy. I argue that democratic participation tends to make us enemies with one another. The political liberties are not like other liberties, in that they give us power over others, not just ourselves. For most people, weilding this power is corrupting. The exercise of political liberty does not make us more autonomous. When philosophers try to ground equal political liberty on respect and recognition, they are in fact valorizing human vice--the vice of associating political power with status and standing. We each have a right not to be subject to incompetent or bad faith political decision-making. Democracy systematically violates this right, and is, for that reason, at least prima facie illegitimate. To comply with citizens' right not to be subject to incompetent or bad faith government, we might need to adopt radical changes.
How citizens vote is morally significant. When citizens vote, they can make government better or worse, and in turn, make people’s lives go better or worse. Bad choices at the polls can destroy economic opportunities, produce crises that lower everyone’s standards of living, lead to unjust and unnecessary wars (and thus to millions of deaths), lead to sexist, racist, and homophobic legislation, help reinforce poverty, produce overly punitive criminal legislation, and worse.I didn't highlight the "sexist, racist, and homophobic" point because (1) I think it comes across as politically correct nonsense, even though I acknowledge, e.g., past sodomy, miscegenation and Jim Crow laws and (2) I think he should make a broader point about group discrimination which goes beyond racial/ethnic/gender/orientation but any group out of favor, for instance, cigarette smokers, beer drinkers, the notoriously outnumbered upper 1%, certain benefit mandates on Catholic institutions which violate Church teachings, etc. I would also like to see more of a focus on generality of and rule of law (where the law is far-reaching and unknowable, tyranny or arbitrary prosecution is possible). What about an unaccountable judiciary which fails to protect negative rights/liberties?
Marriage Proposal Encore
Very cute when the whole mob drops to a knee....
Babies Excited To See Mom or Dad
Political Cartoon
 |
| Courtesy of the original artist via Libertarian Republic |
 |
| Courtesy of Michael Ramirez via Townhall |
Dan Fogelberg, "Run For the Roses"
