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Milton J. Madison - An American Refugee Now Living in China, Where Liberty is Ascending

Federalism, Free Markets and the Liberty To Let One's Mind Wander. I Am Very Worried About the Fate of Liberty in the USA, Where Government is Taking people's Lives ____________________________________________________________________________________________ "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue." -Barry Goldwater-

Thursday, January 26, 2012

State of the Union speech is full of rhetoric but skimpy on some tricky details - The Washington Post

The fatuous State of the Union address by the Obamessiah was an exercise in the rehashing of his effete and trite socialism that includes attacks and hostility towards not just the the people that work, save and create wealth but also ultimately traditional American values of thrift and responsibility that is so important to the fabric of American life. What people see in this empty suit is completely beyond my comprehension and has mystified me ever since he showed up on the political scene. I really have never understood America's fascination with this worthless man. Maybe this man resonates with the people since traditional America has truly died over the past 50 years at the hands of the Democrat hard left that have allowed for abortion on demand and have imposed self destructive utopian redistribution of income.

But lets take one passage from this speech and think about both what is being said and how intelligent it is to say such things.....
I’m a Democrat. But I believe what Republican Abraham Lincoln believed: That Government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves, and no more. That’s why my education reform offers more competition, and more control for schools and States. That’s why we’re getting rid of regulations that don’t work. That’s why our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a Government program.
What is this person thinking? Honestly, I think that this is the rantings of a very confused man. First, this administration has led a monumental increase in regulation and intervention in private markets and has not led any major initiative in deregulating or eliminating even those regulations that do not work. Furthermore, government has taken the portfolio of more than what people cannot do for themselves but also much much more. Government has now interjected itself in nearly every facet of American life. His claims are stupid and ill considered claim.

The Obamessiah's reference to Lincoln and the implication that the 16th president believed that the legitimate function of government is to do for people what they cannot do for themselves, and no more is both misunderstanding the context of what of Lincoln considered and a provocative misstatement of a philosophy of truly graceful and thoughtful man in order to serve the Obamessiah's broad socialist agenda. What Lincoln actually said was...
The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities.
I presume that this leaves all other things that they are capable of doing still in their portfolio of rights and responsibilities. I do take exception to Lincoln's statement since in its simple form it would appear as if one could construe it to mean that government has a legitimate function in any situation that particularly in today's times could be done better by a large entity such as government. Whereas in Lincoln's times, no one would even conceive nor condone of the interventions that governments takes today, it is still a dangerous thought that will ultimately and has led government to overextend their reach into life where they have no place being. These simple words, seemingly innocuous are being used to extend this dangerous and potentially disastrous philosophy that will ultimately lead to a total loss of liberty to the leviathan as it increasingly consumes American life.

But what really irritates me is hearing the argument for limited government from a man whose true philosophy is completely the opposite of limited government. The Obamessiah believes in an all encompassing central government that even seeks to compel its citizens to purchase a good or service by the pure virtue that one exists. The recent healthcare law is a fiasco to all that believe in the concept of limited government. If government can compel you to buy health insurance, there is nothing that they cannot compel you to do. The operative phrase in the Obameesiah's nmisquote 'and no more' has not only been ignored and overlooked but has been greatly surpassed by decades of government intervention and meddling in countless areas of American life. For this President to cravenly quote Lincoln to support his justification for government adventurism is not just a shame but shows the depths that the beast will dig to bury the nation.

But Lincoln did get it right with this quote....
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
America has been destroyed by socialism.

State of the Union speech is full of rhetoric but skimpy on some tricky details - The Washington Post

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Oil companies pay $6.8 million in fines for not using cellulosic biofuels that don't exist

Idiotic and byzantine regulations and rules that each and every one of you pay for....
Oil companies will pay $6.8 million in fines for not meeting federal quotas for blending in cellulosic biofuels – those produced from grasses, wood and plants – even though there weren't enough of those biofuels available for use, the New York Times reported. Those fines are likely to rise in 2012 because the cellulosic biofuel quotas that refiners have to meet will rise more than 30 percent to 8.65 million gallons.
Forcing an economy to adopt these silly things is like when the US government forced companies to start using the cancer causing MBTE in fuel that ended up contaminating water supplies. Stupid begets stupid. Pay more and get absolutely nothing for it!

Oil companies pay $6.8 million in fines for not using cellulosic biofuels that don't exist

EBL: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are charity cheapskates

The microcosm of Democrats charitable giving is a window on their basic philosophy of government absorbing this responsibility....
WHO'S GREEDY? Obama Gave 1% to Charity, Romney Gave 15%
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than 1 percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign.
Joe Biden? He gave $369 in charity!
And what about President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the run-up to their 2008 campaign?
USA Today broke it down here. In 2007, the Obamas gave more than $240,000 to charity, about 5.7 percent of their income. The Bidens gave an average of $369 to charity a year for the decade before he moved to the Naval Observatory - about 0.3 percent of their income. Back in 1997, then veep Al Gore and his then wife Tipper gave $353.
Since becoming veep, Biden hasn't become much more generous. In 2010, he gave $5,350, about 1.4 percent of income. That same year, Romney gave some $3 million. The national average is about three percent.
Democrats believe that they have the right to seize property from high earning and hard working people in order to distribute it to the needy instead of allowing people to give to charity on their own. This overlooks the unfortunate facts that government does relatively little for the poor and is really a redistribution channel to people that have voted themselves government benefits such as the elderly. Additionally, what person in their right mind actually believes that government has clue as to who the needy are what needs to be done to assist them? Its simply absurd that the leviathan can possibly deliver the goods but people have a spiritual faith in the capacity of a central government to do these kinds of things. It simply boggles my mind to think that these people believe it and have overlooked the spectacular failures that this government and multitudes of others have fostered over time.

EBL: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are charity cheapskates

EBL: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are charity cheapskates

The microcosm of Democrats charitable giving is a window on their basic philosophy of government absorbing this responsibility....
WHO'S GREEDY? Obama Gave 1% to Charity, Romney Gave 15%
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and his wife Michelle gave $10,772 of the $1.2 million they earned from 2000 through 2004 to charities, or less than 1 percent, according to tax returns for those years released today by his campaign.
Joe Biden? He gave $369 in charity!
And what about President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the run-up to their 2008 campaign?
USA Today broke it down here. In 2007, the Obamas gave more than $240,000 to charity, about 5.7 percent of their income. The Bidens gave an average of $369 to charity a year for the decade before he moved to the Naval Observatory - about 0.3 percent of their income. Back in 1997, then veep Al Gore and his then wife Tipper gave $353.
Since becoming veep, Biden hasn't become much more generous. In 2010, he gave $5,350, about 1.4 percent of income. That same year, Romney gave some $3 million. The national average is about three percent.
Democrats believe that they have the right to seize property from high earning and hard working people in order to distribute it to the needy instead of allowing people to give to charity on their own. This overlooks the unfortunate facts that government does relatively little for the poor and is really a redistribution channel to people that have voted themselves government benefits such as the elderly. Additionally, what person in their right mind actually believes that government has clue as to who the needy are what needs to be done to assist them? Its simply absurd that the leviathan can possibly deliver the goods but people have a spiritual faith in the capacity of a central government to do these kinds of things. It simply boggles my mind to think that these people believe it and have overlooked the spectacular failures that this government and multitudes of others have fostered over time.

EBL: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are charity cheapskates

Monday, January 23, 2012

The Sinking of the West - Mark Steyn - National Review Online

Every man for himself and it it means stomping the women and children then so be it. As the big government leviathan crushes all pretenses of civilization, how is it any shock that individuals no longer care about their neighbors? This is the kind of world we have in store just as we saw in the great communist catastrophes in the past century that neighbor turns on neighbor in order to preserve oneself.

Or maybe its just a simple example of what Churchill thought....
There are three things I like about being on an Italian cruise ship.

First the cuisine is unsurpassed.

Second the service is superb."

And then, in time of emergency, there is none of this nonsense about women and children first.
He probably did not say this but it is funny all the same.

Actually, according to Snopes, he actually did say this!!!

The Sinking of the West - Mark Steyn - National Review Online

Friday, January 20, 2012

The 'Commerce Clause Mandate' | Hoover Institution

The 'Commerce Clause Mandate' | Hoover Institution

Friday, January 13, 2012

Wow....

Video: Unbelievable Chinese volleyball rally | Fourth-Place Medal - Yahoo! Sports

Amazing 2 minute volley!



Video: Unbelievable Chinese volleyball rally | Fourth-Place Medal - Yahoo! Sports

Monday, January 09, 2012

Hong Kong air pollution at worst levels ever: report | Reuters

Seems to me that the air quality has actually been getting better over the past couple of years. Maybe the readings in very specific places have been getting worse since there has been lots of new tall buildings going up. I do not trust nor believe this report.

Hong Kong air pollution at worst levels ever: report | Reuters

What if?

Sunday, January 08, 2012

America needs a man of action | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com

From national treasure Thomas Sowell....
This is not just another election and Barack Obama is not just another president whose policies we may not like. With all of President Obama's broken promises, glib demagoguery and cynical political moves, one promise he has kept all too well. That was his boast on the eve of the 2008 election: "We are going to change the United States of America."

Many Americans are already saying that they can hardly recognize the country they grew up in. We have already started down the path that has led Western European nations to the brink of financial disaster.
I do not necessarily agree that we need a 'man of action.' I just think that we need common sense. The current president is a bad man but unfortunately, the nation deserves this empty suit. They voted him in and now must endure the gruel that these Marxist have doled out.

The next national leader will be one that will be faced with severe crisis. The national debt is probably past the point of solution and no taxes will ever even come close to balancing the problem. The nation needs to seriously rethink what the central government is both supposed to do and what it is truly capable of. The rest has to be jettisoned. A common sense business person may, in-fact, be the best solution.

America needs a man of action | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com

Saturday, January 07, 2012

DOJ Steers Countrywide Settlement Cash To Leftist Groups With Dem Ties | Judicial Watch

This kind of hard left nonsense is how ACORN got funded in the 1990's as the Clinton Justice Department forced banks to fund the organization. Of course we know what happened there, Acorn was found to be assisting prostitution rings to hide their illegal activities, assisted Democrats in getting fraudulent voting registrations and votes and funded worthless community organizers that became the face of the leviathan.

DOJ Steers Countrywide Settlement Cash To Leftist Groups With Dem Ties | Judicial Watch

American Cancer Society report finds continued progress in reducing cancer mortality

How can this be? Better health outcomes before the leviathan enters the picture? I am sure that after bungling bureaucrats get a hold of this that we can expect that recent gains will sure be reversed.

American Cancer Society report finds continued progress in reducing cancer mortality

Friday, January 06, 2012

In U.S., a Cheaper Labor Pool - WSJ.com

Adjustments are being made through the free market place. US labor is being made more valuable through better productivity and the balance is starting to have some positive impacts. Please note, that is is not government that is doing anything to make things better....
U.S. manufacturing labor costs per unit of output in 2010 were 13% below the level of a decade earlier as workers became more productive, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The U.S. outperformed Germany, where unit labor costs increased 2.3%; Canada, where they rose 18%, and South Korea, up 15%.


In U.S., a Cheaper Labor Pool - WSJ.com

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Liam Byrne is right – we need 'radical reform' of the initiative-zapping, soul-destroying welfare state – Telegraph Blogs

When people come to be more reliant on the state than they are on each other, community bonds fray and social solidarity falls into disrepair.
This is something that I have been saying for a while. The welfare state claims so many lives through the public dole that effects families and communities that become dependent upon a faceless leviathan instead of their neighbors and churches et al. It creates a more coarse community life. Centralized economic decision making in Washington has a similar effect upon markets as incentives change.

Liam Byrne is right – we need 'radical reform' of the initiative-zapping, soul-destroying welfare state – Telegraph Blogs

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Wisdom for today....

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Teach a man to create an artificial shortage of fish through government intervention and he will eat steak.

More wisdom for today.....

Light a fire for a man and you will keep him warm for a day. Light a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Obama Has United the World…in Opposition to Bad U.S. Tax Policy « International Liberty

The idiots working in the US government are creating a world where nothing will work, honest people will get caught up in whirlwind of nonsense and pay the biggest price. It will become rule by law instead of the rule of law. Americans will become supremely sorry for the experiment over the last 70 years in socialism.

Best to move as many assets as one can offshore before the US government tries to seize your money and confiscate your assets to feed their insatiable hunger and demand the product of your time and labor. However, the chances are, that foreign companies and banks will end up telling to you to screw off anyway since they will not want to do business with Americans overseas since the cost to doing so will be much to high.

Obama Has United the World…in Opposition to Bad U.S. Tax Policy « International Liberty