Paul Ryan

It’s  Ron Paul with some leadership skills.
Rep Ryan’s webpage complete with plan.

Health care

It's economics day evidently. I found another good article on why Health Care Reform won't work here at the Fiscal Times ,there is also a blog post here from the comments section that makes some fine points. Then there is this from the CATO Institute. Again government interference in markets distorts said markets.

Econ 101

From the Gay Patriot comes a really good lesson on economics. I'm leaving it as a embedded link because he has a good website and you should go there and read a bit.
 

Big tents

  I find it quite refreshing that a bigoted asshole got soundly booed at CPAC. The GOP looks to be moving towards a more libertarian outlook on gay and lesbian issues than it has in the past. The group said bigoted asshole was whining about is a cosponsor of CPAC called GOProud, something that would have been unheard of a few years ago. I understand that some people have a religious opposition to gay marriage and that's okay, they can have a traditional opposite sex marriage I'm fine with that and I'm sure most gays and lesbians are cool with it too. Personally I would like to see government get out of the marriage biz altogether I think it has no business legitimizing any union beyond outlining the rules for inheritance and tax breaks given to those who admit to the government they are planning on co-habitating with each other for life. As long as they are consenting adults I couldn't care less. Another bunch of sinners at the event is the Poker Players Alliance which is trying to get the ban on internet poker lifted.
  I wonder how much of this is due to Ron Paul and the TEA Party's influence energizing a younger group to become active in local Republican party organizations. I'm glad to see the argument start because it's way over due and if the Republican party came to what I am going to call the correct decision it would make this libertarian feel much better when he pulls the lever for a candidate with an R after their name.

H/T to the GayPatriot

Tea anyone?

  There have been a few intriguing pieces on the Tea Party of late here's one. Real Clear Politics had another the other day here and then there is this one from Mr. Instapundit that I like enough to link to again.
   The thing for my non minarchist friends to understand is this irritation at the federal government and profligate spending started before the election, I know it's hard to believe but it's true for me and those other friends of mine that have been protesting.
   Here's a bigger shock I don't care what color president Obama is, I really don't, in fact I was listening to Henry Gates this morning on MPR and was reminded this worry about skin color or ethnicity is from my parents generation, most of the people I know care about the person and his or her actions not the amount of melanin they have in their genes.The thing I care about is that those leaders we elect uphold their oath to the Constitution and abide by it's constrictions.
  News flash I have disliked the increase in federal power and spending since I've been able to vote. I don't care which side proposes it, it doesn't matter if it's Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. or our current president. I disliked in a bi partisan way the McCain Feingold act. I dislike the Patriot Act I&II. I dislike that the democrats are continuing to  whine about an obstructionist republican minority when they have for the last 13 months had super majorities in both the house and senate as well as a friendly face in the white house. I find Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer, Frank Lautenberg, Dick Durbin and several others political ideals and aims just as distasteful as president Obama's and they are white and most are male. I'm not a bigot for my disdain of stateism or those who propose it.
  I wrote my congressman and senators in opposition to the bailouts by Bush, I wrote them again asking them to oppose the TARP bailout and Chrysler and GM and health care reform. If they don't listen the only other option is to start going to political rallies and protests and then get involved with one of the political machines and work to change it.   
   I think we as a country have drifted too far towards the kind of political ruling class unbeholden to the people that more and more pushes us in a direction that resembles that of Europe's democratic oligarchies and if I had wanted to live in Europe I would have moved there years ago.

The tasters were surprised

Well this sucks for someone but evidently not for the super evil corporation. What I do know is as work has gotten slower and my paycheck has shrunk because of said work slow down I am spending more of my money on groceries from WalMart and less and less at the Co-op. At this point The Wedge or The Seward Co-op gets money for coffee, seafood and some specialty fruits and veggies that the HP Lovecraft corporation. doesn't carry. Another nice plus with this shift is I can buy ammo at the grocery store now which saves time. Life is good. 

H/T to Instapundit

'Rape prevention' or 'rapist protection'?

'Rape prevention' or 'rapist protection'?
Kent makes some excellent points. It's the 21st century, women (and men) are allowed to say no to unwanted attention and enforce that no if necessary with an effective tool.

From instapundit

Glenn Reynolds the pundit at Instapundit and commentator at PJTV.com wrote an opinion piece for the gray lady.

Protection

 A teenage girl beaten in a Seattle bus tunnel as three security guards who were following company orders looked on said Friday that she sought help from the guards and police but was rebuffed.
It's been said over and over neither police nor security guards are required to protect any one individual and the vast majority of the time the police are no more than the recorders of fact that show up well after the damage has been done.
  Robb at Sharp as a Marble has another take- Sharp as a Marble - That excuse didn't fly with the Germans.
Also deserving of a H/T is David Codrea 

Populist Constitutionalism

Populist Constitutionalism & the Tea Parties
seen at Roberta Xs and a couple other places.
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Speaking of Justice Thomas

From Alterhouse comes this link to a video from UF.

Actually, Jonah, in taking on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ Obama is saying to gays, ‘bite me’ — Cynthia Yockey, A Conservative Lesbian

Pretty interesting thoughts, as a vet who served with a couple gay guys and knew several more from other MOSes and as a flaming libertarian I have no problem at all with repealing DADT. As a side note I love the internet there are so many different ideas you get to look at.
Actually, Jonah, in taking on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ Obama is saying to gays, ‘bite me’ — Cynthia Yockey, A Conservative Lesbian

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Free speech and power

From The Breda Fallacy comes this cool little video which ably points out not everyone has the freedom to speak or even read.  

How Obama Rid Washington of Special Interest Lobbyists, Except for All the Special Interest Lobbyists - Hit

How Obama Rid Washington of Special Interest Lobbyists, Except for All the Special Interest Lobbyists - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
Fisking at it's finest, the comments are fun too.

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The Jews In The Attic Test

Another gem from Joe Huffman Will this law make it difficult or impossible to protect innocent life from a government intent on their imprisonment or death?  Although I pretty much made everything up on the spot I told them I called this test my "Jews In The Attic Test".  Furthermore I told them that if it fails this test no further discussion is really needed, the law must be opposed in the most vigorous manner possible. There really isn't much else to say, read it it's short. 
The Jews In The Attic Test

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An email exchange on Citizens United

Identifying info has been redacted


Hey ________,
 XXXX forwarded this to me:

Greetings:
If you're looking for a concise way of capturing (the) supreme court's 
decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission how about: 
"We are all royally, hopelessly fucked for the rest of recorded time."  
It's course, I know but it really does the trick.  (from Huffington 
Report)

We may be able to mark this past week as the end of democracy.  This is 
the continuing effect of the Bush years.  If a person isn't 
occasionally depressed, on the verge of dispair, you aren't paying 
attention.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out.  
Especially knowing that many of our major corporations are owned by 
Arabs, Chinese and others not citizens of America.  The oil cartel can 
buy a company and dump any amount of money into a campaign.  Sounds 
frightening doesn't it?  The cocaine cartel can too.

  My opinion:  McCain Feingold was bad law. I like our senator but he was wrong in this case and many people on both the right and left thought McCain Feingold was great as an incumbent protection law.
  The 1st amendment reads as follows: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Pretty clear isn't it?
  From that text how do you get congress can make laws barring people (in this case the owners and shareholders of a corporation) from political speech? It can be argued that corporations are not persons but the 1886 case of Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad pretty much killed that line of thought for now.  We citizens may disagree but the Supreme Court has ruled in that case and a couple others that corporations are persons in many instances under the 14th amendment.
   From Bradley Smith in an editorial in the January 22 WSJ  "Hopefully, this ruling marks an end to 20 years of jurisprudence in which the Court has provided less protection to core political speech than it has to Internet pornography, the transmission of stolen information, flag burning, commercial advertising, topless dancing, and burning a cross outside an African-American church." click on it for the rest. This ruling also allows many grassroots advocacy groups the chance to speak their piece on issues and electoral contestants as noted several times by the ACLU, hardly a bastion of conservative thought.  
  We've had some of this discussion before, you believe that more restrictive regulation of corporations and people will change behavior, I think that when people or corporations behave badly that I can then exercise my choice to not spend time with that person or buy that corporations goods. I may also use my free speech and assembly rights to encourage others to boycott said person or corporation. I also believe when people infringe on anothers civil rights that then the government should step in but not before. With the exception of slander or libel another's speech doesn't infringe upon my rights. You also have much more faith in government than I do, I have noticed those who are successful in politics are most often egoists and firmly convinced they know best for the unwashed whereas I am only convinced that they are egoists.
  In order to be free one must allow speech that you personally abhor otherwise the only difference between the USA and your favorite oligarchy is a matter of the degree of censorship. 
 

POLITICO Arena: Walter Russell Mead's response to 'Do they get it?'

 Mr Mead says no. He also says a few things that the democratic leaders and progressives might want to think about a bit. Some of us commoners are getting tired of being told we are stupid and wrong.

This is my position on badges.

From Cato

Obama has several models to choose from: He could reverse his tax-spend-and-regulate policies and hope for the same economic and political results that Reagan achieved. He could, like Bill Clinton, recognize the political obstacles to his sweeping ambitions and learn to work with Republicans on modest reforms. He may well end up like Lyndon Johnson, with an ambitious domestic agenda eventually bogged down by endless war. But I don't think his wished-for FDR model — a transformative agenda that is both popular and long-lasting — is in the cards. Read the whole thing.

More Heinlein

  So I was looking for photos of Bonny Doon after Roberta X reminded me of Heinlein's second foray into architecture and came across his bibliography while practicing my google fu and came to the startling conclusion I have read everything he wrote, most of it twice and some is read biannually. As I have mentioned before he had a huge influence on both my political and societal outlook. A quote from my search is pretty apt, "Large numbers of white middleclass teenage boys, still the biggest demographic of science fiction readers, embraced Heinlein's ideals of personal freedom and minimal governmental control. As a result many of them also joined the Libertarian party."
   My personal favorites in no particular order are Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, A Citizen of the Galaxy, Time Enough for Love, Farnham's Freehold, Podkyane of Mars, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, Glory Road, Number of the Beast, J.O.B. a comedy of Justice, Orphans of the Sky, I will Fear no Evil, Methuselah's Children, Red Planet and The Rolling Stones.
   In my last read through of Heinlein's writings I noticed that his early stuff, say up to the fifties has a large portion of socialism and trust in government authority that disappears in his later stuff which is pretty solidly libertarian and minimalist government wise. There was also a undercurrent of distaste for organized religion.  I found seeing the change in his political outlook fascinating and wonder at the reasons for the change. The obvious ones are the atrocities of both the Nazis and Soviet regime under Lenin and then Stalin would give pause to any rational human who could look at the difference in  socialist theory and the reality of humans but was that it?  I haven't really found anything to answer that yet. I tell you one thing I was hoping for more than this lousy dystopian government we are stuck with.
Oh yeah the pictures, Bonny Doon , they aren't great but they seem to be all there is.