What A Wonderful World

One of the first things taught in Libertarianism 101 is that "Utopia Is Not An Option". 

Statists often argue that if Farm Bill 2987234-234E doesn't pass, then what would Libertarians do about the kid with Leukemia whose father was diagnosed with Aids after the plague of locusts destroyed the farm because a family of raccoons chewed threw the electric fence, the very electric fence that Farm Bill 2987234-234E would provide along with the cheese subsidy.  What would you Libertarians do about that if you dared touch the funding for Farm Bill 2987234-234E?? 

This reasoning assumes that if John Boehner/Nancy Pelosi didn't take care of the kid with leukemia, no one else would either.  The private sector and charities would step in.  They did it in the past and they could do it again.  Absence of government subsidies made medicine cheaper and doctors less risk-averse.  It wasn't Utopia then, but it's not Utopia now, and it won't be Utopia (Lord hasten the day) in a more Libertarian future. 

But just imagine with me.....

We could end the Drug War.  The Drug Lords would go belly-up.  People could move freely across the Rio Grande.  Texans hopping down to Mexico would be like hopping up to Oklahoma.  Would it be a Utopia?  No.  Some people might become addicts who wouldn't ordinarily become addicted.  But they would probably be more likely to get treatment.  Hundreds of thousands of people wouldn't be in jail.  They recently legalized everything in Portugal, and addiction rates went down!!   One million government jailer/narc/torturer/DEA jobs wouldn't be necessary.  Barack Obama, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Al Gore, and Bill Clinton could all smoke weed openly, the way they did when they were younger.  Another 40,000 Mexican bystanders wouldn't die in the violence.  It wouldn't be a Utopia, but it would be better than the current disaster. 

We could End The Freakin' Federal Reserve.  A dollar saved wouldn't mean 50 cents lost.  Ben Bernanke wouldn't be allowed to do any more counterfeiting.  Would the absence of a Federal Reserve mean that we'd be at the mercy of the ups and downs of the business cycle?  (Which was part of the rationale for The Fed's creation - LOL.)  Yes, we might see some weirdness because of the ups and downs of the business cycle.  It wouldn't be a Utopia.  But I'd bet my bottom dollar that it would be less screwed up than what we have now. 

I've got a friend named Roger who is going to vote for Obama because of Obama's newly discovered support of gay marriage (among other reasons).  Never mind the total cynicism of Obama's new position on this.  The bigger question is what the hell is the government doing in the marriage business anyway?  If it matters to you who gets elected president, then your government is too big.  Would a smaller government be a Utopia?  Heck no.  But it would be infinitely better than the plague of busybodies currently trying to regulate your diet, health, safety, marriage, drug use, alcohol consumption hours, payroll and gun cabinet. 

If you're a taxpayer, your share of the national debt is $80,000.00.  Your share of the unfunded liabilities is a number so staggering that no one can calculate it properly.  Somewhere around 350K to 500K.  This is a lot of money, and we'll never, ever pay it off.  Imagine that it was your brother-in-law who got you into this much debt, mostly for what he considered to be worthwhile causes.  You'd kill him.  Every serious investor knows we're playing a shell game.  We keep acting as if the problem will go away.  When it crashes, it's going to be horrible.  Absolutely horrible.  Civil unrest, hungry people, and a total breakdown of society. 

I haven't mentioned the money we're spending killing women and children in Pakistan, and how we're going to pay a price for that.  There are some 15-year-old boys in Pakistan watching Obama's drones fly over, and they're plotting their revenge.  On you. 

The alternative would't be a Utopia.  There will be problems. 

But it would be so much better. 

How Mitt Romney will really harm the middle class

Almost every day of his life, George Mason University Economics professor Don Boudreaux writes a letter to the editor.  He's been doing this for years in a vain attempt to correct economic misinformation. 

Here's a recent corrective that Boudreaux sent to The Wall Street Journal, explaining that the John The Baptist Of ObamaCare is just as goofy as the founder of ObamaCare:

John Taylor is correct that Mitt Romney’s economic policies are less likely to thwart growth than are those of Pres. Obama (“The Romney Cure for Obama-Induced Economic Ills,” Oct. 4). The bar, alas, is low. Because entrepreneurs and investors aren’t keen to produce and take risks when the president threatens them with higher tax rates, saddles them with crushing regulations, and scolds them for allegedly being selfish, ungrateful, predatory, and (to boot!) not especially important to economic growth anyway, entrepreneurs and investors respond by producing less and taking fewer risks.

Mitt Romney does seem to be less hostile than is Barack Obama to entrepreneurship, commerce, and private investment.

Get ready people.... Get ready.  Here comes the patented Don Boudreaux Karate Kid Crane Kick !  THIS IS GONNA HURT !!!

But contrary to Mr. Taylor’s claim, Mr. Romney’s trade proposals are not clearly better than are the president’s. Mr. Taylor writes that “Mr. Romney intends to move ahead on trade agreements and create global enterprise zones to remove barriers to trade.” That would be grand. Yet what we hear most loudly about trade from Mr. Romney isn’t about freeing trade; it’s about restricting it. Mr. Romney repeatedly boasts that he’ll raise taxes on Americans who buy imports from China.

So rather than making a principled case for removing barriers, Mr. Romney’s singular trade obsession seems to be to raise barriers and thereby make trade less free.

Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030

John Taylor, consider yourself bitch-slapped.  Please offend us no more in that way.  Boudreaux WILL come back. 
The Mason Nation logo at the top came from the George Mason University bookstore site.  My arch-nemesis, Dr. Ralph, was good enough to get me one of the shirts, which I wear often.  You know you're a political geek when you wear your favorite university shirt because of the economics department, not the football or basketball team !! 

Hey, MSNBC, it coulda been worse !!!

Why all this weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth from MSNBC? 
Do they not understand that if one Obamney lost this "debate", then the other Obamney is winner by default?
You'll still have your welfare state, godawful wars, Federal Reserve, Prohibition, giveways, corporate welfare, cronyism, dead Pakistani babies, mercantilism and tribalism. It's not like a Libertarian candidate was allowed in the room to kick both of their asses....
This video is pretty funny though. 

Why There's No Point In Watching Tonight's "Debate"

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will have a conversation tonight about who is best qualified to lead our collective plunge over the cliff.


The following remedies for our economic situation will not be on the table. They are considered “outside the mainstream” and “extremist". 

Unfortunately, the only way to escape a 16 trillion dollar debt is to go outside the mainstream.

You will not hear a serious discussion about the following:

1) Cutting government spending. Both men have budgets that actually increase spending into infinity. The Romney/Ryan plan slows down the rate of growth just a tad, but the spending still increases. What makes all of these plans laughable is that no Congress can limit the thievery of a future Congress. Imagine the current group of legislators taking, say, Jimmy Carter’s 2012 spending goals seriously.

2) Ending the Drug War. There are one million government employees who rely on this idiotic conflict for a paycheck.
.
3) Ending the Fed. Both Romney and Obama know that the only way to keep their contributors happy and content at the government trough is for Ben Bernanke to keep printing cheaper and cheaper money. We are due for a massive inflationary leap in the next few years. These higher prices will be blamed on greedy corporations.

4) Shrinking the military. Our military spending equals that of the next 17 to 20 countries, depending on how you do the math. Most of those countries are our friends, BTW. We’ve been in South Korea since the late 1940’s. Ditto for Europe. We never send them a bill for defense. (Also, we have no business going to the Middle East to spread the gospel of “free and fair elections” when f***ing Oklahoma won’t allow Gary Johnson on the ballot. What a farce.)

5) Bringing Hillary back to the house. What makes anyone think that Bill Clinton’s wife is any more qualified to intervene in the Arab-Israeli conflict than, say, Sarah Palin’s husband???

6) Privatizing Social Security. The system is now running in the red. To mention that fact is political suicide. Unless you’re Gary Johnson.

7) School Choice. 70% of the Chicago schoolteachers who went on strike send their own kids to schools not run by the Chicago schoolteachers. How do you think it would work out if the government assigned you a grocery store?

There are other obvious topics that these two guys won’t touch, and that a Libertarian candidate would bring into the discussion.

I used to drunk-blog these things, but tonight I don’t think I’ll bother. A real debate would include parties besides those which got us into this mess. 

Go here. Read this.

Go here. 

Ryan Sheffield's 12 Political Compromises

My Bar Friend Ryan Sheffield has put a list of "12 Political Compromises" on Facebook.  This is his governmental wish list. 

As a side note, Ryan is one of those creative people who can do just about anything he wants to do.  Go here to view (and purchase) some of his artwork, mostly drawings of authors that incorporate their quotations.  I think I've used the Twain and the Hunter S. Thompson to liven up posts on this site a few times. 
Go here to download (no purchase required) his two e-books.  I've read some of his stories, and they're good stuff. 

IMHO, Ryan is very close to the Kingdom Of God, i.e., the Libertarian Party, with this list.  My additional commentary is in italics.  Here goes:

1. Repeal Citizens United. You would be hard-fought to find any normal citizen who thinks it’s a good idea for corporations, labor unions and special interest groups to have an unfettered cashflow into political campaigns. It doesn’t matter what “side” you are on, you should probably oppose Big Money syndicates controlling the election process and fueling the obnoxious TV commercials you are being bombarded with every day.

Why do we have big corporations and super-pacs giving a rip who gets elected?  Well, to produce a successful product, you have to convince millions of citizens to purchase the product.  That's the hard way.  The easy way is to get Congress to mandate the use, purchase, or monopolization of the product.  Corporations want protection from competitors.  In a nation with a massive government, it's far more effective to purchase one Congressman that to sell to 330 million Americans.  Here's something from the Cato Institute:

The proper answer to large expenditures for speech is either more speech or, if the existing system proves unworkable, a constitutional amendment. As for money, it's just a symptom. We have a big money problem because we have a big government problem. By restraining the regulatory and redistributive powers of the state, we can minimize the influence of big money. Restoring the Framers' notion of enumerated, delegated, and limited federal powers will get government out of our lives and out of our wallets. That's the best way to end the campaign-finance racket, and root out corruption without jeopardizing political speech.

In other words, if it really matters who wins the elections, your government has gotten too big.  If governments can mandate profits for favored corporations, government has gotten waaaay too big. 

2. Close the “Revolving Door” and shut lobbyists out of government. This is an extension of number 1. Again, no one wants these organizations, right or left, buying and bribing politicians or running their own regulatory agencies. Politicians work for us, not the highest bidder.

Once again, lobbyists are just a symptom.  They're not the disease.  If the government matters enough to justify the hiring of lobbyists, the government has gotten too big. 

3. End the “War on Drugs.” This doesn’t mean we have to legalize EVERYTHING, but this “war” is a bottomless money pit and a failed experiment. It is the reason the violent cartels exist and the reason your idiot son is snorting bath salts in your basement.

Precisely.  Exactly.  Ever since Nixon began the War On Drugs in 1970, the only drug whose use has declined is....tobacco.  That's because tobacco is legal and no longer cool.  
There are a few antibiotics that should possibly be restricted because unfettered use causes viruses to mutate and grow stronger.  
Everything else?  Well, ask yourself which currently illegal drugs you want the Mexican and Afghan Drugs Lords to have a monopoly on. 

4. Stop treating the environment as a partisan issue. The environment SHOULD be something we all agree on. It affects us all equally. As long as free enterprise exists, there must be checks & balances on pollution, deforestation and animal cruelty. This is not “socialism.” It’s the necessary price business owners must pay for the ability to run operations that affect our natural surroundings and resources. The beautiful but unrealistic Libertarian idea that simply boycotting polluters will solve the problem is a pipe dream. Especially if the public is unaware they are polluting in the first place (or simply doesn’t care.) We need to agree on what “facts and science” are and deal with the problems accordingly. Present “free market” alternatives. That is healthy and good. But accept science before you make suggestions. Economic freedom doesn’t make toxic waste taste any better.

The environment is a classic economic "externality".  You want to purchase powder-coated metal parts from me, so I powder-coat the parts.  You give me money.  I give you painted parts.  We're the only two people involved in the deal.  But not if I dump a lot of leftover zinc and iron-phosphate into the Trinity River.  Then a lot of other people become a party to our deal.  That's called an "externality". 

The classic Anarchist position in this case is to boycott the polluters.  The classic Libertarian position, however, is to sue the shit out of them if they have done YOU harm.  (Plus, all environmental regulations should be voted on by Congress, not enforced by appointees.)  Go here and here for two more excellent Cato downloads on how we could help the environment, lower the bureaucratic costs, and also let manufacturing businesses prosper. 

5. Audit the Federal Reserve and, preferably, abolish it. A private banking organization with no oversight or accountability should NOT be in charge of the nation’s economy. Central banks were never a good idea. But private and secret central banks are even worse.

Oh yes, yes, yes, Mr. Sheffield.  Yes, yes, yes.  And when we End The Fed, let's level all their buildings and plow salt into the earth where they stood so nothing will ever grow there again. 
The Fed was founded in 1913 to stabilize the money supply.  Since 1913, the dollar has lost 97% of its value. 

6. Legalize gay marriage. It doesn’t affect you. Just let it happen, move on, and turn your attention to issues that actually affect us all.

Yeah.  If God doesn't like gay people, why does he keep making so many of them? 

7. Disrupt and destroy the partisan divide. We are all screwed if this extreme partisanship continues to divide us. The culture of the American media has made it impossible for us to discuss issues and make progress. The main source of this problem? Pigeonholing. If someone asks you if you support the Affordable Care Act (or Obamacare, for the other partisans), your answer should be nuanced and thought-out and should NEVER place you squarely in a political party. The common practice of assuming what “side” someone is on based on a single opinion is the MOST destructive aspect of our modern political culture.

In my opinion, we have so much extreme partisanship and a partisan divide because the only choice we have is between two partisans.  You can pick the Crips or the Bloods.  I've commented on this dozens of times elsewhere, but let's say the Crips and Bloods are the only parties to hold office for the last 75 years.  They both advocate slavery, puppy torture, and poor dental hygiene.  But the Bloods have a better position on Healthcare. 

So you always support the Bloods.  Otherwise the Crips will win.  If a 3rd gang (The Libertarians) comes along advocating an end to slavery, puppy torture, and are pro-brushing and flossing, they're written off as a wasted vote.  They might help the dreaded Crips win !!  So what's the solution?  How do we end all of this partisanship of Us vs Them? 

Through a system of approval voting.  Go here for an explanation.  It would allow most of us to comfortably step outside the Us and Them boxes and safely try out some other points of view. 

8. Recognize that gun control is like drug control. They will always exist and banning them only makes them more dangerous. People have a Constitutional right to arm themselves and threatening to take that right away only makes the loony “patriot” gun nuts all the more rabid and frothing at the mouth for their insurrection fantasies. Compromise: Don’t sell assault rifles at K-Mart. Gun store owners are always going to be more scrutinizing than a 16-year-old making minimum wage at a big box store.

I became a rabid 2nd Amendment nutcase when one of my co-managers brought in plans for a WWI-era machine gun that we could make at the shop.  I totally understood those blueprints, and I'm a borderline mechanical idiot.  Ryan is correct.  Guns aren't going away if someone like me can make one. 
I don't have insurrection fantasies, but do have the fears.  I now sometimes carry a gun, because cops are too dang heavy. 

9. Remove the words “socialism” and “capitalism” from the healthcare debate. It should be universally considered the “noble” goal to provide affordable healthcare for all American citizens. The road to that goal is (and SHOULD be) up for debate, but the endgame should not. The question is how to pay for it and how to ensure that quality of care (and personal decision-making power) do not decrease. It’s going to be difficult to sort out, but it’s hard for me to believe that there is anyone in America who does not think it’s a positive thing for everyone to have healthcare. “Healthcare is not a right.” You’re correct. Now let’s sit down and figure out how to make it one in a way that we can all agree on. If your opinion on healthcare is little more than “I support the President because he’s a Democrat like me” or “I dang’ol hate commies!,” you should probably stop voting.

I think that true Capitalist Healthcare has never been tried.  Here's my modest proposal.  If this became the system in an 8-block Free Market Zone someplace south of downtown, people would be flying in from all over the state for treatment.  And I think this would meet Ryan's criteria of a noble solution for a noble goal.  Hit the link. Please. 
But I do like the word "capitalism", because when regulators and Nanny-Staters allow unbridled acts of capitalism to take place, capitalism usually works.  Lap Band surgery and Lasik eye surgeries have become 80% less expensive, mostly because Medicare, Medicaid and insurance policies don't cover them. 

10. All censorship is wrong. A message to the left wing: All speech must be permitted, even what most would consider “hate.” I’m sorry. Free speech is an “all or nothing” issue. We can never open the door for authority to tell us what we can and can’t say or express. A message for the right wing: Seriously, just think about it. Is it really worse for your kid to see a naked lady than it is for them to witness a mass murder? Obviously not, if you’ve ever watched primetime TV. Get your priorities straight.

Here's a Ryan Sheffield print.  It's gonna be the first one I order:

11. Recognize that nearly every one of those infographics, chain emails, or biased news articles you share with your friends is chock-full of misinformation, omission, and partisan agendas. Yes, even the ones that agree with your position. “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.” – Mark Twain

That's why I probably won't watch the (ahem) debate between The Obamneys.  Much truthiness will be thrown around that's half-right, half-wrong, manipulated, and taken totally out of the original context.
 
My questions about the infographics, chain emails, news articles and partisan agendas usually come down to this...  a) Does this person want to leave me and everyone else alone? b) Does this person's agenda promote or discourage ethnic, racial, or national Tribalism?
Nothing else matters. 

12. Talk to each other. Stop being so goddamn clique-y with your politics. Talk to someone who disagrees with you without letting the debate devolve into a talking points recitation contest. We need more open minds, less partisan cheerleading. I feel like I’m watching a word-war between Crips and Bloods who haven’t yet realized that the only thing dividing them is the color of bandana they wear.

Sorry, I’ll shut up now.  

Some of my responses were old talking points and some were new. 

Sorry about breaking Ryan's post down into a word-war between Crips and Bloods and Libertarians. 

The LP bandana is red and blue with porcupines on it.  

I'll shut up too.  At least until tomorrow morning.  

Be sure to hit the links at the top for Ryan Sheffields art and stories !!   

What Is "Approval Voting"?

Libertarians (and other parties who challenge the status quo) are often accused of merely being "spoilers".  Some claim that we don't have a hope in hell of winning, but we might take votes away from Romney and give them to Obama.  Or vice-versa. 

Here's another problem: A lot of voters like the Libertarian Party's position on almost everything, but they're reluctant to "waste their vote" on a possible non-winner.  This is called the "wasted vote fallacy", and virtually guarantees that we'll keep getting shafted by those representing the false choice of Democrat vs Republican. 

So what to do....what to do....

Many Libertarians advocate something called Approval Voting.  (Hit the link for a plethora of links and explanations.)  Here's a blurb from the Approval Voting site:

Approval voting is a voting procedure in which voters can vote for, or approve of, as many candidates as they wish. Each candidate approved of receives one vote, and the candidate with the most votes wins. It was independently proposed by several people in the 1970s.


Approval voting has several compelling advantages over other voting procedures:

•It is eminently practicable and easy to understand
•It will reduce negative campaigning
•It will increase voter turnout
•It helps elect the strongest candidate
•It gives voters flexible and simple options
•It will give minority candidates their proper due

Unlike more complicated ranking systems, which suffer from a variety of theoretical as well as practical defects, approval voting is simple for voters to understand and use. It doesn't require redesigning of ballots and is trivial to implement in vote-counting systems. Approval voting is used today by various governments and organizations around the world, including its use by the United Nations to elect the secretary-general.   An approval voting-style ballot would look like this:  

Let's assume that Smith is a Republican.  Citizen and Doe are both Democrats.  Rubble is from the Green Party, and Hill is a Libertarian.  I'm going to vote for the Libertarian every chance I get.  So Mary Hill gets one of my votes.   

Let's assume that the Republican, Joe Smith, advocates school prayer, the Defense Of Marriage Act, the Drug War, giving more money to Lockheed to kill more babies in Pakistan, a 40% tariff on all imports, and a return to our Judeo-Christian heritage.  I wouldn't trust Joe Smith to put together Happy Meals.  Joe Smith doesn't get my vote.   

Jane Doe, one of the Democrats, has an Obama sticker on her car, and was once photographed shaking hands with the man.  Therefore she is not to be trusted.  She doesn't get my vote.   

Mr. Rubble is the Green Party candidate.  I don't know anything else about him, but the Green Party affiliation is enough to keep me from giving him a vote.   

I've heard good things about John Citizen.  He's a rare small-government Democrat, and has spoken out against a lot of pork spending in the past.  He's with the Libertarians on all social issues - not just lip service, either.  So John Citizen gets a vote from me.   

So on my ballot, I've supported Mary Hill and John Citizen.  Voting for one doesn't take away a vote from the other.  None of my votes were "wasted".    When everyone's votes are tallied in an Approval Voting election, the election is OVER.  The person with the most votes is the winner. There's no need for a runoff.  Everyone who wanted a chance to vote for these folks has had that chance.   

I like it.  Let's talk it up, folks !! 

Go Back To F***ing Sleep

Outstanding actor and economic dunce Samuel L. Jackson recently produced this video, charmingly titled "Wake The F*** Up". 

It's for voters who think that we've all been doing dandy for the last four years, that we're fighting undeclared wars in fewer countries than we were four years ago, and that teen minority unemployment isn't at 50%, and that Barack Obama didn't flunk Economics 101 at Occidental College.  If those voters don't "Wake The F*** Up", Obama won't be elected. 

Here goes:

Reason magazine, the greatest periodical currently on the newsstands, has produced an equally charming response.  Here's their rebuttal to Samuel L. Jackson:

What if two candidates supported slavery, but you agreed with one of them on healthcare?

GREAT essay by The Atlantic Monthly's Conor Friedersdorf on why he won't vote for either of the Obamneys.  But especially the one who is bombing women and kids in Pakistan. 

Go here.  Read the whole thing. 

And then try telling this kid that "The Democrat candidate is the lesser of two evils". 

Bob Dylan refuses to accept Barack Obama as his personal Lord and Savior

I picked up the new Bob Dylan CD a couple of days ago.  Good stuff. 

I have my concerns, though.  Mikal Gilmore, in a recent Rolling Stone interview gave Dylan opportunity after opportunity to confess his sins, ignore economic reality and let Obama into his heart. 

Dylan wouldn't do it.  Go here for details.

Seriously....  Was Gilmore really expecting the author of this musical gem to continue endorsing our Warlord-In-Chief ???
Here are some of the boys from Pearl Jam doing Dylan's "Masters Of War".

Why Isn't Mitt Romney doing better?

Why isn't Mitt Romney doing better? 
You can go here and see a very small sample of the hand-wringing about Mitt's distressing polling numbers. 

Think about it.  A blind dachshund with 3 legs should be outrunning Barack Obama in this thing. 

We've got a president who has racked up more months of 8% unemployment than the previous 11 combined. 

Barack Obama used your money to purchase about 675,000 vehicles, and then destroyed them.  Cash For Clunkers.  (He should've been impeached for this, BTW.) 

His foreign policy is in total shambles. 

His Fed Director is about to print a 3rd batch of money, since the first two batches didn't work.  (Swear to God, that's what they're saying.) 

The results he achieved with a 700 billion dollar stimulus were worse than the scary numbers he used to terrify us into a 700 billion dollar stimulus bill. 

We're 16 trillion dollars in debt.  Most people who own a computer, and who give a crap, are aware of that number.  Obama went on Letterman acting as if he wasn't sure of it.  Sheesh....

So why isn't Romney doing better????

Let's assume that you want America to do well.  Let's assume that you've read a few economics books that deal with some "predictive" theory, theories that have proven themselves over time.  (This rules out the comedy team of Keynes and Krugman.)  Let's assume that you really are a member of that endangered species known as Small Government Republicans.  Would you be excited about this guy?   

The Mitt/Paul Ryan budget doesn't get us out of deficit spending for a freakin' decade.  Go here to read a Reason Magazine summary of the thing.  And remember....no congress can restrain a future congress's spending.  When Obama/Mitt/Ryan talk about achieving balanced budgets over a _____ year period, instead of now, today, this very minute, they're blowing smoke.  Seriously.  Can you imagine the current bunch of yahoos restraining spending because of Gerald Ford's long-term budget scenario? The only cuts that matter are the ones made NOW. 

Mitt Romney hasn't proposed shutting down a single cabinet-level position and department.  Not energy, not education, and not commerce.  No serious candidate who wants to get us out of the hole we're in would dream of letting those money pits remain open. 

Mitt Romney hasn't talked about closing any military bases.  We've got more military than the next 16 or 17 countries combined. 

Mitt Romney, like Obama, is a Drug Warrior.  We could end the Drug War tomorrow and eliminate one million government jobs, from Drug Czar all the way down to 3rd level torturer. 

Mitt Romney opposes gay marriage.  If you're 16 trillion in debt, you shouldn't have time to oppose gay marriage. 

Mitt Romney is talking about "getting tough" with the Chinese.  Mitt, here's how you get tough with the Chinese.  If the Chinese government starts subsidizing tires, we should buy those cheaper Chinese tires until the Chinese people riot.    Ditto for anything else China makes.  Hell, if California made Nancy Pelosi mow yards to help subsidize California wine and make it cheaper than anyone else's, I'd probalby buy more California wine. 

That, IMHO, is why Mitt Romney isn't doing very well right now.  And this election ought to be a slam dunk. 

So if you live in a "Red" state, one that's probably going to go for Romney anyway, no matter what, then there's no reason to vote for Romney or Obama.  It's a wasted vote.  You should vote for the only small-government, anti-drug war, pro-civil liberties candidate on the ballot.  Gary Johnson.  He's pledged to submit a budget that's 43% smaller immediately.  If you're not sending that message about what you support and what you oppose, then you're part of the problem. 

And if you live in a "Blue" state, one that's probably going to go for the other Obamney anyway, no matter what, then there's no reason to vote for either of the Obamneys.  It's a wasted vote.  You should vote for the only small-government, anti-drug war, pro-civil liberties candidate on the ballot.  Gary Johnson.  He's pledged to submit a budget that's 43% smaller immediately.  If you're not sending that message about what you support and what you oppose, then you're part of the problem.

(Go here to read the fine print.) 

Bring Them Home

Here's the print that our Narcissist In Chief is peddling on his campaign site.

I'm not the first person to notice the similarities to another image that's been in the media lately. Here are the hand prints of our Libyan embassy staff.
Way to go with that "Smart Diplomacy", guys. 

What in the hell made anyone think Bill Clinton's wife would be any better at representing us and keeping a lid on this mess than, say, Sarah Palin's husband??  Four years working from a safe Congressional seat in upstate New York???  Sitting through HillaryCare meetings?  Making up fantasies about running across Serbian airfields under fire (along with the comedian Sinbad and Chelsea and some random singers?)

Don't bother praying for the troops. 
Don't go to the hassle of putting a yellow ribbon sticker on your car. 
Discontinue your practice of going nuts every time an army reserve unit unrolls a giant USA flag before a NFL or MLB game. 

If you really want to support the troops, vote Libertarian.
We'll get their feet back underneath their Mamas' tables. 
We are the only party that wants to bring the troops home NOW. 

We have no business over there.  We're making things worse.  If you had to get past Chinese checkpoints and barracks to get home from work, you might be bombing attacking some embassies yourself. 

Joe Biden Said This - Hard Wood Edition

Go here. 
He's a heartbeat away from the presidency, BTW. 

Spiveypalooza

Thousands of Tarrant County bureaucrats, jailers, drug warriors and regulators, feeling a sudden decrease in pressure, slowed down to a crawl, thought about putting their feet on their desks, but then realized they might once again be able to go about their burdensome jobs in peace….


Somewhere in the dark satanic entrails of the Trinity River Vision Authority, J.D. Granger felt a disturbance in The Force. The immense boondoggle known as the Trinity River Vision/Lake Granger just came a little closer to happening…

Ben Bernanke’s printing press on Blue Mound Road, also known as the U.S. Bureau Of Printing And Engraving, started churning out counterfeit currency a little bit faster….

Fort Worth’s big government Republicans and anti-civil liberties Democrats popped corks and proposed toasts….

And Lady Liberty shed a tear, knowing that one of her most devoted sons was moving on to fight elsewhere….

John Spivey is moving to Colorado.

I repeat….John Spivey is moving to Colorado.

We’re going to celebrate the work he’s done with the Tarrant County (and State) Libertarian Party on Tuesday, October 2nd, at the Zio Carlo Brewpub, from 7:00 until they run out of beer. They’re located at 1001 West Magnolia in Fort Worth.

John Spivey was Tarrant County LP Chair from 2006 to 2012. He’s served on the State Libertarian Executive Committee. He put together our recent LP Presidential Debate. We’re going to thank Spivey for taking us to a place where we now have one of the most active counties in the state. And we’re going to keep on going and growing. After all, Barack Obama has almost run out of other people’s money.

We’re going to hand out additional quantities of yard signs and door hangers.

We’re going to discuss how many Cabinet-Level Departments that Mitt Romney has pledged to close as compared to Obama (none).

We’re going to rant about the Federal Reserve, the Drug War, the Porkulus Package, the bans on Gay and Lesbian Marriage, your right to carry a pistol, ObamaCare, Eminent Domain, Gary Johnson, the National Debt, the Constitution, Ron Paul, and everything else that somebody wants to talk about. We’re going to laugh. We’re going to cry. Because John Spivey really is moving to Colorado.

John Jay Myers is now polling at 6%. Gary Johnson is anywhere from 4-7%. Republicans and Democrats are now fighting to keep us off what they think of as “their” ballots. Ken Stanford might win his race for Tax Assessor! Gary Johnson just might take New Mexico away from one of the Obamneys !!

A lot of this can be laid at the feet of John Spivey. Come say goodbye to this fine, fine man with us on Tuesday night, October 2nd. Zio Carlo Brewpub. 7:00 p.m. 1001 West Magnolia in Fort Worth.

“Before Elvis, there was nothing.” – John Lennon

You Are A Libertarian

You Are A Libertarian - fiscally/economically conservative and socially tolerant. 

Please allow me to explain. 

You think that you are a better judge of how to spend your money than anyone else.  You don't have a personal shopper who handles that kind of thing for a small fee, because you don't trust anyone else to get it right.  You wouldn't let John Boehner pick out your clothes or buy your groceries. 

If you play the stock market, you do some reading and research first.  You try to look at past results to predict future performance.  If Nancy Pelosi knocked on your door with a stock prospectus, you'd probably send her away. 

Chances are, if you have a rich neighbor, you've never gone next door with guns and taken their money to apply it to your pet causes.  If Tim Geithner pulled a gun on your neighbor and took his money, and used it to buy G.M.'s and Chryslers, you'd be angry.   

You probably give some money to charity, but very little of it goes to Jimmy Swaggart or Jim Bakker.  You know that no matter how emotional and weepy their appeals, no matter how they paint themselves as unselfish angels, you know that they're con artists.  You feel very little guilt over denying them your money or support.  You don't think this makes you a bad person. 

You think that if person A robs person B for the benefit of person C, then person A is a scoundrel. 

You're also socially tolerant. 

Chances are, you've never beaten or horse-whipped a gay dude or a lesbian woman.  You'd stop anyone else who tried to do so.   

Unlike my Baptist grandparents and parents, you might take a drink now and then.  You probably believe that the 1920's failed prohibition experiment was a disaster for the country.  When noted slot-machine junkie Bill Bennet goes on a radio rant in favor of the Drug War, you sense a disconnect.   

You have a neighbor down the street who is grossly overweight.  But you don't feel that it's your responsibility to control his diet or make him exercise.  If Michelle Obama broke into his home to take away his two-liter Cokes, you'd probably call the cops on her.   

Chances are, you grew up believing that Jesus walked on water, that Moses parted the Red Sea, and that God made Adam and Eve out of mud pies.  You know that those beliefs won't survive too much cross-examination.  So you cut the Mormons, Muslims, Scientologists and Buddhists a little slack too.  You probably don't want to bomb them or their children.   

You know that you spend waaaaay too much time surfing the 'net, watching sports on TV, playing video games and reading instead of exercising.  You know that you need to cut back on the carbs.  You also know that you would knock the living snot out of anybody who tried to mandate the contents of YOUR refrigerator, or monitor YOUR television.

See, you expect other people to be tolerant of your little vices. 

You are a Libertarian. 

You Didn't Build That - The Dance Mix !!!

Greatness !!



The same guy supposedly did this one about the other Obamney -

For all Civil Libertarians: Why Barack Obama should resign

I can't believe the stupid sonofabitch actually did this. 
He went to the residence of an American citizen to stage a Pro-Theocracy photo-op. 

Go here.  Written by a respected law professor. 

“Just after midnight Saturday morning, authorities descended on the Cerritos home of the man believed to be the filmmaker behind the anti-Muslim movie that has sparked protests and rioting in the Muslim world.”


When taking office, the President does not swear to create jobs. He does not swear to “grow the economy.” He does not swear to institute “fairness.” The only oath the President takes is this one:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

By sending — literally — brownshirted enforcers to engage in — literally — a midnight knock at the door of a man for the non-crime of embarrassing the President of the United States and his administration, President Obama violated that oath. You can try to pretty this up (It’s just about possible probation violations! Sure.), or make excuses or draw distinctions, but that’s what’s happened. It is a betrayal of his duties as President, and a disgrace.

Why are the streets not packed with angry mobs with pitchforks and torches??

This is the picture that should cost Obama his job.  End of story. 

You know what?  I didn't particularly like the art installation known as "Piss Christ".  I didn't like the painting of the Virgin Mary made of elephant crap.  I didn't like Michael Moore's movie "Capitalism".  (It should've been called "Mercantilism", or maybe "Too Big To Fail".)  I don't like the Richter mirror hanging in the Dallas Museum Of Art.  I think it's a ripoff. 
Here's another dirty little secret:  I didn't like the new Batman movie. 

In the USA, we don't bring this stuff up for a vote.  If someone creates something we don't like, we don't try to have the creators silenced.  We DO and we SHOULD keep them from getting any government funding, but that should apply to everybody. 

Is Barack now going to go after everyone who submitted art for "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day"? 

If you don't have the right to offend, you don't have the right to speak. 

What a despicable, pitiful little man. 

On who makes our lives better

This morning I went to Jack-In-The-Box and got a sausage biscuit and some hash browns.  This particular location never closes.  They're open for me, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

I'm not particularly fond of their coffee, though, so I hit my Starbucks at Western Center Boulevard and I-35.  Had a double-espresso.  (Hit that link.  It's a good one.)  The Starbucks doesn't open until 5:30, but the workers had probably been there since 4:00 a.m. 

When I got to work, I looked at all the stuff we're doing for Kroger.  They love it.

I looked at what we're doing for Wal-Mart.  They love us, too.  We're busting our asses for those folks. 

Then I reviewed some stuff we're doing for another company, a company that will remain nameless.  (Don't want to call 'em out by name.  It's not going too well right now.)  If we don't get our shit together soon, they're going to replace us with someone that can keep them happy.  It's all up to us.

I walked through the big project we're doing for Radio Shack.  So far, they love us.

Then I broke open a China shipping container and pulled out a random box.  It's from my buddy Mr. Chen in Xiamen, China.  He provides us with all sorts of metal hardware and display fixtures.  The display dump bin that I pulled out of the container once took 30 minutes to assemble with a drill, a tap and die set, a pop-rivet gun, a rubber mallet and a screwdriver.  After a year's worth of emails, drawing revisions, hardware changes and, well, cussing, Mr. Chen has sent us a display bin that can be assembled in five minutes with nothing but a screwdriver.  I love Mr. Chen like a brother.   

Work, work, work, work. 

Here's something I found at the Cafe Hayek blog today, something on the same subject.  Every day of his life, Don Boudreaux of George Mason University fires off a letter to the editor of some Statist Rag, trying to correct misinformation about how the world really works.  This one was a beauty:

Edward Sage ridicules Charles Koch’s claim – from Mr. Koch’s essay ”Corporate Cronyism Harms America” (Sept. 10) - that “the role of business is to provide products and services that make people’s lives better.” Mr. Sage asks in response: “Since when? This sounds much more like a liberal take on the role of government. As a liberal I’d be over the moon if companies cared primarily about making lives better. Instead, this only happens if it’s the best way to make money” (Letters, Sept. 13).

Mr. Sage uses the word “only” to imply that it’s a mere occasional happenstance that the best way for businesses to make money is to supply goods and services that improve people’s lives. But because no private business (without special privileges granted by government) can force any consumer to buy its products – and because no private business (without special privileges granted by government) can prevent other businesses from competing for consumers’ dollars – no private business (without special privileges granted by government) can survive unless it supplies “products and services that make people’s lives better” (as judged by consumers themselves, of course, rather than by Mr. Sage and his fellow “liberals”).

Businesses do sometimes err. Consumers do sometimes err. But for Mr. Sage not to see that in private markets the profit motive generally drives businesses to seek ceaselessly and frantically for ways to supply outputs that improve people’s lives is for him to be blind to one of the most remarkable and transformative facts of the past two centuries.
Sincerely,

Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030

Well said, sir.  Well said. 
If I ever make a ton of money, and the only honest way I can do this is by keeping a lot of people happy in exchange for their money, I'm going to go to Virginia and take classes from Don Boudreaux. 
It will happen. 

From the photo files

It's time to purge the photo files - all the great stuff that comes my way from Facebook, Reddit, emails, and elsewhere. 

No one but Libertarians thinks this is even remotely ironic.  Time magazine was for real with this.  But BHO and FDR are getting similar economic results. 

On the value of government-funded research

Here's something interesting on the value of most government-funded research, from The Bureau Of Labor Statistics. 

Page two, point #3. 

It's near zero. 

Fascinating.