Author’s Note: Hello all. The editors of Liberty Maven have graciously agreed to include me as a contributor to this fine site. As they are always on the ball with breaking news, it may be a challenge to keep up with valuable content. So, for my first post, I’d like to start with a rhetorical, philosophical open letter that I wrote directed at all those who think that more government regulation will solve all of our nation’s ills. I hope you enjoy it!
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I’ve gotten some feedback on the subject of deregulation, and the effect of greed. Many are quick to demonize it, but I think we all need to slow down and take a look at what greed really is, before we admonish the “greedy”.
Interestingly, greed, is one of the 7 deadly sins, so we should strive to not be greedy, right? Well, greed is defined in several different ways, but the most unbiased true definition (not relating to material wealth – I’ll explain why this is important in a moment) of greed is: An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. Is this not merely an extension of self interest? What is self interest? Self interest is defined as personal interest or advantage. Everyone acts in ways of self interest, some more than others. The reason is because life is a competition, like it or not. You cannot beat the self interest out of anyone, and that is the paradoxical nature of self interest, i.e., greed. To clarify my point, allow me to give several examples.
1. Early in life, we play games. The object of a game is to win. The desire to win is an act of self interest. Yes it is fun to play, but winning and losing is part of the game, and the desire to win is part of human nature. If the true object of the game is only to have fun, why do we keep score? Why do we play at all? Can we not find more fun and productive things to do if the object is “fun”?
2. When we go to school, we get graded on our performance. We strive to get good grades based on our performance, and to gauge how we are faring against our peers. Some learn faster, or in different ways, than others. It is in our self interest to get the best grades possible, so that we not only know we are learning, but to ensure that our future will be bright, by being accepted into higher educational facilities which boast better educational practices than others.
Here at Liberty Maven we’ve mentioned Mark Sanford a number of times as one of the “Ron Paul Republicans” who might step into Ron Paul’s role in the future. But now Sanford has gotten himself into a fine mess by getting caught red-handed in an extramarital affair and then lying about it. So in one fell swoop his political ambitions have been completely nullified due to the fact that he’s now toast in the court of public opinion.
But should we really care about his personal dilly-dallying?
Personally, I’m sickened by the media’s fascination with the personal lives of politicians and celebrities. Mainstream media outlets have become tabloids, plain and simple. And let’s not overlook the hypocrisy that the liberal media said the indiscretions of President Clinton were none of our business and no big deal. Even more disgusting is that the majority of celebrities and politicians play the politically-correct role and go along with the fallacy that it’s any of our business and readily agree to fully air their dirty laundry in front of TV cameras.
Having said that, I’m personally disappointed in the latest revelations. The man cheated on his wife and then lied about it. This country needs a lot more honesty, and Sanford didn’t have the balls to be honest with his own wife. And even more disturbing are the revelations that at least one of his trips to Argentina was taxpayer-funded. More and more, Sanford is turning out to be just a typical sleazy politician.
Despite the fact that his political views have not changed overnight, Sanford will clearly not be the man to be the next “Ron Paul”. Right now he’s more like Fred Sanford, and broken man with little future prospects.
By Judge Andrew P.Napolitano FOX News Senior Judicial Analyst
The Secretary of the Treasury and the Chair of the Federal Reserve have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution and the federal laws. Among those laws is the obligation of management of publicly traded corporations to inform shareholders in a meaningful way of the risks attendant upon all extraordinary corporate activity, including major acquisitions.
The acquisition of Merrill Lynch by the Bank of America was surely a major acquisition and an extraordinary corporate act. The president of B of A now tells us that the Secretary and the Chair told him not to inform his shareholders that Merrill Lynch was truly a risky investment. As it turns out, when Ken Lewis learned that Merrill Lynch was worth about $17 billion less than the $50 billion agreed upon amount, he attempted to invoke the material adverse change (MAC) clause in the contract of acquisition, which would have given him the option of getting Merrill Lynch for $33 billion or walking away from the deal.
“Ken Lewis, Henry Paulson, John Thain, Ben Bernanke, and Jeffrey Lacker, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, should all be prosecuted for extortion, conspiracy to extort, criminal fraud, and theft of honest services; and they should be imprisoned if convicted.”
Quote of the Day: “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” – P.J. O’Rourke
When we tell Congress not to pass their planned health care legislation we’re playing good defense, but when we ask Congress to pass legislation that would help restore free market health care, we’re playing good offense and defense at the same time. This is very important to recognize…
Saying YES to free market health care is the same as saying NO to further government meddling in health care.
We’ve so far sent more than 5,000 messages opposing increased government control of your medical care. This is good. But we also need to stay on the offensive, by demanding that Congress restore the free market.
Congress has it in its power right now, with one simple change, to make health insurance more affordable for tens of millions of Americans. It can do this NOT by increasing government involvement, but by REDUCING it.
Congress has the legitimate authority, under the commerce clause, to allow Americans to buy health insurance regulated by the state of their choice. One major reason health insurance is so expensive is that state legislators have created mandates to enrich insurance companies and health care providers at the expenses of health care consumers.
Please remember that state governments make health insurance more expensive by requiring coverage for things like…
* Maternity care for single males
* Infertility treatments for people who don’t want children
* Alcoholism therapy for people who don’t drink
The solution for this is very simple. Congress must create free trade across state borders, by allowing YOU and all other Americans to buy health insurance regulated by the state of your choice. This kind of thing was a major reason why the commerce clause was included in the Constitution.
Mostly Congress abuses the commerce clause, but this is a perfect opportunity for them to use it correctly. So why aren’t they doing it? There are several reasons…
* Restoring free market health care does nothing to enhance their power
* Insurance companies and health care providers pay lobbyists to fight these kinds of reforms
* Too many Americans fail to use their right to petition Congress for a redress of grievances
But there’s one other problem — our own human psychology. We naturally respond more to things we fear than to opportunities for positive improvement. We see this constantly in response to our various campaigns. We tend to get more participation when we’re trying to stop bad bills than when we’re trying to promote good bills.
We need to recognize this and adjust our behaviour. Saying no to something bad is defensive only, while saying yes to something good both promotes the good and fights the bad. It’s offense and defense at the same time.
Do this even if you’ve sent a message about this before. You don’t issue instructions to your employees only once — you must do it constantly until they get the job done. Read More »
ABC News held a nationally televised townhall-style meeting from the White House last night focused on helping Obama get his version of socialized medicine more support. Dubbed “Prescription For America”, the event was unsurprisingly void of substance. For the free market lovers among us the prescription was precisely what you’d expect: more pain!
Here’s what I see, along with many others, as the essence of the problem with Obamacare. The plan is quite sinister and misleading. It allows Obama to push the notion that “you will get to keep your current plan if you like it” while covering his ass when it proves untrue.
He’s pushing the notion that the “government option”, also called the “public option”, will somehow compete fairly with existing private companies. This is absurd on its face. It’s like allowing the team you are competing against to referee the game.
In case you missed it, Ron Paul participated in a Fed forum at the CATO institute yesterday. I enjoy these types of gatherings. The speakers all were quite knowledgeable.
If Obama starts jawing strongly against the Iranian government what happens next? Does his God-complex become reality and the Iranian government crumble underneath every syllable? I doubt it.
There’s every reason to believe that forcefully condemning Iran today will lead to more direct intervention tomorrow. Obama, thus far, has played it properly. If he starts drawing lines in the sand we are in trouble. Or perhaps that is what his opponents would like?
Imagine this… Obama succumbs to political pressure and speaks strongly against Iran to the point of threats. When Iran fails to cease their savagery he has two choices:
Draw another line in the sand further back which would only give his opponents more ammo to hit him with the weak President charge.
Follow through on the condemnation and intervene more strongly, possibly with troops or other aid, embroiling us in yet another “entangling alliance” that could be expensive, both in blood and money.
This is one of those situations that illustrates why Presidents enter office with their natural-colored hair and leave office with a full head of gray.
Quote of the Day: “Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order.” — John V. Lindsay
The people of Iran are risking their lives, and in some cases losing them, in a bid to gain their freedom. We need not risk so much to restore and retain our freedom, but for that to remain true we must vigorously use our right to petition our government for a redress of grievances. This means…
We must relentlessly increase our pressure, telling Congress to obey the Constitution, and to undo the constitutional violations they’ve already committed. Our pressure must keep increasing until the politicians demonstrate their submission to the Constitution. To make that happen…
We must apply more pressure each month than we did the previous month. We’re now nearing the end of June. To make sure we exceed the 36,512 messages we sent last month we’re going to ask you to hit Congress on two issues today, the REAL ID Act and Congressman Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill.
The de facto national ID card that the REAL ID Act would create, seems to be going nowhere. The people don’t want it, and 25 states are refusing to impose it. This has been a significant victory for the idea that the people can pressure their government into submission. But…
The law remains on the books and will be a continuing threat until it’s repealed. Meanwhile, the idea of a national ID card is being revived under the guise of a new name, the PASS Act.
This must not be allowed to happen. YOU must serve as a counter-lobby against the professional lobbyists who want to pick your pocket and violate your rights.
As we’ve told you before, not only is a national ID card essentially an internal passport like those used by dictatorial governments around the world, we think it will also help pave the way for federal bureaucrats to control all of your health care decisions.
ATTENTION: Iowa citizens, as well as DC Downsizers who live in the districts of Blue Dog Democrats, please be sure to read this message!
Quote of the Day: “Of course, no one knows what the bill would really cost in operation. But the history of social insurance and welfare programs is sky-rocketing expense well beyond original projections. Go back and look at the initial cost estimates for Medicare and Social Security, and you will run from the room simultaneously laughing and crying.” — Doug Bandow
Use your personal comments to object to the $1 trillion price tag estimated by the CBO, and to assert that you believe the real price would be even higher. Mention the $4 trillion estimate by HSI Network.
But there’s one thing more. Victory may be easier than you think because this issue will be decided by only a handful of people in the House and Senate. We must increase the pressure on these people…
I must confess. This Ron Paul supporter suffered from a temporary bout of neo-conservatism after viewing that completely horrifying video of the young woman lying in the street bleeding to death in Iran over the weekend. I will not link to it because I don’t want to infect anyone else. My long lost compassionate conservatism gene made a return as I was filled with hatred and sadness. I thought, “Something must be done!. America needs to intervene!” A few hours and a reality check later I found myself back on firm Founding Father-style non-interventionist footing once again.
Some claim taking a non-interventionist approach on the Iran election aftermath is the height of hypocrisy from someone who claims to believe in liberty. Ron Paul is being criticized for his lone “Nay” vote on condemning the Iranian government’s heinous actions on it’s own people. On the surface it appears Obama is taking a similar non-interventionist approach for now, although there are some arguing the opposite may be true. Hopefully, Obama stands his ground (this time) against the interventionist opposition.
Those clamoring for intervention need to answer a few questions, but there is one question that trumps them all.
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