Heartland Institute Luncheon: This Recession Caused By Over-Regulation Not Market Failure

-By Warner Todd Huston

I just returned from a nice little luncheon given by the Heartland Institute (www.heartland.org) in beautiful downtown Chicago, Illinois. The purpose of the gathering of free-market supporters and like-minded individuals was to celebrate the life’s work of famed economist and Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman.

The principal speaker was Richard H. Timberlake*, student and friend of the celebrated economist and an accomplished free-market economist in his own right.

I’ve done several such events for some of the conservative think tanks and state policy groups in the Windy City and I enjoy these events in Chicago because I always get the uneasy feeling that our little conclave of right-thinking fellows well met is the last vestige of civilization and that we are putting on the timbers to secure the gates as the barbarians mount their attack. The barbarians of which I speak are, of course, the city full of Democrats and socialists that looms on all sides surrounding our little events.
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Heartland Institute Luncheon: This Recession Caused By Over-Regulation Not Market Failure”


Jury Damage Award Could Close Calif. Healthcare Facilities

-By Warner Todd Huston

When companies are found to have violated regulations that govern their industry, is it right that a jury of non-experts can award damages the amount of which will wipe the company off the face of the earth? That is a question that has been raised in a case recently decided against Skilled Healthcare LLC of California.

A class action lawsuit (lawsuit info here) brought by trial lawyers was filed late last year against Skilled Healthcare of California claiming that the company had violated state regulations that stipulates that nursing homes must maintain 3.2 nursing hours per patient, per day (ppd). The lawsuit claimed that the nursing homes operated by Skilled Healthcare often did not meet the requirement.

Interestingly, there was never any claim from any patient that there’d been harmed or put in danger. Not a single patient claimed personal injury before these lawyers began to file their class action lawsuit.
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Jury Damage Award Could Close Calif. Healthcare Facilities”


Obama’s FDR-Like Bait and Switch

-By Warner Todd Huston

Remember when Barack Hussein Obama first became president and the left-wing Old Media universally indulged the claim that he was “just like FDR“? Of late the Old Media has backed off that hyperbolic statement, but at least in a single incident, Obama has proven indeed to be just like FDR. The similarity entails laws about which the two presidents lied to the public in order to sell them. And in both instances, the truth only came out in court.

For FDR it was Social Security. The Roosevelt Administration sold Social Security as an “insurance” program when it began to push for the policy. The truth is, of course, that Social security and its unemployment plan adjunct is in no way an insurance program. It is welfare pure and simple.

But FDR sold it as “insurance” anyway. In 1936, for instance, FDR sternly told an audience in Pennsylvania that it was an insurance program.
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Obama’s FDR-Like Bait and Switch”


Financial Reform? More Like Union Giveaways!

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Thursday the Senate passed the Democrat’s financial reform bill. But even as Obama claims that this bill will “solve” the financial crisis, a look at the thing seems to prove that things financial took a back seat to giveaways to Obama’s union pals and sops to many of the Democrat’s other special interest friends.

The main union payback is the provision to allow unions and environut groups the ability to take control of the boardrooms of corporations in which they own stock through the so-called “proxy access” provision. This provision has been widely panned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.

The Washington Times reports that there are other sops to Democrat special interests in this “financial reform” bill, too.
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Financial Reform? More Like Union Giveaways!”


Repealing Obamacare and Restoring a Free Market in Healthcare

Economics 101 and what we do AFTER we repeal Obamacare…

Ed Morrissey also has some good commentary about this video at HotAir.com.

Created by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity. Visit their webpage at www.freedomandprosperity.org.


Unions Violating Disclosure Rules

-By Warner Todd Huston

When Barack Obama took office, one of the early things he did was install Hilda Solis, a long-time union operative, as head of the Department of Labor. And one of the first things she did was to ease the reporting requirements on unions, softening the violation of disclosure rules.

In August of 2009 Labor Sec. Solis immediately let it be known that her department would no longer initiate “enforcement actions against union officers and union employees based solely on the failure to file” the LM2 disclosure forms. Since that time two major unions have been caught filing inaccurate lobbying reports and disclosure statements.

Politico reports that the Center for Public Integrity has found that the “National Association of Letter Carriers have failed to detail the group’s specific lobbying activities, as required by law.” In May the group also found that the Maritime Officers union had also violated disclosure rules and had been doing so for a decade.
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Unions Violating Disclosure Rules”


In Florida Schools, Bibles Banned… On Religious Freedom Day

-By Warner Todd Huston

A group called Liberty Counsel is suing Florida’s Collier County Schools for banning Bibles from being distributed on its campuses even after allowing the practice for years. The organization World Changers has been distributing Bibles to students during off-school hours on the day closest to national Religious Freedom Day — held on January 16 — for some time. Yet now school district officials have declared that the Bible holds no “educational benefit” to students. (download .pdf of complaint here)

The Collier County School District policy specifically allows the distribution of literature by nonprofit organizations, but only with the approval of the superintendent and the Community Request Committee, whose members are appointed by the superintendent. Approval was denied to World Changers, despite the fact that its distribution included a disclaimer of any school endorsement or sponsorship and that receiving a Bible was purely voluntary. The district, nevertheless, censored World Changers’ message simply because it included the Bible.

Liberty Counsel founder Matthew D. Staver said in a press release, “…we are compelled to sue to protect the right simply to make free Bibles available to students in public schools. Many of our founding fathers were taught to read using the Bible. If it had no educational value, then many of them would have been illiterate. The distribution of religious literature in a forum opened for secular literature is constitutionally protected.”
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In Florida Schools, Bibles Banned… On Religious Freedom Day”


Marijuana use Seems to have Destiny with Death

-By Kevin Roeten

More people than you know are currently driving down the road after a few tokes of marijuana. Some are even driving heavy equipment. Some may be even flying planes. Current thought is that if no harm is done to anyone else, there’s absolutely no problem with a few tokes before your daily routine. Right…

Cutting to the chase, many relate cannabis use to driving under the influence of alcohol. With alcohol, one already knows the legal limit. With marijuana, there is no such limit. When blood gets to 0.08% alcohol, all physical effects have been documented. With marijuana, the intoxicating or overdose level is not known.

Many pot users claim they are fine after their daily intake of marijuana smoke. But they’re never sure what level of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is their overdose.
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Marijuana use Seems to have Destiny with Death”


Ohio Dems Seek Gun Records To Harass Gun Owners

-By Warner Todd Huston

In the wake of the new Supreme Court decision on the 2nd Amendment, we have this illuminating story from Ohio and if this isn’t the perfect example of why American gun owners fear detailed firearm owners registration records in the hands of government officials there isn’t one to be had. Ohio’s State Democrat Party recently sent a letter to every county sheriff’s office demanding that sheriffs send them the names and addresses of all concealed carry permit holders in their county.

There is, of course, only one possible reason that these Democrats wanted this information. Democrats wanted to harass these legal concealed permit holders. They wanted to target Ohioans that were exercising their Constitutional right and to set them up for political attacks, they wanted to somehow use the personal information of law abiding citizens as a weapon against them.

Fortunately, it is illegal in Ohio for such records to be made available to the public and that includes political parties, advocacy organizations, or journalists. The county sheriffs all refused to acquiesce to the Democrat’s demands and the state party quickly issued a second letter withdrawing their request.
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Ohio Dems Seek Gun Records To Harass Gun Owners”


Worst Teachers Rewarded by Unions, New Teachers Abandoned

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last week the Chicago Tribune published an editorial detailing the biggest reason why unions as they have operated in the U.S. for decades are an illegitimate venture. The Trib published a plea to new Chicago teachers union chief Karen Lewis not to protect the bad teachers under her charge and to help the younger teachers that haven’t yet proved to be bad for kids by allowing the bad ones to be laid off without complaint.

The Trib’s editorial called the practice of keeping bad teachers “dancing lemons,” revealing the sad practice of shuffling bad teachers around the system instead of firing merely because they may have tenure on the job. While new teachers are automatically laid off due to budget cuts, teachers that have a disciplinary problem or a troubled history are kept because they’ve been on the job longer. This is wrong and reflects badly on the union and teachers alike, not to mention that it leads to a bad education for our kids.
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Worst Teachers Rewarded by Unions, New Teachers Abandoned”


Success, But Not in the Gulf

-By John Armor

When you’ve been writing weekly for 16 years, occasionally the question comes up: what on God’s green Earth am I going to talk about now? I was going to write about the Jones Act.

That Act requires that ships operating in American waters be American-owned with American crews. Not stated in the law is its real purpose. The maritime unions have a headlock on American shipboard workers. So, the Jones Act requires, in reality, that all ships operating in American waters generate dues for the unions which translate into funds to elect Democrats.

Skimmer ships are sitting idle in foreign ports though they were offered at the beginning to help us. They could be on the job weeks ago, if the Administration had “waived the Jones Act,” which other Administrations have done in other emergencies. But not this one. This Administration remains loyal to the unions, while beaches, fish and birds die by the day from oil that was not skimmed away at sea.

There’s an old saying in Maryland politics, “An honest politician is one who, once he’s bought, stays bought.” But that’s not what I came to talk about.

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Success, But Not in the Gulf”


Americans want online privacy — per new Zogby poll

-By Scott Cleland

American consumers clearly want online privacy, per a national poll conducted over the weekend by Zogby International, that was commissioned by Precursor LLC.

In a nutshell, over 80% of Americans are concerned about the security and privacy of their personal information on the Internet; about 90% of Americans consider some common industry behaviors to be unfair business practices; and about 80% of Americans support a variety of stronger consumer protections of their privacy online.
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Americans want online privacy — per new Zogby poll”


Just a Quick Example on How Bad Writing is in the Old Media These Days

-By Warner Todd Huston

Here’s how bad writing is in the media. In a Reuters story about unions making concessions is this amusing line:

“Under Gettelfinger, the UAW agreed to allow new workers to be hired at about $14 per hour — about half of the $28 base rate for existing autoworkers.”

Uh, per my math, 14 IS half of 28. It isn’t “about half.” Nice writing there al Reuters!

Now, a better way to say it would have been:

“Under Gettelfinger, the UAW agreed to allow new workers to be hired at about half the $28 base rate for existing autoworkers.”

More precise, less wordy and makes sense. It was pretty poor work by Reuters. I know I make my share of mistakes, but then again, I’m just blogging here. I don’t have editors!


Unions Preventing a Timely Cleanup of Oil in the Gulf?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Joseph Carafano of the Heritage Foundation has made an interesting observation and wonders if President Obama is allowing unions to make it harder to effect a timely and effective cleanup of the BP oil spill in the Gulf?

The offer of aid from foreign companies has been refused by the Obama administration and the Jones Act is cited as the reason why Obama will not allow foreign ships to enter our waters to assist in the cleanup.

The Jones Act is a 1920s protectionist law put in place to assure that boats and crews working in American waters are American crews and union members. Carafano thinks that Obama is using the Jones Act as a sop to unions despite what it is doing to slow the cleanup.

“Cause this is a big thing for unions,” Carafano said. “The unions see it as … protecting jobs. They hate when the Jones Act gets waived, and they pound on politicians when they do that. So … are we giving in to unions and not doing everything we can, or is there some kind of impediment that we don’t know about?

Once again, just as with car manufacturing and education, we see unions getting in the way of best practices, safety, and the creation of the optimal American lifestyle. In this case, we see President Obama paying unions back as wildlife dies and the livelihood of millions of American is destroyed for decades to come.
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Unions Preventing a Timely Cleanup of Oil in the Gulf?”


Just One More Freedom Crushed: Feds Destroying Exotic Pet Industry

-By Warner Todd Huston

Congress has suddenly realized something. Animals could be dangerous! Gosh. One wonders what magick faierie dust was sprinkled on these stalwart protectors of the public weal that made them realize that animals are dangerous? Whatever fantastic episode befell Congress they have acted and hence these high mukety-mucks last year introduced an ominous sounding bill called the Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (H.R. 669).

According to the summary this bill is supposed to, “prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species’ or human health, and for other purposes.” But like most federal laws it has an element of overreach to it.

That overreach is a stipulation that would require all dealers in pets to “prove” that their animals are “safe” and “noninvasive” and to present scientific proof to that end. As specified, the act would require, “sufficient scientific and commercial information to allow the Secretary to evaluate whether the proposed nonnative wildlife species is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to other animal species’ or human health.”
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Just One More Freedom Crushed: Feds Destroying Exotic Pet Industry”


Freedom Action Conference – August 12-14, Valley Forge, PA

-By Alan Caruba

I don’t usually promote specific events, but the Freedom Action Conference that will convene at Valley Forge, PA, August 12-14, at the Dolce Hotel, is one you should consider attending if, like Howard Beale in the movie, “Network”, you’re mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.

It will feature three days of speakers who will train attendees and provide hands-on knowledge about how to end federal and UN attacks on individual freedoms, states rights, local loss of control, Second Amendment rights, and other issues that affect you and everyone else right where you live.

In 1777, George Washington’s tired and starving troops, having experienced initial defeat at the hands of the most powerful army of its times, retreated to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to regroup, to train, and to take up the struggle to establish independence. By 1781, they were victorious at Yorktown, Virginia.

Today, Americans are under siege again, but this time from a federal government seeking to overturn the protections of the Constitution and to establish control over every aspect of our lives via legislation that affects our health, our property, our access to energy, and via international treaties that over-ride the Constitution.
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Freedom Action Conference – August 12-14, Valley Forge, PA”


Union Bullies U.S. Marine

-By Warner Todd Huston

In the upside down world of unions, if you aren’t on their side you are an enemy to the country… even if you are U.S. Marine of 20 years service and have been a highly recognized teacher in a ROTC program for 14 years. Because he refused to become a union member and has accrued $500 in unpaid dues the union thugs at North High School in Worcester, Massachusetts had retired Major Stephen L. Godin fired from his ROTC teaching position.

“It just seems crazy that they’re gonna fire me over $500,” said Maj. Stephen L. Godin, senior naval science instructor at the Naval Junior ROTC Unit of North High School. “Everyone’s talking about finding good teachers – I haven’t missed a day in 14 years.”

It is crazy, especially considering the reason why Major Godin refused to join the union. He isn’t just a hide-bound, anti-unionist — not that these aren’t good reasons themselves. He has a dang good reason for not wanting to join the union.
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Union Bullies U.S. Marine”


It Simply Cannot Return to the Status Quo

-By Frank Salvato

If there is one thing that I have learned in my over 30-years of existing within the political realm it is that if the political world aligns to present the Republican Party with an opportunity to advance on Liberal Democrats and Progressives in government, somehow, someway, they always manage to find a way to shoot themselves in the foot. This point in history is no exception.

During the last election cycle, Republicans railed against the Democrats about earmarks, special interest spending and fiscal irresponsibility. Many rolled their eyes in amusement citing the fiscal irresponsibility of the Republican controlled Congress dating back to approximately 2000, just after the “Republican Revolution.” Yet close to half the electorate recognized that a fiscally debauched decade of Republican spending wasn’t comparable to the steady and consistent tax-and-spend policies of the Democrat Party dating back to before the turn of the 20th Century.

Democrats – and Progressives masquerading as Democrats – were forced to feign frugality where their platform was concerned and slightly more than half the electorate ate-up the media spoon-fed “hope and change” canard, thus empowering the most Progressive Executive and Legislative Branches in recent US history.
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It Simply Cannot Return to the Status Quo”


Democrats Force Captain America to Flee America

-By Warner Todd Huston

California’s Democrats have forced the upcoming Captain America movie to be filmed in England. Why would that be, Buckey? Because it’s just too expensive to film the movie in California because of the Democrat’s punitive taxes.

For Yahoo Movies, Mike Ryan asks a seminal question: Should We Now Call Him ‘Captain England’? In his lament, Ryan worries over the U.S. film industry as movies and TV shows flee America, specifically California, for the cheaper production rates of Canada and England.

And now Democrats are so concerned with propping up union thugs, forcing themselves on the people at every avenue, and stealing as much money from the rest of us that they can that they’ve even chased Captain America away from America!
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Democrats Force Captain America to Flee America”


Illinois One of the Worst Legal Climates in the Country

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Institute for Legal Reform has completed its 2010 rankings of the lawsuit climate in the various states and Illinois comes in at a dismal 45th place. If Obama needs some help, that would be 45 out of 50 states (not 57 or 58 states as he said during the campaign). This overly litigious lawsuit climate is yet another reason why Illinois has some of the highest unemployment stats in the country.

The rankings determine how reasonable a state’s tort liability culture is as perceived by U.S. Businesses and their legal counsel offices. In other words, do businesses feel that the legal system in a state is good for or detrimental to business interests?

According to the survey, Chicago/Cook County has the single worst tort climate in the country. The respondents felt that Cook County had the most biased judges, the most corruption, the highest most unfair damage awards, and a slow, unresponsive legal process.
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Illinois One of the Worst Legal Climates in the Country”


Oppressive Government: Feds Tell GA Old Folks They Can’t Pray Before Meals

-By Warner Todd Huston

Big Brother says elderly visitors to federally funded meals at a Georgia senior citizen’s center aren’t allowed to pray to that absurd, dangerous Christian God of theirs. Obama’s Big Brother government contends that since it has paid for their meals the government has the right to slam its iron boot heel down on the necks of those seasoned citizens that dare to engage in such an apostasy toward the state.

Seem absurd? Well it is but that is what happens when the feds roll into town and begin to hand out money. They feel the right to dictate what everyone is allowed or not allowed to do and in the case of Port Wentworth’s Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah that is to tell these old folks that they are not allowed to pray before a meal.
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Oppressive Government: Feds Tell GA Old Folks They Can’t Pray Before Meals”


Most Ethical Administration Evah Waives Ethics Rules… AGAIN!

-By Warner Todd Huston

I am fondly recalling those hoary days on the campaign trail when Mr. Obama was all about “transparency,” and when he promised to have the “strictest ethics rules” of any president evah! Seemingly hours later the president’s office began to waive hose “strictest” rules to allow his favorite lobbyists and lawyers to take up residence in his administration.
By Feb. 2, for instance, a dozen high profile lobbyists had already had those “strict” rules waived for them to join the administration. And by May of 2009, Obama had already lifted his so-called ban on lobbyists joining his administration. And this month, over a year into his term, he’s still waiving those “rules” for his pals.

By April of 2010 Obama had waived those rules so many times that dozens and dozens of lobbyists, those same lobbyists he attacked endlessly during the campaign, left their lobbying firms to come and work for the big money in Obama’s administration. And this is not to mention that lobbyists have been found to be making a killing in Obama’s Washington especially the army of lobbyists that streamed to D.C. to make cash off the healthcare issue. Even in August Obama was still waiving his “strictest ethics rules” to allow his favorite folks into his administration.
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Most Ethical Administration Evah Waives Ethics Rules… AGAIN!”


CBS News (Chicago): The ‘We Won’t Report The News if it Hurts Democrats,’ News

-By Warner Todd Huston

CBS News decided that if certain aspects of the race for Illinois Senate between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi “The Mob Banker” Giannoulias threaten to make news, why the good folks at CBS Channel 2 News will just refuse to cover it.

I have to say, I find it interesting that CBS News has decided what it will deign to cover and what it won’t. I am wondering if the rest of us hoi polloi were to chose that track at our places of employment. Don’t like mowing a lawn, cleaning a toilet, doing that boring expense report, talking to the boss… well, follow the Channel 2 method and just refuse to do that part of your job!

Must be nice to pick and choose the parts of your job that you will deign to do, eh?
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CBS News (Chicago): The ‘We Won’t Report The News if it Hurts Democrats,’ News”


When is Enough Government Enough?A Day in the Life of the Regulatory State

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) has a great video starring my pal Lee Doren — OK, I met him at a bar once but we do write for some of the same blogs. It is a stark reminder of the overweening regulations that every day oppress us and the businesses we all work for.

And Obama/Reid?Pelosi want more of this?
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When is Enough Government Enough?A Day in the Life of the Regulatory State”


Rep. Waxman Slips in ‘Bad Vitamin’ clause into Wall Street Reform Bill

-By Warner Todd Huston

Nothing says Washington crookedness like a congressman slipping a clause into a bill that has absolutely nothing whatever to do with the main purpose of the legislation. Here we have just another cynical, corrupt bargain made in Washington D.C. with the effort of Henry Waxman (D, Ca) who slipped a little clause into the Wall Street “Reform” bill that is little else but an attack on the healthfood industry. This provision would give Congress more control over all health supplements and vitamins in America and likely lead to many of these businesses shutting their doors.

So often Congress acts like the little kid with his mom in the grocery store. While mom is putting fruits, vegetables, milk, and good marbled beef into the shopping cart, the bratty kid is throwing candy and toys made in China into the basket when he thinks mom isn’t looking. Congress is, of course, the bratty kids of our system. And they need a good whipping.

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173), was passed by the House and is now in the Senate waiting for that body to take action. But while this law is supposed to be saving our economy, Rep. Waxman seems more interested in destroying the country’s vitamin stores. And to that end, he slipped into this economics bill more regulations on the dietary supplement industry.
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Rep. Waxman Slips in ‘Bad Vitamin’ clause into Wall Street Reform Bill”


Illinois Lawsuit Loan Sharks? Stop This Latest Trial Lawyer Bill

From the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform…

Illinois’ reputation for lawsuit abuse hurts our jobs climate.

The last thing we need are measures in Springfield that would encourage trial lawyers to file more lawsuits.

So then why are our state legislators considering a law that would do just that?

This wrongheaded bill (S.B. 3322) would legimitize a new “lawsuit lending” industry in Illinois — creating new “lawsuit loan sharks” who loan money to help people file lawsuits.

More Illinois lawsuits? That’s the last thing we need.
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Illinois Lawsuit Loan Sharks? Stop This Latest Trial Lawyer Bill”


Government Is Not Our Friend

-By Warner Todd Huston

Small-government conservatives have always been suspicious of government. Whether city, county, state or federal all government is looked on as a troublesome but necessary evil that must be tightly controlled and oft times opposed. This anti-government attitude, of course, is a complete mystery to socialist Democrats. They just don’t understand why conservatives mistrust government and why they eye it suspiciously. So, looking for a way to explain in real terms why conservatives loathe government is sometimes not an easy task as the ideas are often very esoteric. Thank God the corrupt governments in Barack Obama’s Illinois are always there to supply a ready example of why government is often the enemy of a free people.

In that mien, here is another perfect example of how government often does not serve the voters, how it does what ever it wants to do despite the voters, and how government often thinks it knows better than the very voters that it is supposed to serve.

In 2009 the Illinois State legislature in its Springfield-based capitol passed a video gambling law that for the first time legalized video poker machines across the state. The progress of this law was very contentious with most Republicans and some Democrats standing in opposition to this immoral legislation and a sop to the opposers was put in the bill as sweetener to assure passage. An “opt out” clause was put in the bill so that those conservative districts that were so opposed to video gambling could exclude themselves from allowing the immoral act of video gambling in their jurisdiction.
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Government Is Not Our Friend”


What the Fed’s Mission Ought To Be

-By Thomas E. Brewton

Congress should revise its directives to the Fed and abandon liberal-progressives’ secular religious faith that ivory-tower intellectuals are capable of managing the entire economy.

Senator Christopher Dodd’s just released proposals for changing the regulatory role of the Federal Reserve and for reducing the eleven regional Fed banks outside New York City to small, relatively powerless statistical research units revives the question of what the Fed should be doing.

The import of the Senator’s proposals is to remove whatever independence the Fed enjoys and to make it just an office boy for any administration that happens to be in power. We already suffer too much inflation from the Fed’s profligate money expansion. Senator Dodd’s proposals will guarantee even more inflation by making resistance to presidential and Congressional political pressure impossible.
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What the Fed’s Mission Ought To Be”


Panic on Main Street?

-By Don Boys, Ph.D.

U.S debt is massive, now well over $12 trillion; that is $40,000 plus for every person in America! It is not unthinkable or unprecedented although unlikely that the government could default and repudiate all debts including Social Security obligations, Medicare coverage, and military pensions along with all foreign debts. If that happened, millions of over-fifty people would storm the White House and Congress producing anarchy and maybe a Second American Revolution. Emulating the Reign of Terror in France in the 1790s, they might bring back the guillotine for procrastinating, privileged, and prevaricating politicians. Remember that the bloody French Revolution was precipitated by a looming bankruptcy as the politicians spent far more than their income. “But that could never happen here,” says the naïve one. Of course not!

When Argentina defaulted on their financial obligations in the amount of $145 billion which they owed various banks, bondholders, and international entities, it caused ripples there and in the U.S. Major U.S. and European banks are using a lot of red ink in recent days in their bookkeeping departments!
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Panic on Main Street?”