Free kibbles

FASCISM:

What is free from government?

"What of any consequence remains beyond the state’s reach in the United States today? Not wages, working conditions, or labor-management relations; not health care; not money, banking, or financial services; not personal privacy; not transportation or communication; not education or scientific research; not farming or food supply; not nutrition or food quality; not marriage or divorce; not child care; not provision for retirement; not recreation; not insurance of any kind; not smoking or drinking; not gambling; not political campaign funding or publicity; not real estate development, house construction, or housing finance; not international travel, trade, or finance; not a thousand other areas and aspects of social life."

Because government allows us choices, we live under the illusion of freedom, but that illusion is rapidly falling.

"We verge ever closer upon the condition in which everything that is not prohibited is required. Yet, the average American will declare loudly that he is a free man and that his country is the freest in the world. Thus, in a country where more and more is for the state, where virtually nothing is outside the State, and where, aside from pointless complaints, nothing against the State is permitted, Americans have become ideal fascist citizens. Like the average German during the years that Hitler ruled Germany, most Americans today, inhabiting one of the most pervasively controlled countries in the history of the world, think they are free."

Mussolini's Italians considered themselves free too. It's because they allow us choices. People don't understand the difference between being allowed choices and being free. But those choices are rapidly diminishing, so the illusion is falling.

STATES RIGHTS:

On nullification:

"At bottom, Washington’s power is economic. The feds rely for control on taxing money from the states and giving some of it back in exchange for obedience. They cannot arrest Wyoming, but they can deny it federal highway funds. This technique provides de facto control over everything from kindergarten to MIT."

That's why the income tax is so destructive, and the stupid states ratified it and made themselves slaves of the federal government by doing so.

TAX AND SPEND:

The truth about Social Security.

"The government has promised to pay for my retirement and yours. How? Congress has stuck a gun in the collective bellies of all of America's workers and has said, "You owe the IRS the money to fund millions of oldsters. Your turn will come. Trust us.""

Programs based on violence are doomed to fail.

It's too bad Moodys didn't say they would cut the US bond rating if Congress passed Obamacare. That would have killed Obamacare. Author's description of how Social Security will end is very similar to my vision in the America's Looming Debt Crisis.

"Meanwhile, physicians will be wiped out. Price controls on Medicare payments will do that. There will be rationing. There will be death committees. There are no free lunches in life. Whatever is not allocated by price will be allocated by waiting for treatment.

Think of a waiting room filled with oldsters. Think of a system where the next walk-in or carried-in is given a number. The number is 10,257. If there are no death committees, then it will be strictly by the number. "Hurry up and wait." Some of these people will die in the waiting room. They will be carried out feet-first."

If Americans would wake up and stop voting for the two big-government parties and instead vote for representatives who will dramatically cut government spending, this pain can be avoided. But I still no signs Americans are going to do that. They're going to continue being dupes of the two parties, willingly divided, and point fingers at each other while collapsing our country.

"There will not be a cut-off of Medicare and Social Security through normal default. Politically, that is impossible. The default will come through monetary inflation followed by price inflation, plus rationing of medical care. The only way for an outright default on Medicare to take place is through default on the entire debt: off-budget and on-budget. That would involve a default on all Treasury debt. The whole structure would topple at once.

This has not happened to any modern government. Always the default has come through inflation. The politicians lie about their promises. Then the central bank lies about the future value of the currency."

So we're back to hyper-inflation.

"If the FED finally balks at hyperinflation, as I think it will, and Congress does not nationalize it, then there will be the other kind of default: the across-the-boards default. This will take down all of the programs. I think this is what will happen. I think we will avoid hyperinflation. Call me an optimist."

Pick your poison.

FEDERAL RESERVE:

Greenspan comes out of the woodwork to blame our economic problems on the fall of the Soviet Union. It's a shame people (including me) are just now realizing what a joke this guy was.

Because the Fed is controlled by the government, it is an arm of the government.

EDUCATION:

George Will wonders why government can't learn. He obviously doesn't understand the nature of government and the aristocrats who run it.

HEALTH CARE:

This health care bill is driving the nullification movement. The thing is, while most Democrats probably hate the nullification movement, Obama probably loves it. He wants to spark a Marxist revolution and a have Lincolnesque presidency, and he can't do that if states don't rebel.

Text of reconciliation bill.

Just as government seizing control of education has ruined education in America and led to constant partisan battles over education policy, seizing control of health care will ruin our health care system and lead to constant partisan battles over health care policy.

45 percent of doctors say they'll consider leaving the health care profession if Obamacare passes. But after they consider digging ditches for the rest of their life, they'll decide to stay. These polls are meaningless. It would be cool to see an open letter for several hundred older doctors promising to retire if Obamacare passed, but I doubt we'll see that before the vote.

In order to make the budget numbers look better, Obama attached a bill seizing control of student loans from the private sector. But in a sweetheart deal, he excluded one bank for a Democrat Senator. The Senator removed the provision after it was exposed proving once again that nobody is ever sorry for what they do, they're only sorry they got caught.

GLOBAL WARMING:

Study finds that people who buy 'green' tend to be more dishonest. I'm not surprised. They're liberals, and liberals feel more entitled to other people's property.

It's amazing how El Paso can be so peaceful while Cuidad Juarez is so violent. You know if the US government gets more involved in this, violence will increase. I think the feds have done enough damage already.

WAR:

I often find libertarians treating the 9/11 commission as some sort of responsible panel. It was just a panel of political hacks no different than any other political hacks and deserves the same level of respect as all political hacks - none. Remember, Jamie Gorelick was on the panel.

US cyberattacks and shuts down terrorist website monitored by CIA for intelligence. How is the NSA military?

Republican congressmen admit that most Republicans think invading Iraq was a mistake. Who says they can't learn from their mistakes? Of course, it's easy to say it. But what will they do next time?

POLITICS:

Tony Blair has made 20 million pounds since resigning in 2007. This guy's a piker compared to Clinton and Gore. He should have taken better corruption lessons from them. I don't know that making money after leaving politics is corruption unless the deals were made while in office. I think Clinton and Blair were just valuable because of who they were and their contracts. Gore's promoting a fraud. That's corruption. And it would seem that hiding those deals is illegal in Britain.

MISC:

In praise of Judge Napolitano's new book.

This is a funny essay from Jeff Tucker, but I cannot identify with him in the least. This concern has never crossed my mind, and it had never crossed my mind that it would cross anybody else's mind. It shows how different two perspectives can be on even the most trivial action.

Anything with the words alcohol, tobacco and firearms and without the word bureau must be good.