Free kibbles

FREE SPEECH:

Corporate spending elections in Illinois has still left the state unfriendly for business.

Court of Appeals unanimously strikes down another campaign finance restriction.

Court rules that Mike Adams's columns are not protected speech. What?

ECONOMY:

Five lies about the US economy. These are biggies. Democrats are just hoping the next crash doesn't hit before November. The myth of economic recovery.

Personal income drops all over the country. Tell me about it.

TAX AND SPEND:

I'm all for repealing the sixteenth amendment, but not for requiring states to pay the federal government. That's just another kind of tax, and while better, it's not good enough. Government should be funded through voluntary contributions and charging for services.

Another way government loots taxpayers on behalf of unions.

Obama's new mortgaged handout is effectively another bailout for banks.

My original thinking on Social Security and Medicare being constitutional was flawed. I compared them to welfare programs, and since everybody pays in and everybody received benefits, I concluded they were not welfare programs. I mistakenly leaped from that conclusion to the conclusion they were constitutional. They are not constitutional because the Constitution enumerates no power for government to to implement them. It cannot be said that taking money from people by force while they work then giving back a significantly smaller sum than they would have received if they had saved the money on their own is in anybody's general welfare.

This presents a challenge to a hypothetical presidential candidate who wanted to nullify all unconstitutional laws when he goes into office to bring the executive branch at least in compliance with the Constitution - he could never get elected on the platform of shutting down Social Security and Medicare. So our principled candidate will have to make an exception for those programs because seniors have been trapped and impoverished into relying on them. But if seniors do not vote for Social Security and Medicare reform, their checks will stop coming. That's an indisputable fact. He must make seniors understand that to win a mandate to reform entitlements so those checks will continue and future generations are not trapped into dependency and have their money stolen from them by Congress like today's seniors have.

I still think this is a winning campaign agenda - obeying the Constitution - for 2012 if anybody out there would follow it.

REGULATION:

Louisiana licenses florists.

Corrupt Chris Dodd's new financial regulation bill continues bailouts as a matter of policy.

Government regulators approve 15 of 20 phony products submitted by investigators. Those are the same guys who will give the thumbs up or thumbs down on your health care.

HEALTH CARE:

Seven myths about Obamacare.

Cato quotes Bastiat on the nature of government and the law.

"Without the rule of law, property, economic opportunity and liberty cannot be protected, so we have been taught to revere the law. One hundred and sixty years ago, the brilliant French political and economic theorist Frederic Bastiat warned us in his classic, "The Law," that the rule of law would be perverted. As he noted, the law "has acted in direct opposition to its proper end; it has destroyed its own object; it has been employed in annihilating that justice which it ought to have established, in effacing amongst Rights, that limit which was its true mission to respect; it has placed the collective force in the service of those who wish to traffic, without risk and without scruple, in the persons, the liberty, and the property of others; it has converted plunder into a right, that it may protect it, and lawful defense into a crime, that it may punish it.""

Government has twisted the rule of law into a weapon against the people. This is violence, and Obamacare is the single most violent piece of legislation the Congress has passed since the Civil War.

"If it is signed into law, the American people will lose part of their self-defense against disease by not being allowed to go to those who can best care for them, and they will be denied by the new government regulations those procedures, devices and drugs that would save lives, because they will not be developed."

I pointed out that the right to life is dependent on the right to pursue the health care of our choice, and Obamacare takes both those rights from us.

"There have been many articles recently about the fact that most government workers make far more than their private-sector counterparts. My colleague Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute has calculated that when all of the employee benefits are properly included, federal government employees, on average, receive more than double their private-sector counterparts, who, unlike federal workers, can be fired. Again, hardworking taxpayers are being plundered to subsidize an overpaid federal work force."

Our government makes the mafia look benevolent and moral by comparison. It's organized crime and naturally refuses to investigate and prosecute itself.

Estimates of the cost of Obamacare go as high as $3.5 trillion over 10 years.

"In fact, for millions of Americans who get their insurance through the individual market, rather than from an employer, this bill will raise premiums by 10% to 13% more than if we do nothing. Young and healthy people can expect their premiums to go up even higher."

Thanks, government.

I didn't know this:

"Democrats did manage to frontload the bill with some changes that will take effect within the next few months, and are likely to prove popular. For example, the federal government will mail a $250 check to every senior in America. Now that may not have much to do with health care reform, but after all, there is an election coming up."

Loot. Loot. Loot.

Great cartoon.

Health care 2020.

"March 23, 2020—At the beginning of the last decade, there was great excitement about the future of medicine. Advances in biotechnology, nanotechnology, diagnostics, information technology, stem cell treatments, vaccines, and organ transplants were poised to radically improve the health prospects of Americans. Looking back from 2020, we can see that most of these major biomedical advances failed to materialize. What happened? Three words: health care reform."

That's right. Obamacare just brought medical progress to a virtual standstill. The result will be stagnation, declining longevity, and more painful lives.

How Obamacare would loot Americans on behalf of the evil insurance companies. What's missing from this analysis is recognition that Americans won't follow the mandate, the government won't allow the insurance companies to raise rates, and it forces insurance companies to rebate money to policy holders if it makes too much profit. All of this is designed to put the insurance companies out of business. They just recently figured that out and turned on Obamacare because of it.

Ron Paul understands Obamacare.

"Following months of heated public debate and aggressive closed-door negotiations, Congress finally cast a historic vote on healthcare late Sunday evening. It was truly a sad weekend on the House floor as we witnessed further dismantling of the Constitution, disregard of the will of the people, explosive expansion of the reach of government, unprecedented corporate favoritism, and the impending end of quality healthcare as we know it."

That's it in a nutshell.

"Hefty fines are due from anyone found to have committed the heinous crime of not being a customer of a health insurance company. We will need to hire some 16,500 new IRS agents to police compliance with all these new mandates and administer various fines. So in government terms, this is also a jobs bill. Never mind that this program is also likely to cost the private sector some 5 million jobs."

I don't think we've yet grasped just how damaging this law will be for all Americans.


Indiana governor describes the damage Obamacare will do to his state.


Check out this lying essay:

"This has been a familiar pattern since New Deal days: Government programs from Social Security to Medicare that were launched amid incendiary arguments within a short time became sacrosanct — protected by a bipartisan consensus that was nowhere to be found at passage."

I guess this guy really wants it to be true, but it's not. Both Social Security and Medicare passed with a significant number of Republican votes. Obamacare not only got zero Republican votes, it split the Democrats.


GLOBAL WARMING:


El Nino has warmed the planet which will give the global warming frauds new openings for draconian regulation.

"Expect the administration to use 2010 global-temperature data as backup for the EPA's regulatory power grab. Global temperatures shot upward around the beginning of this year thanks to El Niño, a warming of the tropical Pacific that takes place every few years. The average global temperature has a reasonable chance of beating the last high, set back in 1998 (also an El Niño year).

Meanwhile, a number of studies point to sources other than greenhouse gases as explanations for the modest warming trend of the late 20th century. This could doom the EPA's finding. But do not expect it to go quietly."

Not a chance.

WAR ON DRUGS:

Undercover drug cops kill innocent pastor.

"The complaint alleges that Officer Harrison, the cop who shot Ayers, wasn't even authorized to arrest him. On the day Ayers was killed, Harrison had yet to take a series of firearms training classes required for his certification as a police officer. More astonishing, Harrison apparently had no training at all in the use of lethal force.

These allegations have since been confirmed by local TV station WSBTV and, after the fact, by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Despite the fact that Harrison had killed a man suspected of no crime months earlier without having undergone lethal-force training and certification, the officer was still carrying his badge and gun up until the time of the WSBTV report. Once the publicity hit, Harrison was suspended. Abigail Ayers' civil suit also alleges prior disciplinary problems with both officers Oxner and Harrison, including alleged drug use.

...

But the kicker has to be that the subsequent police-led investigations of this high-profile case failed to turn up such a critical piece of information. It ought to cast more doubt on the already dubious notion that police shootings should only be investigated by other police officers."

This is what we've done to ourselves.

We can end the insane violence caused by drug prohibition by ending drug prohibition.

"Mexico is the biggest supplier of cannabis to the United States. Control of that market is one of the things that Mexican drug cartels are willing to kill for.

Legalizing weed in this country would be their worst nightmare. Why? Because it would offer Americans a legitimate supply of the stuff.

Criminal organizations would no longer be able to demand huge premiums to compensate for the major risks that go with forbidden commerce. If the referendum passes, some 39 million Californians will have access at lower prices, from regulated domestic producers."

Legalizing all drugs would end the drug violence overnight. It doesn't say anything good about Reason that Chapman is calling for regulation by government instead of regulation by consumers in a naturally competitive marketplace.

"By now, it should be clear that using force to wipe out the drug trade is a task on the order of bailing out the Atlantic Ocean with a teaspoon. Law enforcement can interdict shipments and imprison dealers, but the success is invariably short-lived.

Each seized cargo is an opportunity for another seller to fill the gap. Each arrested trafficker is an invitation for a competitor to grab his business. The more vigorous and successful the law enforcement campaign, the higher the prices drug suppliers can command -- and the more people will be enticed to enter the market. It's a self-defeating process."

That's because it's an immoral process. Other than parents to minor children, no person or group has the moral authority to use force to stop another from eating, drinking or smoking anything he or she chooses. Because we've ignored that fundamental moral truth, the war on drugs is killing people all over the world in droves, empowering drug gangs and turning America into a police state.

POLICE STATE:

Fusion centers tracking political activities of Americans.

I wrote about this before, but it's still terrifying.

"To hear them tell it, the five police agencies who apprehended 39-year-old Oregonian David Pyles early on the morning of March 8 thwarted another lone wolf mass murderer. The police "were able to successfully take a potentially volatile male subject into protective custody for a mental evaluation," announced a press release put out by the Medford, Oregon, police department. The subject had recently been placed on administrative leave from his job, was "very disgruntled," and had recently purchased several firearms. "Local Law Enforcement agencies were extremely concerned that the subject was planning retaliation against his employers," the release said. Fortunately, Pyles "voluntarily" turned himself over to police custody, and the legally purchased firearms "were seized for safekeeping."

This voluntary exchange involved two SWAT teams, police officers from Medford and nearby Roseburg, sheriff's deputies from Jackson and Douglas counties, and the Oregon State Police. Oregon State Police Sgt. Jeff Proulx explained to South Oregon's Mail Tribune why the operation was such a success: "Instead of being reactive, we took a proactive approach."

There's just one problem: David Pyles hadn't committed any crime, nor was he suspected of having committed one. The police never obtained a warrant for either search or arrest. They never consulted with a judge or mental health professional before sending out the military-style tactical teams to take Pyle in."

You could be next, or maybe some libertarian blogger.

An army of FBI agents arrest seven militia members in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois.

"Sources from the Michigan militia community said one of the FBI raids took place Saturday during a wake for a Hutaree member who had died of natural causes. A Hutaree leader was arrested during the wake while at the same time agents were conducting raids at other locations."

Our troops won't attack Muslims at weddings or funerals, but the FBI will raid Americans at them.

"Lackomar said he heard from other militia members that the FBI targeted the Hutaree after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations."

Speech now invokes army-style raids against Americans. And charges for exercising the constitutionally protected natural right to keep and bear arms. We live in dangerous times.

WAR:

Afghanistan is not Vietnam II. We won the war in Vietnam before Democrats lost it. The war in Vietnam was against an external enemy that could be defeated, and the south Vietnamese had developed the capability to defeat it until Democrats cut off their supplies. The war in Afghanistan isn't against an external enemy or a foreign power, it's a war against the Afghan people, and it cannot be won. I'm not saying we should have got into the Vietnam war, but the comparison to Afghanistan is inaccurate.

Nice chart showing how US defense spending dwarfs the rest of NATO defense spending combined and that US spending keeps going up while defense spending in the rest of NATO keeps going down. This supports my contention that NATO is security welfare for Europe and funds Europe's welfare states.

Cato welcomes the nuclear weapons deal with Russia, but this essay sounds more like cheerleading than analysis. There are no facts or details in the essay. I get the feeling this author would have welcomed any deal.

US deaths in Afghanistan double.

Party of ex-interim PM and secular Sunni Allawi wins majority in Iraq election. Since Sunnis still considered themselves the odd man out, this might lead to some progress on issues that were previously stuck.  If Obama removes troops from Iraq this summer on schedule, he could really boost Democrats in November.

FOREIGN POLICY:

Palestinians attack and kill two Israelis, but the media is upset that Israel responded, not that the Palestinians attacked. What's wrong with this picture?

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION:

Argument against birthright citizenship.

POLITICS:

Slimer compares tea partiers with the KKK. This is a part of a slime campaign to de-legitimize the limited government movement so people don't have to examine their arguments. Unfortunately for these slimers, the tea partiers refuse to fall for their provocations. If one tea partier made one racist comment, his or her picture, video and quote would be all over the internet smearing the entire movement. It would be on TV 24-7 until November. But it hasn't happened, so the slimers just keep making false accusations counting on weak-minded people to fall for them.

Ken Blackwell pretends the tea party movement is a reaction to Obama in hopes of gaining their support for the same big-government Republicans who enabled Obama.

"Agents of big government and their boosters in the mainstream media seem determined to throw cold water on this growing grassroots movement that is a reaction to the Obama administration’s power grab of the growth and expansion of this country’s central government."

He's dreaming. The anti-Republicans sentiment is still strong, if dwindling.


Leftists have a cow because Sarah Palin used the term reload.


CNN extreme low-ball estimate of Nevada tea party. MSNBC call tea party "amateur politics". Isn't that what all grass-roots movements are?


Socialist programs enable tea partiers who lost jobs. I love this. I can't think of anything better to do with government handouts than protest to put an and to them. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. For decades welfare recipients have been able to protest for more welfare because they didn't have jobs, and the press championed them. Now that government has cost hardworking people their jobs, some of them have the opportunity to organize in support of freedom. The more people government programs put out of work, the bigger the tea party protests will grow.

In my latest essay, yet to be published, I warned that because Obamacare was a classic fascist program, it would make political violence commonplace as fascism always does. That's already coming true. The provocations will increase. It used to just be the radical leftists who were violent at political rallies. Now violence is going mainstream. Man accuses tea partier of running into his car because of Obama bumper sticker.

Everybody, not just white men, should shun Democrats. And Republicans.

Liberals and Marine threatening to roll tanks down American streets. I'm telling you, we're depression era Italy now.

Michelle Bachmann needs to get off the crack.

""And what we saw this Tuesday, once the president signed the health care bill at the 11th hour in the morning on Tuesday, that effected 51% government takeover of the private economy," Bachmann said on Wednesday, during an interview with North Dakota talk radio host Scott Hennen. "It is really quite sobering what has happened. From 100% of our economy was private prior to September of 2008, but as of Tuesday, the federal government has now taken ownership or control of 51% of the private economy.""

This is nonsense. I think this woman's a loon.

After Democrats have attacked Republicans mercilessly and often irresponsibly for 10 years, they ask Republicans to sign a civility pact. You've got to be kidding me. They don't even know what the word means.

Democrats get popularity boost after Obamacare. After passing this, leftist intensity is up. They love fascism almost as much as socialism. But intensity is up on the right too. That's how fascism works. It's virulently divisive and inevitably sparks violence. It also inevitably sparks racism. This is going to get real ugly, real fast.

Great quote:

"It’s a sad day when the President of the United States uses taxpayer dollars to travel around the country ridiculing and provoking those taxpayers with whom he disagrees, but this is what we get when the “cool” guy wins."

It is sad how Obama makes George Bush look good.

74 percent of tea party activists are either Republicans or Republican-leaning independents. That means that 26 percent are independents or liberals.

"Feehery's assessment of Tea Partiers' political leanings was buttressed this week by a new national poll that found that 74 percent of voters who identify with the movement consider themselves Republicans or Republican-leaning independents.

The Quinnipiac University survey also found that 88 percent of the movement's adherents are white, 77 of them voted for GOP candidate Sen. John McCain in the 2008 presidential contest, and 15 percent voted for future President Obama."

12 percent are non-white and 15 percent voted for Obama. Democrats are fools to attack these people. That's why they've orchestrated a campaign to bait tea partiers into hurling a racial epithet or violence. It's pure Alinski. A third party tea party movement won't work. They could vote Libertarian or Constitution party if they wanted to do that. Picking a different name won't help. The tea partiers need to stay independent and make Republican politicians come to them.

MISC:

How government is killing cities.

"While Indianapolis privatized services, Cleveland prefers state capitalism. It owns and operates a big grocery store, the West Side Market. Typical of government, it's open only four days a week, and two of those days it closes at 4 p.m. The city doesn't maintain the market very well. Despite those cost savings, the city manages to lose money running the market. It also loses money running golf courses—$400,000 last year.

Another way that cities like Cleveland cause their own decline is through regulations that make building anything a long drawn-out affair. Cleveland has 22 different zoning designations and 673 pages of zoning guidelines.

By contrast, Houston has almost no zoning. This permits a mix of uses and styles that gives the city vitality. And the paperwork in Houston is so light that a business can get going in a single afternoon. In Cleveland, one politician bragged that he helped a business get though the red tape in "just 18 months.""

Oh my gosh. You can't make this stuff up.

Fire at courthouse supposedly holding Edwards sex tape as evidence seems like a crazy coincidence. But it was undergoing renovations, so who knows? You can't trust the government to tell the truth.