Liberty & Power: Group Blog
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Obama's Hawkish Clinton (and Bush) Retreads
Obama's campaign for "change" included a promise not to hire "retreads." As Philip Giraldi points out in this interview with Scott Horton, he is already betraying this promise with a vengeance. Many of his announced, and likely, appointments are not only retreads but pro-war ones at that. As of now, the peace wing of the Democratic Party, which was crucial to electing Obama, is being left out in the cold.
Friday, November 21, 2008
"There's a Lot of Rich People Backing This Cause"
"That big players in global energy should be in cahoots with environmentalists and climate change alarmists came as something of a shock to Horner. 'Though I was a fully grown man, I had yet to understand the concept of "rent seeking" or even these "baptist and bootlegger" coalitions.' Just as prohibitionists and drink smugglers had a common interest in maintaining a ban on alcohol, so big companies that want massive subsidies for renewable energy schemes and the right to sell emissions permits – the nearest thing yet to selling thin air – can find common ground with those who want us all to reduce our 'carbon footprints'."
"'[Global warming] allows [politicians] the option of cheap virtue – cheap to them, expensive to us – of satisfying constituencies for something that's never solved. They get to emote and spend; there's something in it for everyone.'"
Rob Lyons reviews Christopher C. Horner's Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud and Deception to Keep You Misinformed (Regnery, 2008).
To Get More of Something (e.g., Unemployment), Subsidize It
Ronald Reagan was no economist, but his economic logic was impeccable when he declared, “If you want more of something, subsidize it; if you want less of something, tax it.”
So, as the current recession deepens and the rate of unemployment rises, we might have confidently predicted that Congress, in its infinite compassion for the little guy, would extend the period during which the unemployed may collect unemployment-insurance benefits. President Bush signed a bill today that will provide as many as 13 weeks of additional benefits, on top of the additional 13 weeks of benefits approved last June, which was on top of the 26 weeks the basic program provides.
The Associated Press notes that “Congress has enacted federally funded extensions seven times in the past 50 years during economic slumps - in 1958, 1961, 1972, 1975, 1982, 1991 and 2002.” Thus, this particular sort of counterproductive economic policy is almost as predictable as the sun’s rising in the east.
The Wrong Napolitano
Yesterday I saw Napolitano tapped for Homeland Security! I was so excited -- because this bit fit my theory of Obama's appointments. Not a Lincoln, appointing enemies conscientiously, but like a democratic dietician, concerned with getting just the right nutrients into his political body. I thought, optimistically, that Hillary would be at State to push back at the Pentagon, and Rahm as chief of staff would pacify AIPAC while not guaranteeing any additional access. Then I heard it was not constitutional guarddog Judge Andrew Napolitano but instead Governor Janet, 2012 presidential hopeful.
The vision of the author of "Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks its Own Laws," "The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land," and "A Nation of Sheep" in charge of Homeland Security was briefly thrilling. For the first time, I truly felt the audacity of hope, a sense of change in government by government.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Drug Prohibition and the Rainforest
In the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Jerome Taylor, a writer for The Independent Of Britain, has an essay titled Cocaine is destroying Colombian rainforest. In it he describes damage to the environment done by cocaine producers. He asserts that, “on top of the vast tracts of rainforest that are destroyed to make way for coca fields millions of tons of herbicides and fertilizers are washed into Colombia's rivers.”
Taylor also notes efforts to convince users of cocaine that they are responsible for these bad effects. He quotes Colombia's Vice-President, Francisco Santos Calderon as arguing that, "every time you consume one gram of cocaine you are destroying 4.4 square meters of Colombian rainforest."
All of the problems described by the author would be mitigated or disappear if the coca plant were legal. The reason people plant coca deep in the rainforest is because it is illegal. The reason the chemicals used to make cocaine are just dumped into the nearest stream is because the industry is outlawed and therefore unregulated. Also, let us remember that the herbicides mentioned in the piece are there because of governmental efforts to eradicate the coca plant. If the drug was legal people would be able to partake without causing any more environmental damage than other crops do, so it is clearly not the user’s fault. The blame lies with drug prohibition and anyone who cares about the rainforest environment should be advocating an end to war on people who use certain kinds of drugs.
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Obama Picks Enthusiastic Drug Warrior for Attorney General
One of the strongest constituencies to support the election of Barak Obama was the drug law reform community. His victory has been seen as a good opportunity to advance the agenda of a more sensible legal regime. However, these hopes have suffered a significant setback with the announcement that committed drug warrior Eric Holder Jr. will be the new Attorney General.
In a misleading article published by The Washington Post, attributing increased violence to marijuana rather than its real source marijuana prohibition, Holder is quoted as asserting that, "we have too long taken the view that what we would term to be minor crimes are not important," as he advocated more active enforcement along with stiffer penalties for marijuana offenses. Also, The Washington Times reported that, “Eric Holder yesterday said he will seek to make marijuana distribution in the District a felony and reinstate mandatory-minimum sentences for convicted drug dealers. Mr. Holder … said the D.C. Council's vote a year ago to repeal mandatory minimums was ‘misguided,’ leading to a backlog in the court system. He also warned that the city is on the verge of an explosion in violence associated with the sale and use of marijuana.”
The war on people who use certain kinds of drugs is the most racist institution in modern America. How ironic and sad that our first black president has appointed as the nation’s chief law enforcement officer another black man who so enthusiastically supports the racism inherent in drug prohibition.
Cross posted on Trebach Report
Nat "King" Cole and Rahm Emanuel on the Draft
Watch out. If Rahm Emanuel is able to persuade Obama to impose compulsory national service, this song could suddenly enjoy a revival. Although written prior to Pearl Harbor, the lyrics are surprisingly subversive.
Here is an audio of Nat "King" Cole's rendition:
When skinny me went out with my honey, the boys all started to laugh; But now it's not so funny - they're all gone with the draft.
As a shiek, I can't be beat - the boys all hand me a laugh. But since I have got flat feet, I'm not gone in the draft.
I used to envy the fellows who had such fine physiques; But all they can say is "Hello" on seven-fifty a week.
When the boys get back and see how I'm doin', they'll be sorry they laughed; 'Cause one can't keep on wooing and still be gone with the draft.
When Franklyn D did sign the draft, the cats all had a chill; The boys turned pale and ceased to laugh, 'cause this is a serious bill.
They now realize that skinny me was the luckiest one of all, Who can stay at home with Minnie, while they face the cannon balls.
So boys, take it on the chin, and always wear a smile; You'll find it hard to win carryin' fifty pounds for miles.
When your year of drill is up, you get your calves discharged, You can come back home and freshen up, and run around at large. (Coda:) Gone, gone, gone, gone with the Draft, draft, draft, draft.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Academic Freedom Assaulted Again
The Baltimore Sun is reporting another case of political correctness infringing on reasoned academic discourse. Some members of the Loyola College of Maryland Economics Department signed a letter apologizing for the racial and gender insensitivity contained in a guest lecture given by economist Walter Block. In his very interesting and detailed account of this incident Block notes that the school is in the process of changing it name to Loyola University of Maryland. He goes on to say that, ”it takes more to make a University, worthy of the name, than number and quality of students, publications of faculty, physical facilities. It also requires a certain openness to ideas, enthusiasm to tolerate different opinions, civility, politeness, willingness to dialogue instead of shutting down debate. Attempts to squelch support for free enterprise and laissez faire capitalism, by smearing adherents as "racists," or "sexists," is simply incompatible with being a great institution of higher learning, worthy of the name ‘University.’”
Hat tip Kenny Rodgers
Cross posted on The Trebach Report
Congressional Missed Tackles Cost Taxpayers the Game
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before a congressional committee today. Their performance was nothing short of dazzling; not since the days of Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch has anyone seen such footwork.
Hirsch, you’ll recall, became renowned for his amazing style of running with the football. After one game, a sports writer reported: “His crazy legs were gyrating in six different directions, all at the same time; he looked like a demented duck.” That description might equally well be applied to the actions of a certain baldheaded secretary of the Treasury (aka Bailout Czar).
Said Czar begged the committee members today for understanding and compassion. “There is no playbook for responding to turmoil we have never faced. We adjusted our strategy to reflect the facts of a severe market crisis.” They certainly did, in a manner of speaking.
Our dedicated public servants in Congress have been watching the Czar like bird dogs, of course, and some of them expressed doubts today about the erratic flight pattern of the Treasury’s demented duck. “We all understand that when conditions on the ground change, policymakers must be agile enough to adjust to those changed circumstances,” said Alabama bird dog Spencer Bachus. “But changing too quickly, without adequately explaining why you’ve changed or what you’re going to do next, risks sending mixed signals to a marketplace that is in dire need of certainty and a sense of direction.” Arf, arf, arf (that’s bird dog for “amen, congressman”).
Pennslvania bird dog Paul Kanjorski also complained about the recent “180 degree change in policy,” and wondered aloud: “Do we have a plan?” Of course, “we” have a plan, sir. Here it is: “‘We’ plan to take trillions of dollars from the taxpayers, in one way or another, and hand it out to the banks, insurance companies, and other financial deadbeats because, well, congressman, they are just our kind of people and they’ve got themselves in a bit of a bind lately, and, gosh, if we don’t steal a shipload of money and pass it along to them, they might even be reduced to working for a living–you know, like the peasants we’re taking the money from–and that just wouldn’t be fair, because they’ve never had any experience with work, and, heck, they wouldn’t even know where to start.”
Crazy Legs Paulson then gave the committee an awesome hip fake, followed by an amazing limp leg and a incredibly sharp change of direction, promising that the Treasury is now looking into what AP reporter Jeannine Aversa describes as “new ways to boost the availability of auto loans, student loans and credit cards.”
Splendid. That’s just what the world needs right now: more loans to people with extremely iffy ability to repay those loans. We certainly can’t recall ever getting into any trouble in the past by indulging in that sort of reckless lending.
Remember: this administration wants no child (borrower) left behind! It’s not enough if credit card issuers, as in the past, simply offer credit to dogs. No, Mr. Secretary, we’ve got to do a lot better than that, because any stinting on the issuance of credit now runs the risk of plunging the entire world into a depression that will make the Great Depression of the 1930s look like a corporate Christmas party.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Green Tree has Red Roots: The Sustainability Scam on Campus
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=539
Monday, November 17, 2008
Melancholy Days for Investors
My wife tells me, don’t watch. But like the passerby who cannot avert his eyes from the roadside debris and injured persons in the aftermath of an automobile accident, I can’t help myself. I keep checking the movements of the stock markets.
I still have some investments in stocks, even though I switched the bulk of my stockholdings to bonds back in January. (I felt like an idiot for waiting so long, but looking back, I feel somewhat better, knowing that at least I saved myself from the much greater losses I would have sustained since then, had I not made the switch.) On most days, my stock investments, though widely diversified, take a further beating. The odds that I will live long enough to recover these losses are slim to none. Yet I cling to a shred of hope that I will be wrong, that the market will recover in time to win the race against the Grim Reaper, and therefore that I will have a little bonus to enjoy when I reach 80 or 85 years of age.
Kevin Carson Named Research Associate at C4SS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Celebrated yet controversial left-libertarian author becomes first C4SS paid staff member.
AUBURN, ALABAMA – November 15, 2008 – Center for a Stateless Society – Kevin Carson, author of Studies in Mutualist Political Economy and a forthcoming major work on anarchist organizational theory has joined the Center for a Stateless Society as the Center’s first paid staff member. In his role as Research Associate beginning January 1st of 2009, Carson will be producing quarterly short research studies for the Center to publish as well as writing news commentary.
C4SS director Brad Spangler said of the move, “We’re developing a new fundraising initiative and early on in that process an anonymous donor stepped up to fund the first quarter of Kevin’s research work and the first month of his news analysis for us. We’re very pleased to announce this, as Carson has been a key figure on the radical end of the libertarian movement. Supporting his work means he’ll be able to do more and better of what he already does amazingly well.”
###
ORGANIZATIONAL SUMMARY
The mission of the Molinari Institute is to promote understanding of the philosophy of Market Anarchism as a sane, consensual alternative to the hypertrophic violence of the State. The Institute takes its name from Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912), originator of the theory of Market Anarchism. The Center for a Stateless Society is the Molinari Institute’s media center.
CONTACT
Brad Spangler
Center for a Stateless Society
media@c4ss.org
http://www.c4ss.org
So, When Will It Be OK to Mock Obama?
Tim Black explains that the present reticence transcends the dictates of etiquette about America's first black president.
The Truth about Georgia
Tara McCormack, explains how the myth of a plucky republic being "ethnically cleansed" by an evil Russian regime was just that: a myth.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
World Leaders Meet, Pretend to Have a Clue
As we consider the world’s rulers, one question overshadows all the others: are they fools or charlatans? Having thought about this question for nearly half a century, I lean toward the view that they are both. If the masses were to arrive at this answer, of course, the entire apparatus of legalized robbery and abuse we call government would quickly crumble to dust. Therefore, rulers appreciate that they must busy themselves in prominent displays of their deep concern for the public’s well-being and in make-believe efforts to “solve the problems” that trouble the common people.
What Should the Republicans Do?
Jonah Goldberg has a rather interesting piece arguing against the idea that the Repubs can expand their appeal by moving in the direction of being economically conservative but socially liberal. Perhaps he is prompted by a much more ambitious, thoughtful, and interesting essay in which P. J. O'Rourke argues, at times eloquently, that this is just what they should do.
Roosevelt Vows to Stay Out of Foreign Wars (1940)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
I'd Push the Button
For more commentary, please visit Wendy McElroy.com
From Ken Gregg: Leonard Read’s essay "I'd Push The Button" was published in April, 1946. This is a statement of quite a radical nature and is an important point to consider. Read explained this in his Elements of Libertarian Leadership (and Murray Rothbard continued in “Why Be a Libertarian?”) thus:
Following World War II and prior to the relaxation of wartime wage and price controls, I made a speech entitled "I'd Push the Button." This title was taken from the first sentence, "If there were a button on this rostrum, the pressing of which would instantaneously release all wage and price controls, I'd put my finger on it and push."
Friday, November 14, 2008
My Cato Unbound Reply to Long
I was asked to be one of the respondents to Roderick's Cato Unbound essay. My reply "Untangling the Corporatist Knot" is now up.
Danny Kaye's Musical Tribute to the Income Tax
One of the best illustrations of Randolph Bourne’s dictum that “War is the Health of the State” was the rise of the modern income tax during World War II. Before 1942, the tax covered only a small well-off minority. As the federal government lowered the brackets and raised the rates during the war, however, the old “class tax” became a “mass tax.”
The introduction of withholding was the primary means to accomplish this goal. The Office of War Information promoted payment of the tax as not only a patriotic duty but as a positive joy.
It also commissioned Irving Berlin to write “I Paid My Income Tax Today.” Here is an audio of the song as joyfully belted out by comedian and actor Danny Kaye. Tbe lyrics are here if you want to sing along.
Recent Entries
- Obama's Hawkish Clinton (and Bush) Retreads
- "There's a Lot of Rich People Backing This Cause"
- To Get More of Something (e.g., Unemployment), Subsidize It
- The Wrong Napolitano
- Drug Prohibition and the Rainforest
- Obama Picks Enthusiastic Drug Warrior for Attorney General
- Nat "King" Cole and Rahm Emanuel on the Draft
- Academic Freedom Assaulted Again
- Congressional Missed Tackles Cost Taxpayers the Game
- The Green Tree has Red Roots: The Sustainability Scam on Campus
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