Liberty Maven

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday the 12th that Obamacare’s “individual mandate” violates the Constitution. This mandate, which is the foundation of Obamacare, requires individuals to purchase health insurance.

The Supreme Court must now rule on this question, but we shouldn’t have to wait for that.I sent a letter to Congress telling them to repeal Obamacare now.

The hard-wired message says simply, “Please repeal Obamacare.”

I added these comments… Read More »

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The bill is mislabeled. This is not protecting children from Internet pornography. It’s creating a database for everybody in this country for a lot of other purposes.” – Rep. John Conyers

A dangerous bill has been approved by the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee that would ELMINIATE your online privacy. That’s why I sent a letter to Congress using DownsizeDC.org’s Hands Off the Internet Campaign.

I urge you to send a letter. You may borrow from or copy this… Read More »

Quote of the Day: “It was bad enough when the TSA agents would go through your underwear in your luggage. Now they’re going through your underwear while you’re wearing it.” –Jay Leno

The Texas House unanimously passed a bill holding Transportation Security Agency (TSA) agents accountable for touching people’s private parts without probable cause. In response, the Department of Justice threatened to ground flights in Texas. DoJ’s threat caused the bill to die in the Texas Senate.

It’s possible the bill will be revived in a special legislative session. While we support the purposes of this bill, we believe the best solution is for Congress to just get rid of the TSA altogether.

That’s why I sent the following letter to my Representative and Senators. We encourage you to send a letter as well, and you may borrow from or copy this . . . Read More »

Quote of the Day: “History clearly shows the government that stimulates the best, taxes, spends, and intrudes the least. In particular, the lesson from 1945-47 is that a sharp reduction in government spending frees up assets for productive use and leads to renewed growth.” – Economists Jason E. Taylor and Richard K. Vedder

On May 31, the House rejected President Obama’s request to raise the debt limit with no spending cuts. In addition to every Republican, 46% of Democrats opposed this bill.

* This demonstrates the power of polls, which shows even a substantial percentage of Democrats oppose raising the debt ceiling
* But it also demonstrate the power of your RELENTLESS PRESSURE on Congress

More and more Democrats realize the U.S. is on an unsustainable path and that reforms must be implemented NOW instead of putting them off any longer.

The vote was good news, but this is only the beginning of the fight. WE ARE HOLDING THE LINE . . .

NO increase on the debt ceiling.

Unless you tell your Representative and Senators where you stand, they may be tempted to cut a deal which will raise the debt limit while making only symbolic and marginal spending cuts.

Both Democrats and Republicans need to learn from history, particularly the Democratic Truman Administration. That’s why I sent this letter to Congress, from which you may borrow or copy . . . Read More »

Quote of the Day: “I have always believed that government had a limited capacity to do good and a virtually infinite capacity to do harm…” — Neil Hamilton, Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom (Source: House of Commons debates, 8 February 1994)

Earlier this year, we thought we’d be willing to trade an increase in the debt ceiling for something of lasting value — like a balanced budget amendment. We now think that’s a strategic mistake.

The real strategic opportunity lies in the debt ceiling itself. As long as we maintain THAT, then nothing else needs to be done to balance the budget.

We’ve started a permanent new campaign to promote this idea called, “Cap the Debt.”

Here’s what I wrote in my first letter to Congress using this new campaign . . . Read More »

Many people hate corporations. Progressives and populists blame them for a host of sins, and several libertarians assert they couldn’t exist in their present form without the State. We at DownsizeDC.org oppose the crony capitalism of the Corporatist State, and we cringe whenever people assume our pro-free market philosophy is a “defense” of corporations.

That is why our new campaign is a “heresy.” What we propose may shock you, but we have good reasons.

Our position is that even if you hate corporations . . .

Abolishing corporate income taxes is in your self-interest.

These taxes are unproductive as revenue-generators, but what they really do is make politicians more powerful, at your expense.

The following letter to Congress explains the benefits of abolishing the corporate income tax. The hard-wired message to Congress says . . . Read More »

Quote of the Day: “Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying “No” to any authority — literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social and even political.” — Ignazio Silone (1900-1978) Source: The God That Failed, 1950

The politicians are trying to tax the Internet again. Let’s stop them.

I just sent the letter below using our “Hands Off the Internet” campaign.

The hardwired message on this campaign reads . . .

“Please oppose any attempts to undermine Internet freedom.”

To this I added the following personal comments, from which you can copy or borrow . . . Read More »

You’re paying an invisible tax — the Regulation Tax. It has grown by two-thirds over the past ten years, and is now more than $15,000 per household.

The Federal State’s price controls, paperwork, entry restrictions, environmental controls, and workplace regulations increase the prices you pay for everything you buy. These costs also discourage businesses from expanding and hiring. They often force lay-offs.

As the letter below indicates, the sheer size of the regulatory burden is shocking.

That’s why I sent a letter to Congress telling them to cut the invisible Regulation Tax.

You may borrow from or copy this letter . . . Read More »

Quote of the Day: “I begin by taking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right.” — Frederick the Great, (1712-1786) King of Prussia, Frederick II

Last Friday, several functions of the Federal State nearly shut down as Democrats and Republicans fought over things like tax funding for abortion providers. It’s the usual con game . . .

* Democrats pretend that you must be “anti-choice” if you oppose tax-funded abortion
* Republicans are right to favor choice when it comes to such funding, but they’re still just cherry-picking the unconstitutional programs that they can best use to manipulate their base

In other words, the politicians are still pretending to fight a “Culture War.” But are the people following their lead? I think not.

It seems to me that times have changed. People are waking up. They’re becoming harder to manipulate. As the letter below indicates, the real Culture War isn’t the one being portrayed by the institutional media. It’s not the conservatives against the liberals; it’s the politicians against YOU.

Please let the politicians know that the main “culture war” you want to fight is against their rampant unconstitutionality. Tell them to oppose all unconstitutional laws all the time.

You may borrow from or copy this letter: Read More »

Quote of the Day: “The problem isn’t the abuse of power, it’s the power to abuse.” — Michael Cloud

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is urging people to call the White House TODAY, and urge President Obama to veto any Patriot Act renewal that doesn’t contain civil liberties protections.

We agree. This is a good opportunity to remind the President that he promised to reform the Patriot Act when he was a candidate.

You can learn more at the EFF website, and we borrow some language from here in our letter below.

But we need to maintain our pressure on Congress too . . .

* Tell Congress you want them to REPEAL the Patriot Act outright
* Any renewal must contain the strongest possible civil liberties provisions

Please tell Congress what you want.

The hardwired message says, “Repeal the Patriot Act. Do NOT renew any of its provisions.”

You may borrow from or copy these additional comments . . . Read More »