Owner: Copious Dissent - Your Daily Dose of Liberty URL:http://copiousdissent.blogspot.com Join Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2007 17:23:21 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This political blog is dedicated to informed citizens who understand the benefits of limited government, capitalism, private property rights, and plain common sense. Site statistics:Click here
The Wall Separating Economics and State 2007-06-10 12:59:00 Ayn Rand suggested that there should be a total separation of economics and state. She saw no benefit in forcing individuals to cough up their money to the government at the expense of liberty. While that was certainly wishful thinking, few could have predicted how big the government would actually grow over the last 200 years. Even Thomas Jefferson who stated, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground,” could not have fathomed the Country he created with trillions of dollars in debt and a $2.9 trillion budget.It is inevitable at this point that unless the government lives within its means, in twenty years some politician will need to create the biggest tax increase in history. Sadly, instead of decreasing the size of government, the government keeps expanding. Take for instance the Medicare Part D prescription drug bill, which exacerbated an already insurmountable debt. Ironically, those politicians who claim to reduce government spendin Read more:Economics
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Reviving the Constitution in Exile 2007-06-08 17:04:00 Throughout history, humans have been unable to survive without fire. They used it to stay warm from the elements, for food preparation, as well as for social gatherings. However, even though fire is essential, it is also extremely dangerous. As a result, humans decided to put fire in a special place: they called it a fireplace. The fireplace would ensure that the fire could be controlled, as well as to prevent the fire from harming anyone. Whenever fire stayed inside the fireplace, it was considered a good fire. Whenever fire went outside the fireplace, it needed to be extinguished before it burnt down the entire house.Like fire, our Founding Fathers knew they could not survive without Government. Government would ensure protection of their liberties and inalienable rights. They knew that the absence of Government meant anarchy and chaos. However, they also knew from history that Government was extremely dangerous. As a result, our Founding Fathers decided to put Government in a specia Read more:Constitution
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Global Warming: The New Religion 2007-06-07 17:10:00 The brilliant evolutionist, Richard Dawkins, articulated very clearly that Evolution is not a religion because he would be willing to renounce it in a split second if he found evidence of a better theory. Today, however, environmentalism has objectively become a religion after being taken over by the “Global
Warming Hysteria” movement. It has become a religion because even as all the bricks supporting the anthropogenic global warming hypothesis are tumbling down, its followers still brand those who question the panic as heretics.According to the faithful, humans are causing the Earth’s climate to change by emitting CO2, using incandescent light bulbs, driving to work, and doing anything that improves our standard of living. We must ignore the fact that the Earth’s climate has always changed without any help from us. We must ignore the fact that CO2 has never driven climate changes in the past. We must ignore the fact that humans emit less CO2 than dying vegetation, volcanoes, o Read more:Global Warming
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FDR's Party No More 2007-06-07 00:57:00 “Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong and may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.” – Franklin Roosevelt addressing the nation on June 6th 1944.Can any serious person expect this sort of language, purpose and faith from a modern day democrat? Can any serious person expect modern democrats not to ridicule someone who speaks this way? Are people who feel this way even allowed to be democrats anymore? Read more:Party
The "Goldwater" Conservative 2007-06-05 22:40:00 Ron Paul may be the last vestige of Barry Goldwater within the Republican Party. He is the only candidate willing to take a stand against all entitlement programs and regulations. He is the one candidate who makes liberty his principle platform. As such, he is objectively the most economically Conservative of all the Republican Presidential candidates.Nevertheless, there has been a move by many Republicans, and conservative talk radio hosts, to attack Ron Paul and attempt to remove him from the Party entirely. Chris Wallace even had the nerve to ask Ron Paul why he is running as a Republican solely because Paul believes in a neutral international policy. This quite possibly could be the most dangerous action by Republicans in years.Marginalizing Ron Paul is so disgraceful because the Republican Party has steadily lost Libertarian votes over the last decade. In fact, many lifelong Republicans became registered members of the Libertarian Party. They simply felt that the Republican party
We Need a Lazy Politician 2007-06-05 07:12:00 Since the word got out that Fred Thompson will likely enter the Presidential race in July, there has been constant talk about his governmental experience, his conservatism, and yes, his alleged laziness. It is comical, however, to think that the worst thing that can be said about Thompson is that he "did not like to work very hard." Personally, I could not think of anything that would make him more qualified to work in government; laziness is on the top of my list of qualities I want in a politician. In fact, we desperately need more of them.Conversely, it is precisely because of hardworking politicians that our government cannot live within its means, we have an administrative nightmare, there are never-ending entitlement programs, pork barrel spending is at an all-time high, and our tax system is an embarrassment. For some reason, politicians and the American public think that more needs to be done about everything. No, in reality we need to stop doing everything. Specifically, stop Read more:Politician
Lies About Big Oil 2007-06-04 22:54:00 The mainstream media continues to beat the drum that profits, especially those generated by AMERICAN Oil Companies, are in some way immoral and obscene.This company line is far from reality however:-High prices are the market telling us that something needs to be done. High prices are signaling that we need more capacity. Consumers understand that energy efficiency is important; automakers understand that energy efficiency is important; refinery operators are getting this signal.-Price Gauging by "Big Oil
" is a complete myth perpetuated by the mainstream media. Congressional investigation after congressional investigation has revealed no evidence of so called "price gauging." Does it make sense that the nation's most regulated industry could possibly engage in anticompetitive pricing?-Many in the media claim the oil Industry is defined by collusive pricing and anti competitive behavior. This is a lie. The gasoline market in the United States is highly competitive. In fact, the market
Our Worst Judge 2007-06-04 13:54:00 It is astonishing to read Justice Ginsburg's dissent in the narrowly decided LEDBETTER v. GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO., INC. in which the plaintiff tried to sue over sexual discrimination nearly 18 years after the alleged discrimination took place (federal law has a statute of limitations of 180 days). Ginsburg shows no respect for the law or the Constitution as it is written. Her fiery decisions are almost always proclamations in defense of the so called disenfranchised (which in her case includes all those who are not white men). Moreover, she shows utter disrespect for the unambigous language of the statute, the legislative intent, and she is instead more concerned with her own ideological goals.It is worth noting that Justice Ginsburg while a sitting DC Circuit Court Judge
not once hired a single black person (out of 50). Though being a limousine liberal, this never stops her from pushing for court ordered quotas to correct what she sees as racial imbalance in the workplace even
Dems Rehash Tired Talking Points. . . Edward's Hair Shines 2007-06-03 23:17:00 I am really trying not to be sarcastic here, but the most impressive thing about tonight's Democrat Press conference was John Edward
's hair. Seriously, it looked amazing. So coiffed and feathered. If that's what a $400 haircut gets, I might have to consider biting the bullet. This is especially true given in Democrat circles such hair gets you a center seat at the debates, and a lead in Iowa.But I digress. The frenzied rush of Democrats to appease their fringe base has forced them to reveal some of their more nationally unpopular positions. For instance: 7 of 8 do not believe English should be our national language and none oppose gays OPENLY serving in the military. Kucinich thinks we should not “Assassinate” Osama bin Laden. This indicates an undeniable lurch to the left by the party's leadership and candidates.Most enraging to me still is that these people (Edwards, Clinton, Biden etc.) continue to espouse rhetoric that the President misled them into war. This is utter nonse Read more:Points
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It is Time for a New Space Race 2007-06-03 17:58:00 The National Aeronautics Space
Administration (NASA) continues to be supported in this Country almost entirely because of the nostalgic feelings it bestows within us all. We all remember how JFK called to defeat the Russians in a race to the moon. We all remember Neal Armstrong’s, “One Giant Leap for Mankind.” We all remember how NASA gave our Country and its citizens a great deal of pride. It exemplified American achievement and brilliance. Since then, however, NASA has become a cash pit of taxpayer money, and at worst, it has prevented “real” space exploration from occurring.This year, NASA will cost the taxpayers $16.8 Billion so that we can safely jump on our beds without spilling wine. Okay, I am sure the Administration has accomplished more. But honestly, what kind of return on our investment are we really getting with our tax dollars? Did we not all expect about a decade ago that we would have space elevators, and we would be walking on Mars? What has given us reason
Indoctrination Central? 2007-06-03 10:09:00 I make a habit to watch The John Stewart Show whenever I get the chance. Stewart is incredibly talented; he does a brilliant job illustrating absurdity by being absurd. However, recently I’ve become annoyed at how openly slanted his monologues have become. It has gotten to the point where he is clearly attempting to indoctrinate his young audience to the liberal point of view. This would not be much of concern if his audience actually got their news from other news sources. But, polling data has demonstrated that most young voting Americans get their news from Comedy Central
. So, should I really be concerned over a marginal comedy show? After reflecting, I realize there is nothing to worry about.I recognize now that my greatest concern about Stewart was not what he said, but who was listening to him. I was worried that his satire was simply too persuasive/entertaining for young college students who have not yet heard both sides of an issue. I was apprehensive that after eight years o Read more:Indoctrination
Illegal Alien Crime of the Day. . . . . . 2007-06-02 11:30:00 A man was convicted Tuesday of being drunk and on drugs when he crashed his truck into a Las Vegas bus stop, killing a 4-year-old boy and hospitalizing the child’s mother.It took a Clark County jury less than two hours to find Nicolas Serrano-Villagrana guilty of three counts of felony DUI causing substantial bodily harm and/or death for the May crash that killed Angel Avendano and left the boy’s 32-year-old mother, Eulogia Avendano, and a second woman, Nijailia Altitijka Graves, with injuries.The Las Vegas Sun has more. . . . Read more:Alien
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FDR's Ponzi Scheme 2007-06-01 17:53:00 The Security and Exchange Commission defines Ponzi
scheme as a type of illegal pyramid scheme named for Charles Ponzi, who duped thousands of New England residents into investing in a postage stamp speculation scheme back in the 1920s. Ponzi was flooded with funds from investors, taking in $1 million during one three-hour period. Sadly, most of the people in this scheme were never paid because there were not enough new investors to continue to pay into the Pyramid.The Ponzi scheme works on the “rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul” principle, as money from new investors is used to pay off earlier investors until the whole scheme collapses. Nevertheless, a few decades after Charles Ponzi duped people to buy into his Pyramid, Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the foresight of Nostradamus, decided that this was the right program to help out Grandma. “Great,” he said, “I’ll use this illegal scheme to create Social Security for the elderly. In fact, instead of people voluntarily paying into the sche Read more:Ponzi Scheme
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Bush Joins the Swindle 2007-06-01 16:47:00 Right when the world is waking up to the fact that Anthropogenic Global Warming is a swindle, George Bush decides to change teams and join the side of insanity. Recently, Bush called for an international meeting on CO2 emissions. He suggested that the countries that produce the most CO2 work to create a strategy to reduce their output by 2008. Great…way to waste the remaining political capital we have around the World on irrelevant junk science.George Bush is like the investor who bought Enron Stock the day Ken Lay died. What’s next? Is he going to tell Canada we need to work to prevent the spread of SARS?This nonsense is no different from those religious fanatics who believed that the world was going to end at the tick of the Millennium. Then when Armageddon did not happen, they changed their tune and said the world is “really” going to end fifty years from now. Al Gore and his mind-numb robots will be no different when the Earth’s feedback loops kick in, or when increases i Read more:Swindle
Democrats "Happy" With Inexperience 2007-06-01 07:52:00 The forehead - Paul Begala (pictured right looking just as gitty as a school girl) was on Bill Press this morning. What Begala said is nothing new from Democrat operatives and especially those with Clintonista backgrounds. We've heard and will continue to learn more and more about the Presidential Candidates on both sides. Begala asserted that Democrats
are "happier" with their candidates then Republicans. This says much less about the candidates themselves then it does about differences between democrats and republicans.The Democrat front runners include: 1) a woman who aside from marrying the most talented politician of his generation has accomplished little on her own (other then astonishingly high negatives); 2) A political novice who has served 3 years in the senate with no significant legislative achievements; and 3) a one term senator/ trial lawyer with no managerial experience.Contrast this with Republican dissatisfaction over 1) one of them most successful federal prosecutors Read more:Happy
Combating the Notion of Free Healthcare 2007-05-31 21:46:00 Nearly every democrat Presidential candidate has touted the idea that we NEED universal healthcare. Not to be outdone by Mrs. Bill Clinton’s failed plan of 13 years ago, the Senator formerly known as Barry Obama has unveiled his own plan. Such plans continue to exploit the intellectual laziness and bankruptcy that exists on the left and in the upper echelons of the Democrat party. How in good conscious can Barry refer to healthcare provided through a government conduit as free? Since he is running for president, I must ask if he believes government provided Defense, highways, clean water and food stamps are free? He must realize that healthcare, like all other material things, are scarce resources that have alternative uses (this is the basis of economics).Unfortunately, it is not just the communists and socialists who believe in free lunches. There are many well-meaning Americans who believe that certain things in life should be free. Simply asking these people why such things ought Read more:Healthcare
Gun Control is Forced Helplessness 2007-05-31 17:05:00 Being someone who does not own a gun, it might seem astonishing to hear that I am staunchly supportive of gun rights. I did not always hold these views, however. In fact, I once thought that all guns should be banned in this Country in order to reduce crime. I used to think that we would all feel safe if only we had tougher gun control laws. In reality, I never heard the other side’s argument and was grossly uninformed.Gun rights serves two major purposes: First, it allows individuals to protect themselves when the Government is unable to protect them; second, it allows individuals to protect themselves from the Government when it unjustly attacks them. The truth is that liberty cannot thrive in a country where its citizens are prohibited from protecting themselves. Preventing people from owning guns is nothing more than forced helplessness.While there are those who assert that Governments would never attack its own citizens, that argument can be quickly dispelled by looking at other Read more:Control
Nonsense From Madame Hillary 2007-05-31 17:02:00 Mrs. Bill Clinton continues to rant and rave about those evil CEO’s and how much they get paid. Her comments, however, are completely devoid of any criticism of how she plans to level the playing field with respect to Entertainers. They can keep their money in "Hillary
World," but those who actually create organizational productivity and value cannot.But, I digress. Mrs. Bill Clinton’s statements are unfounded and include no insight into her husband’s own administration and the ramifications it had on executive compensation. The 1993 Clinton tax hikes lowered the amount that corporations could deduct from their executive’s salaries to 1 million dollars. While team Clinton didn’t do their homework, markets certainly did as they adjusted. The Clinton tax code allowed for even greater tax deductions when corporations paid out compensation on bonuses and stock options. The result: exploding executive compensation. Let’s be clear, this explosion was a direct result of actions ta Read more:Madame
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Kick 'em While They're Down? 2007-05-30 22:55:00 Devil's Advocate is neither original nor novel when he complains about President Bush's lack of conservative governance (see below). I get really tired of hearing conservatives complain about President Bush not acting like a conservative. People who make these claims simply were not paying attention when the man first ran for office in 2000. Many conservatives made an assumption about Bush's political orientation - because he said that Jesus Christ was his lord and savor they figured that meant he was a libertarian conservative. The President never pretended to be this. To point this out now is trite and opportunistic.Moreover, comparing Bush to Jimmy Carter is flat out wrong. Former President Carter created no lasting legacy other then being known as (outside of the Upper West Side of Manhattan) the most incompetent loser ever to serve in the White House. Say what you will about this President, but his presidency has been one of undeniable significance and though prospects for Rep
George Bush is Our Jimmy Carter 2007-05-30 21:46:00 It is official; George
Bush has managed to lose his remaining supporters. The most disheartening part about this is that it could have been prevented if he only acted like a Conservative. By now, most of us have learned the truth: "Compassionate Conservative" is newspeak for "Huge Liberal." Let us examine the facts: Bush has not vetoed a single spending bill while in office; he is for illegal immigration; he added the Plan D prescription drug bill putting our Country in greater debt; he refused to veto the McCain-Feingold bill; he nominated Harriot Myers to the Supreme Court; he created "No child left behind;" he defends affirmative action; he went on a nation-building campaign in Iraq instead of winning a war; he lied about changing the rules of engagement for our soldiers in a war zone; and today he blasted his base for being a bunch of fear mongers for supporting the rule of law. Since when was cutting taxes sufficient to make someone a Conservative? Take a look at John F. Kennedy; Read more:Carter
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Chavez Crushes Dissent . . Liberals Cheer 2007-05-29 19:05:00 Democracy does not guarantee us freedom from tyranny. Venezuela is a perfect example of this reality as Chavez
was elected with a decisive majority. What I find most disturbing though is not Hugo Chavez's rise to power, but the extent to which the American left seems to fawn over this dictator. These are the same folks who accuse President Bush of crushing dissent. If that is the case, why have they not suffered the same fate as their colleagues in Venezuela? The fact is that the Democrat party is an authoritarian party that seeks centralized control over all citizens. They fawn over Chavez because he possesses the type of power they themselves wish they had (and seek to attain). Unfortunately, it is Chavez’s power structure they admire and not our own.Just today, Dictator Chavez shut down an opposition-aligned television station Radio Caracas Television, RCTV, and replace it with a new state-funded channel. Read more:Cheer
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Compassionate Politicians 2007-05-29 16:49:00 I often wonder how politicians have convinced some Americans that they are compassionate when they steal our paychecks, take a cut for themselves, squander most of it, write their names on the checks, and give it back to the public to pay for overpriced healthcare. If I stole my neighbor's checkbook, wrote my name on the checks, and gave it to someone else, I would be arrested. Nevertheless, we tolerate our politicians performing essentially the same deed. At least if I seized my neighbor's money in the name of compassion, I would make sure not to squander it.Moreover, I might tolerate this abject absurdity if the government demonstrated it could handle our money. However, with a $2.9 trillion "budget," I have had an epiphany that something mystical happens when our money gets to Washington. It is just incredulous how $2.9 trillion is not enough to pay for every conceivable entitlement program. Are government agencies paying $5 million for single rolls of toilet paper, and $10 millio
Media Matters for Intellectually Lazy Americans 2007-05-28 16:46:00 Media Matters for America is a liberal/socialist organization geared to destroy anyone who states conservative viewpoints in the media. MMFA primarily reaches this objective by forcing young college interns to sit and listen to Rush Limbaugh everyday and post any statements he says out-of-context. Then, all the MMFA subscribers go to the MMFA website and listen to, or read, a 5 minute transcript of Rush’s show or statements made by other conservative thinkers. Finally, this process climaxes when the subscribers go on a blogging tantrum about how fat Rush is, or they get off topic and whine about how terrible America is because of Capitalism.What is most ironic about this phenomenon is that MMFA’s stated purpose is to dispel conservative misinformation and bias in the media. But, MMFA is very open about the fact that it only attacks conservatives, or those who disagree with liberals. So, in essence, its subscribers are reading a biased website intended to objectively dispel bias in Read more:Americans
Milton Friedman and Why Limited Government Helps the Poor 2007-06-13 17:45:00 Insanity is attempting to do the same thing over and over again, expecting to accomplish a different result; Government
policies are no different. Should it not be obvious to everyone that not a single government controlled economic policy accomplishes its intended purpose? From Social Security to the minimum wage, all these programs hurt the poorest members in our society. These programs force businesses to discriminate against the people with the least valuable skills.I am amazed that liberals refuse to realize this. You would think the entire Democrat party is made up of people who failed Economics and majored in sociology. Either that or the Democrat Party’s only goal is to stay in power by promising to end poverty while knowingly exacerbating the problem. If we were to base policies by what is actually accomplished, nobody in their right mind would vote for Big Government.What is worse is that we used to have citizens who not only supported liberty and free enterprise, but who Read more:Friedman
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Bono and the Myth of Forced Compassion 2007-06-12 17:00:00 There is a common myth that compassion and force can occur simultaneously. I am talking about the misguided concept that forcing American citizens to provide tax dollars toward foreign aid makes America compassionate. In reality, the percentage of GNP that a government commits toward foreign aid is a factor demonstrating how much power the government exerts over its citizens. Conversely, compassion only comes from voluntary action, not from coercion.Admirably, American citizens donate more of their own money toward foreign aid voluntarily than any other Country in the world; we just choose that the money does not come from tax dollars. For some reason, however, the liberal elites think that the only type of aid that matters is money that a government forces its citizens to give. To them, no matter how much charity citizens contribute, the government should still force its people to give more without their consent.This liberal lunacy is exemplified by the great humanitarian, Bono. He re Read more:Compassion
"Al Gore Lied, People Died" 2007-06-12 12:40:00 Liberals keep telling us that "Bush lied, people died." Well if the President lied about the connection between Iraq and international terrorism, then so did Al Gore. Here is a tape of then Vice Presidential candidate Al Gore blasting President George HW Bush for ignoring Iraq's ties to terrorism (the same ties they tell us do not exist). Can anyone imagine a Democrat giving this speech today? We are far more likely to hear the leading Democrat candidates attacking the president, or anyone for that matter, for asserting that there was (and is) a significant connection between Iraq and terrorism. For modern Democrats the war on terror is just a bumper sticker .
20 Years To The Day 2007-06-12 08:41:00 Twenty years to the day, Ronald Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate and told Mr. Gorbachev to "tear it down." Many on the left like to downplay the Gipper's role in the fall of the Soviet Union. The mere fact that the speech below would have been unheard of in 1980 (or even moments before he gave it) is a testament to Reagan's influence in the matter. Long from now, this speech along with the Truman Doctrine and Roosevelt's Quarantine the Aggressor's will be remembered as a seminal moment in the 20th century. Read more:Years
Paris Hilton: Liberal Activist in the Making 2007-06-11 17:42:00 Mark my words; ParisHilton
will not change for the better when she gets out of prison, but not in the way you are thinking. Like Lindsay Lohan, or the other bumbling Hollywood idiots, it will not be long before she comes out and starts lecturing us what we should do to save the Planet. You think I am kidding, right? Well, allow me to paint you an ugly picture.Paris Hilton
is going to get out of jail and say she is sick and tired of being an idiot. Well, at least that’s what her publicist will say for her. Her next move will be to network with the adult Hollywood elites, such as Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, and Leonardo DiCaprio. It will not be long after that when she starts to organize rallies for PETA, GREEN PEACE, and tells us to cut our carbon. This seems to be standard protocol after you act like a total psychopath for a whole decade.Just take a look at Angelina Jolie for example. Examine why people should revere what she does. The woman used to wear her husbands blood in a vil Read more:Activist
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