Liberty Weekend Reads for February 13-14
Price Controls In the Oil Industry
The Untold History of Nullification: Resisting Slavery
Conservatives! Pay Attention to Judge Napolitano
More Realistic Understanding of Capitalism
Sun and Wind Are the Best Resources?
Pay As You Go
Admitting now that he has come to the reality that fiscal responsibility is needed to help ease the economic crisis, President Obama has signed new legislation that would make Congress pay as they go.
Obama, quoted in Politico, said the following about the new spending policies of this Congress:
“Now, Congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everybody else,” Obama said in his radio and Internet address released Saturday morning. “After a decade of profligacy, the American people are tired of politicians who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk when it comes to fiscal responsibility. It’s easy to get up in front of the cameras and rant against exploding deficits. What’s hard is actually getting deficits under control. But that’s what we must do.”
Mr. Obama still does not get it. Pay close attention to what he says. He suggests that Congress will have to pay for everything now just as everyone else does. Has Mr. Obama forgotten that it is everybody else that funds the projects that Congress allocates money towards? Apparently so.
Pay as you go legislation will probably effect very little change on a Congress that knows no bounds when it comes to spending money that it does not yet have. This legislation will merely be a propaganda item for Mr. Obama to use in the 2010 election cycle to boost his fiscal responsibility bona fides at a time when it is popular amongst the electorate. A Congress that learns that it needs to be fiscally responsible only after losing at the polls is not a responsible congress, regardless of what legislation they pass to govern themselves. Members of Congress had stacks of data that they chose to ignore before we got to this point.
Liberty Reads for February 12, 2010
Stimulus Hypocrisy and the Tea Partiers
Personal Bottle Delivery Would Create Jobs…
Did They Expect to be Bailed Out?
Disinformation on Guantanamo Recidivism
We Are All Job Creators Now!
Think for a moment about how ridiculous the notion is that the government could create a job.
A job is simply when someone is being paid to produce something based upon supply and demand. Take for example a job working at McDonald’s. Even though they are at the butt of every joke from high school teachers to movie stars, these everyday normal citizens are hired by owner/operator/entrepreneurs across the country to create a product to sell to anyone who wants it.
The simple fact is, there is a demand for burgers, fries, shakes, etc.. The banks realize this, so they loan money to an owner. The owner realizes this, so he uses his money to make the most cost efficient product possible. And the employee realizes thiss so they look to the owner for a job.
So where does the owner get his money to pay the employee? Mostly from the customers who walked in the store of their own free will, picked out what they wanted to eat from a wide-range of selections and handed their money over without force.
Now let’s turn to the government. Read the rest of this entry »
Liberty Reads for February 11, 2010
Palin Exposes the Tea Partiers’ True Colors
The 700 Military Bases of Afghanistan
Gun Control and the War on Drugs
Maybe Greece Should Go Bankrupt
Nick Gillespie Nails It on Sarah Palin
How Much Does Snowmageddon Cost?
According to the Office of Personnel Management, it costs a whole lot. And the cost is on the back of the tax payers.
Aside from the normal cost of government removing snow, OPM chief John Berry claims that the taxpayers are saddled with a $100 Million cost of work not done by employees while off on snow days. Seriously.
ABC News’ Devin Dwyer has the story:
But experts say this month’s storms, with their “historic’” proportions, are ultimately a net negative for taxpayers, who foot the bill for snow cleanup and the lost productivity of more than 230,000 idle federal employees. Official Washington was shut down for a third straight snow day — unprecedented in recent times.
Office of Personnel Management chief John Berry, who decides when to close the federal government, has said each snow day costs taxpayers an estimated $100 million in work government employees don’t do.
Federal workers are still paid for the unanticipated days off due to weather. Other government shutdowns – such as the six-day closure in November 1995 during a budget dispute in Congress – furloughed non-essential workers, thereby saving taxpayers money.
Of Course Society Will Continue If We Have Anarchy
While watching Glenn Beck the other night I noticed something that needs to be addressed. When people hear of services being cut by government, most people assume that the service will disappear completely. While this could happen, one must also remember that if the service is demanded, there will always be someone to supply it.
When people hear the ideas behind Anarcho-Capitalism, those that cannot imagine what a free market society truly is conjure up images of people running in the streets committing insanely violent acts against others. While this is far from what would really happen under a shift towards freedom, these ideas need to be combated if we are ever to see success in rolling back the size and scope of government.
A lot of people fear that all these “great” services provided by government will disappear. For instance, if people were to cease paying taxes, would public education disappear? Short answer. Yes. Public education would disappear. But would education disappear? No. Private schools would flourish. People would simply pay to send their children to private schools instead of paying the government to provide a school. Standards in education would probably increase and the cost would most likely decrease since people will not have to subsidize the free riders that currently exist.
Liberty Reads for February 10, 2010
Obama Cuts the Number of Uninsured People by One Third
Liberty Reads for February 9, 2010
Whose Side Are You On, USA Today?
More Spending is Always the Answer
Excuse Me, Miss What?
Lately this billboard showing former President George W. Bush waving and saying “Miss Me Yet?” has caused Conservatives to rally around and say that they do, in fact, miss George W. Bush. This is why the new Conservative movement has no hope!
What do we miss? Is it the massive amounts of debt and deficits that could put most Liberals to shame? Was it the stripping of our civil liberties after 9/11? Massive increases in Medicare and the creation of Medicare Part D? The failed attempt at privatizing Social Security? The centralization of education? Massive bailouts? Oh wait, Conservatives like those things unless Obama does it. Read the rest of this entry »
