A minimalist approach to essential, transparent, accountable, flat, adaptable, responsive, solution-based government, rooted in virtuous individual autonomy, traditional values and free markets, with a bias towards reduction of government functionality, cost and scope
Quote of the Day Much of my success has been due to keeping my mouth shut. J. Ogden Armour
DEAD WRONG: What You've Been Taught About Western Civilization Culpability
Conservatives Will Fight On Post-Midterms
I don't sample much from Heritage anymore, particularly given their immigration-restrictionist agenda, but they tend to be better on other issues.
Ron Paul On Whether Trump Will Benefit From Shared Blame With Dems
Some Post-Election Tweets
I'm surprised by the timing, but not the fact that Trump fired AG Jeff Sessions. Sessions was bad on liberty issues including the drug war, immigration and civil asset forfeiture, so I'm not sorry to see him go. But we know that's not why Sessions was fired.
Fox News continues to be Trump's propaganda unit. It's so predictable: when Trump loses the House, Fox points out Clinton, Bush, and Obama also lost control of the House in mid-terms. Misleading: in 2002, Bush's first midterm, the GOP gained seats in both chambers of Congress.
Trump's hype grows old very fast. He is arguing the reason that the GOP lost the House is because losing Republicans weren't Trumpkin enough. Nope: in fact moderate GOP governors/candidates (MD, MA, VT, NH, CT) did well, while Trump's midwest coalition (WI, MI, PA) went down.
Trump is taking credit for yesterday's Senate takeaways in FL, MO, IN, and ND. In fact, the latter 3 were red state seats that were blown in 2012. And Scott was a popular 2-term governor whose wins predated the Age of Trump.
Fox News, the propaganda unit of Trump, is absurdly trying to credit Trump's pep rallies for the GOP's gain in the Senate yesterday. In fact, 3 of Trump's most prominently backed candidates, gubernatorial (KS) and Senate (MT, WV), went down in flames.
Pelosi continues to be an economically illiterate moron. She vows that her new House majority will rein in drug prices. In fact, economic history teaches us price controls always fail; artificially low prices result in shortages. What we need is more competition, not government.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists: The Beatles As Solo Artists
Ringo Starr, "The No No Song". This marks his last Top 10 hit (to date); his subsequent singles barely touched the Hot 100, and hence we conclude the series. Next up: John Lennon.
Quote of the Day Blessed is he who carries within himself a God, an ideal, and obeys it. Louis Pasteur
Commentary
I voted on my way to work this morning. This is the first time in a while I've had a paper ballot, which my Maryland precinct had me run through a scanner. (They initially had technical issues with their scanner which had maybe 16 voters waiting in line to feed their ballot.)
My vote in deep blue Maryland was mostly a protest vote against "progressive" Democrats. I did vote for incumbent GOP Governor Hogan, but cast votes for other Libertarian Party candidates on the ballot.
In terms of my election eve predictions, the GOP blew past expectations in the Senate; I even tweeted that Tester seemed to have won a blowout victory, but it all depends where the remaining votes are with Rosendale pulling out front by 1 point with two-thirds of the vote and 4 takeaways (FL, ND, MO, IN) in the books already. Two GOP seats in tight races with the nominees in the lead (AZ, NV). Then there will be a runoff for the MS special election which should go GOP in 3 weeks. So potentially 56 GOP seats assuming the GOP candidates hold onto their leads. This was way above projections. [Late Fox news suggesting that Clark County NV is going big for the Dem, so that seat may flip.]
As I post, Democrats have won 209 seats with 25 pickups to date, 9 away from control. So far no pickups from the Dems in a season
Election Tweets
No, voting doesn't matter. Neither party gives a damn about fiscal responsibility; they run up massive debt and unfunded liabilities as if it's moral to enslave future generations to pay off spending they never benefited from. #VotingMatters
It doesn't look like Taylor Swift's endorsement of former TN Governor Bredesen helped as Congressman Blackburn easily won. Ask me if I'm sad when some "progressive" entertainer's divisive meddling backfires.
It looked like Manchin defeated Trump's choice, Morrissy to win reelection. Trump thought that his lopsided WV victory make him kingmaker. It looks like another key target, Tester, will also pull it out. Ask me I'm sad about Trump facing the reality of his lack of coattails.
It looks like 3 Senate seats the GOP completely blew in 2012 (MO, ND and IN) have been recaptured, and the Democrats' abominable personal attacks against Justice Kavanaugh may have played a role. Braun's win in IN was the most surprising given recent polls.
I'm probably most despondent, although not surprised, that another corrupt Democrat regained the governor's mansion in Illinois. Illinois' Democrat legislature, led by corrupt party boss Madigan, have spent the government into the group. No US bailout of corrupt Illinois!
"On a brighter note, it looks like Florida rejected electing a socialist governor. Scott looks like he'll beat Nelson's reelection attempt, with 1% left to report and nearly a 1% lead, but the race hasn't been called.
One of the least discussed Senate races is a "nonpartisan" Mississippi special election where if the winner doesn't score a majority, there's a runoff between the two finishers. I favored pro-liberty McDaniel, who won't place and probably split off incumbent Hyde-Smith's support.
I'm happy to see anti-immigration KS gubernatorial candidate Trumpkin Kobach go down to defeat. Another example of Trump strongly backing a failed candidate.
It's fairly clear the Democrats have recaptured the House after 8 years in exile; the only question is the nature and extent of their victory. As a libertarian, I don't mind split control of Congress. Will the Democrats overplay their hand with a partisan push to Trump's benefit?
Quote of the Day Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost. Isak Dineson
It's Mid-Term Election Eve
I've largely diverted much of my commentary over the past 6 months or so to my Journal or Rant of the Day posts, although I'll occasionally post comments (like in the following segment) before video clips, not to mention my new consolidated Social Media Digest feature.
I wasn't planning to vote until the Dems played dirty politics in the Kavanaugh nomination, and I'm also fed up with spending in Washington; the Dems are all about spending, so their taking power in Washington is not an answer to the GOP's failure of getting spending under control for Trump. In fact, it's highly possible (with higher interest rates) Trump brings back Obama's trillion dollar deficits.
So I've been looking at polls, and I've often gotten predictions wrong before (most notoriously, I didn't anticipate Trump's 2016 victory), but here are a few of my thoughts:
I don't buy the fervent hopes of Trump, Hannity et al. that we'll see an unexpected GOP breakout comparable to 2016. I do think some independent voters that voted in their favor in 2016 aren't happy with some of the things Trump and the GOP-led Congress have/haven't done and want to send a message.
I think the Kavanaugh kerfuffle hurt the Dems; even if they win control of the House, it will be by fewer seats than might have been and it hurt Dem Senate incumbents. I don't doubt that voting in blue districts/states will be higher, but the real issue is what happens in swing districts.
I do think there will some big names falling in the elections, possibly on both sides of the aisle. I would love to see the corrupt Menendez in NJ to fall; I think there's a possibility he will, although it depends on turnout, etc., and the odds still are in Menendez' favor.
I do think the GOP will gain 2 or 3 Senate seats, largely because the Dems are having to defend most of 35 up, including some in states Trump won in 2016. I think the Dems' best chances are in Nevada and Arizona for a takeaway. I think the GOP's best hopes are in Missouri and North Dakota, which they completely blew in 2012. Trump's attempts to get West Virginia and Montana's seats were likely a waste of time. It looks like Blackburn (TN) and Cruz (TX) should win, although they were in trouble weeks back. I think the Indiana Dem incumbent may hold, mainly because he has won most polls (by a small margin), but it's close enough to the margin of error that it would not shock me to see the GOP take it back, a seat they never should have lost in 202. There's still a shot in FL, although the preponderance of polls favor the incumbent slightly.
The Dems will likely take control of the House but probably by fewer than a 20 or so seat advantage. And I predict that there will be factions in that majority that the GOP will be able to have a way.
Trump's strategy to focus on immigration and trade wars, instead of focusing on the danger to an improving economy, was a strategic blunder. Make no mistake; Trump and his minions like Hannity have played up the economy, but I think bringing up immigration, Trump's trade wars, etc., obfuscated the midterm message and have alienated libertarian and conservative allies like me.
It's Okay, Maybe Even Righteous Not To Vote
Libertarian Don Boudreaux notoriously won't vote. One can certainly argue for most Democratic and GOP congressmen, there's not much difference; the Dems in control haven't balanced a budget for literally decades, the GOP since the early Bush Administration (2001). [Some will credit Clinton since he was a lame-duck President for the first 3-plus months of FY01. However, Congress was in control for the full fiscal year. During the first 2 years of his Presidency with a Dem-controlled Congress, Clinton ran big deficits.] The GOP, especially under Trump, has done little to stop massive spending and deficits, has done little to reform mandatory spending (largely entitlements), that make up most of the federal budget; to get more defense spending they cut deals with Dems on more domestic spending. For us fiscal conservatives, it's a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea; in fact, the modest sequesters went away on Trump's watch. Is it worth spending one's time voting for someone who pays lip service to balancing the budget but in the end cuts deals to get more bloated military.
Boudreaux also mentions other reasons for not voting, including the opportunity costs of what benefits could accrue by spending that time on other more personally productive activities,
DNA Tests: I'm a Skeptic
I find the topic somewhat interesting in part because a couple of people in my nuclear family have taken tests (from different vendors). My youngest brother's kids gave him a kit as a birthday present, and the results seemed consistent with our Franco-American (French Canadian) heritage, except for the anomaly of 15% or so east Asian. (Some speculation it might reflect our 2 known Native American ancestors on Dad's side of the family.) The odd result, though, was Mom's from Ancestry, which showed a plurality (40%) from Britain. (It's so odd I think they have give her somebody else's results.) Both sets of grandparents came from predominantly French-Canadian ancestors; French Canadians/Franco-Americans (until my generation of the family) tended to be highly cohesive culturally, with a strong attachment to the Catholic Church. I've read some posts on the subject, and it seems that some small segments of the population (e.g., Franco-Americans) may not be sufficiently represented in the sample base, distorting reported estimates. I know my Mom's maiden surname line has been (separately) traced back to emigration from Normandy (France).
But this lady's results were largely consistent, unlike my family's.
Quote of the Day Every man, however obscure, however far removed from the general recognition, is one of a group of men impressible for good, and impressible for evil, and it is in the nature of things that he cannot really improve himself without in some degree improving other men. Charles Dickens
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists: The Beatles As Solo Artists
Ringo Starr, "Oh My My". I think if there was an ex-Beatle one might question as a solo artist, it would have been Ringo. John, Paul, and George had all written brilliant Beatles songs and were featured vocalists. I can only recall 2 or 3 tracks Ringo sang lead--like "With a Little Help From My Friends" and "Octopus' Garden". But from 1971-1975, Ringo scored 8 consecutive Top 10 singles, including this one.
Quote of the Day That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: Y ou have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains. Steve Jobs
Quote of the Day Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Steve Jobs
Quote of the Day It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. Edmund Hillary
Lower Taxes: Higher Economic Growth
Ask Ron Paul
Well, I clearly differ from Ron Paul on birthright citizenship (I'm pro-birthright.) Other good discussions on taxes, social security, the political career, etc.
