Thoughts, essays, and writings on Liberty. Written by the heirs of Patrick Henry.

July 1, 2009

Common Ground for the Left and the Right on the Bill of Rights

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June 27, 2009

Petty Meddlers Face Jackboot

Homeowners’ Associations are one of life’s little sour tastes of government. Petty meddling nannies who tell you that you can’t do X, or that you must do Y, in order to keep the neighborhood “uniform” or somesuch. Sadly, it’s also a microcosm for most peoples’ reactions to government. When it’s a neighbor [...]

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April 29, 2009

The District of Corruption Owns Your Driveway

In Washington, DC aka the District of Corruption, the friendly local meter maids are now issuing parking tickets, on your driveway.
Beverly Anderson is mad as hell. She just started to get tickets for parking in her own driveway.
That’s right. The District of Columbia is ticketing people who park their cars in their own driveways.
“This is [...]

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March 1, 2009

Frustrated Property Owner Sends A Giant “Screw You” To All Of Alexandria, Virginia

Anyone who has dealt with the pettiness that often finds itself residing in zoning boards is likely to understand this one completely:
To many in Old Town Alexandria, the sex shop that opened recently on King Street is nothing short of scandalous, a historical desecration just blocks from the boyhood home of Robert E. Lee.
But to [...]

Posted By: Doug Mataconis @ 1:38 am || Permalink || Comments (2) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Individual Rights, Property Rights, Zoning and Land-Use
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January 30, 2009

Susette Kelo Tells Her Story at The Cato Institute

Interestingly, this new development that was supposed to bring in so much revenue and jobs to the City of New London remains an empty lot. The city has lost a tax base and the only new jobs which were created were for demolition. Here’s hoping that New London does not recover from this immoral stealing [...]

Posted By: Stephen Littau @ 11:23 am || Permalink || Comments Off || TrackBack URI || Categories: Constitution, Economics, General, Human Rights, Individual Rights, Legal, Property Rights, The Bill Of Rights, Zoning and Land-Use
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September 12, 2008

In fact, let me say unequivocally, I’m OK with more people dying, so long as we have more freedom; be it with drugs, or guns, or sex, or anything else.
Are there limits? Of course there are; at the very least, my fist is limited by your nose… but doing immoral, unethical, and unconstitutional things (and [...]

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July 23, 2008

Cali Going “Green” — Raising House Prices By Restricting Supply

California, in an attempt to fix the housing mess* by making houses less affordable by making you buy features you wouldn’t otherwise**, has announced new statewide building restrictions to go “green”.
From the Governator on down, nanny statists in California are more than willing to use force to make your life more expensive, and are quite [...]

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July 16, 2008

Banned!

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November 7, 2007

14 Libertarians Win Tuesday’s Elections

Out of 81 candidates running as Libertarians in Tuesday’s elections, 14 (17%) won (full results here). While this may not sound very encouraging, it is encouraging to me to see at least a few Libertarians actually winning elections and holding public office. A small town mayor here, a judge there, and a hand full of [...]

Posted By: Stephen Littau @ 1:23 pm || Permalink || Comments Off || TrackBack URI || Categories: Politics, Property Rights, Strategies For Advancing Liberty, Theory and Ideas, Zoning and Land-Use
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October 17, 2007

The Endangered Species People Act

(WSB Radio) — Despite the threat of legal action by Gov. Sonny Perdue, the Army Corps of Engineers says it has no plans to reduce the release of water from Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona.
Army Major Darren Payne tells WSB’s Pete Combs the Corps is required by law to send water down the Chattahoochee [...]

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August 8, 2007

It’s the Spending Stupid!

In the immediate wake of the bridge collapse in Minnesota, politicians (mostly Democrats) have advocated raising taxes to repair or replace other structurally deficient bridges throughout the country. Apparently, there just isn’t enough money in the treasury at this time to repair these bridges. Why am I skeptical that this is not the case?
Assuming [...]

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May 18, 2007

And “The System” Rolls On

So, it’s been over 100 most days for the last month and a bit, with some massive wind and dust storms… generally not the most pleasant outdoor environment, and like many Arizona residents we’ve neglected our yard a bit.
Note, I said “a bit”; here’s the total weed growth since we last did the weeds [...]

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March 26, 2007

It’s Constitutional For The Government To Harass You

So you buy a property. The property is free and clear. Then some bureaucrat comes along and tells you that the government has an easement on your property, but there’s no written record of it. You tell them to go screw. So they start harassing you. Is this right?
This is [...]

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February 28, 2007

Zoning Out Freedom

Unhappy with legislative failure in Richmond, the leaders of the City of Alexandria, Virginia have turned to a new, rather unique, tool in their effort to force local businesses to ban smoking:
Frustrated that the state legislature failed to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, Alexandria officials have come up with a maverick plan of their [...]

Posted By: Doug Mataconis @ 11:20 pm || Permalink || Comments (1) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Individual Rights, Property Rights, Zoning and Land-Use
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January 26, 2007

A Victory For Property Rights In Maryland

Last year, a Judge in Montgomery County, Maryland ruled that Marianne and Marc Duffy, who had bought and renovated a home in Chevy Chase, would have to tear the house down because it violated county zoning laws, even though the house as constructed had been approved by the county.
This week, another judge in Maryland [...]

Posted By: Doug Mataconis @ 11:02 am || Permalink || Comments (8) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Individual Rights, Property Rights, Zoning and Land-Use
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January 22, 2007

Florida Repeals The Laws Of Economics

The Florida legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill today that supposedlyaddresses Florida’s insurance crisis. The solutions these Solons came up with are:
The biggest savings are expected to come from expanding insurers’ access to the state’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, which pays claims when insurers can’t. Insurance companies pay into the fund, but the coverage is cheaper than [...]

Posted By: Kevin @ 9:24 pm || Permalink || Comments (13) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Government Regulation, Politics, Zoning and Land-Use
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January 4, 2007

Who Makes Up “The Government”?

The refrain is common. “The government should provide X!” or “Why won’t the government do Y?”
There is an implicit assumption here, upon which the entire idea is predicated, which is and always has been flat wrong. That assumption is the idea that government is populated with selfless altruists, who happen to be philosopher-kings, [...]

Posted By: Brad Warbiany @ 8:12 am || Permalink || Comments (1) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Government Regulation, Politics, Theory and Ideas, Zoning and Land-Use
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December 3, 2006

A Massive Denial Of Property Rights

The Board of Supervisors of Prince William County, Virginia, where I live, is threatening to put a halt to all new home construction in the county unless the State of Virginia gives it more money for transportation:
Prince William County supervisors, angry that the state government is not responding to residents tired of traffic congestion, say [...]

Posted By: Doug Mataconis @ 12:57 pm || Permalink || Comments (2) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Individual Rights, Property Rights, Zoning and Land-Use
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November 27, 2006

The Far Reach Of Zoning Laws

I’ve written before (here, here, and here) about the impact that zoning and land use laws can have on individual rights. In various parts of the country, they are used to keep undesirable businesses out of certain areas, or to restrict the types of business that can be conducted in a certain areas. And, in [...]

Posted By: Doug Mataconis @ 4:37 am || Permalink || Comments (1) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Property Rights, Zoning and Land-Use
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July 18, 2006

Zoning Laws And Religious Freedom

Last week, I wrote about a Fairfax County, Virginia zoning ordinance that was forcing a family to accept trees that they didn’t want on their property, today’s Washington Post, though, has an article showing how zoning and land use laws can interfere with more than just property rights.
McLean Bible Church, a Tysons Corner megachurch, has [...]

Posted By: Doug Mataconis @ 7:30 am || Permalink || Comments (2) || TrackBack URI || Categories: Individual Rights, Property Rights, Zoning and Land-Use
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