Liberator Defibrillator - Feb 5

The Liberator is a free, biweekly Libertarian newsletter read by more than 70,000 people. Here is my recap of their February 5th newsletter:


Great Britain is piloting a Food Police program, under which officers will knock on the doors of citizens around lunch and dinner time and tell them what to do with their leftovers. "By hitting people at home, rather than in supermarkets, we can get inside their lives"


The new Massachusetts law decriminalizing one ounce or less of marijuana is now in full effect. Instead of facing jail time, those caught with one ounce or less of marijuana now face only a $100 fine and no police record. (For those of you who are wondering, Libertarians are big on marijuana decriminalization)


The mayor of Jackson, Mississippi supported a measure to ban baggy pants. When it was found to be unconstitutional, he was outraged. "...we have some issues that are much bigger than the Constitution," he said.


The new U.S. Agriculture Secretary doesn't know how many people he supervises. Though I'm sure he does know about the numerous fitness centers and cafeterias in his new workplace.


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How the government can double the tax cuts in the stimulus

The government can double the tax cuts in the stimulus package by cutting the Pentagon's budget in half.

That would save $230 billion. The current stimulus package proposes $275 billion in taxes.

It's not complicated. Look at the above graph. Is our risk of attack really six to eight times higher than England or France?

Graph from: "Do Austrians Have a Better Idea?" - Mises.org

Pentagon spending: defenselink.mil (PDF)

My Poor Butt

I'm a clumsy guy, but I'm not this clumsy. Not clumsy enough to have fallen flat on my butt today, twice.

My gravitational challenges were due to the sad state of the sidewalks here in Boston: half of them are still covered in ice. Normally, I wouldn't be whining about it. I'll be the first to admit that my tush is padded enough to take a couple of falls. But when the governor of Massachusetts on the one hand proposes massive tax increases and on the other can't even keep the sidewalks clear, that's just one kick in the pants I can't take.

Deval Patrick is proposing new taxes on candy, juice, soda, and alcohol, as well as higher fees at the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Higher meals and hotels taxes are already on the way to the legislature.

Granted, the governor is proposing massive budget cuts as well--a surprisingly reasonable move for him. However, why doesn't our government stop focusing on how much money is going in and out and begin to focus on whether they are doing their job effectively?

In the city of Boston there is a $100 fine for apartment building owners who do not shovel their sidewalks. For commercial buildings, that fine is $150. Maybe if the city enforced these laws they wouldn't need to go to the state for municipal aid. Or, maybe if the state didn't dole out municipal aid like it was tax-free candy the city of Boston would step up their efforts. (A 2007 announcement about sidewalk fees)

It's not only the sidewalks that need work. Even as the number of emergency calls for fires declines, fire departments in Massachusetts refuse to merge with EMS agencies to achieve higher efficiency. Since 2005, the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Administration has nearly doubled its budget.

Massachusetts spends over $50 million each year on incentives for new police officers at a time when crime rates are plummeting. This incentive program will receive $0 in cuts this year.

At the same time, the state only spent about $500,000 last year on their Teacher Quality Investment program. That budget is less than half of what it was in 2005, and with a 2009 cut of over $480,000, that program will be reduced to nothing. Do these people really think that our healthy police force needs more incentives than our dismal education system?

Let's not forget the important stuff: Massachusetts spends over $7 million each year on the Commonwealth Zoological Corporation. As part of his dramatic budget cuts, the governor is reducing that number by less than half a million--about the same amount he is cutting from incentives to teachers.

"Taken together, these measures are right and necessary steps to get us through these difficult times," said Patrick, according to a Boston Globe article on the tax hikes.

Get us through these difficult times? I think the governor is confused about who is having a hard time these days.

We are the ones having hard times. The people who'll be paying taxes on candy. You are disillusioned if you believe Deval Patrick when he sobs and moans about our poor, disheveled state.

We are the ones who are struggling to stay on our feet as life tries to kick our butts to the cold ground.

Stuck on Huck

Go suck a bee, Sparky.

One of Sparky's silliest theories of all time is that Mike Huckabee would have won the 2008 Republican presidential primaries were it not for his lack of funding. Sparky's logic goes like this:

• Mike Huckabee was the most openly religious of all the candidates (being a Southern Baptist minister), and therefore had the undying support of the majority of Republicans, who are all religious wackos
  
  
• Since Mike Huckabee was running a grassroots campaign and John McCain was not, John McCain was able to raise more money than Mike Huckabee
  
  
• The only reason that largely non-religious John McCain was able to win the Republican primaries was that he was able to outspend Mike Huckabee
  
  
• Although Mitt Romney outspent every other candidate, he did not win because he is a Mormon

Sparky is wrong.

It would be quite a task to prove that not all Republicans are religous wackos. Instead, I will prove that Republicans did like John McCain the best despite the fact that he was one of the least religious candidates.

According to the Campaign Finance Institute, John McCain did in fact outspend Mike Huckabee. In 2007 alone, Huckabee was able to raise only $9 million to McCain's $42 million.

However, Rudy Giuliani raised $62 million that same year. According to Sparky's theory, shouldn't he have gained the upper hand by January 2008? He didn't. By the end of February, Giuliani had raised only about $2 million more, Huckabee only $7 million more, and McCain about $14 million more.

According to the numbers, McCain was more popular than Huckabee all along. But wait, that doesn't take into account Huckabee's "grassroots campaign". Could it be that McCain's fundraising success was not due to the support of everyday Republicans, but rather to the support of a bunch of evil corporations and CEOs?

In 2007, John McCain raised $55 million in individual donations. Mike Huckabee raised only $15 in individual donations. If the majority of Republicans supported the religious guy, why didn't the religious guy get the most donations?

The one point that Sparky may be right on is Mitt Romney. In the same year that McCain and Giuliani spent about $60 million each, Romney spent about $110 million. Furthermore, Romney was well-known for his executive experience in business and as Governor of Massachusetts. It could be true that Republicans rejected Romney because they found his Mormon beliefs to be outlandish. It also may have been because of his political missteps on the campaign, such as when he claimed to remember hearing a speech he wasn't around to hear.

Nonetheless, Sparky is wrong about Mike Huckabee.

Most Republicans did not support Mike Huckabee. Most of them supported John McCain, and that is why he won the primaries. That's how fundraising and voting works!

Martin Luther Things

In school they teach us about Martin Luther King Jr's famous dream. Every year on the Friday before MLK day, they stop classes fifteen minutes early and play his Dream Speech over the loud speaker. We sit in last period, thankful that we are listening to the booming voice of history rather than writing an essay about it. Some of us listen with indifference, waiting for the final bell to ring. Most of us feel inspired, and we compliment our silent concentration with a knowing grin.

None of us, though, could ever comprehend what in the world Dr. King was talking about.

What is this dream? We already have classmates of all races and cultural backgrounds. We already have restaurants and movie theatres that serve every American no matter where they are from or what they look like. We just finished watching a two-year political theatre act staring the oldest and youngest presidential candidates ever, at least two women campaigning in major positions, and a black man giving a presidential victory speech. What else is there to dream about?

Dr. King's dream was an important one and it is important for us to commemorate it every year. It is a shame, though, that his most famous speech overshadows all of the other important things he believed in.

It would also be a shame if we forgot who Martin Luther King Jr. and his father were named after: Martin Luther--a German monk and religious reformer born in 1483.

Funny enough, the two men had quite a few opinions in common. So, in memory of both of them and in commemoration of tomorrow's inaguaration, here are a few quotes from Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. that I think might enspire a few dreamers like me:

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
-Martin Luther

Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor in America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.
-Martin Luther

The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.
-Martin Luther

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.
-Martin Luther

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Alive and, well....

I am alive. I've been having internet problems at my apartment in Boston and have been working full time, so posting has not made it to the top of my priority list. Also, my brain hasn't been inspired to write anything. However, maybe that will Change. Everything else is nowadays!

Depression is Great

Let's stop this nonsense about the free market causing the economic crisis.

I challenge Democrats and Republicans alike to read this entire post, consider the facts I present, and in light of them explain to me exactly how the free market caused the oncoming depression or any other depression or recession in U.S. history.

Consider this:

• In 1907 the United States economy was based on a free market
  
  
• In 1907 the stock market crashed. On November 15, 1907, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 53, down from almost 100 in January.
  
  
• The resulting Panic of 1907 lasted no longer than June 1908
  
  
• In 1914 the Federal Reserve system was established and the United States economy was no longer based on a free market
  
  
• In 1929 the stock market crashed. On October 29, 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 230, down from almost 400 in September.
  
  
• The resulting Great Depression lasted more than ten years and didn't truly end until the United States began to mobilize for World War II.

So, what really is the difference between a free market economy and an economy run by the Federal Reserve? The difference is that under a free market, our economy can survive stock market crashes and the popping of financial bubbles, whereas under the Federal Reserve the economy suffers deep recession given the same crashes.

The logic I have laid out here is simple and shallow, but it covers the basics of an economic argument that is quite complex, so it should not be dismissed on the grounds that it over-simplifies the events of the 1920's and 30's.

Do not blame problems in the economy on the free market. We have not been living in one since 1914.

Although the economic minutia are quite interesting to some people (like me), it does serve a good to present this juxtaposition to the average American and see what they think of it. So, what do you think of it? Try thinking about the economy and about history. Don't listen to what anyone tells you, including me. Read the facts and think about them.

Of course, that is only if you are ready for real Change.

You must watch this

Milton Friedman explains role of gold in Great Depression

You must watch this. If you do, you will better understand our current economic woes. Though this was clearly filmed in the sixties or seventies, the points Friedman makes about government-induced inflation apply directly to our current economic woes.

The more you know!

Best Posts of 2008

In 2008, the Associated Peace's inaugural year, I have published 65 posts. Sure, there have been some weak moments and a few jokes in bad taste, but overall I am proud to say that this blog has been committed to serious, balanced, and unbiased editorials.

Just look at the press I've been getting!

This strange couple put posters near their bed:

This is an actual poster I saw:
And these are actual bumper stickers:



This is a real photo of President Bush, no editing:

It's amazing what one little blog can accomplish in a few short months!

As a tribute to myself, here is a list of my favorite blog posts from this year, in reverse chronological order:

No, Not Fonzi - The Fonz weighs in on the SEC's fraud woes

Poll Trolls - Who knows what about the elections

Black vs. Red - A melodramatic essay on Thanksgiving

A Day Without Gays - My view on gay marriage

Obama Nation - Written about an hour before he won

Abomination - Going against my principals...as a matter of principal

Mad Libs - Crazy fill-in-the-blank fun with government

Greenfleece - Me ranting about GreenPeace

Democrats against the enviroment - Kennedy and Kerry and GE

Arousing Housing Carousing - Understand the economy

Frankly

Sixty Minutes did a nice piece about Congressman Barney Frank recently, and I recommend checking it out:

Barney Frank 60 Minutes Video

As much as I disagree with Frank's views on housing and the economy, you have to admit he is a sharp cookie. His no-nonsense approach to politics is really in line with my own. In the video, notice how Frank emphasizes compromise and criticizes Washington politicians who love to just waste time.

He may not share my views, but at least he is not full of B.S. Right on!

I lied, I'm a loser

I lied. I didn't think that New Hampshire Governor John Lynch would be seeking federal funding to help with the ice storm cleanup, but he is. Tisk!

No, not Fonzi

Ponzi scheme: A fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from the profit from any real business.

-Wikipedia

Was anybody surprised that the S.E.C. missed Bernard Madoff's multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme even when it had been under their nose for years?

Maybe somebody should tell them about Social Security.

Fonzi says:
That Ponzi guy is whack!
But Social Security is totally cool!
Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Poll Trolls

A couple of weeks ago there was some controversy about a Wilson Research poll which tested 1000 McCain and Obama supporters on some basic campaign facts. The poll was originally conducted only on Obama supporters. Since the results showed a poor knowledge of campaign trivia, the supposition was made that Obama supporters were ignorant. However, Wilson repeated the poll on both Obama and McCain supporters and the results were identical.

As it turns out, both McCain supporters and Obama supporters had trouble on certain questions. Based on the full poll data and cross tabs, here is my analysis of the poll:

What McCain supporters knew that Obama supporters did not

• 64% of Republicans knew that the Democrats already controlled the Senate before the election.
  
  Only 38% of Democrats knew that.
  
  
• 50% of McCain supporters knew that Barack Obama had said his policies would bankrupt coal companies and make energy prices skyrocket.
  
  Only 14% of Obama supporters knew that. 24% of them though McCain had said it.
  
  
• 48% of McCain supporters knew that Barack Obama had claimed to have campaigned in 57 states.
  
  Only 24% of Obama supporters knew that.

What Obama supporters knew that McCain supporters did not

• 
  

What both Obama supporters and McCain supporters knew

• McCain could not remember how many houses he owned (about three-quarters of McCain and Obama supporters knew this)
  
  
• The Republicans spent $150,000 on Sarah Palin's clothing (about 80% of McCain and Obama supporters knew this)
  
  
• Sarah Palin has a pregnant teenage daughter (95% of McCain and Obama supporters knew this)
  
  
• Joe Biden said that Barack Obama would be seriously tested in his first six months in office (just over half of McCain and Obama supporters knew this)
  
  
• Barack Obama said the government should redistribute wealth (about 80% of McCain and Obama supporters knew this)
  
  
• Barack Obama reportedly started his political career at Bill Ayers' house (86% of McCain supporters and 68% of Obama supporters knew this)
  
  
• John McCain was involved in a 1980's savings and loans scandal (about half of McCain and Obama supporters knew this)
  

What neither Obama supporters nor McCain supporters knew

• Sarah Palin did not actually say that she could see Russia from her house (about three-quarters of McCain and Obama supporters believed she had said so)
  
  
• Joe Biden was forced to drop out of a 1980 campaign because he was found to have plagiarized a speech (only about one-third of McCain and Obama supporters knew this)
  
  
• Barack Obama won his first election by getting all of his oponents kicked off the ballot (only 29% of McCain supporters and 13% of Obama supporters knew this)

Nice Ice

I've started to do some research regarding the ice storms that hit Western Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. Both Governors Deval Patrick of Massachusetts and John Lynch of New Hampshire have declared states of emergency and deployed the National Guard.

To begin, I'd like to commend the leadership of my governor, Deval Patrick, during this catastrophic storm. As is documented in the news video below, Patrick was on the scene today assessing the situation first hand. It is obvious that he has a good understanding of the needs of the area and is addressing them. Would Mitt Romney have trekked out there all the way to Fitchburg for the afternoon? You can decide that for yourself.

That said, I am upset that Deval Patrick will be asking for federal funding to aid with the storm clean up. The last newscast I saw reported that the total for the cleanup could be seven million dollars. Does the governor of Taxachusetts really need to go begging to our broke federal government for a few million dollars? I haven't heard any reports yet that tax-free New Hampshire will be picking Uncle Sam's pockets.

I am going to keep an eye out for this. It won't surprise me if New Hampshire doesn't seek federal funding at all. Still think Massachusetts needs income tax?

I lied, I'm a loser

I lied, I'm a loser.

I've been thinking about it, and I wish to revise the statement I made a few months ago in my post Watch the Debates.

Don't watch the debates next time.

After reading a few good books, I began to realize that presidential debates are just a stage where Democrats and Republicans pretend to disagree with each other.

Read Obama Nation for some more on this issue.

Black vs. Red

Have you ever wondered about the origins of the name "Black Friday"?

The media would like us to believe that the name was coined because it is the day when businesses earn enough revenue to be "in the black" as opposed to "in the red", meaning at a profit rather than at a loss. However, the origin of the word is much darker than most people think. It was first coined in the sixties by the Philadelphia Police in a comparison to Black Tuesday. To them, the frenzied traffic and overcrowded stores reflected the chaos of that day when the stock market crashed in 1929.

To me, it is neither. "Black Friday" does not symbolize earnings. Nor does it symbolize a revival of "Black Tuesday", a time of chaos brought on by forces which, by the day of the crash, were more or less beyond human control.

It is not beyond human control, for example, when crowds turn so savage that they literally stampede through store doors and kill employees and fellow buyers, as has become an annual tradition. The day may represent "black" versus "red" revenues for retail stores, but surely it does not for most Americans who celebrate the day. Most of them will be "in the red" by Saturday, after charging hundreds of dollars of gifts to their credit cards.

Maybe instead of wondering where the name came from, we should start thinking about what it means to us today. Will Americans someday forget the real meaning of Thanksgiving? More importantly, have we already forgotten the meaning of the American way?

To me, the most disturbing part about Black Friday is also the most disturbing part about the American economy in general: its reliance on the use of credit and debt. In fact, both our everyday shopping expenses and the foundations of our very country are based on the excessive use and abuse of debt.

At the highest level, consider the $25 billion bailout proposed for three of America's largest car makers. It goes without saying that if these companies kept cash reserves rather than operating on debt they would be able to survive a few weeks of depressed sales.

Car sales would not be depressed to begin with were it not for the recession. Let's not forget how that began: millions of Americans nationwide became unable to pay their debts (namely mortgages), causing crisis in one of the largest sectors of our economy. Isn't the fact that American debt markets can cause a global economic crisis evidence enough that debt is being overused and abused in this country?

Of course, the red does not stop there. In response to the debt crisis our government has turned to the most obvious solution: more debt. For years, we thought the war in Iraq was breaking Uncle Sam's bank. In the past month, the government has allocated double the expenses of the entire Iraq war in the form of two $800 billion bailout plans. In other words, the government wants to get into more debt so that companies like the "big three" car manufacturers can borrow money from the government and get themselves in more debt, so that we Americans can buy their products with loans and credit cards and get ourselves in more debt.

I say we call it "Red Friday".

Even better, I say we forget about the occasion all together and find something really worth celebrating. Instead of using the day after Thanksgiving as an induction of the Christmas season, we could show our thanks for the freedom we enjoy by going out in our communities and volunteering with our friends and family. We could continue our celebration of America by holding public parties and events like we do on the Fourth of July. Or--going out on a limb here--we could simply use the day to take some well-deserved rest from the stress of our work and everyday lives.

Obviously it is idealistic of me to make these suggestions. Maybe instead I could suggest something a little more realistic--a new Black Friday tradition that embraces the unchangeable modern trends. Go out early on Black Friday and go shopping, and then later in the evening sit back and unwind by watching Scrooge starring Albert Finney. That way you can get your shopping done, get some family time, initiate the Christmas season, get a perspective on the evils of debt and greed, and maybe become inspired to turn over a new leaf like Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge.

Thank you very much!

Change #2: Reversal on campaign funding

During the presidential campaign, the Obama camp touted their large base of "small donors" and claimed they "changed the way campaigns were funded".

As it turns out, they lied. About 26% of donors to the Obama campaign were "small donors", as compared to 25% of donors to the 2004 Bush campaign.

Campaign Finance Insitute: Reality check on Obama campaign financing

Covered in the news:

ABC News Political Punch blog
USA Today
US News and World Report

So, the "change" here is really the unmasking of a fake "change" that Obama already claimed to have made. Stay tuned for more changes!

Update on Obama's lobbyist friends

My original post on Tom Daschle, the health care lobbyist being appointed as secretary of health and human services:
Change #1: Reversal on ethics promise

According to the International Herald Tribune (New York Times' international edition), the Obama transition team is rife with lobbyists as well:
Obama transition team lobbyists

As noted in an ABC news blog and on FT.com (Financial Times), Eric Holder, Obama's pick for attorney general is a lobbyist with a history of shady dealings in both the public and private sectors.
ABC News: Dicey Deals
Financial Times: Holder Controversy

Change #1: Reversal on ethics promise

(Opinion alert)

I decided I would keep track of a few of the "changes" that will be happening during the next four years. I put "changes" in quotes not because I don't think the Obama administration won't make any good changes, but because I think many of the changes will really just be continuations of traditional Washington policies. Obama is so much more like Bush than most people realize.

One such traditional Washington policy is appointing cabinet members who are highly-paid members of the industries they will be overseeing.

(Fact time)

Although no cabinet pick has been officially confirmed as of yet, Obama officials have confirmed that Tom Daschle will act as secretary of health and human services.

According to the New York Times, Daschle has been a board member of Mayo Clinic, a large health care provider, for four years. The Mayo Clinic recieves research grants from the federally-owned National Institute of Health.

Daschle has also been working as a lobbying advisor to large health care clients of the lobbying firm Alston & Bird. The firm has lobbied on issues ranging from Medicare reimbursements to drug approvals.

One of Barack Obama's campaign promises included this exact phrase:

No political appointees in an Obama administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years.

This was part of a general promise to not appoint individuals who have a conflict of interest.

(Opinion alert)

It is undeniable: if Tom Daschle is appointed secretary of health and human services it will represent a conflict of interest and a reversal by the Obama administration on this promise. Daschle would be unable to do his job effectively without working on regulations or contracts related to Mayo Clinic or any health care company that he worked with at Alston & Bird.

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