Thoughts on the 4th, been there, done that

Here we go again. We would be a great embarrassment to the men who signed our Declaration of Independence which we celebrate today.

It appears that every generation has to have its little flirtation with socialism. It doesn’t seem to matter that it never works, and never provides for the basic needs of its people or even that it inevitably leads to war and oppression. Each generation convinces itself that socialism has only failed in the past because its leaders were corrupt or villainous, and that with caring and righteous leadership like their own, it will bring a workers paradise just like Marx promised.

But I am optimistic that this will be a brief dalliance, much like my generation’s fling with Jimmy Carter. My optimism springs from the naivete and incompetence of the current crop of socialists.

Ignored to Death

As of yet, the Virginian Pilot has not reported a word about the Tea Party Rally on June 26, 2009, nor has there been any note taken by any of the other local media.

I note, however, that advance notice for the Gay Pride Festival, Out in the Park, was afforded prior notice and promotion in the Pilot.

Perhaps if we wish to to have the message of fiscal responsibility receive attention by our local press, we should cross dress or wear leather chaps to our events.

The Parable of the Bulldozer

Some time ago, while guest hosting on Rush Limbaugh’s program, my favorite living economist, Walter E Williams, explained the necessity for individual capital accumulation as a means for lifting society as a whole out of poverty, in what I have come to refer to as the ‘Parable of the Bulldozer.’

As best I have been able to determine, he has never put the whole of that message into print, and I think it is an important lesson to preserve, and especially vital at this time, so I will retell and expand on that monologue here.

Neither Reasonable nor Necessary

(NOTE: This article is the full text of a rebuttal of an Op-Ed which appeared on Sunday defending the Chesapeake Police Department raid on the home of Ryan Frederick submitted to the Virginian Pilot which had to be greatly edited for printing.)

Former Norfolk Police Lieutenant Rue L. Bagwell asserts that the expedited forced entry search of Ryan Frederick’s home by the Chesapeake Police was reasonable and necessary , but those terms have specific meanings against which those actions should be measured.

The Fourth Amendment to our Constitution demands searches be reasonable.

Health Care, Time to Choose

Liberty or socialism? Choose one.

If we choose to nationalize our health care, we have taken the fork in the road that leads inevitably to socialism, make no mistake in that. This post is intended to serve as a ‘Table of Contents’ for four previous articles on Health Care, which, because of the nature of Blogs and their being written over a period of about a month,have become scattered in the blog and appear out of their logical order.

This series is by far, the most important I have written.

Health Care for a Free Country

(Note, this is the last of a series on health care. For an index of other articles on the topic, see Health Care, Time to Choose)

OK, having identified many of the government interferences in the market that have resulted in unaffordability of health care, relative to everything else we need and desire, which the free market provides us in abundance and at reasonable costs, how do we unsnarl this mess without causing unnecessary hardship?

In some cases, we can just stop doing harm and the market will adjust quickly and favorably. In others, we have to phase out the problems gradually so people who acted rationally under the old rules will not be adversely affected.

Final Chance for Common Sense passes

Judge Arrington followed the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Ryan Frederick to ten years in prison. A report on the proceedings from John Wilburn follows:
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* Ryan Frederick Sentencing Hearing – Friday, 8 May, 2009 *

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Court convened at 9:55 – Judge Arrington had a (minor) personal concern, which caused her to be late.

Mr. Korslund represented Mr. Frederick; the commonwealth was represented by Mr. Ebert, Mr. Conway and Mr. Willett.

Formal Sentencing for Ryan Frederick

Over the fifteen months since the tragic death of Det. Jarrod Shivers, while serving a search warrant at the home of Ryan Frederick, many questions regarding the means used in obtaining the warrant, the method chosen for serving the warrant and the time allowed for Frederick to respond before forcing entry, have gone unanswered. We were assured those answers would come out at trial, but they did not. On the contrary, all requests for explanations for the serving of warrant is such a confrontational and hazardous manner have been ignored.

So, on February 24th of this year, the Tidewater Libertarian Party asked the Chesapeake City Council for a citizen review of the procedures and policy involved.

Health Care – The Road to Hell

Usually, when we are deeply involved in the consequences of a bad choice, we think, “It seemed like such a good idea at the time.”

What has happened to the health care market is a lot like that, as, with all the best intentions, bad choices were forced on the marketplace by government and, as always when force controls the market, there were unintended consequences.  Oblivious to the harm already done, government at all levels has placed mandates and restrictions on health care that we would not accept in any other business, always with the intention of doing good, and always making things worse.  Now, we stand on the brink of placing health care under virtually totalitarian controls, still trying to fix the unintended consequences of past interventions, mindlessly hoping that this time government control will work.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to stop and think a bit on how we got here.

A Republican, a Libertarian and a Democrat go into a Restaurant…

I heard a joke involving a Libertarian, so I had to share. It isn’t dirty but, some might find it offensive. Let me know if you think I crossed the line. My apologies in advance if I did.

A Republican in a wheelchair entered a restaurant one afternoon and asked the waitress for a cup of coffee. The Republican looked across the restaurant and asked, “Is that Jesus sitting over there?”