Quote of the Day
It is never too late to be what you might have been.Farmer's Almanac, 1995
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| Via Mercatus Center |
@BarackObama is now googling “Can an Executive Order override Supreme Court?” #HobbyLobby — Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) June 30, 2014
Pro-Liberty Thought of the Day
Image of the Day
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| Via Libertarian Republic |
If Obama's Comments Fall Flat in Europe and No One Applauds Him, Did He Say Anything?
HT Zero Hedge
A Good Day for Liberty at SCOTUS
I would have liked a stronger decision against forced unionism in Harris v Quinn, but it's a promising first step. Those who have followed my FB Corner feature knows that there have been a number of threads on this case by Illinois Policy Institute, a libertarian think tank (see here for more extended background). Under a Medicaid program in Illinois, Pam Harris, who is mother to Joshua, a developmentally disabled young man, gets a modest stipend under a Medicaid waiver program, that helps her stay at home with Joshua rather than have him institutionalized. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, a crony unionist whore, issued an executive order that essentially declared all home-providers receiving stipends would effectively be "represented" by a union, e.g., SEIU, essentially taxing stipends for the benefit of crony unions, including their political activities. Harris did not like the fact that money meant for Josh's care was being stolen to promote activities she did not necessarily support. The 5-4 decision (take a wild guess as to which 4 "progressive" jurists sided with the crony unionists) basically agreed that the corrupt governor went too far in stealing from home providers to fill the special interest's pockets. Thumbs UP!
The Hobby Lobby decision, also decided by the same 5-4 justices, basically involved an Obama Administration decision to mandate certain birth control provisions, including abortifacients, which pro-lifers, including this blogger, view as murder of preborn life. Requiring pro-life business owners to pay for the abortions of employees involved a serious violation of conscience bearing on religious/moral liberty. The justices made significant reference to the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act and relevant reasonable accommodation provisions; they also noted that the Obama Administration had made an accommodation to certain religious institutions/non-profits but inconsistently denied the same accommodations for at-profit/other entities, which might hold similar views. I'm not sure they said so explicitly, but this was clearly an equal protection issue, a double standard that was untenable under Constitutional principle. (Of course, the Obama Administration accommodation is itself a denial of reality. It's saying insurance providers have to provide the benefit, even if the organization can't be charged for it; now either this is a no-cost benefit or it isn't. If it isn't, the insurance company, unlike the government, has to cover its costs; whether the provider engages in a shell game, money is fungible, and there's no such thing as a "free lunch".) But the justices correctly ruled that this accommodation cannot be arbitrarily restricted to non-profits and reaffirms religious liberty. Thumbs UP!
Another Reason To Keep Neo-Cons In Check (Out of Any New Wars)
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| Via Liberty Viral |
From CNN: "President Barack Obama said he is starting "a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own, without Congress.""
More on 'Bad Elephant' Cochran: Illegal Runoff Votes
From Libertarian Republican:
Sources within Mississippi are saying Chris McDaniel has identified more the 1500 people in Hinds County who voted in the Democratic Primary and then voted in the Republican run-off in contravention of state law.Towards a More Competitive Education Market
Facebook Corner
(Reason). SCOTUS delivered a blow to unions today.
Research the "free rider" problem in relation to economics and social sciences. This is terrible for the future of collective bargaining. People like you are so arrogant because you take for granted what unions have done for you. Do you enjoy your weekends? Thank the unions. Do you enjoy the 40 house work week? Thank the unions. Do you have a pension? Thank the unions. They have done so much for society but mouth breathers like you, who don't know labor history, like to pretend it would have all happened anyway.
Why do "progressive" crony union trolls patrol Reason? Free rider problem? This coming from a corrupt parasitic class, already protected by civil service statutes, that maximizes its legally protected monopolistic profits at the expense of the taxpayers whom don't share in the same level of job security or cushy, unsustainable entitlements. These trolls don't point out that entrepreneurs like Henry Ford doubled daily wages, introduced the 8 hr. day/5 workday paradigm years before Ford ever signed a union pact. Why? For business reasons; the free market works..
(Drudge Report). SHERIFF JOE: DEPLOY THE MILITARY!
Sheriff Joe is JUST AS NUTS as Obama on abuse of military power. NO, you do NOT invade Mexico over a couple of accidental spillovers in the dysfuctional War on Drugs
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| Via Independent Institute |
Are you going to stereotype certain social conservatives because of Griswold? You are really confounding religious authoritarians/progressives with conservatives. For example, Catholic Total [Alcohol] Abstinence Union of America wrote, "Our motto is moral suasion. With prohibitory laws, restrictive license systems, and special legislation we have nothing whatever to do." Have some faith activists sought to impose their moral beliefs/customs? Yes; I've lived in dry counties or where purchase of booze was restricted on Sunday morning; there have been sodomy laws, etc. Speaking as a libertarian Catholic whom as a cultural conservative opposes promiscuity, gambling, alcoholism, recreational drugs, etc., I have no interest in State intervention to protect people from self-destructive behavior; I might try to persuade them that they are on the wrong path, but I recognize man has free will.
Marriage Proposals Continued
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of the original artist via IPI |
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| Courtesy of Bob Gorrell via Townhall |
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists
Dan Fogelberg, "Missing You". By the way, I recently came across this story about Fogelberg's signature tune, "Same Old Lang Syne", which I embedded a few posts back:
According to the Same Old Lang Syne Songfacts, as Fogelberg tells it on his official website, the song is totally autobiographical. He was visiting family back home in Peoria, Illinois in the mid-’70s when he ran into an old girlfriend at a convenience store.
After Fogelberg’s death from prostate cancer in 2007, the woman who he wrote the song about came forward with her story. Her name is Jill Greulich, and she and Fogelberg dated in high school when she was Jill Anderson. As she explained to the Peoria Journal Star in a December 22, 2007 article, they were part of the Woodruff High School class of 1969, but went to different colleges. After college, Jill got married and moved to Chicago, and Dan went to Colorado to pursue music. On Christmas Eve, they were each back in Peoria with their families when Jill went out for egg nog and Dan was dispatched to find whipping cream for Irish coffee. The only place open was a convenience store at the top of Abington Hill, at Frye Avenue and Prospect Road, and that’s where they had their encounter. They bought a six pack of beer and drank it in her car for 2 hours while they talked.
Five years later, Jill heard “Same Old Lang Syne” on the radio while driving to work, but she kept quiet about it, as Fogelberg also refused to reveal her identity. Her main concern was that coming forward would disrupt Fogelberg’s marriage.
Looking at the lyrics, Jill says there are 2 inaccuracies: She has green eyes, not blue, and her husband was not an architect - he was a physical education teacher, and it’s unlikely Fogelberg knew his profession anyway.
