Liberty or Bust

Why Campaign Contribution Caps are the Wrong Solution

A recent Supreme Court ruling changed limits on campaign contributions for corporations. The media is all abuzz regarding this ruling, but are focusing on the wrong part of the issue. The media is focusing on who can contribute and how much can someone contribute? That is an easy answer. As much as they want. Here is the problem: we have created something so valuable, people and corporations are willing to contribute thousands, if not millions of dollars to coerce fellow citizens into their belief systems. These people are investing in a system.

The federal government is too powerful. A politician should not be that valuable. When we reduce the federal government’s power, people will be less willing to invest in politicians. Don’t believe me? How many people contribute millions to city council campaigns? Why? Because its not worth it.

Universal Health Care is Cheap

Now that I got your attention – universal health care does have the ability to be aggregately cheap (sum of the parts). Thats because the parts are much fewer than in a self-paying system. Chew on that while watching this video – courtesy of Classically Liberal.

Great Post on Stop Signs

http://mises.org/story/3570

As a libertarian, I am not against rules. I even enforce rules… on my property. I don’t let my son play with exposed electrical wires, that is against one of my rules. The above story makes a great statement.

Now, I’m not saying that we don’t need rules in society. But the question of who makes the rules and on what basis becomes supremely important. Will the rule making flow from the matrix of voluntary exchange based on the ethic of serving others through private enterprise? Or will the rules be made and enforced by people wearing guns and bulletproof vests with a license to shock or kill based on minor annoyances?

I’d rather the former than the latter. Guns are only necessary for making others live the way you do, or defending your lifestyle. The first is coercion, the sole business of government, and the second is self defense.

Speechless for Iran

I have remained speechless regarding Iran’s “election” lately because it still amazes me that this level of (lack of) liberty still prevails in large populations. I remain speechless, hopefully not for long.

262,000,000

That’s the approximate number of people killed by their own governments.

http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM

I would consider government the least necessary of all evils.

The History of the Left

This is a great summary of the original history of the Left. Its interesting how the government is always used to deny people of their rights and liberties, inherent in the definition of government.

who attracts commerce?

Recently, Walmart opened a store in my home town, Maricopa, AZ. I was discussing the recent opening with my wife, more specifically, why it took so long for Walmart to open a store. She mentioned that *they* should have attracted Walmart sooner. Additionally, *they* should attract other stores like Target, Best Buy, etc. I asked her who was *they*. She responded, the city government.  Its this type of thinking that lends itself to large, obtrusive governments at all levels.

While the city may think it attracted Walmart, that is a terrible, shallow description of who attracted Walmart to Maricopa. There is only body that attracted Walmart to Maricopa, the free market. Until recently, it was not worth Walmart’s money to invest in a new building to capture Maricopa’s dollars. Most of Maricopa commutes to the Phoenix Metro area for work, passing at least one Walmart along the way. It was not until recently that Maricopa had a significant enough population to support the volumes necessary to make a Walmart profitable. As Maricopa grows, other stores will come, but not because of the city. Its because of you, the consumer.

Now, there are things a municipality can do to block or encourage businesses to move to Maricopa. Things like zoning requirements, property taxes, and sales taxes all inhibit new business growth. If Maricopa wants more business, we need to reduce and streamline zoning changes, grossly reduce property and sales taxes. To enable this, Maricopa needs to maintain a barebones staff, keeping local regulations to a minimum.  Additionally, Maricopa will attract consumers with the same policies, making it a win-win for everyone.

Government Lies – The Need for Seperation of Econ and State

Mises.org has a great article regarding the lies spread by our own government. It also references what sounds like two great reads.

Another Reason You Don’t Want the Government Tracking You

http://wikileaks.org/leak/virginia-ransom-2009.html

Background: The state of Virginia collects prescription data to detect prescription abuse. Way to protect us, Virginia.

Colleges Suffer due to Poor Decisions

Bloomberg has article discussing the situation surrounding many college campuses today. it goes into how colleges borrowed money to spend on things like new dorms, buildings, as well as rock walls, jacuzzis, and mini kitchenettes in all the dorms in order to attract students to their campuses. Well, with federal loans tougher to come by and private loans all but non-existant, students are no longer willing to pay for those amenities and are choosing cheaper alternatives, like community colleges. Well, those spend-happy colleges are now facing tough financial decisions because their tuition revenue is dropping.

That’s the point of a recession. To weed out those who conduct business poorly. People who spend their own money on college don’t choose it based on the jacuzzi count. Only those who allow others, including the federal government, choose based on that. Federally funded loans and state funded insitutions have shifted the cost of higher education from the student (where it belongs) to tax payers. We gave students money to get an education, and we let them make that decision based on jacuzzi counts.

College isn’t for everyone. It should be expensive. It should only be worth going to college for degrees where higher learning is needed. A four year degree isn’t necessary for political science, public works administration, sociology, and other fluff degrees. Some areas only require a few semesters like book keeping, etc. A good measure of how necessary a degree is how few electives are needed. For example, my electrical engineering degree required 16 hours of electives. My wife’s sociology degree required 64 hours. Which degree offers better marketable skills? Just guess.

This recession is just what higher learning needed, but now we have Mr. Obama offering stimulus money to keep these institutions afloat, the worst thing we can do. Let those schools fail. Force kids to re-evaluate their future goals and methods for attaining those goals.