Ron Paul doesn't have a chance of winning the Presidency. As much as I was (am) behind him, I think his goal was always to change the focus in Washington. Its hard to say what his long term legacy will be, but I think he has helped stir the constitutional consciousness of the country. He certainly has energized the young libertarian movement, and its up to us to keep the ball rolling.
But, he won a significant victory today. Paul has long pushed for the an audit of the Federal Reserve, and today it looks like we might be one step closer. The U.S. House passed Paul's bill and Harry Reid has even said that he supports the measure. So maybe for once this Congress' bill won't be dead on arrival at the Senate. This would be the most significant victory for liberty this year (probably the most significant since Obama came into office).
Interestingly the vote was the Washington Times reports that the bill passed 327-98. What confuses me is why anyone but the Federal Reserve would oppose an audit. How can an audit be a bad thing? Someone please explain. It seems to me that we should want to know the truth about where money is going rather than to bury our heads in the sand. Of course Fed Chair Ben Bernanke doesn't like it, he said it would be a "nightmare scenario." Why? Obviously an audit is a nightmare for someone who has something to hide, so why then is this a nightmare scenario for him?
Evidently several Democrats voted against the bill on the ground that it would be dangerous send the message to the financial markets that lawmakers want to intervene with financial affairs. Seriously? These are the guys who have been pushing for more and more control and regulation of the financial industry since before 2008, and who want government to interefere with private markets in all industries. Something sounds disingenuous in that protestation.
Let us hope that we pass this bill. It can only be for the best to audit the Fed. After all, when are we ever better of blinding ourselves to reality?
For more on this, check out Cato's podcast on this.
-Liberty Tree
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
John Stewart and the Tax Avoidance Fallacy!
John Stewart can be funny in that annoying snarky way. He is hit or miss--unlike my hero Steven Colbert. Colbert always seems to be on his game, and I'm amused with him even when he is poking fun at people I like or policies I advocate. I think its healthy to laugh at yourself sometimes, and good humor can give you perspective.
Don't get me wrong--I think Stewart has his moments for sure. But, his leftist ethos bleeds through with such unapologetic hyperbole that he sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out. For example, in a recent episode of the Daily Show, Stewart suggests that Mitt Romney is somehow contradicting himself in saying that government shouldn't be giving people more things while--at the same time--accepting tax exemptions. But Stewart is to be forgiven; he has simply fallen victim to a fallacy that I've heard President Obama and the liberal echo chamber repeat time and again. Its only annoying coming from Stewart because I think he is intelligent enough to understand the absurdity of what he is suggesting.
There is a world of difference between opposing government policies that redistribute wealth (arguably at the expense of market efficiencies and our national economic vitality), and believing that one is entitled to (and rationally should) take advantage of tax exemptions. Stewart, and the liberal echo chamber, act like exemptions are somehow taking something away from the public that is rightly the public's in the first place. Perhaps they are forgetting that whatever the public has taken for the treasury was first private property.
Mr Stewart, I think you get my point. Its simply playing to the lowest element of society (by that I mean those who vote without digesting thoughts for themselves) to talk about another man's wealth as if "we the people" have some god given entitlement to it. But by all means, if you want to talk about god given rights, I'm happy to have that conversation. Personally, I think America should have that discussion. But, I wish politicians and commentators would refrain from these sort of glib criticisms. Unfortunately, we live in the age of soundbites and the electorate suffers from such terrible ADD that few stop to question these things.
-Liberty Tree
Don't get me wrong--I think Stewart has his moments for sure. But, his leftist ethos bleeds through with such unapologetic hyperbole that he sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out. For example, in a recent episode of the Daily Show, Stewart suggests that Mitt Romney is somehow contradicting himself in saying that government shouldn't be giving people more things while--at the same time--accepting tax exemptions. But Stewart is to be forgiven; he has simply fallen victim to a fallacy that I've heard President Obama and the liberal echo chamber repeat time and again. Its only annoying coming from Stewart because I think he is intelligent enough to understand the absurdity of what he is suggesting.
There is a world of difference between opposing government policies that redistribute wealth (arguably at the expense of market efficiencies and our national economic vitality), and believing that one is entitled to (and rationally should) take advantage of tax exemptions. Stewart, and the liberal echo chamber, act like exemptions are somehow taking something away from the public that is rightly the public's in the first place. Perhaps they are forgetting that whatever the public has taken for the treasury was first private property.
Mr Stewart, I think you get my point. Its simply playing to the lowest element of society (by that I mean those who vote without digesting thoughts for themselves) to talk about another man's wealth as if "we the people" have some god given entitlement to it. But by all means, if you want to talk about god given rights, I'm happy to have that conversation. Personally, I think America should have that discussion. But, I wish politicians and commentators would refrain from these sort of glib criticisms. Unfortunately, we live in the age of soundbites and the electorate suffers from such terrible ADD that few stop to question these things.
-Liberty Tree
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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