Free trade > Lou Dobbs

Lou Dobbs is a self-important blowhard who’s way too fascinated with the fact that someone used his name to describe a type of Democrat.

He’s also a protectionist who’s going to get our economy into deep shit if anyone ever actually bothers taking him seriously.

Victorious Democrats will, with the opening of the 110th Congress, have a historic opportunity to right the course of a country that has been hell-bent on permitting free-trade corporatists and faith-based economics to bankrupt the nation.

As the New Year approaches, newly elected Democrats in the House and Senate will be battered by calls, even demands, to stay the course, rather than right it. And we can only hope they and their new leadership in both houses will have the courage and character to be rationalists and realists and overcome their partisan political debt to corporate America, and U.S. multinationals in particular.

Blah blah blah workers of the world unite. Got it.

No, we do not have to be worried about this. The reason for the trade imbalance is largely because of the protectionist markets of the East Asian economies. They’ve been exporting without allowing imports to come in, which has caused huge deficits… but a nation cannot do this indefinitely without eventually wreaking havok upon its own self.

The Chinese have begun embracing American imports. The trade imbalance is shrinking as China has begun its consumer boom, and in a few short years I’m sure we’ll actually be a net exporter to China for a while, if this keeps us.

The Japanese are in the middle of an economic winter. This is because they’ve protected themselves very strongly against American imports, American capital, American anything. But with rampant unemployment, the government’s only got a few years before the situation will have to be dealt with. They may not like that the solution lies in free trade, but they’ll have no choice but to embrace it if they want to keep their jobs.

The world economy is opening up, no question about it. And it’s bringing tangible benefits to millions of people worldwide, not just to the Third World but also to the First.

Michelle Shinghal is in the hizzy

The femme fatale from Hammer of Truth is now officially onboard the LFV team. As this blog was basically our brainchild, it was just a matter of making this creature of php coding do our bidding. We still don’t quite have all the bugs worked out (I want to change the layout from one of these cookie-cutter stylesheets!) but we’re working on it.

In the meantime, it’s a pleasure to welcome her here… and to welcome the HoT readers that are starting to filter in. We’re delighted to have you. Blogs are nothing without readership, our opinions as editors aren’t as meaningful if they’re not shaped by the informed rebuttal that’s always been so skillfully provided by our readership over on HoT.

Just had to get that in before we tear each others’ throats out over the contents of the platform or the meaning of “force” or what happened on 9/11 or other such libertarian trivia.

Oh yeah, and if you want in this beast on the ground floor, all you gotta do is ask. princepsaugustus at hotmail dot com.

The Saints Are Coming

Watch this. You’ll be glad you did.

I really really like U2. Yes, I know Bono is a cocky, arrogant, socialist bastard. The man makes such good music.

I’ve never really liked Green Day all that much-musically, their last good album was “Dookie” and “American Idiot,” while having great lyrics, didn’t impress me much.

But damn, those two can cover a song like nothing else. The ending of this video, while a little far-fetched, works on an artistic level, I think. And it drives home a very very valid point-I’d much rather pay for the military to have helped out New Orleans than to be occupying Iraq.

We’re gaining traction.

This is good news for any libertarian-we decided the makeup of government.

From FOX News:

In one closely watched Congressional race — Indiana’s 9th Congressional District — and two critical Senate races — Missouri and Montana — the Republican candidate was defeated by fewer votes than the Libertarian candidate received.
…
In other words, in these two critical Senate races and in Indiana, if the Republican had gotten the Libertarian’s votes, the Republican would have won.
…
I can hardly contain my glee at seeing this happen after years of hoping it would. And in such dramatic fashion, with such important results.

We decided the election and I guarantee you that we’re a household name now. We may not win anything for a while, but we’re finally deciding elections in a grand fashion, and our support is growing. We cannot afford to lose this momentum.

The Kramer row just got dumber

What’s an even better idea than capping off your career with a racist tirade in a roomful of black guys?

Censorship.

Thank you, Jesse Jackson, for bringing absolutely nothing to the table yet again. Congrats, you just got your dick sucked live on air by a man futilely trying to save his acting career, now go away.

Curtailing free speech even more isn’t going to help anyone but a bunch of FCC bureaucats. Anyway, whose free speech are you trying to curtail? Looks to me like there’s a whole lot more black rappers saying the “n”-word than there are Klansmen or whatever. So good job, you’re now trying to kick the freedom of your people in the teeth!

Fifty years from now they’ll have the First Amendment upside down with a fucking fork up its ass.

UPDATE: Apparently the real-life inspiration for the Kramer character on Seinfeld is a libertarian? That’s cool.

Alcee Hastings went all churchy emo in the press

What a fucking hissy fit this guy can throw.

Rep. Alcee Hastings vowed Tuesday to play nice with House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-California, after she passed him over to head the House Intelligence Committee. But not before the Florida congressman delivered a parting blow to critics of his chairmanship bid.

“Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet,” Hastings said in a statement.

WTF? Who actually says this?

I think that’s going to be my new favorite phrase now whenever anyone dares to deny me anything. Professor gives me a bad grade? “Sorry, hater, God is not finished with me yet.” Friends don’t want to hang out? “Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet.” That is quite possibly the hokiest phrase ever-it must be mine.

But anyway, back on topic. I’m sorry, cowboy, but a party that was tossed into majority status on the back of corruption charges with the other guys is not about to appoint some corrupt little weasel as yourself to run anything higher than the DC dogcatcher department.

Because if they do… they’re finished and they know it.

NEA actually right about something, anytime, ever

They’re fighting implementation of Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. The provisions sound like more statist tripe, and to them it probably is, but…

From CNN (yet again *sigh*):

School districts in three states and the nation’s largest teachers union asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to revive a lawsuit challenging the way government-mandated programs are funded.

The National Education Association and districts in Michigan, Vermont and Texas had sued to block the No Child Left Behind law, President Bush’s signature education policy. They argued that schools should not have to comply with requirements that aren’t paid for by the federal government.

Chief U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman in Detroit dismissed the lawsuit in November 2005.

Attorney Robert Chanin, representing the Pontiac, Michigan, school district and the other plaintiffs, told the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday that states submitted compliance plans based on their understanding of the level of government support that would be provided. But Congress appropriated far less than needed, leaving local school districts to make up the difference, he said.

Government attorney Alisa Klein told the panel that the intent of the law was never to fully fund the provisions laid out in No Child Left Behind.

The law requires states to revise academic standards and develop tests to measure students’ progress annually. If students fail to make progress, the law requires states to take action against school districts.

The three-judge appeals court panel took the case under advisement and did not say when it will rule. The outcome would apply directly to the districts in the case, but could affect how the law is enforced in schools across the country.

This reads like the anti-zoning amendments just passed out in the West. The government retains the right to regulate just about anything they want, but they have to pay for their intervention. If there is a governmental cost to regulation, governments will be more reluctant to regulate things that don’t require regulation.

Maybe we’ll see some worthwhile reforms come out of this clusterfuck yet.

Europe’s helping us torture people

Looks like all that anti-American stuff about not supporting the more ridiculous aspects of our war on terror were horseshit. They’ve been our bitches all along.

From CNN:

European countries knew about U.S. secret jails for terrorism suspects and have obstructed an investigation into the transport and illegal detention of prisoners, a draft European Parliament report said on Tuesday.

It criticized a string of top EU officials including foreign policy chief Javier Solana and counter-terrorism coordinator Gijs de Vries, and complained of lack of cooperation from nearly all member states.

All right, let’s talk some more about how you hate our culture and our jails and all that. Or rather, we’ll do the talking; you’ll be too busy sucking you some homestyle Texas dick to really say much of anything.

The Dems need to start backhanding Dubya about the secret prisons, and but quick. We can’t count on the Europeans to uphold the laws of their own fucking countries, so all we’re left with for right now is the Democrats (God help us).

The tyranny of small minds

Neighborhood associations suck.

A homeowners’ association in southwestern Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is an anti-Iraq war protest or a symbol of Satan.

Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs.

He said some residents believed the wreath was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said.

I know that some of my fellow libertarians are all for neighborhood associations as an alternative form of regulation that doesn’t necessarily involve the coercion of the state. But the tyranny of these small minds is just about good enough. It’s the same spirit of censorship for censorship’s sake at work here, even if it’s outside the confines of City Hall.

If I lived there, I’d do the same damn thing. Nobody’s gonna tell me what I can and can’t do on my own property, period.

UPDATE: Public opinion just smacked the homeowners’ association down. Score one for personal freedom!

In Soviet Russia, politician assassinates YOU!!

My, how the mighty have fallen.

You see, Russia happened to kill one of their own spies in a foreign country. From CNN:

Five people have undergone testing for possible radioactive contamination following the death of a former Russian spy in London, British Home Secretary John Reid said on Monday.

Highly radioactive polonium-210 was found in the body of Alexander Litvinenko, who died last week, and traces of radiation were found at his home, a restaurant and hotel he had visited.

…

Davis also said it was “incredibly important to resolve the question of whether the Russian state was involved.”

Reid said the Russian ambassador had been called to the Foreign Office last Friday. “He was asked to convey to the Russian authorities our expectation that they should be ready to offer all necessary cooperation to the investigation as it proceeds.”

On Sunday a UK Cabinet minister launched an outspoken attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin, blamed by Litvinenko for his poisoning.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain criticized Putin’s “huge attacks” on liberty and democracy.

Seriously, Russia used to be so good at the whole cloak-and-dagger thing too. But this? Senator McCarthy’s pissing himself in Hell right now, laughing at their ineptitude in between bouts of Stalin crushing him like bug. Alger Hiss is rolling in his grave. No Bond girl for you, Russkies. Hell, you don’t even get a martini.

C’mon now, who kills one of their own spies with a material that only a few governments on Earth has access to, and then tries to deny everything? Might as well have stuck a tag on the dude’s toe saying “From Russia with FUCKYOU!” for all their intelligence agency’s worth.

So yeah… go git ‘em, Limeys.

Democracy in the Middle East

Yes, it does exist.

Apparently a Gulf state with a Sunni minority and a Shiite majority was capable of holding some democratic elections without a massive American occupying force.

Bahrain’s main Shiite Muslim opposition won 16 of parliament’s 40 seats but the group said on Sunday it doubted the strong showing would yield much political power in the Sunni-led kingdom.

According to results announced by the justice minister, the Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society secured 16 of the 17 seats it sought and the remaining seat will be decided in a runoff on Dec. 2. The group won 18 municipal seats in Saturday’s polls, with official figures putting voter turnout at 72 percent.

The results could give majority Shi’ites a bigger role in the political life of the pro-Western Gulf Arab state, which is ruled by a Sunni monarch.

“Our participation is limited,” the head of Wefaq, Sheikh Ali Salman told Reuters. “It is a positive step but let’s put this participation in perspective. There are 40 people appointed by the king with the same legislative powers.”

Yeah, it’s hardly perfect. More reform is needed. But it’s a step in the right direction, and look at the biggest reasons they’re offering for not having total democracy tomorrow:

With Wefaq promising more social spending, analysts say the main changes Bahrainis can expect are economic, but some raised concern that more Islamists in power means less social freedom.

“The difference in economic policy will be noticeable,” said Adel Marzooq, an economist and political scientist.

“There is one fear: that personal freedoms could be curtailed because there are now Islamists in government.”

Bahrain doesn’t have Americans occupying their nation. We’ve got a base there but we’re not patrolling their streets or anything like what’s going on in Iraq. But look-they’re well on the way to a functioning democracy, and the main reason they don’t already have it is because they don’t want to throw out their civil and economic liberties to get it.

Pretty admirable.

Hagel looking more and more electable these days

He’s once more calling for us to GTFO of Iraq. Can’t say I disagree.

A leading Republican senator called Sunday for American troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq, declaring that a U.S. pullout is needed to head off “impending disaster” in the nearly 4-year-old war.

“There will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq,” Sen. Chuck Hagel wrote in Sunday’s edition of The Washington Post.

Instead, he said, President Bush should use the upcoming report from a bipartisan panel led by former Secretary of State James Baker to begin laying the groundwork for a “phased withdrawal” of U.S. troops.

“If the president fails to build a bipartisan foundation for an exit strategy, America will pay a high price for this blunder — one that we will have difficulty recovering from in the years ahead,” Hagel wrote.

“To squander this moment would be to squander future possibilities for the Middle East and the world. That is what is at stake over the next few months.”

He’s got a few policy positions I don’t agree with. But here in Nebraska, where the Democrats are even more pro-war than the Republicans and the Republicans support higher taxes and spending than even the Democrats… this is as libertarian as you can get without actually voting Libertarian.

I hope Hagel gets the GOP nod for President in ‘08.

What does $400,000 going down the toilet sound like?

I’ve been itching to see what would come of one of the most acrimonious campaigns in Libertarian history.

The answer? Not a hell of a whole lot.

Let’s see what Hacker’s got to say for himself.

Well, there you have it… or do you?

Maybe it is what it is, and maybe it only looks that way. We’re going to take some time to carefully examine what happened, and then we’ll make a policy statement about the campaign and election. A detailed analysis, if there is to be one that serves the future well, will take considerably longer.

Contrary to the demands of those noisy few who know no other way to be right than to make someone else wrong, we don’t plan to turn on each other or our fellow libertarians with verbal machetes. That’s what has always been done, and that, per the definition of insanity, is what has always kept us where we’ve been. Even now, a few are beginning to do it, but for the most part, we seem to be more grown up this time. I applaud everyone for their more mature response.

Nor do we plan to engage any critics in the interim. The product will be delivered when it is deliverable, and only as appropriate.

How’s that humble pie tasting? $400,000 and you got a whopping 4% to show for it, Hacker.

I’m not going to deny that you had an assclown egging you on the whole time, but your overpaid self chose to waste campaign time on rebutting him. You told election sites to fuck themselves when they didn’t word things to your liking. You jumped down my throat and Cassidy’s throat when we pointed out some interesting FEC line items. All around, you just basically burned every bridge you possibly could, and sucked this campaign up.

The lesson here isn’t “Libertarians can’t do successful big-ticket campaigns” so much as it is that “Allen Hacker can’t do successful big-ticket campaigns.”

The jig is up. Retire.

So… WTF, mate?

What’s with the silence in the libertarian world?

HoT isn’t back up from the elections, and LibertyMix still isn’t up.  That, and National hasn’t really added anything new for a week now.

Did we all just shrivel up and die after our most successful year ever?  Where’s the purists and reformers at each other’s throats, taking credit for these victories?  Where’s the tinfoil hatters?  The 9/11 conspiracy theorists?  The RLC “Bush is a libertarian” crowd?  And everyone in between?

Is there anybody out there?

Popping the new blog cherry.

That’s right.

As I’m sure most of you know, I’m Stu from Hammer of Truth. I’ve decided to strike out on my own, sorta, because the libertarian world’s been silent for the past few weeks and this isn’t good for business. No, this pretty much isn’t good for anybody, except the Republicratic elite.

So yeah. Let’s see what we can do with this new place. I’m still putting the final touches on, but it’s something of a rolling start. I’m not fantastic at this HTML business, as this place will attest, and I’ll do something about the overdone cookie-cutter blog styling once I’ve got some moneys. But it’s a start and that’s the important thing-to just keep blogging.