socialist Bush; I'm an Anarchist; Speculators; Short Book

It's about Friggin' Time!

The Washington Times is reporting that the RNC will accuse Bush of embracing socialism.

A member even said, "We can't be a party of small government, free markets and low taxes while supporting bailouts and nationalizing industries, which lead to big government, socialism and high taxes at the expense of individual liberty and freedoms."

While its news to me that the Republican party is one of small government, free markets and low taxes, this is a very good revelation, hopefully it will lead to a more libertarian-Republican party in the future.

I am an Anarchist

I've been putting off this decision for a while, but after a bunch of reading over the break, I've severed any theories I'd had concerning good government, or at least necessary government, in any area, and now consider myself an Anarcho-Capitalist, in the tradition of Murray Rothbard. For more on Anarcho-Capitalism, see this: this

Previously, I was a minarchist, which is what TJ is, meaning I believe in very minimal government, only in the form of courts, and defense (police and military), but I now believe that is not very reasonable; if it is bad for the government to have a monopoly in any place it is bad in all places, the same principle applies to everything.

Speculators

This subject probably would have been more interesting a few months ago, but I'm running short on Economic topics I haven't already covered, so I'll post about it today.

By speculator I mean the type of entrepreneur who tries to gain by speculating in the future price of something, usually a commodity. Speculators are typically scorned by the media, usually because they make money for 'nothing,' (maybe a not-so-surprising event was all the right-wing talking heads teaming up against the Oil speculators this summer; and I thought they were pro-Capitalism).

However, speculators provide a huge service in the market; since I'm from the mid-west I'll use corn as an example.

Say there is Wisconsin farmer toiling through the spring planting all of his seeds for the corn, all the while worrying about the future price and losing sleep over it. Along comes a speculator who offers him $5 per bushel (not accurate) for all the corn he grows, speculating that it will be higher. The farmer considers it and takes the offer signing a contract in April.

As fall comes closer the price of corn varies widely on speculation that ethanol funding will be stopped or weather will be better than usual, but the farmer does not need to worry about it, because he has a set price, it is also likely the speculator does not because he may have a more diversified portfolio than the farmer could have managed.

Finally, Fall comes and three situations can occur:

1. The price is lower than $5 per bushel in which case the farmer has been saved the trouble of selling all his corn at unprofitable prices, while the speculator probably makes up for the loss in other areas.
2. The price stays the same and neither party seemingly cares, but the farmer was saved a lot of restless nights knowing he wouldn't have to worry about the price.
3. This is the outcome which stirs up the most controversy, the price of corn is higher than $5 per bushel. Many farmers will probably go to the media which will cry about how the speculator 'stole' this profit from the 'poor' farmer (for some reason no one ever talks about the 'poor' speculator who had his money 'stolen' by a farmer when the price ends up lower). Many, unknowledgable and likely unintelligent, will even accuse the speculator of somehow manipulating the prices, as if that were possible. In reality, the Speculator is shouldering all the risk and his profit is easily justified.

Quote of the Week

"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the the world of fools." ~Herbert Spencer

Short Books, number one Concise Guide to Economics

By definition libertarians are geared more towards work than laziness, because of this not many of them have a lot of time to read a thousand pages per week.

I've decided to start a series, where each week I'll review a great and short (less than 200 pages) book, these will all be on economics, history or politics in some way.

The Concise Guide to Economics

The book is 119 pages, has 37 chapters and was written by Jim Cox, who is an associate professor of economics and political science at Georgia Perimeter College. The book is currently in its third edition.

Cox said in the introduction that his aim with the book is to allow people to grasp free-market economics with very little effort, the book accomplishes this to a great extent.

Though I felt I had a lot of knowledge on all the non-Keynesian stuff (it isn't pro-Keynes, it refutes it), the book showed me arguments I had never though of and cemented my knowledge in many key topics.

Its format also makes it great for future reference, in prepping for the Speculation paragraphs above, I just flipped the book open found the chapter, and read it in two minutes (all the chapters are between 1-4 pages long usually about 2.5, I read the whole book in about two hours).

Finally, Cox includes 5 or more references to longer books on each subject. I consider this book a necessary possession for anyone serious about debating economics maters.

Aquinas is massively enjoying his vacation of reading and non-stop logic relative to the socialist college where he refines his debating skills daily.

Obama U-Turn

By, TJ Madison

Have you ever seen a bigger '180' in politics, in such a short time?

I'm talking about Barack Hussein's complete makeover after his November 4th election win. Before the presidential election, B. Hussein was all about 'hope and change', 'change and hope'. If he could find another way to say those two words, he would have. He made it sound like we would all be living in paradise, only if he were elected. However, elect the 'other' guy, and America would keep heading down the path of total destruction.

B. Hussein was usually seen with that big smile or a slightly more serious look, when giving one of his 'positive' speeches.

Fast forward six weeks to today. Almost every appearance B. Hussein makes, there's a somber mood and a sour look on his face. Mr. 'hope and change' morphed into Mr. 'fear and hopelessness'. For someone who raised the bar higher than any other politician in recent memory, I've never seen a president lower the bar for himself, before even taking office, as much as he has.

During the campaign, which wasn't that long ago, Hussein was promising immediate good times on January 20th. If he were elected, I was under the impression that we would have 'full' employment, 95% of Americans would get a tax break, and every other nation in the world would 'love' us; thus not needing to pay for a military anymore.

With the money saved, children could go to school immediately after coming out of the womb, everybody would have 100% health care coverage, the government would fill your gas tank up and make your mortgage payment for you.

Guess what? He's still four weeks from talking office, and I think reality is starting to set in.

Or did he already know he wasn't going to be able to do all that crap he talked about, but just decided to say it anyway, as a 'pander' to the ignorant voters who just love to eat up phony promises?

Honestly, I think 85% was his big ego, while the other 15% was promises he knew he couldn't keep.

Democrats have made the same old promises including: middle-class tax cuts, national health care, raising minimum wages and so on. What made it different this time, was that people may have actually thought they were electing 'God' himself. Only because B. Hussein could speak well, and someone this eloquent couldn't possibly be your average scummy politician, could they?

As for the former, Barack probably thought he was the 'Second Coming', the great 'Community Organizer' or the neo-Authoritarian that thought collectivism didn't work because a great man like himself wasn't 'in charge' of it. That's how a political narcissist thinks; socialism could work, if only the 'right' person was running the show.

America doesn't need another FDR, it needs another Thomas Jefferson.

TJ Madison is a pundit living in Fond du Lac, WI. He works in the health care industry and fights 'creeping socialism' in his spare time.

Updated Books; Quote; Ayn Rand

Updated Book Store

Just in time for Christmas and the new year I've updated the book store

I've added more sections and consolidated the book titles to only those we endorse.

You can now find great books on, Economics, History, Politics, Philosophy, Religion and Foreign Policy. Plus works of Fiction, Movies and Music.

Free Speech Board

This is the last week of the semester so the question was not updated, but after having a discussion with TJ this weekend, I've decided to comment on the question.

The questions was: "When is civil disobedience OK?"

I originally thought the question was just a HIPPIE thing, but I've come to resent its wording.

The definition of disobedience is: "Lack of obedience or refusal to comply; disregard or transgression," and "civil disobedience," is taken to mean disobeying the government.

My common sense answer to this question is, 100% of the time. This is not including aggression.

My thoughts are this (I know an unusual amount of statement then colon in this section, I'll quit soon): any laws government makes (other than against aggression) are by definition taking away liberty, thus the question should have been: "When are Government Laws OK?"

Quote of the Week

"There is simply no other choice than this: either to abstain from interference in the free play of the market, or to delegate the entire management of production and distribution to the government. Either capitalism or socialism: there exists no middle way."

-Ludwig von Mises

Ayn Rand

I've been putting off writing about Ayn Rand's three main fiction books for a while, I don't have a lot of topics about which to write this week because of the short time in between articles, so I'll write about them now, in the order of my rankings of the three.

Atlas Shrugged

Story

Dagny Taggart is the heroine of the story, she is the Vice President of Taggart Transcontinental Railroad.

She is given the task of making the railroad survive during an economic depression. As she tries to do this a 'destroyer,' is roaming the country convincing all the captains of industry to disappear.

As all the people who run the best companies continue to disappear the economy starts to crash and Taggart struggles to run her company as more and more socialistic government laws are placed on the economy.

My Thoughts

I have not read the Bible in whole, so thus far Atlas Shrugged is my favorite book. There is no close competitor.

Nearly every story in existence preaches the goodness of self sacrifice, Atlas Shrugged shows how self-interest is logical and necessary. As every other book demonizes business and attempts to show government as a protector, Atlas Shrugged shows how the great businessmen are the producers in the economy and the government is the demon.

The book has the easily the best story I have ever read and although it is over 1,200 pages long I could not put it down and read it in just over three days. This book is a must read for literally everyone.

Anthem

Story

Sometime in the future the world has become so collectivized that the word 'I,' no longer even exists in the vocabulary, it has been replaced with 'we.'

In the dystopia created by collectivism all the progresses of the past are lost and the people spend all day working in the jobs chosen for them, many of these farming. There is no electricity and little technology of any sort.

The hero of the book, Equality 7-2521, finds a cave underground where there are remnants of old material, there he rediscovers electricity and creates a primitive light bulb, rejoicing in the fact that he has helped society.

But, when he shows it to the creative council they cast him out, because unless all men have thought of something it is necessarily bad. Equality eventually escapes with a woman he has fallen in love with and lives the rest of his life in the forest next to the city.

My Thoughts

This book is every bit as good as the more popular 1984, and carries more valuable lessons.

It is only 105 pages long and I read it strait through in about an hour and a half, after wards I had a great motivation to work and just create something for about a month.

This book is not as much of a must read, but I'd recommend it for anyone flights or for those with middle to high school aged kids or nephews/nieces etc.

The Fountainhead

Story

Howard Roark is an independent thinking architect, he refuses to go along with the norm.

As a result his life has a lot of ups and downs, but he never compromises on his independence.

In the climax he blows up the living complex he had designed, but was not built ot his specification.

My Thoughts

The Fountainhead is a good book, but I did not like it nearly as much as the first two.

Much of the book was about art, which is a subject I don't find very interesting, combine that with some very dry parts and you get the short summary I wrote above.

I would recommend it for thos einterested in art of just with a lot of reading time and want to read about individuality.

Thomas Aquinas is a college student who takes refuge in great books when his world becomes to inconceivable to make sense.

'Hostile Takeover'; Bailout again; Christmas; Russ Roberts

I missed last week's post as I temporarily became obsessed with a four book series, and I read 2,700 pages in about seven days. I literally could not put down the books if I wasn't sleeping, working or going to class. So this week my post will be a little longer than usual.

A Hostile takeover is not a logical or intelligent name

First, Investopedia calls a Hostile Takeover:

A takeover attempt that is strongly resisted by the target firm.

Alright, I'm going to assume they mean management by the 'target firm.'

Also, it is so far impossible to force people to sell their shares of a company, so a takeover is, by definition, never hostile to the owners. If it was they would not choose to sell their shares.

So, combining those two points, if owners choose to sell their shares when the management of the company is resisting the buyout, the management is either crappy, or the bid is high enough to make it worth the shareholders while, regardless of which applies it is better for the owner's of the company, that is, those who really matter.

Free Speech Board

This week's question was, "When is Civil Disobedience OK," I do not really have an opinion on this so I didn't read any of the answers.

Stop the Bailouts, Part 1

In a free market the only gauge entrepreneurs have as to whether consumers like a product and want scarce resources to be devoted to its production is Profit/Loss.

When a company has a profit it means consumers are willing to pay for the allocation of that resource, when it has a loss it means they don't.

Without this ability there is no way to see where people really want and need resources, when the government overrides prices and props up a losing company resources get allocated incorrectly (the USSR famously had too much machinery and not enough working factories in one part of its country, and too many factories with no machinery in another part).

Quote of the Week

"Democracy is a form of worship. It is the worship of jackals by jackasses."

-H.L. Mencken

Christmas Presents

With two weeks left before Christmas I've decided to add a little recommendation section for some last minute Christmas presents that can be bought from Amazon. Also, we get a 5% commission on everything purchased that will go towards the hosting costs.

History

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History - The first book I read by a libertarian author, Thomas E. Woods massacres any and all of the myths about big government in American History.

Hamilton's Curse - I haven't read this book, but I did read DiLorenzo's How Capitalism Saved America, which was very good, and haven't read a negative review on it yet.

Economics

Economics in One Lesson - Hazlitt takes on all of the economic stupidity of his day (the fifties) and shows how using one basic rule (look past step one) all of them can be derailed, most of them still apply today and I believe this is one of if not the best introductory Economics books.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism - This was the book that started me down the slope into libertarianism. As Woods did in his 'PIG' Robert Murphy destroys all the big government myths about Economics, and on the way recommends countless worthy books and uses only concrete logic.

Fiction

The Invisible Heart: An Economic Romance - See Russ Roberts books below.


Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) - This books series was one that killed my free time last week. There is little to no politics in the book, but for those who like good stories combined with romance I haven't read anything that can beat it. Also, it's only $6 on Amazon so if you buy it and don't like it's not a big deal.

Stop the Bailouts, Part 2

Many people say GM needs to be bailed out because it employs so many people, but as Briggs Armstrong pointed out 12 companies have more employees than GM and Wal-Mart has seven times as many.

Do we have to bail all of these companies out as well?

Can you name one liberal who would want to bail out non-union Wal-Mart instead of GM?

Russ Roberts Books

I read these books a while ago, but had to do a report on one for one of my classes so I've waited until now to post on them.

The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity

This is Roberts' most recent book, it tells the story of a college student who plans a protest against a big Corporation who doubled its prices in the aftermath of an airplane and the professor who talked him out of protesting in his graduation speech.

The Invisible Heart

My favorite of his books, it's about two teachers, one Economics and one English. The English is decidedly leftist and the Economics courts her with political debates.

The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection (3rd Edition)

The Choice is not as good as the other two, it centers around 18th century British Economist David Ricardo visiting a business owner who is lobbying for protectionist legislation and showing how protectionism does not work.

Stop the Bailout, Part 3

The bailout is socialism, this has no legitimate argument against it.

One need only look at Russia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Chicago, etc. to see how badly socialism has failed, and the lives it has taken.

THERE HAS BEEN PURE SOCIALISM

Many unintelligent defenders of socialism (which is very redundant, I know) claim there is no way to know if pure socialism would actually work because it has never existed totally without a leader screwing it up.

This is untrue, from 1917 to 1921 it existed in this form in the USSR, after just this little time the death rate from starvation (in a country where its previous problem had been how to dispose of its food surplus) that Lenin was forced to introduce prices until 1927, when he took back control with socialism.

Thomas Aquinas is the aka for a college student living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He deals with the economic incompetence of his fellows by reading constantly, and recommends that to others who have to deal with idiocy.

Appointing Clinton 'LEFT'overs

TJ Madison

During the primaries, a hippie Democrat co-worker told me that , "I'm voting for Obama, because I don't want anyone named Clinton or Bush in the White House." I did agree with him about not wanting anybody named Clinton or Bush, but I couldn't agree to vote for an even bigger socialist than either of those two.

With that being his top reason to vote for Barack Hussein, I wonder what he thinks about the appointments that have been made already for an Obama administration? Sure, the name Clinton is not the President, however, she (Hillary Clinton) has been chosen by Hussein to be his Secretary of State; the biggest appointment after VP. I'm only bringing this up because Hussein was supposed to be a new, fresh and different politician on the block. It wasn't going to be politics as usual.

Now, those of us who don't drink the Democrat Kool-Aid, already knew Hussein wasn't going to be any different then any other past politicians in recent memory. It didn't take a genius to see how he got to the top of the Democratic Party.

As much as people would like to think Hussein is the 'Second Coming', I have news for you: he's just another bull sh*t artist. This 'nice guy' started his political career by getting his opponents kicked off the ballot in Illinois. As a lawyer, he sued Citibank to get them to lower standards for handing out mortgages to blacks.

And what was one of the major reasons for the recent American Banking crisis? Banks making it 'easier' for lower income people to attain home-owner status. Thank you very much, Presidents Bush and Clinton.

Now we've elected another tool who thinks just the same.

Hussein is not taking America forward if he's hiring people from the Clinton Administration. In addition to Hillary, he's hired former Clinton Cabinet member, Bill Richardson, while his new Chief of Staff was Clinton's Chief of Staff, Rahm "F--- the Republicans" Emmanuel. Does that sound like a guy who wants to be nonpartisan? The latest hire, Tim Geither, also in the Clinton Treasury Department.

I'd like to ask my co-worker now, "As a Democrat, you wanted to get away from the Clinton machine, so you voted Obama, what do you think so far?" It sure doesn't look like 'change' and 'hope' to me, It looks like the same phony socialist propaganda. Yet, another retarded person fell for the smooth talking charismatic empty suit.

Look, as long as more and more American voters get the majority of their news and information from late night talk shows, like Letterman and Leno, Comedy Central and PMSNBC, the odds of having a candidate who will speak for individual liberty, free markets and self-government in either party, will keep shrinking. It's become a popularity contest, who can make the most promises. In the three televised presidential debates, I challenge you to find the words, 'constitutional authority', spoken by either candidate.

You Republicans out there, our party has already started pandering to the celebrity culture, with the Sarah Palin appearance on Saturday Night Live. Could you imagine Reagan, JFK or IKE appearing on SNL or MTV?

It's insane that we've sunk to this level. Don't get me wrong, there's always been pandering, but now we have to 'get' the votes of the low-lives watching South Park.

H.L. Mencken once described Democracy as, " a worshipping of jackals by jackasses." That couldn't be more prevalent than in 2008.

Let's get back to a 'Republic' that the Founding Fathers wanted.

TJ Madison is a libertarian-Republican pundit living in Fond du Lac, WI. He is employed in the health-care industry.

*Thanks to Julie Wisner for coming up with title.

Lincoln; Stages; Work; Warren Buffett

I’ve finally secured a job this week, thankfully, and will now, once again, be paying taxes to the government against my will.
On to the ramblings.

‘Free Speech’ Board

My school has a dry erase board in the cafeteria where they put political questions then have a bunch of socialists argue how much socialism should happen. Starting this week I will put the weekly question here, along with my answer and the dumbest answer, or exchange that happened on the board.

This week’s question: Should there be Free Trade with all other nations.

My answer: Yes, other countries have comparative advantages over Americans when they specialize in certain areas. This allows Americans to do other jobs which promote progress.

Dumbest Answer: NO, THIS ALLOWS MULTI-NATIONAL CORPORATIONS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF POOR PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

My response: I don’t know where to start. If it’s free trade then the person working at this ‘multi-national corporation’ chose to work there and if he still works there he obviously likes it and is fine with the pay. Most corporations who expand overseas pay their workers two or three times the average pay. The cost of living is much lower in countries other than America.

Lincoln was not good!

Over and over again I read and hear the Lincoln worship alive today, yet I never hear a contrary opinion, so here is mine.

The Civil War was not started over slavery. The ending of slavery was an outcome of the war, but it was not the point.

Most southern states seceded, as was their constitutional right, because they did not like how big the federal government was becoming or how high it put tariffs on everything the south needed, which was killing the southern economy. In the Journals of most Southern soldiers you find writings about independence, not about slavery. In fact, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were both morally against slavery and wanted it to end.

After the Southern States seceded, Lincoln unconstitutionally sent the military to attack the South to bring them back to the Union. This whole time, by the way, he repeatedly said how he wished to end the war without stopping slavery, and had, in fact, called Blacks second-class citizens with less human rights than Whites in his first inaugural address.

During the war Lincoln held thousands of South supporters in jail without a trial or any sort of Habeas Corpus, just because he wanted to.

Not only did Lincoln do this, but he is probably the cause of today’s neocons, he combined imperialism with big government and set an example for the future republicans.

Quote of the Week

Creating false distinctions between human rights and property rights plays into the hands of Democrat and Republican Party socialists who seek to control our lives. If we buy into the notion that somehow property rights are less important, or in conflict with, human or civil rights, we give the socialists a freer hand to attack our property.

-Walter Williams

Poll

We have a new poll.


How will Obama Govern?

• Well, will help civil liberties

• Badly, will help socialism

• Both

• Neither, won't pass anything

Please visit the homepage to vote.

Jackpot

I was exploring the Mises.org site the other day, and I found, perhaps, the bets libertarian site that currently exists.

In the media section they have a crapload of audio and video files available including many books and lectures for free download.

Beyond Stage One

I am currently reading Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One
by Thomas Sowell, the focus of the book is looking beyond stage one of any situation. This is also touted by Bastiat and Hazlitt (both used the Broken Window Fallacy) and I believe is the easiest way to quickly kill any crazy economic notions preached by politicians or the media. Here are a few examples:

Minimum Wage- Stage One: Wages in general are lifted for workers.

Stage Two: Employers find themselves paying more in wages than before and have to correct other expenses to make up for it.

Stage Three: Prices rise, returns diminish and employees are laid off.

Stage Four: Employers who are held down by minimum wage laws cannot hire people with minimum experience because those people’s production would not be worth minimum wage.

Stage Five: People are unable to gain valuable experience and are never able to find a job.

Unions – Stage One: A union is put in place and the wages of workers in general rise.

Stage Two: Since the employer is being forced to pay his workers more than their worth (if he was paying them less in the first place they easily could have gone somewhere else where they could make more) he raises prices and lays off workers.

Stage Three: Good employees who ordinarily would have been influenced by bonuses no longer have that incentive because in union plants each worker must be given the same raise, and their quality of work goes down.

Stage Four: The person with seniority gets a promotion first; even though it is very possible (and likely considering he would have gotten a promotion sooner if he was capable) someone a lot better for the job is available.

Pay Higher Wages Multi-National Corporation- Stage One: A US Corporation who is producing its shoes in Mexico is forced to raise its raises to US levels. Immediately after, the workers have higher wages and are temporarily more prosperous.

Stage Two: The workers are about one/fifth as productive (an actual statistic) as US workers so as the factory begins to lose money many are laid off.

Stage Three: Eventually, the company cannot afford to keep the factory in Mexico and shuts it down moving back to the US. Workers who just a few months (maybe weeks) later were making twice as much as the average wage in their area now are jobless.

Stage Four: Consumers have to pay more for their product and investors lose money as the company first loses money then needs to spend a lot of it buying a new factory and hiring and training workers, all the while losing the products they would have been able to make in the past.

Having a Job is Very Good

I was out of work for a year while finishing up high school then starting college, but I recently got a job at a KFC near the college (I had worked at one for a year-and-a-half in the past).

The feeling of production and the self-confidence one gets while working is rarely eclipsed.

Warren Buffett is not an Economist

Warren Buffett is without a doubt a genius and one of the best businessman and investors in American history.

That said he is far from an economist.

Reading Snowball (the newest biography on him) one finds that Buffett’s father was an Old-Right republican very similar to Barry Goldwater, and as close as one gets to libertarianism without being a libertarian. This is extremely surprising considering Buffett is pretty much a socialist, consider that he said budget deficits don’t matter, but trade deficits do.

What?!

A budget deficit necessarily means the government is spending more money then it steals from citizens, which means the money cannot be used in the economy, on this basis alone budget deficits are bad.

Trade deficits, on the other hand, are good. The current US trade deficit means that US workers are freed from doing things they do not want to do (if they wanted to do them they would accept the wages making it possible for them to be employed in these jobs) and doing things where they are more productive.

A Surprisingly Libertarian Movie

I watched Other People’s Money in a management class (we were talking a business’ social responsibility which I’ll get to in another post). I rolled my eyes throughout the movie as Danny DeVito’s character was made to look evil.

But, at the end of the movie when his character gives a speech trying to take over a company and get rid of a losing division, the character makes a pretty good speech knocking down protectionism, though I do not agree with all of his statements I recommend this movie.

The Government Does Not Produce

This seems to be unknown, even considering its obviousness, so I’ll say it here:

“The government produces nothing any money it has was stolen from someone.”

If you have any questions about this please comment with them.

Thomas Aquinas is an 18 year-old college student who recently started reading more than watching tv and the result has been immense knowledge, that however seems to be a negative as not very many people share this knowledge.

Compassionate Conservatism, R.I.P.

TJ Madison

As the George W. Bush presidential term ends, limited-government aficionados still in the Republican Party are left to wonder: what could have been.

The Republican Party, a party who makes its living praising 'small' government and railing against 'big' government, has certainly done the opposite the last eight years. Where did it all go wrong?

It started in the presidential primary season in early 2000. Texas governor George Bush, used the term 'compassionate conservatism' when describing his political theory. Eight years later, we find out what compassionate conservatism is all about: Big government Republican or moderate Republican.

My guess, is that he saw the defeat his father took in 1992 and realized he couldn't get nominated while being a moderate. However, that's what he was- a moderate! So a scheme was hatched to start using the term compassionate conservative, to get the nomination of a 'real' conservative party. To this day, I'm not sure what the term actually means. Was he saying conservatism by itself, was not compassionate?

Don't forget, it was his father who said in 1988: "...a determination to direct the United States to a kinder and gentler nation." I took that to mean, "when I'm President, I won't run America like that mean old conservative, Ronald Reagan."

Now in 2000, Bush 43 starts using the compassionate conservative term, as if to say, "when I'm President, I won't run America like Newt Gingrich".

Meanwhile, Bush goes on to win the Primary and then the Presidency. Federal spending skyrockets in every facet, domestic programs, military, new entitlements and foreign aid. All of it not his fault alone. As President, he just went and signed every huge bill sent to him by congress - a Republican congress!

This is a long way from 1994, when Republicans won the 'House' for the first time in forty years. Some of the proudest moments of being a Republican was when congress had Clinton cornered, to where he had to pass 'welfare reform' and get 'balanced budgets'. After that, I started thinking: What if we had a Republican President to go along with this Republican congress?

I guess the old saying, 'be careful what you wish for', has never been more appropriate.

Prescription Drug Bill.

Amnesty for illegals.

Major wars in two countries.

An almost worthless American dollar.

Wall Street bailouts.

Billions to Africa for AIDS.

Major deficit problems.

Is this what compassionate conservatism is? As a Republican, is this what I voted for? It's almost like Bush and the Republicans were trying to 'out-liberal' the liberal. Now Americans think that the country is in such dire need of change, they elect a pseudo-Marxist for President.

Talk about an over-correction!

I now know the worst decision Ronald Reagan ever made: asking George H. Bush to be his VP. Had he not, America may never heard of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush.

I hope for the sake of this country, January 20, 2009 is the death of compassionate conservatism. If not, Americans will only be able to choose between Democratic Socialism and Republican Socialism.

And that is not a choice.

TJ Madison is a libertarian Republican pundit living in Fond du Lac, WI. His day job is working in the health industry.

Sour Grapes?

TJ Madison 7 October 2008

When I awoke on Wednesday morning following the election, the first thing I heard was, “Well, you were right, he won.” You see, I had went to bed when Barack Hussein had 210 electoral votes to McCain’s 74. It didn’t take Nostradamus to see where this was going.

Once Barack buried the Clinton Machine in the Democratic primary’s it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the masses would pick the Democrat candidate over the Republican. It came down to three issue’s: Iraq, economy, personality. Barack Hussein has a likable personality, while the economy and Iraq weren’t going to change in a couple of months, especially if the Media had anything to say about it.

The Media was clear that, it wanted you to vote for the new, fresh face with charisma; and not the creepy old guy who couldn’t use a Blackberry.

This was one prediction where I would have liked to be wrong. But, when you’re expecting a disappointing outcome that eventually happens, it’s hard to get worked up when it finally does happen.

I did however, think that McCain had a glimmer of hope in the final two weeks, when Barack and his $600 million almost ‘bought him defeat from the jaws of victory’.

I didn’t listen to Talk Radio on Wednesday, I didn’t need to hear why the election turned out the way it did. John McCain lost by six points, without Sarah Palin on the ticket, probably 10 points. McCain may have lost a few voters with the Palin pick, however, he got many more conservatives to come out and vote, that were otherwise staying home.

I get a kick out of people who literally scream about corruption and Washington career politicians. Then, when they have a chance to vote for a person who is as far away from Washington as you can possibly get, who took on corruption in her own State, they don’t vote her. Instead, they vote for two Senators, who are also blood-sucking lawyers living in Washington!

I can’t tell how many times I heard from women, “I just don’t think she’s ready to be President.”

Why? Because she doesn’t have the voice of some ball-buster like Hillary Clinton. Or maybe, because she didn’t have a hyphenated name she wasn’t a real women?

No, the reason you didn’t want her, was because she didn’t have a ‘D’ after her name, and she thought killing unborn babies was barbaric, and needed to be stopped. So you voted for the unknown, empty suit, metro-sexual from the most corrupt city in the United States, along with his 36-year Washington Senator VP pick.

You figure it out.

Alas, the election is over, and it’s time to congratulate the ‘winners’:

Hugo Chavez, President (Dictator) of Venezuela, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, leaders of the terrorist group Hamas. All of these scumbag’s constantly complain about America being the ‘Great Satan’. And they all endorsed Barack Hussein Obama.

The ACLU. You love to talk about ‘free speech’, except for speech of ‘right-wing’ American Patriots. You ‘claim’ to love the First Amendment, as for the Second, Fourth and Tenth, those amendments (along with the rest of he Constitution) is outdated and needs to be eliminated with the changing times.

Hollywood. All you cesspool of freaks got together with George Soros, and bought yourself a candidate. Good for you. Will there be room for Christian voices in America, or do you want them to leave?

Teachers Unions. Maybe you’ll get your wish, too. Because $10,000 per pupil, per school year, just isn’t enough to teach children math, reading and writing.

College Students. Yes, the idiots who believe everything their socialist professors tell them. Walking around in ‘Che Guevara’ t-shirts like morons, while a Capitalist pays for your college tuition.

Also, congratulations to the people sitting in coffee shops for hours, writing a manuscript on your Mac notebook, that will never be published. To the yuppie scum who drive Volvo’s and Saabs, with Obama bumper stickers. Hope you don’t mind paying higher auto taxes when you trade those cars in for newer versions. By the way, you wouldn’t know a decent car if it bit you in the ass! You bought the Volvo or Saab to keep up with your ‘just as stupid’ neighbors.

And to the adults that walk around with the IPODs in public- Grow up. Maybe if you talked to people, instead of living in your own world, you would wakeup out of your ‘music coma’. Oh, everybody’s voting for Obama, I will too.

You make me sick!

Look, I don’t know how Barack Hussein will Govern. It could be the radical revolutionary of the Marxist element, or he could turn out to be a Clinton type, who knew the ‘far-left’ was very dangerous to the health and prosperity of this nation.

Let’s all pray it’s the latter.

Me, I’m just going to sit back and watch it all unfold, while I “cling to my guns and religion.”

TJ Madison is a pundit living in Fond du Lac, WI. His day jobs are, working in the health care industry and fighting Creeping Socialism.

What to expect with Obama

I spent six and a half hours exit polling last night, so I did not see any results until it was made official that the American people have elected the total opposite, in almost every way, candidate than that of the Founding Fathers (the good ones at least Alexander Hamilton and his followers don’t really count, they were just out for some place where they could be in control).

I don’t like being disappointed, which is why I did not lose my mind last night (I’ve been down on this election since Ron Paul was officially out), so I am taking a very pessimistic view of this presidency, hopefully Obama will do a little better than I am anticipating.

So, without further ado here are some things I think will happen under Obama:

• The silly banking interference will continue - Obama wants to pay everyone's mortgage so those who were not smart enough to save money and pay only what they can afford will be rewarded by the stolen money from those who better planned. As a result billions of dollars will be sucked out of the economy and a lot of potential growth will be lost.
• The troops will be moved - to Afghanistan or some other country, possibly Darfur, where they will participate in what the democrats have been criticizing for six years - intervention
• Oil companies will have to endure a lot of interference from the government - and these companies which are searching non-stop for oil and ways to make it cheaper will be given another burden which will hurt the chances of cheaper oil.
• The crappy union bill may be passed - and the mostly evil unions which are on the verge of falling out of all jobs not from the government may find its way back into America, where no worker will be able to keep his job and not be in a union, once union stewards find their way to a company and deceive half of the workers into signing a card. Another shot against the economy.
• Countless unborn children will be murdered - possibly even those who have already been born.
• The taxes on the 'rich' will be raised - and the people in America who create wealth will once again be looked down upon by the people they lift up.
• Capital Gains Taxes will be doubled - and many people will stop investing in ventures which could greatly help Americans and instead move their money into tax-shielded trusts.
• Will re-regulate - which I like to compare with punching a broken hand into a wall to heal it.
• Equal pay bull-sh** - Many uneducated people are angry that the average woman's pay is less than a man's, this makes for a good talking point, but it does not stand up to actual analysis. The average woman does make less than a a man, but she also has less experience and usually works at lesser paying jobs (like teacher opposed to supervisor), this is not a stereotype, it is a fact.
• Affirmative Action - Apparently the NAACP rated him 100% on affirmative action, ouch sounds like an insult to me. I believe the majority of my readers believe stealing is bad, so they must also disagree with this, seeing as some people are stealing from others in affirmative action.
• Vigilant Government and high Corporate Tax rates - OK, first it is a myth that a corporation can be taxed, either the consumer is taxed with higher prices, the worker with lower wages or the investor with lower interest earned. Next, we already have many tens of thousands of freaking pages of regulation we obviously need less, this is not hard to understand.
• Education - It's obvious that the American education system is crap, yet Barack wants to hire a million more inferior teachers and spend more on education.
• Protectionist - I honestly don't understand how a 17 year-old (which is what I was when I first grasped this) can understand that protectionism does not work, yet so many Americans can be duped into believing it by politicians.
  
• Funny Quote - According to On The Issues Barack said, "Eliminate government programs that no longer work," hopefully this means Obama will eliminate the whole of government, then allow us to start over with just property rights and a non-aggression axiom.
• Good Bye, Second Amendment - I do not know why politicians even mention the Constitution anymore, none of them, WEoRP (with exception of Ron Paul), give a damn about it. Obama will put strong rules on guns and crime will rise as only those who care to buy a gun illegally will have them and no one will be able to protect himself.
• Health Care is a Right - I'm not sure if this guy could be further from sanity. Personally, I would rather not go to a clinic that resembles the DMV or Post Office (Also, health care is not a right, the only right people should have is to do whatever they please without initiating force).
  

That's all I can stand writing for now, good luck in the next four years.

Thomas Aquinas is the pseudonym of an 18 year-old college student at an alarmingly liberal college in Salt Lake City, Utah. The only thing keeping him sane is the fact that he is correct.

Obama Overdose To Backfire?

TJ Madison 31 October, 2008


Let's be perfectly clear, with less then five days to go in this election season, it would be a "Dewey defeats Truman" type of scenario, if John McCain were to win this election over Barack Hussein. If the Polls are to be believed, John McCain has not led in this election at all, except the few days after the Republican National Convention; where he led by 1 to 5 points, depending on the polling company.

If McCain does pull this 'upset', I would chalk it up to one thing: over-saturation of Obama-mania.

As long as there have been elections, there have always been people elected (and not elected) over the silliest of reasons. Over the years I've heard things like: I don't like his (or her) campaign ads, I think he's attractive, I like him because he visited our town, I don't like his name, and so on.

This could be the election where the winner is decided, simply because the losing candidate spent too much money on radio and television advertising.

His campaign has become like the television game show, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" When the show was on one night per week, viewers were enamoured with it. When the show was on several nights a week, people got tired of it and stopped watching.

Barack Hussein has become the Regis Philbin of television. At first you think, hey, this is a nice guy and I like him. Weeks later, after seeing him too much, you think, Oh, man, I'm sick of this guy.

People got sick of something they used to love. Let's hope this is what happened to Obama. This may sound too simple to believe for the seasoned politico like you and me, but remember, these are the barely informed masses that decide elections.

And the masses are asses!

Now, I have no scientific data, though personally, after the Barack Hussein half-hour propaganda infomercial, I started to hear a lot of 'buzz' about how independent voters were sick about how much inundation they see and hear for Obama. Don't get me wrong, it's normal for people to bothered by the political ads by the end of October. However, when I hear a comment like, "with all the political ads I've already seen, after ten minutes I had to turn the infomercial off!" This coming from an independent voter. The first thing that came to mind was: WOW, I think Barack may have spent himself into a loss!

So, if McCain wins, you can thank the people who didn't vote Obama, simply because he over-saturated himself. You do have to have a big ego to run for President of the United States, however, couple that with Obama's assumption that he's already won, and his giant Messiah complex, he really is coming off as pretentious to the average voter.

It's true, as I write this column, three days after the Obama infomercial, McCain has crept closer into this race. In fact, Zogby polling has McCain at a 1 point lead!

The Stock Market may also believe it; it had it's biggest weekly gain since 1974. Apparently Wall Street would still like some form of Capitalism over Obama Socialism.

Maybe $600 million can't buy you an election?

Bumbling Biden Watch

By now you've probably heard about Joe Biden's prediction that, Barack will be tested by a foreign enemy within the first six months of his presidency. Well a couple things went through my mind: I thought the entire world and it's leaders wanted Barack Hussein to be the next President. Everything would be fantastic, once the 'Son of God' was elected to the White House. The United States would not have any enemies; The Palestinians, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and all other American hating countries would have parades once Obama was elected on the 4th of November.

Remember, Barack Hussein would 'repair' our broken relationship with the rest of the world. After all, before George Bush, all countries loved the United States. The only top leader I know of, that wouldn't want a Obama Presidency is Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

So is that who Uncle Joe is talking about, when he says that, an enemy will test Barack?

All our enemies have practically endorsed Obama. Is it because they like him, or is it because they want a weaker America?

TJ Madison is a pundit, and currently employed in the health care industry in Fond du Lac, WI. His other job is fighting Creeping Socialism.

My Vote; Arguing with college students; Podcasts

I missed last week for an assortment of reason which would just take up space were they to be printed here, so this week will have an extra long version of the ramblings.

I voted

I sent in my absentee ballot a few days ago, I voted for Bob Barr, for two main reasons:

1. I narrowed it down to him or Chuck Baldwin and I could not get over Baldwin’s protectionist position
2. Barr has polled at 6% and has a lot greater chance of showing America there are more than two choices.

A very strange statement

I got into an argument with another student here last week, he acknowledged that my economic thought made sense, but said there was no way someone could actually run for president and be as famous a Barack is while having such faulty positions, for that reason he still supports Barack.

Using this logic no famous person could possess any wrong conclusions.

Thomas Jefferson is also pretty famous, yet he would probably recommend Barack be deported to North Korea for a few years, because of Barack’s economic position, were he alive today.

Libertarian Podcasts

There are a number of great libertarian podcasts that can be downloaded daily, weekly, etc.

To find this just download iTunes, then go to the music store and search the following terms:

• EconTalk – George Mason Professor Russ Roberts has a weekly about an hour long interview
• Cato – I do not download this, but for those interested the Cato Institute has a daily podcast and also makes available a number of speeches from its events
• Foundation for Economic Education – FEE has all of its summer lectures available
• Lew Rockwell Show – Lew Rockwell interviews many of the people from the Ludwig von Mises institute, or those who write for his site, this is daily
• Ludwig von Mises Institute – This is my favorite podcast, the Institute has numerous speeches (from half twenty minutes to two hours, there are probably about 25 currently available) and the audio of many books, including For a New Liberty, The Law, The Case Against the Fed and Conceived in Liberty
  
• Reason TV – This is my favorite video podcast, it is produced by Drew Carey and sometimes hosted by him, the episodes come out pretty sporadically and are usually about ten minutes long.

If you’re not voting third party

Please vote for McCain. I know he’s an imperialist and barely less socialist than Obama, but the congress will most likely be won by the democrats and historically government has grown a lot less when the two branches battle each other.

A Christian socialist (or even democrat for that matter) is a hypocrite

Socialism is based on, “spreading the wealth around,” as Barack Obama put it. Since people are inherently unequal this involves the stealing from one person to give to another, therefore any Christian (or any other person morally against stealing) who is for socialism or even any form of taxation is a hypocrite.

There is no argument to this.

Salary Caps are insane

A trend in almost all sports today is to institute a salary cap. The salary cap limits the amount of money a team, can spend on all its players. Theoretically this would limit the ability of big towns with a lot of fans to just buy up all the players, which would kill any chance that small towns could win the championship.

However, this does not seem to work (the Yankees have long had the highest payroll in the league, but haven’t won the World Series since 2000, and failed to make the playoffs this year; the Rays are in the World Series with the second lowest payroll in the league), and even if it did would that be desirable?

This is just the exact same subsidization that successful Americans are forced to endure in our current Welfare State. Why not allow teams to compete in all levels, if a town cannot support a team it is most likely because they do not care about it (Green Bay supports an NFL team with just 100,000 residents), not because they are unable to, what better way is there to find the best cities to support teams?

Quote of the Week

“It is easy to be conspicuously "compassionate" if others are being forced to pay the cost”
– Murray N. Rothbard

Brace Yourself For Obamunism

TJ Madison 23 October, 2008

When it was clear that Obama would be the Democrat Party nominee, it was obvious that the Democrats and other Barack Obama supporters would play the race 'card' to some extent.

They haven't disappointed.

Besides the typical Jesse Jackson style of race-baiting we normally see from the leftists, the race 'card' has turned into the race 'deck', if you will.

Apparently, 'socialist' is now a code word for Black person.

Huh?

Well it's true, so says the Editorial page of the Kansas City Star. If you didn't know this, let Lewis Duiguid, columnist for the KC Star, set all you 'racists' straight.

Now I know anybody with half a brain, would read this editorial and think of it as ridiculous and harmless, However, could this be the beginning of a trend, that leftist plan to use against anyone critical of Barack Hussein and his policies?

You bet! If and when Obama wins, expect the next four years to be full of new 'taboo' words we won't be able to use when criticizing Obama. Well, you'll be able to use those words, but only at the risk of being called a 'racist'.

And who wants to be called a racist? Racist is a stigma that no politician can shake, once it's attached to him or her. Unless of course, you're Senator Robert Byrd, former member of the Ku Klux Klan, then it's all right.

Why? Because he's a Democrat, and they get a free pass from all racist charges- even if they were a legitimate racist!

If the word socialist is to be deemed racist and offensive by the new standards of political speak, it will be bad for business at the agentsofliberty.com. For those who have read our columns, know that Socialism is a word we tend to use often. One of the most important books ever written, The Road to Serfdom
, by F.A. Hayek, is written for, and to: THE SOCIALISTS OF ALL PARTIES.

Now, did he mean: the 'Blacks' of all parties. Of course not. It was written to all people, Black or otherwise, who wanted a collectivist society. Socialism has nothing to do with race, and everything to do with government ownership of business and a transfer of wealth. CASE CLOSED!

The American people, for the most part, don't want Socialism. So the only way rabid Obama supporters can get votes for a Socialist, is to scare the uninformed portion of the electorate, by getting them to think the other side is racist.

This may be old news to people who classify themselves as Republican or Conservative, but this will mushroom into something much bigger. When Barack Hussein becomes President, don't be surprised when most 'non-race' issue's, turn into 'race' issue's.

If you don't want $50 billion more going to the United Nations- You're a racist!

If you don't want to send troops to Darfur- You're a racist!

If you think Obama's ears are to big for his head- You're a racist!

Anything critical of Obama will try to be tied to race. All of it done to shut down the opposition.

Is there still anyway we could avoid this Obamunist disaster?

Yes, but having John McCain being the only one to stand between Americans and disaster, is not very comforting. If you believe the polls, 11% of people are still undecided, which means: if John McCain can convince those people that the economic 'crisis' is the fault of Democrats as well as Republicans, he could garner most of that undecided.

McCain must also point out that the House and the Senate could possibly contain super majorities for the Democrats. Which would be fillabuster proof. And that a vote for him would keep the Democrats in check for the next four years, since they are mostly to blame for this banking fiasco.

The truth about Barack 'paling' around with known terrorists is unfathomable to a lot of voters, it goes over their head. So stick with the line: I'm a maverick-Republican with experience, that will keep the Democrat majority in the House and Senate in check, and will work with them for a better America. Remember, you're dealing with people who haven't made up their mind yet, so how smart can they possibly be?

All of this could be a moot point, the Stock Market already knows who going to win. Why else would it keep dropping?

It's bracing itself for Obamunism.

TJ Madison is a libertarian Republican who works in the health care industry. His big dream is to become a Community Organizer.

October Office Politics (Part 1)

TJ MADISON 16 October, 2008


It's getting close enough to the election where I notice more and more co-workers tend to be more open to discussing politics.

Sure, politics is something discussed at the work place all year long, especially between people friendly with each other. However, every four years around this time, you begin to find out how some other people at work feel about current events and politicians.

And that can be discouraging.

Why? Well I don't know if you're like me, but when I find out someone is a leftist, I start to think of them differently. I would rather someone say to me they don't follow politics, then to say I'm voting for Obama. I can respect the person who doesn't care, it's the person who actually "understands" both sides of the issues, yet still votes for the leftist. And if you're going to vote for the leftist, fine. Just don't go around admitting it to anyone, or be proud of it by putting a bumper sticker on your car. It's like having a pro-abortion bumper sticker on your car. Yes, it's legally acceptable to be 'pro-choice', but should it be something to really 'brag' about?

By the way, why are you even driving a car anyway, shouldn't you be taking public transportation, when your master, Al Gore, told you how evil cars can be?

When you put that 'pro-choice' sticker on your car, you're just telling everyone: "Hey look at me, the most important issue is, being able to suck the brains out of an unborn baby's head." Who cares about taxes, trade, foreign policy and any other issue, I just want to make sure women have the 'right' to kill their 'inconvenience'.

Sorry, I'm digressing, but as a employee in a Catholic hospital with many Catholics, I find it utterly disgusting to see and hear all the 'pro-choice' comments to justify voting for left-wing politicians.


Besides not caring about the 40 million unborn killed, when you tell people you're an Obama supporter, you're telling them a lot more about yourself. Look at the infamous people who support Obama, and you tell me if you would still be 'proud' to have that Obama '08 bumper sticker on your earth polluting automobile?

1. Whoppi Goldberg. The big authority on foreign policy.

2. Madonna. Yes, the prostitute herself, is a proud Obama supporter. Why is she wasting all her time as a singer when this genius could be our Secretary of State.

3. Louis Farrakhan. The Jew hating race-baiter, who still can't get beyond slavery in America 200 years ago.

4. Rosie O'Donnell. The big mouth lesbian pig, who thinks Americans attacked themselves on September 11, 2001. Don't forget she's a physics expert, too.

5. Sean Penn. The biggest moron in Hollywood, who thinks living in Cuba under Castro, would be better than living in the United States.

6. Oprah. Yes, she can be admired in some ways, but she's just a big-headed phony. Supposedly, a big defender of women 'breaking the glass ceiling', however when it comes to Sarah Palin, a women running for the second highest political position in the land, she has absolutely no time to have her on her show. Why? Because Big Mama Oprah doesn't care about all women, just the Socialist women. Failing to realize, it was Capitalism, not Socialism that helped her make her billion dollar empire.

7. Hugo Chavez. Communist Dictator of Venezuela. Yes, Communist, enough said.

The list could go on with other classless clowns, like Michael Moore and Oliver Stone, who glorify Communism and anti-American sentiment in virtually all their movies.

Also, reparations 'hero's' such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton. Not to mention felons, pedophiles, smut peddlers and other assorted freaks. Why would a good American want to be put in the same 'camp' as those people and their insane idea's?

Why don't you get a bumper sticker that says: Larry Flynt and I support Barack Obama.

However, being linked to garbage like that is only the tip of the iceberg. When you tell people you vote Democrat, You're telling the rest of us, the Federal government is not big enough. You're more concerned about silly 'rights' then with concern for liberty. Look, we all want rights- the right to be left alone. The left in this country wants the 'right' to health care, the 'right' to food and housing, the 'right' to education. That's not freedom, that's dependency.

Those aren't 'rights', those are rations of slavery, like entitlements. People on welfare get entitlements, and how free are they, sitting around waiting for a check from the rest of us?

The only 'right' one should have, is the right to do as you damn well please. Then accept the consequences.

TJ Madison is a libertarian Republican living in Fond du Lac, WI. He works in the health-care industry, but his dream is to become a Community Organizer.

Name Change; Chuck Baldwin;

As many have probably noticed I’m having trouble writing longer articles up to par with those I wrote before school started.

In an attempt to improve my columns I’m going to experiment with a ‘rambling,’ column over the next few weeks, these will be just like the ‘Things that should be Obvious,’ articles I wrote.
I will still write some longer specials maybe once a month or so.

Quote of the Week

“I have sworn upon the alter of God, eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
-Thomas Jefferson

Book Update

A positive consequence of school is that is has given me the ability to read more, especially during breaks in my classes. Right now I’m reading The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy (Studies in Ethics and Economics)
by Tom Woods.

After reading The Church and The Market (which is defense of the Free-Market from a Catholic point of view) I will read How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization,
also by Tom Woods, and write an article on those two books and What's So Great About Christianity,by Dinesh D'Souza which will include defenses of Christianity, how to reconcile it with the Free Market, History of Christianity (mostly about Catholicism) and my views.

Name Change

I’ve decided to change my pseudonym to Thomas Aquinas. The real Thomas Aquinas was a Catholic Saint, who emphasized reason and was a precursor to Austro-Libertarians.
I must confess I do not know a lot about him other than this, but will read up as much as I can.
My old posts will stay under the pseudonym ‘Roark.’

Chuck Baldwin

Ron Paul endorsed him and so far our Agents of Liberty poll (which you can find on the home page) has him winning with 15 votes over Bob Barr’s 10*.

Who is he?

Baldwin is the Constitution Party candidate; he was their VP candidate in 2004 and is a Baptist Pastor in Pensacola, Florida. He also worked in Ron Paul’s campaign earlier this year.

Most of his views look good, but I do not like his Tariff policy (he says use a rate that is the difference between foreign companies cost of production and domestic companies. This would be impossible; one cannot define the cost of production, as it changes almost by the second. This would also hurt America; people in other countries specialize in certain things, this allows Americans to pay a lot less for them, and allows Americans to get better jobs) and many of the party’s views conflict with liberty.

The ‘Representatives’ should change their name…

…because they sure as hell are not representing America.

Despite the fact that numerous politicians said 95% of incoming e-mails they received were against the bailout (the House even had to shut down their server to stop it from crashing because of the immense incoming e-mails) the House followed the Senate to vote for the bailout, which was now filled with pork.

So not only do they not represent Americans, they also believe that it’s OK to steal at least $700 billion from the people to support a stupid few, and add pork projects that help a few more at the cost of the rest.

* This was at the time this article was written, since then Baldwin has gotten three more votes, but Bob Barr has received 11 more and the Site's most polled poll ever (40 total votes) show that our readers prefer Bob Barr.

McCain's Last Stand

BY, TJ Madison October 8, 2008

As I write this, the second debate between McCain and Obama is taking place. Poll numbers say that Obama has a four point lead and more importantly he's leading in states that Bush won in 2000 and 2004. In football terms, when McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his VP, he converted a '3rd down and 18 yards'. That may be wearing thin now, and he needs to throw a 'Hail-Mary' pass during this debate.

He desperately needs a 'game changer'.

Let's face it, for those of us that love liberty, the choices of John McCain and Barack Barry Hussein Obama are really not choices at all. In all the elections I've ever followed, I've never wanted one to be over this much. Now I'm not saying that any prior candidates in the last few elections have been anything to brag about, but I've never seen two candidates who deserve to be president less then these two.

However, for totally different reasons.

Barack Obama

Barry Hussein would be the most inexperienced Commander in Chief in the history of this country. Remember, he is only a few years removed from deciding the dog and cat licence fee's in Cook County, Illinois. In fact, look at what other Democratic leaders really think about his ability to lead.

Should we entrust our country to someone who is ready on day one... or to put America in the hands of someone (Obama) with little national or international experience, who started running for president the day he arrived in the U.S. Senate?

Those were Democrat Senator Hillary Clinton's words, not mine.

How about this quote: I mean when was the last time we elected a president based on one year of service in the Senate before he started running? In theory, we could find someone who is a gifted television commentator and let them run. They'd have only one year less experience in national politics then Obama!

That was a quote by the former Democrat President, and estranged husband of Hillary, Bill Clinton.

And how about Democrat Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland: It's fine to tell people about hope and change, but you have to have plenty of concrete, pragmatic ideas...

Another Democrat Governor, Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania says about Obama, We're not electing a cheerleader... It's serious business, we're not electing a rock star.

That sure doesn't sound like a person convinced of Obama's qualifications to be President.

And of course the best one: I think he can be ready, but right now I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.

At least that's one truth spoken by Democrat Senator and Obama's VP pick, Joe Biden. Now, don't you think it was odd for Barack to pick Biden as VP, even though Biden confirmed that quote while standing right next to him at the Democrat primary debate?

Then again, Obama is odd for a host of other reasons; like why did he change his first name, and not his middle name. I'm only asking because he's 'running away' from his middle name. You can't even mention his middle name, Hussein, without get labeled as racist. Why then didn't he change his middle name instead of his first name? From Hussein to something 'American' like... Chuck.

Barry Chuck Obama. Now there's a name Barack Hussein wouldn't have to run away from. He could win Texas with that name!

Another oddity is his associations with oddball characters, like William Ayers and Reverend Wright. Ayers, A 60's radical domestic terrorist, who helped launch Barry Hussein's political career. And Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who served as Obama's Pastor for 20 years. Do you think 95% of Americans can relate to these two anti-American sleaze balls?

Even Democrats should be outraged that, a man who planned to blow up the Capital Building, could end up sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom. What kind of twisted irony is that?

Seriously though, with what were facing, whether it's the Stock Market, Foreign Affairs or other important issue's, is this really the election to trust a "on-the-job training" candidate? He has never run a state, he has never run a city, he has never run a business, and judging from the looks of his wife, Michelle, he doesn't wear the pants in the family either. He and Biden are both lawyers and Senators, two of the most hated professions in the history of mankind.

Americans would have to be pretty unsatisfied with Republicans to take a chance on 'Obama bin Biden'.

McCain

The reasons for John McCain not deserving to be president are a little different. His time was eight years ago, when he fought and lost, to George W. Bush for the nomination of the Republican party.

As much as I dislike McCain's policies, looking back, he may have been a better person to be the Republican nominee then Bush, considering what happen to the United States on September 11, 2001. Not to mention, Bush's spending problems and lack of a single veto in his first term.

Let's face it, McCain is a Conservative Democrat. He's Joe Lieberman without the annoying cartoon voice. The 'Right' in this country deserves a Republican candidate who will actually shrink the Federal government. A government that thinks about an 'America First' foreign policy and dramatic cuts in taxes and spending. Alas, we already know he will not provide these simple requests, because he's not even promising them, unlike GW Bush.

McCain, like Biden, is a long term Senator. It's hard to believe that someone can be in Washington almost thirty years and expect the public to believe that he's an actual reformer or maverick. However, he insists on telling us he is, so I guess we shouldn't doubt him, he is of course, a politician.

He had his chance to show the American voters he wasn't your average Senator, by opposing the $700 billion bail out. However, he stuck with the Washington insiders when he could have been a 'real' maverick.


TJ Madison is a Black Sheep Republican, living in Fond du Lac Wisconsin.

The Bailout

I’ve decided to discontinue the links on the blog, and will, instead, send them in e-mails whenever I have time. If you’re interested in getting the links, send me an e-mail at agentsofliberty@gmail.com with your first name and I’ll add you to the list.

The Quote of the week will appear before my column every week and every other week the polls will appear with TJ’s column.

This week’s quote is:

"Most people who read The Communist Manifesto probably have no idea that it was written by a couple of young men who had never worked a day in their lives, and who nevertheless spoke boldly in the name of 'the workers'." – Thomas Sowell

The Bailout

A few days ago, I sat through a 30 minute explanation by one of my prof's, explaining why the bailout was necessary (thankfully I was able to resist the temptation to just leave) and have decided to write about it here.

First, I know the House voted against it on Monday, but that is by no means the end of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bush did it with an executive order, or some other similar event happened.

The Real Cause

Many ignorant people seem to think the ‘free market,’ and Bush’s Capitalism is the cause (as if this market is free and Bush is in anyway a Capitalist) of the current crisis, this is, however, not true.

The Government, as it most always is the cause.

After 9/11 the interest rates were lowered to 1%, this caused a lot of credit to be used at lower than the market rate, the response, shortly after, was a boom; businesses and people were able to grow using other people’s money.

This made Bush look very good, but, as it always does, the low rate gave people incentives to take out loans they could not pay and gave financial institutions incentives to loan money to people who may not have been able to repay it.
To compound the problem all these loans were packaged into bundles worth billions of dollars and sold and re-sold to the point where every financial institution (except Goldman Sachs which was short the same amount they were long, so their investments canceled out) had huge exposure to the loans.

After a boom caused by low credit there is always a bust, this is what is happening now; people who were enticed by low interest rates now cannot repay their loans and are defaulting, and the institutions who are owed the money are failing.

Note: this is the Austrian theory of the Business Cycle, which I literally had no grasp of two weeks ago and understand enough to be able to see what is happen after just a few hours of podcasts, this stuff isn’t that difficult to understand.

Now, government is definitely the cause of the current crisis, yet the Secretary of the Treasury, head of the Fed, President of the US and both Presidential Candidates have endorsed more government as the solution, it seems to me like they’ve punched a wall and bruised their hand and think the solution is more wall-punching.

Evolution

Most liberals seemed to be obsessed with the Theory of Evolution, which says in short, that as things with inferior traits die off, the population as a whole is improved, or survival of the fittest.

The same liberals seem to be unable to apply this simple theory to areas other than biology.

If there are inferior businesses, running at a loss, when they die off the country, as a whole, is better off. I don’t see any politicians in Africa following around herds (may not be correct term) of wildebeests bailing out the old and week about to be fed to lions.

Consequences

The people who got crappy mortgages, they couldn’t pay, defaulted on their debt which is putting the businesses who lent them money out of business, this is established. The politicians want to use the tax payer’s money (which is/was forced away from the taxpayers) to back the financial companies so they don’t go bankrupt, sounds good, right?

What about the future?

If we start down this slippery slope what happens in ten years, when worse loans are given and riskier investments are made with the thought that the government will just bail out the perpetrators? What happens when people live the life of someone
making $250,000 per year on $25,000 in income? Who will bail them out?

If people do not learn from their mistakes, what stops them from making the same or worse mistake?

Biden Buffoonery

TJ Madison

If you have read some of my recent articles, I make it clear that this is Barack Hussein Obama's election to lose.

My reasons are the state of the economy, the war in Iraq, and Obama's personality. I thought, whomever he picked to be Vice-President would be immaterial.

Well, I'm not ready to say that Obama is not going to win. However, Joe 'plugs' Biden is sure doing his best to prove me wrong. I originally thought Obama should not pick Hillary to be his VP, on the grounds that Hillary had taken the most 'shots' at Barack in the Democratic debates and on the campaign trail. Ammunition that McCain would have surely have used to his advantage during the last three months of the election.
The quote by Hillary that comes to mind first is always: "He (Obama) is not ready to be President."

Unfortunately, for Barack, she wasn't the only Democrat to say that in the primaries. When Joe Biden was asked if Barack Obama was ready to be President, he responded candidly: "Right now I don't believe he is. The Presidency is not something that lends itself to on the job training."

Well put Senator.

Did you forget this 'gem' from early in the campaign? A reporter asks: "Senator Biden, what do you think is the reason for Barack Obama's popularity with the Democrat voters?" Biden answers: "You've got the first 'main-stream', African-American who's articulate, bright and clean."

So I guess this writer is wondering:

Are the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (along with their followers) going to 'pull the lever' for the Obama/Biden ticket, knowing Joe Biden is has just called them inarticulate, stupid and unclean? Along with every other African-American who has ever run for higher office.

Would a Republican Senator have a job if he said those words?

Moving on, what about Barack's feeling's about Biden? In a 2002 speech, then state-senator Barack Obama said the following about the Iraq war, "I'm not opposed to all wars, just dumb wars." Well, Barack, your 'dumb' VP pick supported that war (note: the Agents of Liberty do not support the current war in Iraq).

Speaking of dumb wars, Joe Biden Said in April 2007, "I would use American force in the Sudan now, It's a moral imperative to stop the bleeding".

So, a third war, started in an Islamic country in a span of six years. If you're an anti-war Democrat, how can you vote for this pick?

That 'dumb' Biden also said: "Paying more taxes is patriotic!" I realize that most Democrats probably believe that phrase, but I didn't think they would actually admit to it during a campaign.

It kind of makes you wonder, what else would Joe Biden consider 'patriotic'? Let's take a look at Joe Biden's dictionary...

Patriotic (pay-tree-ottik) adj/ 1. A believer in higher taxes/2. One with a lust for bigger government/3. Showing a love of political party over country.

Could you image a guy like Joe Biden, living in the later part of the 1700's, having a debate with someone like James Madison?


Madison: How do you feel about no taxation without representation?

Biden: I had no problem with the King of England's taxes. In fact, I believe it's patriotic to pay high taxes, with or without representation.

Madison: Gentleman, this moron has no concept of liberty, please escort Mr. Biden out of the convention and have him tarred and feathered in town square at noon.

Biden: Wait! Wait! I didn't get a chance to talk about the environmental damage the farmers are creating. And the endangered species we have to save. The evil businessmen...

I have no doubt that Madison and the Framers are spinning in their graves, just wondering why the American people could elect Representatives like Joe Biden. This utter buffoon, who has no concept of the real meaning of liberty, the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

The American people may overlook Barack's gaffs, but add to it Bidens gaffs, and it makes John McCain look like a modern day George Washington.

My friends, that's a miracle!

TJ Madison is a Ron Paul Republican, living in Wisconsin. He works in the Health care industry, and does not want his job Federalized.

Ron Paul & Barry Goldwater

In 1964 Barry Goldwater ran what he knew would be a losing race in an attempt to advance liberty, as a result Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980.

Recently, Ron Paul ran the same kind of race in the Republican Primary and may have, because of the Internet and YouTube, gotten more exposure for liberty.

This article examines the two great politician's manifestos: The Conscience of a Conservative and Revolution: a Manifesto.

Conscience of a Conservative

Goldwater recognized that the American public would not elect a Republican after the death of JFK, but at the same time he saw moderates taking over the Republican Party and ran in the election.

Classic Goldwater Quotes

"The first thing (a conservative) has learned is that each member of a species is a unique creature. Man's most sacred possession is his individual soul -- which has an immortal side, but also a mortal one. The mortal side establishes his absolute differentness from every other human being. Only a Philosophy that takes into account the differences between men, and, accordingly, makes provision for developing the different potentialities of each man can claim to be in accord with nature. We have heard much in time about the "common man." It pays little attention to the history of a nation that grew great through the initiative and ambition of uncommon men. The conservative knows that to regard man as part of an undifferentiated mass is to consign him to ultimate slavery."

If the Conservative is less anxious than his liberal brethren to increase Social Security "benefits,' it is because he is more anxious than his liberal brethren that people be free throughout their lives to spend their earnings how and when they see fit.

The Conscience of a Conservative is pricked by anyone who would debase the dignity of a human being.

The Constitution is: a system of restraints against the natural tendency towards absolutism.

Was it a Democracy the Framers created? Hardly. The system of restraints, on the face of it, was directed not only against individual tyrants, but against the tyranny of the masses. The framers were well aware of the danger posed by self-seeking demagogues – they might be able to persuade a majority of people to confer on government's vast powers in return for deceptive promises of economic gain.

And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' 'interests,' I shall reply I was informed their main interest was liberty and in that cause I am doing the very best I can.

The tenth amendment is not "a general assumption," but a prohibitory rule of law.

Let us not express our contempt for some men, by denying freedom of choice to all men.

The idea that a man who makes $100,000 per year should be forced to contribute 90%* of his income to the cause of government, while the man who makes $20,000 (the equivalent today would be $661,917 and $132,383 respectively) is made to pay 20% is repugnant to my notions of justice. I do not believe in punishing success.

The Revolution: A Manifesto

Paul has been a house member off and on for over twenty years, ever since he read Hayek and Mises then Rothbard he has believed in a free country with a commodity backed currency and has become one of its best promoters.

Ron Paul Quotes

All initiation of force is a violation of someone else's rights, whether initiated by an individual or the state, for the benefit of an individual or group of individuals, even if it's supposed to be for the benefit of another individual or group of individuals.

Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.

I have never met anyone who did not support our troops. Sometimes, however, we hear accusations that someone or some group does not support the men and women serving in our Armed Forces. But this is pure demagoguery, and it is intellectually dishonest.

Justifying conscription to promote the cause of liberty is one of the most bizarre notions ever conceived by man! Forced servitude, with the risk of death and serious injury as a price to live free, makes no sense.

Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy.

You wanna get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws.

Conclusion

Both of these politicians promoted liberty to their fullest extent during their respective presidential races, the result of Goldwater's run was Ronald Reagan and one of the most productive decades in the history of America, and perhaps the world.

Hopefully, Ron Paul's run will influence the election of a freedom lover soon.

*In 1964 the highest tax rate was 90% of income, thankfully Ronald Reagan eventually got this reduced to just 28%.

Roark is a college student who hopes he'll see an actual conservative candidate running by the time he enters the job market in four years, unfortunately he doubts this.