Kevin Drum actually makes sense on this one! Trade talks aren’t quite that bad. But they’re close. The Doha round in particular lives or dies based on the willingness of rich nations to substantially reduce tariffs and subsidies on agricultural products, and seriously, what are the odds of that? We can’t even have a serious [...]

Over at the Master Resource Blog,  law professor Gail Heriot points out the similarities between global warming, fear-monger Al Gore and Xhosa Prophetess Nongqawuse: Nongqawuse was a teenager and a member of the Xhosa tribe in South Africa.  One day in April or May of 1856, she went down to the river to fetch water.  [...]

This one is filed in the “unintentional humor” category. Co-blogger Jason Pye, writing over at United Liberty [more on that to come in the near future] links a story about Blue Dog Democrats expressing concerns about government health care: To win their support, they said, any legislation would need to be much more aggressive in [...]

Meghan McCain writes: I understand that my place within the Young Republicans and the Republican Party is a controversial one, which is something I am still trying to get comfortable with. I am criticized almost daily for not being “conservative enough.” But the Republican Party needs to reach out to all kinds of voters. The [...]

Gennady Zyuganov, the head of the Russian Communist Party, gives a thumbs up to Obama-nomics. “I said that I had thoroughly studied the U.S. president’s anti-crisis program, that I liked it, as well as that it is socially oriented and primarily aimed at supporting poor people and enhancing the state’s role. I said all this [...]

Below is the text of a letter I’ve sent to Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. H.R. 1207 (introduced by Ron Paul) and S. 604 (introduced by Bernie Sanders) is a bill that requires the Comptroller General to audit the Fed and report back to Congress within the next 18 months. Given that the only [...]

This post is the second portion of a feature we offer here at The Liberty Papers called “Point-Counterpoint”. In this feature, Kevin argued the Point yesterday that Tea Parties are ultimately damaging to the libertarian movement. Today, Brad responds with the below. My boss is a mainstream Republican in his mid-40′s. He’s got a small [...]

Tell me, just once, where a government that has created a million-name no-fly list gets a legitimate power to ban people arbitrarily placed on that list from firearm ownership? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff to the Obama White House! Critical text (h/t David Rittgers, Cato@Liberty): “if you’re on that [...]

This post is the opening salvo of a feature we occasionally offer here at The Liberty Papers called “Point-Counterpoint”. In this feature, Kevin is arguing the Point that Tea Parties are ultimately damaging to the libertarian movement. Tomorrow, Brad will respond to this argument with his Counterpoint (response here). The so-called Tea Party movement has [...]

Pope Benedict XVI has decided to wade into territory which he has no understanding or expertise: the global economy. The New York Times reports that the pope is now calling for a “New World Economic Order”* VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday called for a radical rethinking of the global economy, criticizing a [...]

While I’ve not had enough time to take a comprehensive look at Tea Parties held around the nation on or around Independence Day, here are some quick observations from this full-time Tea Party enthusiast and part-time skeptic. First of all, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) was booed when he spoke in Austin, Texas.  The key reason [...]

Number of “Czars” appointed by the Obama Administration: 31 Number of Tsars of Russia serving from 1530-1918: 28

Instapundit links to a NYT Magazine propaganda piece about governing California, and the part about taxation reads as if it were written by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, right down to euphemistically renaming taxes “revenue”: In the view of many, the origins of the mud slog began with the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, the [...]

From the time of 1765 forward, the American people, in fits and starts, began moving closer and closer to breaking ties with Britain and declaring independence. They grew increasingly angry at being dragged into [or paying for] the wars of the Crown. The King had largely held a hands-off approach with the colonies, who largely [...]

A friend has started an organization called the 1776 Project, which he’s kicking off today “hoping to inform and educate voters by promoting the values and principles of a Constitutional government.” Here’s press release explaining the motivation: The 1776 Project stresses that our Constitution is the single most important civic document in governing our nation. [...]

Iced Earth “Declaration Day” The Glorious Burden (2004) Written by Jon Schaffer A desperate situation Forced to retaliation The task ahead a burden Men will suffer, that’s for certain We’ll charge into the fire The cause, we must inspire We raise our fists to tyranny A high price, freedom is not free The odds are [...]

…and route around them By the by, for those who don’t get the reference, it’s a paraphrase of a quote from John Gilmore – “The internet interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it”

From Gerald O’Driscoll @ Cato, regarding “too big to fail”: The doctrine states that some banks (now financial institutions generally) are so large that their failure would incur “systemic risk” for the financial system. That sounds terrible and it is intended to. Financial services regulators and Treasury secretaries use it to frighten small children and [...]

Congress has been taking quite a few junkets on the taxpayer dime. Not a surprise, I know but the rate of increase (50% increase in last two years, 10x increase since 1995) is a bit of a shocker. Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal [...]

Generally, the Communist Party spends a lot of time criticizing Democrats running for and holding public office for not being socialistic enough. This appears to have changed since President Obama was elected. “In this legislative session, we can envision winning a Medicare-like public option and then going further in the years ahead,” writes Sam Webb, [...]