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Monthly Archive: October 2009

Tuesday

13

October 2009

1

COMMENTS

Obama's Nannies Want To Control Everything

Written by , Posted in The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

The Washington Post outlines their sweeping agenda of government control:

The Obama administration is taking on Cheerios. And popular cold remedies and swimming pool drains and rhinestones on children’s clothing.

With much of Washington focused on efforts to revamp the health-care system and address climate change, a handful of Obama appointees have been quietly exercising their power over the trappings of daily life. They are awakening a vast regulatory apparatus with authority over nearly every U.S. workplace, 15,000 consumer products, and most items found in kitchen pantries and medicine cabinets.

…

The new regulators display a passion for rules and a belief that government must protect the public from dangers lurking at home and on the job — one more way the new White House is reworking the relationship between government and business.

And so we march merrily along down the road to serfdom.  Are the chains getting heavy, yet?

Monday

12

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

Small Town Nannies Cancel Trick-or-Treat

Written by , Posted in The Nanny State & A Regulated Society

Drunkard Township nannies have canceled trick-or-treat.  My dad always threatened to do that with Christmas…but I digress.  Why such a restriction on freedom, you ask?  The same excuse as always: it’s for the children!

A small community in Greene County is embroiled in controversy after local officials decided to ban trick-or-treating this year.

Instead, Bobtown will hold a four-hour Halloween party.

Supervisors in Dunkard Township say they are taking the steps for safety reasons.

Assistant Dunkard Fire Marshall Bill Chief David Pritchard is “surprised” by the uproar.  Who would have thought that Americans would have a problem with nannies telling them they can’t go knock on their neighbors’ doors?

Hat tip: Protein Wisdom

Monday

12

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

Monday

12

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

So Do It

Written by , Posted in Identity Politics

President Obama promised this weekend that he will end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell:

We cannot afford to cut from our ranks people with the critical skills we need to fight any more than we can afford — for our military’s integrity — to force those willing to do so into careers encumbered and compromised by having to live a lie. So I’m working with the Pentagon, its leadership, and the members of the House and Senate on ending this policy. Legislation has been introduced in the House to make this happen. I will end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. That’s my commitment to you.

I agree with the President.  The policy costs us valuable service members at a time when we need them most.  It’s a self-imposed burden that we can not afford.  But why is he talking instead of acting?  His majority is not going to get any bigger, and ought to be enough to pass what is in the end fairly simple legislation if he simply picked up the phone and told Congressional leaders to get it done.  As usual, he’s all talk and no substance.

Saturday

10

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

Not A Joke

Written by , Posted in General/Misc.

I’m sure most of you reacted the same way I did upon seeing that Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace prize: “This has got to be a joke.” I realize it’s cliché to claim that reaction to unlikely news, but in this case I literally assumed someone had fallen for a clever piece from The Onion.  Alas, that was not the case.

I know for a fact many are still perplexed, as the top search on Google for most of the day was “obama nobel peace prize for what.” For what, indeed.

The answer is fairly simple, though.  The prize is for being a dedicated statist. The Nobel Peace prize, you see, has never been anything but an ideological prize, a treat to re-enforce what European leftists consider positive behavior.

I think the awarding of the prize to Obama after so short a tenure in office is a gift for those of us who have long lamented the worthlessness of the prize. Questioning its worth is now a mainstream endeavor, as the prestige of the “Nobel” label has been wiped away to reveal nothing but a silly little trophy awarded by a sadly loyal group of adherents to a dying philosophy.

Wednesday

7

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

It's A Trap

Written by , Posted in Health Care, Welfare & Entitlements

Democrats have a brilliant new idea to force on you something you don’t want: pretending you could decline. I say it’s a trap:

Senate Democrats have begun discussions on a compromise approach to health care reform that would establish a robust, national public option for insurance coverage but give individual states the right to opt out of the program.

The proposal is envisioned as a means of getting the necessary support from progressive members of the Democratic Caucus — who have insisted that a government-run insurance option remain in the bill — and conservative Democrats who are worried about what a public plan would mean for insurers in their states.

…

How such a system would work is still being debated, according to those with knowledge of the proposal. But theoretically, the “opt-out” approach would start with everyone having access to a public plan. What kind of public plan isn’t yet clear. States would then have the right to vote — either by referendum, legislature, or simply a gubernatorial decree — to make the option unavailable in their health care exchanges.

Oh that’s perfectly innocent. We’ll force it on you, then make your politicians have to “deny” you “choice” in order to get rid of it. And even if they do successfully navigate that minefield of demagoguery, you’ll still get taxed for it!

For the states, this is purposely designed as “an offer they can’t refuse.”

Hat tip: HotAir

Monday

5

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

We Don't Need Government To Spark Innovation

Written by , Posted in Economics & the Economy, Energy and the Environment, Free Markets

The administration is spending big bucks subsidizing favored business models.  In particular, they are pushing a “green auto industry:”

The Obama Administration is eager to establish a green auto industry and is willing to spend money to make it happen. So far the U.S. Energy Dept. has agreed to lend $8.5 billion to help companies large and small retool plants to make more fuel-efficient cars and develop new technologies. On Sept. 22, the Energy Dept. announced the latest such loan: $528 million for a Silicon Valley startup called Fisker Automotive that vows to produce 130,000 plug-in hybrids by 2013.

The U.S. government believes in funding companies outside the established industry because it’s important to nurture new ideas. “We’re trying to create competition among technologies in the marketplace,” says Matt Rogers, an Energy Dept. adviser. Fisker and Tesla Motors, another startup that has received $465 million in federal money, both say their cars are high-tech and have spurred plenty of consumer interest.

Why do we need government to “create competition?”  Markets do that best when the government footprint is as small as possible.  Bigger government stifles competition because policy makers cannot possibly predict what innovations will eventually take off.  Relying on politicians to fund the next big technology is a fools game.  When politicians funnel money to favored groups it is an inherently political process, and it also takes away funds otherwise available for private investment.

It is also impossible to foresee what innovations will eventually lead to technological revolutions. What if there’s some completely new model on the horizon, the discovery of which could be significantly delayed because government distorted the market with heavy subsidizes to interest group approved industries? We don’t need bureaucrats in Washington pretending that their special interest handouts will “create competition,” we need them getting out of the way so private investors can create real competition and innovations.

Sunday

4

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

Pope Mouths Off Again

Written by , Posted in Free Markets

Not for the first time, Pope Benedict has proven, when it comes to economics, the old adage that it’s better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

The Pope compared the world’s poorest continent, which he visited earlier this year, to a spiritual “lung” at risk of being attacked by what he called the viruses of materialism and religious fundamentalism, as he opened a synod of Roman Catholic bishops on Africa.

“There is absolutely no doubt that the so-called ‘First’ World has exported up to now and continues to export its spiritual toxic waste that contaminates the peoples of other continents, particularly those of Africa,” he said.

“In this sense colonialism, which is over at a political level, has never really entirely come to an end.”

Lamenting the exploitation of Africa’s vast resources, the Pope also spoke out against religious fundamentalism, which he said was mixed with political and economic interests.

The “virus of materialism” the Pope refers to is exactly what Africa lacks.  It has allowed the “First World” to experience a level of peace and prosperity unheard of in human history.  We know what works at lifting people out of poverty, but the Pope’s backward economic views would condemn Africa to continuing and unnecessary suffering.

Friday

2

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

We're All Gonna Die! Pt. 22

Written by , Posted in Energy and the Environment

I bet you didn’t know that 2016 would be the last Olympics. Turns out global warming hates competitive athletics:

Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara warned on Wednesday the 2016 Olympics could be the last Games, with global warming an immediate threat to mankind.

Tokyo is bidding to host the 2016 summer Olympics with Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid also in the running. The International Olympic Committee will elect the winning candidate during its session on Oct. 2 in the Danish capital.

“Global warming is getting worse. We have to come up with measures without which Olympic Games could not last long.

The horror!

Thursday

1

October 2009

0

COMMENTS

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About Me

profileI serve as Vice President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, a non-profit think tank dedicated to preserving tax competition and free markets. This site features my personal views, which are not reflective of CF&P.

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