Breaking Analysis
Posted 10/4/08 (By Travis)
Government aid to automakers is not a bailout, Ford CEO says
10/2/08 brietbart.com
Government loans awarded to three major US automakers are justified as they need them to meet new environmental regulations, Ford chief executive Alan Mulally said Thursday.
"This is not about a bailout," the Ford chief executive told AFP in an interview at the Paris auto show.
$25 billion in taxpayer money to private companies is not a bailout? Perhaps so, maybe 'theft' would be a better term...
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Posted 10/4/08 (By Travis)
President Reiterates Goal on Homeownership
6/2002 Remarks by the President on Homeownership Department of Housing and Urban Development Washington, D.C.
We are here in Washington, D.C. to address problems. So I've set this goal for the country. We want 5.5 million more homeowners by 2010 -- million more minority homeowners by 2010. (Applause.) Five-and-a-half million families by 2010 will own a home. That is our goal. It is a realistic goal. But it's going to mean we're going to have to work hard to achieve the goal, all of us. And by all of us, I mean not only the federal government, but the private sector, as well.
I'm going to do my part by setting the goal, by reminding people of the goal, by heralding the goal, and by calling people into action, both the federal level, state level, local level, and in the private sector. (Applause.)
And so what are the barriers that we can deal with here in Washington? Well, probably the single barrier to first-time homeownership is high down payments. People take a look at the down payment, they say that's too high, I'm not buying. They may have the desire to buy, but they don't have the wherewithal to handle the down payment. We can deal with that. And so I've asked Congress to fully fund an American Dream down payment fund which will help a low-income family to qualify to buy, to buy. (Applause.)
We believe when this fund is fully funded and properly administered, which it will be under the Bush administration, that over 40,000 families a year -- 40,000 families a year -- will be able to realize the dream we want them to be able to realize, and that's owning their own home. (Applause.)
The second barrier to ownership is the lack of affordable housing. There are neighborhoods in America where you just can't find a house that's affordable to purchase, and we need to deal with that problem. The best way to do so, I think, is to set up a single family affordable housing tax credit to the tune of $2.4 billion over the next five years to encourage affordable single family housing in inner-city America. (Applause.)
The third problem is the fact that the rules are too complex. People get discouraged by the fine print on the contracts. They take a look and say, well, I'm not so sure I want to sign this. There's too many words. (Laughter.) There's too many pitfalls. So one of the things that the Secretary is going to do is he's going to simplify the closing documents and all the documents that have to deal with homeownership.
And it seems like to us that it makes sense to have a outreach program, an education program that explains the whys and wherefores of buying a house, to make it easier for people to not only understand the legal implications and ramifications, but to make it easier to understand how to get a good loan.
Finally, we want to make sure the Section 8 homeownership program is fully implemented. This is a program that provides vouchers for first-time home buyers which they can use for down payments and/or mortgage payments. (Applause.)
And so, therefore, I've called -- yesterday, I called upon the private sector to help us and help the home buyers. We need more capital in the private markets for first-time, low-income buyers. And I'm proud to report that Fannie Mae has heard the call and, as I understand, it's about $440 billion over a period of time. They've used their influence to create that much capital available for the type of home buyer we're talking about here. It's in their charter; it now needs to be implemented. Freddie Mac is interested in helping. I appreciate both of those agencies providing the underpinnings of good capital.
There is not really anyway to avoid saying it, this, my friends, is nothing less than pure unadulterated socialism spewing from a Republican President. It is a socialist agenda, driven by an idea that government can solve a perceived problem (lack of homeownship). All of these plans, all of this government action proposed by President Bush could only stem from a world view that truly believed that a proactive government was capable of helping the weak and less fortunate, that redistribution programs work, that government is the solution not the problem to so-called 'woes'.
Like all proposed government programs and solutions (and we can find a near infinite number of new such promises stemming from the current campaign of Senator Obama), these failed miserably, were counterproductive, and surely hurt those they claimed to help, whilst contributing towards our present economic crisis. These effects are not new, they are part of a pattern, and to some extent predictable.
However, as previously posted, President Bush is merely continuing (perhaps to a lesser extent) the policies of President Clinton and, in fact, the general directives of bipartisan congress over the past two decades.
So, the solution? Instead of abolishing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, or at least the government control and regulation of them, and getting rid of all these 'initiatives' by President Bush and Clinton and the rest of the congress's never-ending meddlings in the mortgage and financial markets, we do the opposite. We fight the problems of government with more government, we patch up failed socialism with even greater socialism. As Ronald Reagan once said:
The more the plans fail, the more the planners plan.
And now the planners have a new plan, some $700 Billion plus untold porkbarrel projects, which, we might add, John 'porkbuster' McCain seemed happy to vote for.
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Posted 10/3/08 (By Travis)
No Ron Paul: He's a Free Mason. Don't Vote
Youtube
I have been accused of a lot of things, but secret Satanic worshiping with Ron Paul hasn't been one of them.... until now. LOL! I'm not sure where this person got the picture of me with Ron Paul. Thanks to the person who sent this to me. :)
On a side note, (I cannot help but be tempted to further play into the delusional conspiracies of whoever made this video should they happen to read this), there is a branch of yoga, a path (of which I forget the name), which is dedicated to God hate, where God is attempted to be hated in a juxtapositional attempt to realize Him. The idea is that in order to truly hate God, one must know what it is one hates, one must know God to hate Him, and as one meditates on God and realizes God, then the beauty awe and love of such realization, when the object that is hated is known, enlightenment occurs. And such hate is discarded at the end as the practitioner realizes that hatred of what they now know as true God, is impossible.
It is recommended not to follow this path, as it is quite treacherous, as one can imagine. :) But in certain places in India it is practiced, and in theory could be effective with the right teachers and proper predisposition.
However, a form of this can be practiced as a meditation by anyone, with good effect. The idea is to think of God as someone you have wronged or think of harming God due to your vices. For example, if you lust, try to meditate on lusting for God. If done properly, perverse feelings of sacrilege and blasphemy may arise, which then can be channeled to help one control one's vice. Replacing a 'victim' with God, can help with controlling any vice. It is similar to the phenomena described in 'Pain and Suffering' and 'Healing the Soul in the Age of the Brain', where unwarranted kind actions in the face of maliciousness aid the offending person in seeing the faults in themselves, as if looking through a mirror.
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Posted 9/30/08 (By Travis)
Bankruptcy,
not bailout, is the right answer
CNN
^ | Sept. 29, 2008 | Jeffrey A. Miron
A great piece by Jeffery A. Miron!
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Posted 9/28/08 (By Travis)
Here's
How It's Done, Hank: A Parable From a Crisis of a Century Ago.
Washington
Post ^ | 9/28/08 | Jean Strouse
The Fed did not yet exist, and for two decades, Morgan had been acting as the country's unofficial lender of last resort, quietly working to amass reserves and supply capital to the markets in periods of crisis.
Morgan had a strong sense of financial public duty, but he wasn't acting as proto-Fed out of pure altruism: The people he represented had billions of dollars invested in the emerging U.S. economy. Critics who thought he had engineered the panic for his own profit would have been surprised to learn that his U.S. firms lost $21 million in 1907.
Capitalists saved the country from financial crisis in 1907, while government created or enhanced the great depression in 1930. Looks like we haven't studied our history and are now again looking for government to 'save us'.
Bernake on his knees before Speaker Pelosi is a perfect symbol of how upside-down things have gotten here in America. For the early part of our founding, it was the government that knelt to the people, it was presidents and government officials that knelt to capitalists like J. P. Morgan.
On a side note, J. P. Morgan's Wikipedia biography was an interesting read. Amazing what people will do with their money and fortunes when they are allowed to freely produce. Readers may especially appreciate this blurb:
Carnegie agreed to sell the business [US Steel] to Morgan for $480 million.[6] The deal was closed without lawyers and without a written contract.
In some places and times old fashioned handshakes were good enough.
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Posted 9/26/08 (By Travis)
9/26/08 Washington Post
This alluring title is slightly misleading, but it is an interesting interview with Elon Musk, whom I am a big fan of from 'the Paypal Wars', a book on how a bunch of libertarians made a killing taking on big government, trial lawyers, and corporate financial giants.
However, one has to ask the question: what is the purpose of NASA? How has NASA benefited the county?
One perspective is that the accomplishments of NASA are primarily political. National pride over a moonlanding? Bush's 'trip to Mars'? Why go to Mars? The never ending search for 'life'? These are high cost with a bloated budget of $20 billion a year. If people are truly interested in these esoteric goals, then why not let them pony up this money voluntarily, rather than have it forcibly conscripted from them?
As seen from some of the questions in this article, Musk and his folks are doing things cheaper and better than NASA. Especially interesting is the emerging market for things 'space related'.
What he doesn't emphasize is that private industry could probably take over the useful tasks of NASA exponentially cheaper and more efficiently. In fact, NASA's state subsidies are likely undercutting private innovation and hurting American space programs in the only place that matters: the private market. Ironic isn't it?
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Posted 9/20/08 (By Travis)
Hurricane Ike: Survivors forced out of homes so clean up can begin
9/18/08 Telegraph
Authorities have now said that residents who remained on the island during the storm, known as 'holdouts' there will be required to leave in the next few days so crews could begin the recovery effort.
Police have said they are prepared to impose martial law if needed to empty the barrier island.
The Texas attorney general's office is trying to work out how legally to force the holdouts to leave, Mr Yarbrough said.
Local authorities are prepared to do whatever it takes to get residents to a safer place.
The peninsula is too damaged for residents to stay, and with no gas, no power and no running water, there is also concern about the spread of disease, officials said.
Private property and individual freedom is thrown aside in times of crisis in Texas, of all places. Who better to 'clean up' and 'repair' the damage then people themselves, who are owners of the land, not the government.
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Posted 9/20/08 (By Travis)
Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending
9/30/99 NYT
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In July, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed that by the year 2001, 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low and moderate-income borrowers. Last year, 44 percent of the loans Fannie Mae purchased were from these groups.
The change in policy also comes at the same time that HUD is investigating allegations of racial discrimination in the automated underwriting systems used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine the credit-worthiness of credit applicants.
So, this idea that 'free market capitalism' is to blame for the recent financial turmoil is misfounded. Certainly free markets give rise to bust and boom cycles, but this is better than the stagnation when severe limits are placed on human freedoms, aka socialism. In fact, the free market folk called this one rather succinctly:
''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''
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Posted 9/12/08 (By Travis)
Full Excerpts: Charlie Gibson Interviews GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin
9/12/08 ABC
PALIN: I was for infrastructure being built in the state. And it's not inappropriate for a mayor or for a governor to request and to work with their Congress and their congressmen, their congresswomen, to plug into the federal budget along with every other state a share of the federal budget for infrastructure.
This idea that Sarah Palin is some kind of liberty crusading reformer, is, IMHO, a bit of a rush to judgment. Although she has a much better record than Senators Obama and Biden, and, more generally, than McCain himself, she still does not appear to believe that the problem of corruption of earnmarks, the waste, the excess, the campaign contributions, the quid pro quo, stems from the very power of congress to grant earnmarks. The process cannot be 'cleaned up' or made more transparent, at least not in a way that does lasting good. The problem is that the Federal government should not have the power to earnmark. There is no reason for the Federal government to build roads, or bridges, or museums anywhere. This kind of rhetoric we do not hear from McCain or Palin, and it is, unfortunately, reflective of their underlying ideology.
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Posted 9/5/08 (By Travis)
9/5/08 ABC
A lesson not to rely on the Federal Government for anything, and it also raises the question of why the Fed should be involved with roads and bridges in the first place. Let the states pay for them if the 'public' is going to own then at all. It would be best to abolish this 'highway trust fund' and the gas tax with it. No doubt it has been a slush fund for pork barrel politics.
(Added to 'transportation socialism')
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Posted 9/5/08 (By Travis)
Palin's
Efforts to Reform Health Care Are Complicated
9/5/08 Washington Post
Why there was some initial pause for optimism in the McCain pick of Sara Palin
for VP, such as her comments on Ron
Paul:
"He's a good guy," she said of Paul. "He's so independent. He's independent of the party machine. I'm like, ‘Right on, so am I.'"
Paul supporters were delighted. In fact, they even began promoting Palin as a possible veep choice for the Texas congressman.
There was little in the media about how she actually governed in Alaska, where she stood on policies etc... Personal stories are nice, but they are also very superficial.
Additionally, I have to admit I am a bit tired of all this mudslinging back and forth over who has the most 'experience'. I cannot help but wonder at the world view at the root of these accusations. In fact, if I knew nothing about two candidates besides their 'experience' I would probably lean towards voting for the one who was in public office the least, who was the most uninvolved in politics and foreign policy. One of my favorite quotes is from William Buckley who said:
I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.
Which is funny on a side note because he went to Yale. But his point isn't just that the faculty of Harvard are, generally speaking, very liberal, and they are, but that the average every day person can often make better decisions then so called 'experts'. As Thomas Jefferson said:
State a moral case to a plowman and a professor. The former will decide it as well, and often better than the latter, because he has not been led astray by artificial rules.
So certainly faith in the common man negates all this talk of 'experience'. But returning to the posted story, here is some actual policy stuff:
Palin's views on the issue began to take form in the late 1990s, when Jeff Kinion, the chief executive of Alaska Open Imaging Center, sought to open a facility to provide MRI scans and other diagnostic imaging services in Wasilla, where Palin was mayor. Palin was sympathetic to the problem that Kinion confronted in Wasilla and elsewhere: He was unable to open clinics before getting a "certificate of need" from the state, a process that gives Alaska's government the power to determine whether the service is necessary.
As Kinion's business and others like it started to spread, they became entangled in a tense political and legal battle with the state and hospitals over whether they should be allowed to obtain the certificates. "The hospitals didn't want to share their pie," Kinion said. "They started organizing against us politically."
So, it is nice to hear this, she was trying to help increase competition in healthcare. These 'certificates of need' are another example of the many ways government interferes in the healthcare market. But was she 'expert' enough?
Palin's political opponents say the battle was evidence of a simplistic approach to a complex issue. "It didn't matter what you asked her about health care," said Tony Knowles, the Democratic governor who lost to Palin in 2006. "Getting rid of certificates of need was her only answer."
Because it is the only right answer! You go girl!
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Posted 8/24/08 (By Travis)
Young
girls fight produce stand closure (Mayor sends cops to shut it down)
ABC
News ^ | Aug. 20, 2008 | Terry McSweeney
On a Clayton street corner is where 11-year-old Katie and 3-year- old Sabrina Lewis had been selling their families surplus fruits and veggies - stuff like: "Zucchini, melons, tomatoes, radishes," said Sabrina Lewis.
The mayor himself is getting involved in this issue; he says the produce stand, operated by two young sisters, had to be shut down because of public safety and a zoning ordinance.
And people say policies of liberty are 'too radical'... :)
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Posted 8/24/08 (By Travis)
High Duel at Noon for the White House / The phoney war is over as the US presidential candidates square up for the most compelling contest in a generation
8/24/08 Times Online Andew Sullivan
I don't share Sullivan's enthusiasm for this race, however I can certainly admire his writing style in this piece. Especially of interest is the following:
This is not like most British elections, where party loyalties and messages have been honed for years and their leaders are well established. McCain has led the Republicans for just three months (and was the equivalent of a cranky back-bencher and failed leadership challenger before that). Obama has been the Democratic leader for a mere two months and was elected to the Senate only four years ago.
A positive outlook, despite the fact we have two more or less statists in the race. At least we, as in the American people, are rocking the political establishment. Newness and boldness has always been an American attribute.
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Posted 8/24/08 (By Travis)
Lone
accountant takes on IRS and wins
Yahoo!
/ AP ^ | August 24, 2008 | CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
Four-month trial
ends with no convictions / Federal income tax
evasion case involved nine defendants
9/20/07 LVRJ
Two stories added to 'American Heroes'
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Posted 8/24/08 (By Travis)
Amateurs Outdoing Professionals
8/19/08 Creators Syndicate Thomas Sowell
Besides being a generally excellent piece, it contains this excerpt:
If ordinary people, with no medical training, could perform surgery in their kitchens with steak knives, and get results that were better than those of surgeons in hospital operating rooms, the whole medical profession would be discredited.
But how would we know if it were possible? It is illegal for anyone besides physicians who have gone through 4 years of medical school and at least 3 years of residency (surgery is actually a 4-5 year residency) to perform surgeries.
What if someone off the streets could be trained in just a few weeks to perform non complicated routine surgeries? Perhaps it would discredit the medical profession...
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Posted 8/24/08 (By Travis)
Georgia upheaval muffles Russia's economic boom
8/24/08 AFP
Following the start of hostilities on August 8, Russia experienced a massive outflow of capital -- Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said capital flight due to the conflict had equalled seven billion dollars (4.7 billion euros).
Foreign currency reserves plunged at least partly due to the conflict, analysts said, falling a massive 16.4 billion dollars in the week after the start of fighting.
This is why freedom, limited government, and free trade, the latter a product of the two former, work to increase peace. War will end not because of benevolent or wise peace loving individuals, but because of political systems which make war unacceptable to the increased number of stakeholders. Milton Friedman deserves not only a Nobel Prize in economics, but more than a few peace prizes. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not end until socialism in the Palestinian territories is reduced, regardless of who is the leader of the Palestinians or the Israelis (sort of like the ending here: 'God Save us From Great Presidents'). China will not attack Twain, despite it's so-called 'communist' government, because the Chinese people now expect a certain standard of living which will be violently disrupted, pardon the pun, in the event of such hostilities.
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Posted 8/17/08 ( by Travis)
GOP discord evident in primary outcomes / In show of strength, party’s right wing tests incumbents
8/14/08 Las Vegas Sun
What they witnessed was a punch from the right in the Nevada Republican primary that knocked out several incumbents and almost took down one of the state’s most powerful legislators for the past quarter-century.
Veteran Republican Assemblyman John Marvel, seeking his 16th term, was defeated, largely on the back of a campaign highlighting his 2003 vote to raise taxes.
Republican incumbent Assembly members Francis Allen and Bob Beers fell to opponents who attacked them for being too cozy with Democrats. Don Chairez, a former District Court judge and conservative, came within a couple of thousand votes of taking a spot on November’s runoff for the state Supreme Court.
Each race, of course, had its own dynamic. But it became clear that the party’s most conservative members asserted themselves in a combination of Ron Paul fever, President Bush fatigue and malaise in the moderate wing.
While the Ron Paul Republicans, including personal friends, lost many elections in the recent NV primaries we did make gains. The highlight of this primary election was the near election of Don Chairez to the NV supreme court and the near victory of Andrew Bronson to the Nevada Assembly.
Since this was the first time in the political arena for many of the Ron Paul Republicans, bumps were certainly expected. We can expect future improvement in getting out the message of liberty, targeting of the races and allocation of volunteers and resources. It is important to remember that winning elections is not the focus of the revolution. The focus is on educating the people to make informed decisions, to make sure people have had exposure to the positives which stem from the message of liberty.
To this extent, this election primary season here in NV was a success. I have the utmost respect and admiration for our candidates and I hope all those who ran for office stick it out for the long run and continue their efforts on behalf of liberty. Additionally, I think an increased local focus is prudent, concentration on assembly seats provides both opportunity to establish personal relationships with voters and experience for our courageous and excellent candidates.
(Added to 'Nevada Politics')
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Posted 8/17/08 ( by Travis)
Johnson v. Allstate Insurance Co.: drunk driving for profit
8/1/08 Overlawayered.com
If the Supreme Court of Missouri also signs off, drunk-driver Davis will be a millionaire. Just another case of trial lawyers putting profits ahead of people–and ordinary Missouri citizens will be paying a lot more for insurance when the drunk driving of an insured holding a $50,000 policy can make the insurer liable for $16 million.
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Posted 8/10/08 ( by Travis)
Lost Sovereignity / Oil-Rich Fund Eyeing Foreclosed US Homes
8/10/08 New York Post
One sovereign fund, said to have earmarked $29 billion to purchase foreclosed residential real estate, recently hired a West Coast mortgage broker and is starting to search for bargains, The Post has learned.
The New York Post seems to think this is a bad thing. In reality, the actions of private individuals to stabilize the market can only be beneficial, a counterweight to the government action which contributed to the sub-prime mess, and a solution infinitely better than the newest faddish counterproductive government 'plans' or 'fixes' being proposed. The country which receives the most foreign investment will generally be the strongest economic country and the country with the most freedom.
It is a mystery to me why... it is regarded as a sign of Japanese
strength and American weakness that the Japanese find it more attractive to invest in the U.S. than
Japan. Surely it is precisely the reverse - a sign of U.S. strength and Japanese weakness.
- Milton Friedman
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Posted 8/9/08 ( by Travis)
Wikipedia
After a discussion I was recently pointed towards this article, which turned out to be quite an interesting read. The definition:
Jury nullification means making a law void by jury decision, in other words "the process whereby a jury in a criminal case effectively nullifies a law by acquitting a defendant regardless of the weight of evidence against him or her."
Before we begin discussing the radical nature of such concept, bear in mind it found itself quite at home with the libertarian minded founders:
I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1789 letter to Thomas Paine
The jury has the right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy.
—John Jay, first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court
In fact, this took place relatively recently. The example given on Wikipedia is:
During Prohibition, juries often nullified alcohol control laws,[10] possibly as often as 60% of the time.[11]
In other words, even though the jury realized the person was guilty of alcohol possession, consumption, or distribution, whatever the charge happened to be, they didn't believe the law itself was valid.
As might be expected, those of us with a belief in human freedom and liberty are mighty warmed by the concept of jury nullification. This attraction is natural, as libertarian minded folk generally believe people are inherently good (hence why I liked the ferry scene in the recent batman movie; pardon the digression :) ), generally do the right thing, and have a positive outlook on human nature and the world in general.
Trusting the people is something politicians these days have a great deal of trouble with. The people, we the people, can figure out a way out of the 'energy crisis' if government would only get off our back. We the people would find solutions to improving healthcare and on and on.
In fact, starting this post with a Wikipedia entry is, retrospectively, symbolic. An online encyclopedia created by 'the people', which is, more often than not, factual and up to date and which was created without rules or 'governance' (founded by a libertarian actually), shows that these foundations of ideology are not just pie in the sky theories, but accurately represent existence.
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Posted 8/9/08 ( by Travis)
Perhaps if we are lucky, some informed juries might start applying this (above) concept of Jury Nullification from prohibition to the war on drugs:
Prince
George's raid prompts call for probe - Berwyn Heights mayor denounces police tactics
The
Baltimore Sun ^ | August 7, 2008 | Doug Donovan
Are
Pot Users Criminals? The Tragic Case of Rachel Hoffman
ABC
News ^ | July 24, 2008 | BRIAN ROSS and VIC WALTER
(Added to 'Social Conservatism')
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Posted 8/7/08 ( by Travis)
All US adults could be overweight in 40 years
8/6/08 AP
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If the trends of the past three decades continue, it's possible that every American adult could be overweight 40 years from now, a government-funded study projects.
Tax dollars at work.
(Added to 'New Government Food Pyramid')
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Posted 8/7/08 ( by Travis)
Genetic Discrimination Saves Lives
1/30/08 Mises
It was previously noted, here on neoperspectives, that the recent genetic discrimination bill passed the house with only one representative, Rep Ron Paul, voting against it. This article communicates some arguments in opposition to this bill.
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Posted 8/7/08 ( by Travis)
Kidney
patients denied 'too expensive' life-extending drugs
The
Telegraph ^ | 8/7/2008 | Kate Devlin
Prof Peter Littlejohns, Nice's clinical and public health director, said: "Although these treatments are clinically effective, regrettably the cost to the NHS is such that they are not cost-effective use of NHS resources." He added that the organisation had to make some of the "hardest" decisions in public life.
"This decision will mean that the UK will have the poorest survival figures [for the cancer] in Europe."
(Added to 'British Healthcare')
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Posted 8/7/08 ( by Travis)
Venezuelans
protest Chavez's new socialist push
Yahoo
News ^ | 08/06/08 | IAN JAMES
The demonstrators said a blacklist of opposition candidates and a series of socialist decrees are destroying what's left of their democracy.
Chavez opponents also are outraged by 26 laws the president just decreed, some of them mirroring the socialist measures voters rejected in a December referendum.
One decree establishes a civilian militia that critics warn could emulate the citizen groups that control many aspects of community life in Cuba. Another gives Chavez the ability to designate regional authorities who critics say could undermine the power of locally elected officials.
Other decrees empower Chavez to expropriate goods from private businesses and increase state control over food, punishing business owners who fail to comply with price controls with fines, closure and even 10-year prison terms.
(Added to 'Chavez')
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Posted 8/3/08 ( by Travis)
Instant-Messagers Really Are About Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon Big Microsoft Study Supports Small World Theory
8/2/08 Washington Post
Interesting study of instant messengers and emails reinforce theories of human connectivity.
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Posted 8/3/08 ( by Travis)
Wal-Mart Warns of Democratic Win
8/1/08 WSJ
This is an interesting article. First we learn this:
Wal-Mart may be walking a fine legal line by holding meetings with its store department heads that link politics with a strong antiunion message. Federal election rules permit companies to advocate for specific political candidates to its executives, stockholders and salaried managers, but not to hourly employees. While store managers are on salary, department supervisors are hourly workers.
Why can a private company not advocate to it's own workers? Unions certainly make no bones about who they support, yet businesses cannot?
Secondly:
Currently, companies can demand a secret-ballot election to determine union representation. Those elections often are preceded by months of strident employer and union campaigns.
Under the proposed legislation, companies could no longer have the right to insist on one secret ballot. Instead, the Free Choice, or "card check," legislation would let unions form if more than 50% of workers simply sign a card saying they want to join. It is far easier for unions to get workers to sign cards because the organizers can approach workers repeatedly, over a period of weeks or months, until the union garners enough support.
Employers argue that the card system could lead to workers being pressured to sign by pro-union colleagues and organizers. Unions counter that it shields workers from pressure from their employers.
Both of these proposals are smoke and mirrors, IMO. If private property is truly respected, a business can decide not to accept any workers as unionized and fire any and all that partake in any union activity. But if they fired them all, who would run their business? This is not to say that Unions can't form, there are many cases where unions are beneficial, such as major league sports. The market will decide what industries unions are beneficial in and which they are not. Government should get out of the business of deciding how and when Unions and businesses should interact. Freely choosing individuals, both employees and their employers will interact to determine the best setup for each. Perhaps then we will see a halt to the bankruptcies the unions are inflicting on businesses across the country.
(Added to 'Unions')
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Posted 8/3/08 ( by Travis)
8/2/08 Cafe Hayek
Here's a letter that I sent to the Aurora (Illinois) Beacon News:
Barack Obama proposes to deal with rising gasoline prices by giving a $1,000 "emergency rebate" to consumers - a rebate to be paid for by taxing the so-called "windfall profits" of oil producers ("Obama pitches $1,000 energy rebate checks," August 2).
In other words, a critical part of Sen. Obama's strategy for reigning in high gasoline prices is to subsidize gasoline consumption and more heavily tax its production. This plan - which increases the demand for gasoline and reduces its supply - makes as much sense as trying to put out a fire by dowsing it with jet fuel.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
(Added to 'Gasoline and Government')
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Posted 8/3/08 ( by Travis)
Conservatism,
Not in Bush White House: FY09 Budget Deficit Will Reach $482 Billion
National
Journal ^ | July 28, 2008 | Humberto Sanchez
Some facts from the first post on this thread:
When President Bush arrived in DC, the Federal Gov't was spending $1.865 Trillion and took in $2.0 Trillion,
Now it's spending $3,15 Trillion and taking in $2.65 Trillion. He won't veto housing bailout for $300 Billion. The fact the Iraq War is at $650 Billion and should have been managed a lot better from 2004-2006 and not cost nearly this much.
President Bush did this with 6 years of Republican Congress and did nothing to control spending. Damaging the Republican brand.
Speaking of the bailout, here is a scathing retort:
The Big Bailout: America as a Full-Spectrum Kleptocracy
Blog
- Pro Libertate ^ | 7/27/2008 | William Grigg
With the Senate's passage of the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac bailout last Saturday (July 26), the United States of America has now become the world's first full-service kleptocracy, a form of government described earlier in this space as a government of, by, and for the robbers.
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Posted 7/30/08 ( by Travis)
CA.
AG Cracks Down On Nestle Bottling Plant
cbs13.com
^ | July 29, 2008
Attorney General Jerry Brown on Tuesday said he will sue to block a proposed water-bottling operation in Northern California unless its effects on global warming are evaluated.
The Swiss-based
company scaled back its plans in May after years of opposition from environmentalists and a group of
McCloud residents. It originally sought to pump more than double the amount of water.
David Palais, Nestle's Northern California natural resource manager, said the company already was
planning studies on air and water quality, hazardous materials, traffic conditions and climate
change for a new environmental review of the bottling plant.
He said it failed to include an examination of whether the operation will
contribute to global warming through the production of plastic bottles, the operation's electrical
demands and the diesel soot and greenhouse gas emissions produced by trucks traveling to and from
the plant.
"It takes massive quantities of oil to produce plastic water bottles and to
ship them in diesel trucks across the United States," Brown said in a statement. "Nestle
will face swift legal challenge if it does not fully evaluate the environmental impact of diverting
millions of gallons of spring water from the McCloud River into billions of plastic water
bottles."
Honestly, the first time I read this I thought it was satire. It appears some of our friends on the left are bent on returning human kind to the stone age.
California is so hostile to industry and private enterprise, it will likely only continue to hemorrhage citizens and businesses.
(Added to 'The Environment')
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Posted 7/30/08 ( by Travis)
Daily
pill that halts Alzheimer's is hailed as 'biggest breakthrough against disease for 100 years'
Daily
Mail ^ | 7/29/08 | enny Hope
It could be available to patients within four years although, in the wake of the NHS ban on the £2.50-a-day drug Aricept, there are concerns over whether it would be funded on the Health Service. <.>
The trial was a Phase 2 study, which checks the safety and efficacy of the drug, but if a large-scale Phase 3 trial due next year repeats the findings, the drug could be available for prescribing
Doctors
may have found a way to destroy HIV
FOX11AZ.COM
^ | 10:16 AM MST on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 | By Lee McGuire / KHOU-TV News
The theory has held up in lab and animal testing. The next step is human trials.
This was not posted to suggest the optimism suggested in these stories is close to reality. In fact, history is filled with discarded opulent news stories reporting great new cures or treatments that never pan out. The point is that a willing human being suffering from either Alzheimers or HIV cannot voluntarily receive any of these treatments, no matter how much they desire or how much they pay. It will cost millions, probably hundreds of millions to undertake costly clinical trials and many years before these drugs can be available to patients willing to try them.
(Added to 'FDA Tyranny')
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Posted 7/25/08 ( by Travis)
Misplaced
Priorities (Harry Reid & Sen. Tom Coburn)
NRO
^ | 24 July 2008 | David Freddoso
Coburn has drawn a powerful and clever enemy in Reid, who has obliquely denounced him — never by name — as a senator “intent on blocking virtually everything.”
Three hurrahs for Senator Coburn, the Dr No of the Senate! :)
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Posted 7/25/08 ( by Travis)
Government Mafia Alert:
The
K Street Project, Part Blue
The
Wall Street Journal ^ | July 25, 2008 | KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
As most of Washington met last week to fret over the economy, Harry Reid was
attending a less-noticed summit. The Senate majority leader had summoned the titans of more than a
dozen industry trade groups to a Capitol Hill meeting, where he delivered a crisp message: Get with
our program, or get demolished.
Anyone remember the "K Street Project"? Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and conservative activist Grover Norquist designed it to pressure the business community into hiring GOP lobbyists, supporting GOP causes, and giving money to GOP candidates. The press was shocked, shocked, to discover such behavior, and ran endless coverage of this nefarious GOP operation. Democrats were shocked, shocked, too, and charged that the project was the root of Washington's corruption: "If we're ever going to have real change here, we must kill the K Street Project," thundered Nancy Pelosi.
But it was not even remotely shocking to discover that the party in power strong-arms the business community. Democrats spent 40 years in the majority demanding that industry hire former staffers and write checks as a price of access. The K Street Project was created in the mid-'90s by Republicans following suit. Now the left is at