In Health Care, Nobody Knows Anything

by Ronald Bailey 10/20/2009  Two new industry studies reignite the debate about

what makes health care so expensive.

Fifty million Americans are unable to buy health insurance and premiums have doubled over the past decade. Health care spending in 2009 consumes about $2.5 trillion, more than 17 percent of our gross domestic product. And as spending has skyrocketed, improvements in health outcomes have been real, but modest. What’s going on?

 On Saturday, President Barack Obama denounced two new studies, sponsored by the health insurance industry, which found that current health care reform bills in Congress will increase premium prices for consumers. One study, done for the lobbying group America’s Health Insurance Plans by the consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers, found that the provisions in the Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) would add $1,700 a year to the cost of family coverage in 2013 and $600 for a single person. By 2019, family premiums could be $4,000 higher and individual premiums could be $1,500 higher. A weak individual coverage mandate, coupled with a guarantee issue requirement, no preexisting condition limits, and no rating based on health status would significantly boost insurance premiums.

 The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association commissioned a new study by the Oliver Wyman consultancy which also found that guaranteed issue and community rating mandates coupled with a weak individual mandate would drive up premiums by 50 percent for individual policies and 19 percent for small group plans.

 “Every time we get close to passing reform, the insurance companies produce these phony studies as a prescription and say, ‘Take one of these, and call us in a decade,’" declared the president. “Well, not this time.”

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A Nobel Prize for showing that freedom works by John Stossel 10/22/2009
Freedom Politics       "Pundits and politicians act as if government can solve almost any problem. At the slightest hint of trouble, the ruling class reflexively assumes that knowledgeable, wise and public-spirited government regulators are capable of riding to the rescue. This certainly is the guiding philosophy of the Obama administration. So how remarkable it is that this year's Nobel Memorial Prize in economics was shared by Elinor Ostrom, whose life's work demonstrates that politicians and bureaucrats are not nearly as good at solving problems as regular people. "There is nothing wrong with good sense. And your reading the FULL ARTICLE may well enhance your own, a goal certainly worth perusing. http://tinyurl.com/yz5f4b2  

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He'a A Blond

I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up my car, I was told that the keyshad been accidentally locked in it. In the service department I found a mechanicworking feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As I watched from thepassenger's side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered it was open. "Hey," I announced to the technician, "It's open!" "I know," answered the youngman. "I already got that side."

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The Price of Freedom? by Christine Smith, 10/23/09

“Freedom is not free” In less than three years during the Korean War, some 54,246 Americans died, with an additional 103,284 wounded. Harry Truman sent them to fight in a conflict without the constitutionally required declaration of war from Congress. Fighting against the spread of communism, Americans are told. And what did the more than 58,000 American men and women who died in the Vietnam War lose their lives for? Americans were told, that we were the ones who had been attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin, it was a government lie to justify a war.

 Personal sacrifice is noble and righteous when it is made without coercion to a cause that is true and because one is being loyal only to his conscience. The sacrifice of American lives and resources has rarely served such a cause.

 The conflict in Southeast Asia posed no threat to the liberty and lives of Americans in the United States. It was government lies, that led to military men and women casualities. Interventions in other countries, including Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, and, of course, Iraq. And what of the tens of thousands more U.S. troops Barack Obama is sending to fight his “Af-Pak” war? Is American freedom being defended in Afghanistan or Pakistan?

This country will remain at war and in its own brand of enslavement as long as Americans continue to equate “freedom” with “sacrifice” for the state. To erroneously believe a person is born laden with a sort of quid pro quo between himself and the state is dangerous. Freedom doesn’t come with a debt. It is a gift bestowed at birth, and like any true gift there are no strings attached. There is much more to be learned in this article by this Libertarian and former Presidential Candidate. I suggest you read her FULL ARTICLE at http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0907e.asp  Additionally Christine Smith is a writer from Colorado. You may visit her website, www.ChristineSmith.us. This article originally appeared in the July 2009 edition of Freedom Daily. Subscribe to the print or email version of Freedom Daily at http://www.fff.org/support/index.asp#print

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Can the FAIR TAX Reverse Our Exploding National Debt?

Our country is on the Path of Unsustainable Debt.
Experts and average people alike worry that the United States is headed for second rate status [or worse] as a world power because we are "mortgaged" to the hilt to foreign creditors. One recent USA Today analysis found that our real federal debt amounted to more than $500,000 per American household. Much of the true federal (American taxpayer) debt is not even commonly tallied--such as more than $32 trillion in pending Social Security obligations. In addition to its other advantages, the FairTax is the easiest, simplest and best way to expose the true cost of government in every purchase --leading to voter awareness that will restrain politician’s penchant for spending money we don’t have.

This is not the end it is The Beginning     

  Fourth Year, Issue 251

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

...

What It Feels Like To Be A Libertarian

By John Hasnas  Associate Professor McDonough School of Business Georgetown University (posted January 2009)

Political analysts frequently consider what it means to be a libertarian. In fact, in 1997, Charles Murray published a short book entitled "What It Means to Be a Libertarian" an excellent job of presenting the core principles of libertarian political philosophy. We will cover what it feels like to be a libertarian, to hold the principles described in Murray’s book?

 Imagine spending two decades warning that government policy is leading to a major economic collapse, and then, when the collapse comes, watching the world conclude that markets do not work.

 Imagine continually explaining that the free market function has a built in corrective mechanism; that periodic contractions to weed out unproductive ventures; that continually loosening credit to avoid such corrections just puts off the day of reckoning and inevitably leads to a larger recession; that this is precisely what the government did during the 1920's that led to the great depression; and then, when the recession hits, seeing it offered as proof of the failure of laissez-faire capitalism.

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Gun control by Spencer Aland Adam Smith Institute 10/08/09
"At what point does the government change from protecting its citizens to controlling them? This is not an easy question, and it is one too often ignored by both citizens and governments. Government has a duty to protect its citizens from enemies and at times from each other. However, it is a slippery slope that leads governments down the path to total social control in the interest of protecting everyone everywhere all the time. Although the government should indeed be able to police its own citizens it should never be allowed to absolutely remove any single right. Does the government have a right to outlaw the possession of firearms by its citizens in the interest of protection if it means that they are severely limited in their own ability to protect themselves? Absolutely not."
http://tinyurl.com/ygssle4   

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When public power is used for private gain by Damon W. Root Reason
In December 2003, Bruce Ratner, a New York real estate tycoon and owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, announced his long-simmering plans to build a 22-acre 'urban utopia' in central Brooklyn .... this ambitious project faced several potentially ruinous obstacles. First, various private parties owned more than half of the 22-acre site, which meant time-consuming and possibly unsuccessful negotiations to acquire their land. ... So Ratner did what most politically-connected elites do when they run into trouble: He turned to the government -- including his old Columbia law school pal Gov. George Pataki -- for a bailout. More specifically, Ratner partnered with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), a controversial and embattled state agency with the power to bypass zoning laws and seize private property via eminent domain." (10/08/09)
http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/08/when-public-power-is-used-for

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This is not the end it is The Beginning     

  Fourth Year, Issue 249

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

..

Poll: Abortion opposition grows USA Today (10/01/09)
"More than four in 10 Americans favor making an abortion more difficult to have, up 6 percentage points from 2007, according to a poll released today by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The poll found that 45% of Americans favor making abortion illegal in most or all cases, up 4 percentage points from last year. The Pew analysis of past polls found that abortion is less of a critical issue for both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans than it was a few years ago; however, the drop-off in concern was more pronounced for liberal Democrats (26 percentage points) than conservative Republicans (9 percentage points)."  
http://tinyurl.com/yew3w3b

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Early Retiring Baby Boomers Swell Social Security Rolls USA Today 10/01/09
"The number of retired workers who began collecting Social Security benefits jumped by a record 19% in the 2009 fiscal year that ended Wednesday as aging Baby Boomers and the unemployed chose to retire early. More than 2.6 million retired workers entered the Social Security system, up from 2.2 million in fiscal 2008. That's a much bigger increase than during past recessions." [Disaster Ahead CM] http://tinyurl.com/ycntv4s

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In 16 states, more die by drugs than in cars Associated Press 10/01/09
Drug-related deaths outnumber those from motor vehicle accidents in a growing number of states, according to new government data that highlight a shift in the top cause of deaths after disease and illness. Crashes still cost more lives nationwide, but state-by-state calculations show the rate of drug-induced deaths outpaced vehicle accidents in 16 states in 2006, up from about a dozen states the year before and eight in 2003. Drug overdoses make up the majority of the drug-related deaths, and there was a sharp increase in fatalities tied to cocaine and to drugs known as opioid analgesics – including methadone, fentanyl, sedatives, and prescription painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin. From 1999 to 2006, death rates for opioid analgesics increased for every age group. Deaths from methadone alone increased sevenfold, the US Centers for Disease Control said in a report released yesterday." [editor's note: Notice how they bury the fact that the "dangerous drugs" referred to are NOT mainly the "street stuff" the DEA is supposed to be controlling, but mostly the "legal" ones purveyed by Big Pharma! - SAT] This is a news story worthy of the name “News”, Read it http://tinyurl.com/ye4yzm4

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How Congress is Cooking the Health Care Books By Cato’s Michael Tanner

LAST week, the Senate Finance Committee voted 12-11 not to wait for the Congressional Budget Office to "score" its health-care bill before the committee votes on it. Imagine that: Some senators actually wanted to know how much the bill costs before voting on it. Let them get away with something like that, and before you know it they'll be demanding honest accounting practices -- sending the whole legislative process to hell in a hand basket. When it comes to the health-care-reform debate, you see, honest budgeting is nowhere to be seen. Start with the simple matter of how much health-care reform will cost. The House bill, HR 3200, will cost roughly $1.3 trillion over 10 years -- or so we're told. By the same token, the Senate Finance Committee bill is supposed to cost just under $900 billion. Sure, that's a lot of money -- but it still badly understates the true cost. Read the FULL STORY at http://tinyurl.com/LibertyViews-Health-Care-248

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Exit Afghanistan and Leave Iran Alone by Sheldon Richman, October 2, 2009

Few voices can be found in the mainstream media criticizing the continuation of the Afghan occupation or the rush to confront Iran. Virtually everyone thinks it is America’s duty to police the world and mete out punishment whenever it decides it is justified in doing so. After eight years. What does the US have to show for it? It’s backing a corrupt central government that has almost no legitimacy, while warlords and the deposed Taliban rule beyond the capital. The integrity of the last election is widely doubted. The violence intensifies. Afghanistan is the “graveyard of empires”? Didn’t the Soviets, British, Mongols, and many others meet nasty fates there? Do “our leaders” learn nothing from history? The Bush administration erred in not treating the 9/11 attacks as crimes instead of as acts of war. Invasion, regime change, occupation, and nation-building were absurd responses, especially when you consider that we can best protect ourselves from terrorism by not behaving like an empire. Terrorism is the tactic the weak uses against the strong, particularly imperial forces. Forswearing empire is a far better way to prevent future attacks.

Adding an attack on Iran to the list of U.S. provocations would be crazy. Even with a nuclear arsenal, Iran is not going to attack the United States or Israel (a nuclear state that unlike Iran has not signed the Nonproliferation Treaty). Why would it want a nuke? It might have something to do with the fact that U.S. presidents have threatened Iran in word and deed repeatedly since 1979, when the Islamic revolution dumped the U.S.-backed dictator the Eisenhower administration installed in power a quarter-century earlier. Since the revolution U.S. governments have tried to subvert the Iranian regime, conducted threatening war exercises off its shores, and helped Saddam Hussein — yes, the same one — when Iraq launched a war against Iran in the 1980s. Now the United States occupies Muslim countries to the east and west of Iran. This should be our concern. FULL ARTICLE at http://www.fff.org/comment/com0910a.asp

This is not the end it is The Beginning     

  Fourth Year, Issue 247

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

..

The proper role of government by Tibor R. Machan Tibor's Space
"The government's role in helping to get people into the game, so to speak, when they are virtually or completely out of it, is, as I understand it, nil: this just isn't the state's proper and safe function. Putting it another way, the government isn't there to be generous, kind, helpful, supportive, charitable and so forth – it exists so as to make sure peace prevails and justice is done. We, as human beings in our various relations to one another, must deal with innumerable challenges as the government protects our rights mainly so we are then free to choose to do what is right on our own initiative." (09/23/09)
http://tibikem.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B2FD693F4B9A5746!1155.entry   

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Does a liquidity trap pose a threat? by Frank Shostak von Mises Institute
"The latest data for lending in the eurozone, the United Kingdom, and the United States display a visible weakening. In the eurozone, the yearly rate of growth of bank lending to the private sector fell to 0.6% this July from 9.3% in July last year. In the United Kingdom, the yearly rate of growth of lending to the private sector fell to 2.2% in July 2009 from 10.1% in July 2008. In the United States, the rate of growth of lending plunged to minus 3.8% in August 2009 from a positive figure of 8.6% in August 2008. A weakening in the growth momentum of lending has taken place despite central banks' massive monetary pumping." (09/23/09) http://mises.org/story/3697

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Give market forces room to breathe, and costs will decrease by Michael F. Cannon
Cato Institute  09/23/09
'Obama-care' isn't about reducing healthcare costs or making coverage more secure. It's about robbing Peter to pay Paul. http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10560

Five things the corporate media don't want you to know about cannabis AlterNet
by Paul Armentano    According to the findings of a study published in July in the journal
Schizophrenia Research." (09/23/09) http://tinyurl.com/lvd73k

Going to Fox II by John Stossel Freedom Politics 09/23/09
"When I announced last week that I was leaving ABC for Fox, some
readers complained about my 'bias.' I replied… http://tinyurl.com/nykgq9 

Did Cash for Clunkers "revitalize" the auto industry? by William Anderson
Foundation for Economic Education 09/23/09
It spurred sales for a while, but as the money dried up, so did the new car sales. I contend this program has brought long-term economic damage." http://tinyurl.com/ls4xkm

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CA: State OKs petition drive for pot legalization San Francisco Chronicle
"Two prominent East Bay marijuana advocates got clearance from the state today to try to put a pot-legalization initiative on the November 2010 California ballot. Richard Lee, executive director of the medical marijuana dispensary known as Oaksterdam, and Jeff Jones, former director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, are the sponsors of a measure that would allow anyone over 21 to possess or grow marijuana for personal use. It would allow each local government to decide whether to tax and regulate marijuana sales. The secretary of state's office approved the initiative for circulation along with a similar measure sponsored by John Donohue of Long Beach. Each needs at least 433,971 signatures of registered voters by Feb. 18 to qualify for the November ballot. The Lee-Jones initiative would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. Lee says it would generate billions of dollars in tax revenue." 09/23/09 http://tinyurl.com/yak36wo

This is not the end it is The Beginning     

  Fourth Year, Issue 247

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

Chuck McGlawn

...

US House passes ACORN de-funding amendment CNN
"The House of Representatives approved an amendment Thursday that calls for halting government funding to the community organizing group ACORN. The measure, added to a larger bill on reforming student loans that won House approval, follows a provision passed earlier in the week by the Senate that would halt Housing and Urban Development grants to ACORN. Both measures would have to have their differences reconciled in Congress to take effect." (09/17/09) http://tinyurl.com/l8mh29

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Taxpayers stuck with check for Congressional travel to exotic lands
Fox News
"Many Americans hit hard by the recession have been trading their annual family getaways for summer 'stay-cations.' But the economy apparently has done little to ground members of Congress. Iraq and Afghanistan may be frequent destinations for lawmakers, but they pale in comparison to the more exotic places they've traveled, like Ireland, Switzerland and China. Lawmakers defend their travel, saying missions like these are important to share valuable intelligence and build relations. But Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.) says some members of Congress take a spendthrift attitude about travel -- because it's not on their dime. 'I think the let-them-eat-cake mentality that many of us, many members have adopted in both the House and Senate is just not acceptable to the American people,' Johnson said." (09/17/09) http://tinyurl.com/nfroe8

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Should access to medical service be run like the fire department?
by John R. Graham Freedom Politics
"As President Obama seeks to resuscitate his takeover of Americans' access to medical services, his practical arguments are struggling. The Congressional Budget Office's cost estimates are a real drag on the proposal, and many remain skeptical that the federal government can save money by running Medicare and other programs more 'efficiently.' So advocates are retreating to arguments of principle. One is that health care is a 'public good,' so it should be operated like other public goods, such as fire protection. In a September 3 column, Nicolas Kristof of the New York Times asserted that 'a public role in health care shouldn't be any scarier or more repugnant than a public fire department.'" (09/14/09) http://tinyurl.com/lez8nr

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Pay more, get less Cato Institute by Michael D. Tanner
"The proposal isn't all bad. Most significantly, it drops the idea of a government-run 'public option' in favor of co-ops. Government involvement with these co-ops would essentially be limited to providing start-up grants. The co-ops are unlikely to have much, if any, impact on the cost or availability of health insurance, but are far preferable to a government-run plan. Baucus would also take the first tentative steps toward letting people buy health insurance across state lines. He'd allow states to establish interstate compacts for insurance purchases starting in 2015, and also let insurers develop national products that could be sold in any state. National plans would be exempt from state-mandated benefits. This doesn't go far enough, and risks simply transferring regulation and mandates from the state to the regional or national level. Still, it looks like a tiny step in the right direction. But in the end, this is still a plan that will make Americans pay more and get less." (09/17/09) http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10552

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A man came down with the flu and was forced to stay home one day. He was glad for the interlude, because it taught him how much his wife loved him. "She was so thrilled to have me around, that when a delivery man or the mailman arrived, she ran out and yelled, 'My husband's home! My husband's home!'"
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Operation Northwoods and the 9/11 truthers by Jacob G. Hornberger
Future of Freedom Foundation
"Writing about the recent resignation of Van Jones, President Obama's appointee to be green-jobs czar, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer says good riddance. What set Krauthammer off was not that Jones had once used profanity to describe Republicans or even that he might have been a self-proclaimed communist. What made Krauthammer angry and outraged was that Jones had had the audacity to suggest that the federal government might have had foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks and knowingly let the attacks go forward." (09/17/09) http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2009-09-17.asp  

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Aristotle's legacy: The reality and ethics of communal property by Matt Summers
His quest to find the best form of political arrangement thus begins with the contemplation of which items in a city should be shared and which should be kept private." (09/17/09) http://mises.org/story/3675

Libertarianism 101: What's the libertarian position on consumer protection?
Dallas Libertarian Examiner by Garry Reed
Free people freely trading in a free market is the absolutely best way to guarantee the best products and services at the lowest prices. (09/17/09) http://tinyurl.com/lako22

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NYC: Primary voters reject gun grabber Read Media
"'Richard Aborn's defeat in the race for Manhattan District Attorney is an unambiguous rebuke of the gun control movement by the residents of New York City. Aborn based his campaign almost entirely upon his work with Handgun Control, Inc., now renamed the Brady Campaign, and the policies which they advocate ... His last place finish demonstrates just how far outside the mainstream of society gun control advocates are. A solid majority of Democrat voters in Manhattan have rejected their candidate and his ideas.'" (0916/09) http://tinyurl.com/na5lqq

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This is not the end it is The Beginning     

  Fourth Year, Issue 246

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

Chuck McGlawn

Forcing insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions is immoral by Sheldon Richman, 9/10/2009

President Obama says he wants an honest debate over healthcare. I would take his plea more seriously if he gave the following speech:

"My fellow Americans, today I propose a program to help those among us who, because of an existing serious illness, do not qualify for health insurance. I do not blame insurance companies for being unwilling to write policies for existing illnesses. Forcing the companies to cover already sick people would be wrong because it would not be true insurance. Insurance is about future risk and uncertainty, not about past or present actualities. Insuring against an existing illness would be like insuring against a house fire when the house is already aflame. That makes no sense. Insurance companies are businesses in which shareholders, among whom are people living or counting on retirement accounts, have invested to make money. There is nothing wrong with that. But the companies can't make money if they are forced to cover people who have never paid premiums." ...

...I'd respect the speech outlined above because, unlike what Obama called for Wednesday night – regulations compelling insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions – the proposal would at least have the virtue of honesty. Obama undermines his call for honest debate when he proposes to force insurance companies to administer a covert welfare program and calls it "insurance reform."

See Sheldon Richman make an honest person out of Obama and propose a better alternative at http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0910/p09s02-coop.html  Submitted by Paul Blumstein

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  Gold and Freedom, Part 1 by Jacob G. Hornberger,

Among the major threats facing the American people today is out-of-control spending at the hands of the U.S. government. When the Framers were deliberating over the Constitution, they were fully aware of the dangers to people’s freedom and well-being posed by a profligate government. As British subjects, they had experienced firsthand the ever-increasing taxes imposed by their king to finance his ever-growing expenditures. The first thing to keep in mind about the Constitution was its dual purpose: to bring into existence the federal government while, at the same time, protecting the nation from it. While the Framers understood the need for government, they also understood that that same government constituted the greatest danger to their freedom and well-being.

The threat of inflation The Framers also understood that there was an insidious, even fraudulent, way that government officials could seize people’s privately acquired wealth — through an indirect monetary method known as inflation. To protect themselves from that threat, they again used the Constitution.

Clipping the coin Ever-increasing government expenditures and ever-increasing resistance to high taxes caused government officials to look for other ways to raise revenues. The most effective method they came up with was inflation or what was called “clipping the coin.”

What government officials first did was take over the business of minting the coins. It wasn’t enough for government to simply enter the gold-minting business in competition with the private minters. That would obviously leave people free to choose between coins minted by private businesses and those minted by the government. So the government would decree a monopoly on the minting of coins.

Inflation and the printing press The invention of the printing press greatly facilitated the ability of government officials to seize people’s wealth through inflation. Here’s how the process worked. Dear readers, this is a four part article. We cannot even begin to do it justice with an abbreviation. Hornberger is one of the most knowledgable and prolific advocates of Liberty on the Liberty Front today. This is one of the most important series of articles that you will read this year. We invite you to read and reread all four parts. Digest it as you well can and begin sharing it with everyone on your mailing list. The FULL PART 1 is at http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0904a.asp

___________  Men are like government bonds. They take so long to mature.________________________

Why California is going into the dumper  by George F. Will 09/10/2009

Between 1990 and 2007, the state lost 26 percent of its factory jobs and 35 percent of its high-tech manufacturing jobs. "Detroit, only with sunshine," says Investor's Business Daily. In Nevada (no personal or corporate income tax; sales taxes lower than California's), a Las Vegas organization lures Californians with a talk titled "California Has Lost Its Mind and Las Vegas Is Providing Psychoanalysis."

California has the lowest debt rating of any state, the fourth-highest unemployment rate (11.9 percent) and its job growth rate since 2000 is almost 20 percent below the national average. Some county and state public safety employees retire at 50 receiving at least 90 percent of their final year's pay, forever. Taxpayers pour more than $3 billion a year into state employee pension funds, 10 times more than they did 10 years ago, and still there are large unfunded liabilities for which taxpayers are liable. More than 5,000 retired state employees' annual pensions exceed $100,000. If public employees did not begin drawing pensions until age 65, California would save half a trillion dollars through 2030.

Between 1997 and 2007, the state workforce, including public school employees, grew 24 percent, to almost 900,000. Government spending has grown 40 percent faster under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger than under his Democratic predecessor. Since 2005, state spending has increased twice as fast as inflation and population. Democrats blocked allowing parents to enroll their children online in state health programs because it might have endangered unionized clerical jobs. As the state prepares to release tens of thousands of felons from prison to comply with a court order and help balance the budget (in 2002, prison guards received a 37 percent raise), it has 19,000 illegal immigrants incarcerated.  FULL ARTICLE at http://tinyurl.com/LibertyViews-Calif-Stats

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CA: War of technologies in speeding case Christian Science Monitor (09/10/09)
"A California speeding ticket case to be decided in coming weeks puts a new twist on the age-old cops versus drivers battle, pitting police radar against personal GPS tracking devices. The case, which is drawing national attention, revolves around 17-year-old Shaun Malone, who in 2007 was clocked by a Petaluma, Calif., police officer going over 62 m.p.h. in a 45 m.p.h. zone. He was found guilty and fined $194. But Shaun's parents contested the ticket, citing data from the satellite tracking device they had installed in their son's car and expert testimony. The tracking device showed that Shaun was traveling at 45 m.p.h. when the officer stopped him. The data were automatically downloaded into the parents' computer." [editor's note: My GPS beats your radar ... game, set, match! - SAT] http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0911/p02s01-usgn.html

This is not the end it is The Beginning     

  Fourth Year, Issue 245

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

Chuck McGlawn

Working women about to outnumber men USA Today (09/03/09)
"Women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the workforce for the first time, a historic reversal caused by long-term changes in women's roles and massive job losses for men during this recession. Women held 49.83 percent of the nation's 132 million jobs in June, and they're gaining the vast majority of jobs in the few sectors of the economy that are growing, according to the most recent numbers available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a record high for a measure that's been growing steadily for decades and accelerating during the recession. At the current pace, women will become a majority of workers in October or November. The data for July will be released Friday. 'It was a long historical slog to get to this point,' said labor economist Heidi Hartmann, President of the Institute for Women's Policy Research." http://tinyurl.com/nxs7kd

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GA: GOP Senators introduce Obamacare "opt-out" legislation
Atlanta Business Chronicle 09/03/09
"A group of Georgia Senate Republicans unveiled a proposal Thursday that would let Georgians essentially opt out of federal health care reform. The GOP senators said they plan to introduce a constitutional amendment during this winter's General Assembly session giving Georgians the right to choose whether they want to enroll in any health insurance plan and prohibiting governments from punishing those who decide not to participate." http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/08/31/daily66.html

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Gold pushes toward $1,000 per ounce MarketWatch 09/03/09
Gold futures rose Thursday to six-month highs, with December contract approaching $1,000 an ounce as a weakening dollar and fund buying pushed up prices. Gold for delivery next year topped the key psychological level of $1,000. Gold for December delivery, the most active contract, gained $19.20, or 2%, to end at $997.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest level for the contract since Feb. 23. It rose as high as $999.50 earlier. The October contract ended at $996.30, while April delivery gold futures ended at $1,000.20 an ounce.
http://tinyurl.com/l3ppop

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Restriction or Legalization? Measuring the Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform by Peter B. Dixon and Maureen T. Rimmer August 13, 2009

Executive Summary

By the latest estimates, 8.3 million workers in the United States are illegal immigrants. Proposed policy responses range from more restrictive border and workplace enforcement to legalization of workers who are already here and the admission of new workers through a temporary visa program. Policy choices made by Congress and the president could have a major economic impact on the welfare of U.S. households.

 This study uses the U.S. Applied General Equilibrium model that has been developed for the U.S. International Trade Commission and other U.S. government agencies to estimate the welfare impact of seven different scenarios, which include increased enforcement at the border and in the workplace, and several different legalization options, including a visa program that allows more low-skilled workers to enter the U.S. workforce legally.

 For each scenario, the USAGE model weighs the impact on such factors as public revenues and expenditures, the occupational mix and total employment of U.S. workers, the amount of capital owned by U.S. households, and price levels for imports and exports.

 This study finds that increased enforcement and reduced low-skilled immigration have a significant negative impact on the income of U.S. households. Modest savings in public expenditures would be more than offset by losses in economic output and job opportunities for more-skilled American workers. A policy that reduces the number of low-skilled immigrant workers by 28.6 percent compared to projected levels would reduce U.S. household welfare by about 0.5 percent, or $80 billion.

 In contrast, legalization of low-skilled immigrant workers would yield significant income gains for American workers and households. Legalization would eliminate smugglers’ fees and other costs faced by illegal immigrants. It would also allow immigrants to have higher productivity and create more openings for Americans in higher skilled occupations. The positive impact for U.S. households of legalization under an optimal visa tax would be 1.27 percent of GDP or $180 billion. Read the FULL STUDY at http://www.freetrade.org/files/pubs/pas/tpa-040.pdf

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A Radical Solution to End the Drug War: Legalize Everything By John H. Richardson

We've heard a lot about the terrible death toll Mexico has suffered during the drug war — over 11,000 souls so far. This helps to account for the startling lack of controversy that greeted last week's news that Mexico had suddenly decriminalized drugs — not just marijuana but also cocaine, LSD, and heroin. In place of the outrage and threats that U.S. officials expressed when Mexico tried to decriminalize in 2006 was a mild statement, from our new drug czar, that we are going to take a "wait and see" approach.

Still, we've heard nothing about the American death toll. Isn't that strange? So far as I can tell, nobody has even tried to come up with a number.

 Until now. I've done some rough math, and this is what I found: 6,487. To repeat, that's 6,487 dead Americans. Throw in overdoses and the cost of this country's paralyzing drug laws is closer to 15,000 lives.

 I'm basing these numbers on an interview with a high-ranking former narcotics officer named Neill Franklin. A member of the Maryland State Police for 32 years, Franklin eventually rose to the position of commander in Maryland's Bureau of Drug Enforcement. As he puts it, he was a classic "good soldier" in the drug war.

Franklin's turning point came in October of 2000. "I lost a very, very close friend of mine, a narcotics agent for Maryland State Police," he says. "His name was Ed Toatley. He was assassinated outside of Washington, D.C.Read the FULL ARTICLE at  http://preview.tinyurl.com/LibertyViews-Drug-war-facts344

This is not the end it is The Beginning     

  Fourth Year, Issue 244

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

Chuck McGlawn

...

Must Read This Week  Department of Education's "race to the bottom?"
by Armand Biroonak Our Future
"The Obama administration realizes that our education system is lagging, but the recently announced 'Race to the Top' initiative may not be the solution. The Department of Education's 'Race to the Top' puts up for grabs almost $5 billion of federal dollars to states that devise innovations and demonstrate improvements in K-12 education. This program is a good start in theory, but the fine print promotes broad, sweeping changes that are cause for concern. First, to be eligible, states are required to link performance with testing. This is similar to the failed No Child Left Behind policy that focused too much on student assessment, and too little on broader factors and gains, when gauging school quality. For those who forgot, NCLB showed little gains in student progress, with schools forced to teach to the test and tests emphasizing low level skills." (08/27/09)
http://tinyurl.com/ns545a

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Obama's Health Rationer-in-Chief - by Betsy McCaughey

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, health adviser to President Barack Obama, is under scrutiny. As a bio-ethicist, he has written extensively about who should get medical care, who should decide, and whose life is worth saving. Dr. Emanuel says the "major contributor" to rapid increases in health spending is "the constant introduction of new medical technologies, including new drugs, devices, and procedures. Dr. Emanuel says the United States should erect a decision-making body to slow the adoption of new medications and set limits on how much will be paid to lengthen a life.

 Dr. Emanuel [says] “we have the most expensive system in the world per capita, but we lag behind many developed nations on virtually every health statistic you can name." This is untrue [and is]  an odd factual error coming from an oncologist [such as Emanuel]. According to an August 2009 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, patients diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. have a better chance of surviving the disease than anywhere else. The World Health Organization also rates the U.S. No. 1 out of 191 countries for responsiveness to the needs and choices of the individual patient. Read the full article at http://online.wsj.com/ Submitted by Dan Fernandes

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Was the first government gun confiscation attempt foiled by an
unsung colonial heroine? by John Silveira Backwoods Home  (08/27/09)

Gun control people don't seem to get just how deeply etched into the American psyche gun ownership goes and that the resistance to being disarmed by their own government runs even deeper. Private arms have been confiscated from the populace in almost every other country in the world. Europeans and even the Australians have given them up without so much as a whimper. But here there is something about the private ownership of firearms that is fundamentally American, and I doubt the people in any other country can appreciate that fact with the possible exception of the Israelis and the Swiss who are armed to the teeth -- though even they may surrender their weapons if the authorities come for them. But Americans? I'm not so sure." http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/silveira119lw.html

This is not the end, it is The Beginning 

Vol. No 35 . 08-22-2009

  Fourth Year, Issue 243

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

Chuck McGlawn

..

Reclaiming the American Right by Chuck McGlawn

The Left-Right Political Spectrum As The Roadmap to Liberty

Part 1

How the left and right got their names and meanings.

Let’s go back to find out how left and right got their names and meanings. And no, gentle readers, we will not be revisiting the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly Circa 1789. Even thought it is true that the Clergy (the First Estate) and the landed nobility (the Second Estate) sat on the right hand of the King. This positioning arose from the respect the King showed for those two very powerful and respected groups, and had nothing to do with their support of or opposition to Louie the XVI.

On the left side of room, were the “cheap seats”, occupied by the Third Estate (that was the middle class the working class and if you will the begging class), and everyone else including some very unsavory characters. See the Jacobins for some gruesome reading.) Again, this positioning had nothing to do with any support of or opposition to the King. All of these groups were their seeking favor. Seeking to lobby the King, to protect what they had, or to improve their position.

For whatever reason, Marx began calling his movement a “movement of the left”. Whether it had anything to do with seating arrangement of the French National Assembly your guess is as good as mine. Marx did see the landed nobility, as the exploiters of labor, and according to Marx "Religion is the opiate of the proletariat".

Lenin and Trotsky continued to refer to Communism as a movement of the left. “Lenin’s last major work… was entitled “Left-Wing… Communism…”See Encyclopedia of Marxism.  “Trotsky criticized the Soviet Union in some cases for being too far left” when they “initiated forced collectivisation of all farms.” See Encyclopedia of Marxism)

The usage over the years has confirmed that Totalitarianism, Communism or Socialism, all examples of total government, have been called the "left". And the right may have earned their by default being the only other choice.

Now, stay with me here, if more government is called the left and 100% government is the extreme left, and on the left end of the political spectrum, then the exact opposite would be less government and it would be called the right and 0% government would be the extreme right, and on the right end of the political spectrum. And we do not have to guess or speculate about this truth, because the English Language, has a word that means 100% government and it has a word that means 0% government. They are totalitarianism, a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism ), and anarchism a political philosophy…which consider the state… unnecessary, harmful, and undesirable. (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism)

This is not conjecture, or just my opinion. Whenever someone advocates more government, he is calling for a move toward 100% government on the left end of the political spectrum. Conversely, when someone advocates less government he is calling for a move toward 0% government on the right end of the political spectrum.

100% government ß------------------------------------L-I-B-E-R-T-A-R-I-A N--à 0% government

Left  (Totalitarian Communist Fascist Nazi)                                                                                     Anarchy . Right

Confirmation of this hypothesis can be found in two articles by Murray Rothbard. In The Transformation of the American Right first published in Continuum, in the summer of 1964, pp. 220–231. Murray Rothbard correctly observed,

The modern American Right began, in the 1930's and 1940's, as a reaction against the New Deal and the Roosevelt Revolution, and specifically as an opposition to the critical increase of statism and state intervention… (Emphasis added)

Additionally, in “Confessions of a Right-Wing Liberal” published in 1969, Dr. Rothbard further observed:

All of our political positions, from the free market in economics to opposing war and militarism, stemmed from our root belief in individual liberty and our opposition to the state. Simplistically, [still quoting] we adopted the standard view (Emphasis added) of the political spectrum: “left,” meant socialism, or total power of the state; the further ‘right’ one went the less government one favored. Hence, we called ourselves “extreme rightists." [This may come as a shock, and bad news to some leaders in the Libertarian Movement, But the man that penned the first “Libertarian Platform” called himself an “extreme rightists." CM]

Farther along in that same article Dr, Rothbard said.

Originally, our historical heroes were such men as [Thomas] Jefferson, [Thomas] Paine, Cobden and Bright and [Herbert] Spencer. As our views became purer and more consistent, we eagerly embraced such near-anarchists as the voluntarist, Auberon Herbert, and the American individualist-anarchists, Lysander Spooner and Benjamin R. Tucker. [In other words as they became “purer” or more libertarian and more “consistent” in their libertarian views, there heroes were chosen from those closer to the right end of the spectrum of 0% government.]

100% government ß-------------------------------------L-I-B-E-R-T-A-R-I-A N--à 0% government

Totalitarian Fascist                                                                                                                                      Anarchy 

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                                                                                               Part 2                                                             

How confusion took root, to muddy the waters

The confusion had its birth in the perennial connection of the two sets of terms, left and liberal as the first set, and the right and conservative as the second.

The left’s connection to liberal began in the US around 1920. When the populist” and “progressive” movements (with platforms straight out of the Communist Manifesto), were so thoroughly discredited as a political movement, that those terms populist” and “progressive” literally became pejoratives in the political lexicon. Therefore, if leftist were going to be able to continue their leftist work of collectivization of the American people, they would need a new name under which they could operate, and the name they adopted was “Liberal”. Soon thereafter, the terms liberal and left-wing became almost synonyms. From the early1920s to the mid 1960s these terms, left wing and liberal were used almost interchangeably to describe people who were generally calling for more government.

However, during the mid 1960s into the 1970s, a change was taking place. Even liberals, that had always favored expanding government, were beginning to feel the pinch of expanded government. At this point, the terms “Liberal” and “left wing” ceased to be synonymous. Liberals now, did not always call for more government. On issues like marijuana use, prostitution, censorship, abortion and especially the military draft, liberals were decidedly anti-big government.

There were changes on the right as well, the terms right wing & conservative which had been almost synonymous from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, used almost interchangeably to describe people who were generally in opposition to the expansion of government, and favored less government.

The first deviation in the generally accepted meanings of these pairs occurred in the 1950s when a large portion of Conservatives/Right wing were convinced to take on the opposition to Communism. They were convinced by William F. Buckley who began calling for the expansion and empowerment of government, Buckley even called for a totalitarian government to have the necessary power to oppose communism. This change went largely unnoticed, as conservatives still opposed all other expansions of government.

A greater deviation in the meanings of these terms occurred in the1970s when the conservatives, through the burgeoning evangelical Christian movement became numerous enough and powerful enough to begin using government to advance their agenda, a program that they adopted, and continue to embrace.

At this point the terms conservative & right-wing clearly ceased to be synonymous. Now conservatives are calling for all manner of more government.

All of these changes in conservative and liberal thinking had absolutely no effect on the left/right political spectrum. Then as now and always, the left/right spectrum measured the power of government, or the degree to which government makes the decisions for individuals and businesses, or the degree to which individuals and businesses are free to make their own decisions. (Request complete article: chuckest@aol.com).  

Vol   No 34 . 08-22-2009

  Fourth Year, Issue 242

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

Chuck McGlawn

.....

  The Right to Medical Care By Sheldon Richman • September 1997

It is a classic pseudo-right. A pseudo-right is any claim expressed in rights language that would expand the power of the state at the expense of genuine rights. The full exercise of ones rights requires others to do nothing. That principle of nonobligation is an excellent test of rights. How does the right to medical care hold up? Medical care, unlike air, is not found superabundant in nature. It is produced by someone who has prepared. It requires instruments and drugs, manufactured by someone. Who is to provide these things? Does the provider have any choice in the matter? Since the “right to medical care” requires an affirmative obligation, it fails the rights test. Put simply, that “right” cannot coexist with the right to be left alone.

Doctors, nurses, and manufacturers of medical instruments and pharmaceuticals are not forced to provide and produce, but the taxpayers are. Therefore, if medical services are to be provided free to the patient government must force doctors and nurses or force taxpayers. There is no fundamentally differences.

That is only the beginning of what’s wrong. Imagine for a moment a right to apples. How many apples? Scarcity is the natural condition, declaring such a right would be an efficient way of emptying the shelves of apples. Government control of apples might be no more than an inconvenience. Government control of medical care would be life threatening. Yet what is the alternative once a “right to medical care” is declared? There is no way all people can have all the medical care they wish to have if it is (that is, appears to be) costless. The government will have to decide who gets what. How many of us would take comfort in that?

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Socialized medicine includes government care of the sick and support for the family as well. If this support amounts to approximately the same as the man can earn from his own daily labor, he is tempted to be sick continuously.Charles B. Jones, The Freeman [02/58]

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This is not the end it is The Beginning

Vol   No 33 . 08-15-2009

  Fourth Year, Issue 241

 Managing Editor 

Chuck McGlawn contact chuckest@aol.com

Contributing Editors

Walter Clark/Paula Clark

Dan Fernandes

Paul Blumstein

Chuck McGlawn