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Liberty and Power

  • Jul 15, 2006

    Soaring Revenue Is Nothing to Cheer

    by Liberty and Power

    Why cut taxes? Judging by the popping corks at the White House this week, taxes are cut to increase government revenues so the budget deficit can be shrunk without reducing government spending. Tax cuts are good, but this justification leaves me cold.
    The rest of my latest TGIF column is at The Foundation for Economic Education website.

    Cross-posted at
  • Jul 14, 2006

    The Cherokee Nation - Exercising Its Sovereignty

    by Liberty and Power

    In May 2003, citizens of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma voted to remove the U.S. federal approval clause from their 1975 Constitution. The clause stated that no amendment or new constitution shall be effective without presidential approval.

    Principal Chief Chad Smith said the Cherokee Nation was exercising its sovereignty by approving the new constitution without federal approval and has received all proper approvals by passing a vote of the Cherokee people in July 2003.
  • Jul 14, 2006

    The Plight of the Ordinary Iraqi

    by Liberty and Power

    See 'A Letter from an Iraqi Reader' to Juan Cole (www.juancole.com.)

    "Iraqis like me are stuck between all these groups. I am religous, but I don't want religion in the constitution. I think federalism is ok as long as it doesnt lead to the break up of Iraq . . . While my wife does wear hijab, I don't want laws in place that force her to. Baathists can go back to work, but I am sickened by people who are heartless and carry the picture of
  • Jul 13, 2006

    Iraq's "Islamist" Parliament Speaker Denounces "Jews"

    by Liberty and Power

    The speaker of Iraq's parliament has charged that"Jews" are causing Iraq's civil strife. He adds that "No one deserves to rule Iraq other than Islamists."

    Any guesses on how the warbloggers, like Glenn Reynolds, will spin this latest example of blowback, assuming that they even mention it?

  • Jul 12, 2006

    Spencer Heath Blog Up & Running!

    by Liberty and Power

    The Spencer Heath blog: http://spencerheath.blogspot.com/ is now up and running!

    I have put the Spencer Heath cites on the blog with a couple of pictures of the Paragon propeller at the top (took me a little longer to correct a number of fixes). You will find some information on his early career in aeronautics there, along with references to information mentioning Spencer Heath on my entry "Spencer Heath Cites--I".
  • Jul 11, 2006

    Who Do You Believe?

    by Liberty and Power

    In a recent post I talked about the flawed government science that turned second hand smoke into another rights destroying money gobbling fear dedicated to the further growth of government. The people who are busily eliminating the property rights of small businessmen say their particular use of state force and coercion has no negative economic impact on the objects of their legislative efforts. Now, if they are going to fudge the data on the al
  • Jul 9, 2006

    The Economics of Looting in Devastated Areas

    by Liberty and Power

    From the perspective of neoclassical economics as embodied in, say, Posnerian law-and-economics, an economist might well argue that some of the looting within devastated areas would be"economically efficient". After all, it would seem that if perishable goods weren't looted, they would be destroyed by the flood waters this week and by the passage of time in coming weeks.

    Indeed, I would defend people without vital provisions taking them from deserted shops provided that they subseq
  • Jul 8, 2006

    A word of thanks...

    by Liberty and Power

    It's been a big week for me, and I wanted to thank publicly Heren Istarion, The Northeast Tolkien Society and its international membership for honoring me with the 2006 Imperishable Flame Award for Tolkien/Inklings Scholarship. It's all the more meaningful to receive this honor on the week when Valancourt Books and I have celebrated the launch of our newest project, the first scholarly English version of Ba
  • Jul 8, 2006

    Why Are Indigenous (American Indian) Soldiers Serving in Iraq?

    by Liberty and Power

    An open letter from Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, Ph.D., the Founder and Director of the Center for Indigenous Peoples' Critical and Intuitive Thinking (CIPCIT) and Associate Professor of Indigenous Nations Studies at The University of Kansas:

    Why Are Indigenous (American Indian) Soldiers Serving in Iraq?
    by
    Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, Ph.D.


    Open Letter to all Indigenous Peoples:

    As the United States prepares for its annual Indepen

  • Jul 8, 2006

    Governments stink -- some worse than others.

    by Liberty and Power

    An interesting debate has emerged in the media in the wake of Katrina. (I get most of my news from NPR because interruptions are minimal and low-key and it keeps my eyes free to drive, cook, clean, and so forth.) Pointing to the incompetence of local, state, and federal governments, many "mainstream" commentators argue that this disaster shows that *government in general* is incompetent at securing the lives and property of citizens. In respose, other commentators argue that the pro
  • Jul 8, 2006

    Theodore Roosevelt Is No One to Emulate

    by Liberty and Power

    We shouldn’t be surprised that President George W. Bush’s Svengali, Karl Rove, is an admirer of Theodore Roosevelt. TR is hot these days. He made the cover of Time magazine, heralding a series of hagiographic articles, including Rove’s, that make him out to be the first modern American president. In Time’s view, that means he saw the country’s potential for big intrusive government at home and abroad — the first Imperial New Dealer.
    Read the r
  • Jul 7, 2006

    Betrayal in Portland

    by Liberty and Power

    [cross-posted at Austro-Athenian Empire]

    Meeting in Portland over (ironically enough) Independence Day weekend, the Libertarian Party convention ended up gutting the LP Platform, removing nearly all of the more radical planks (including the antiwar one). The new watered-down platform hasn’t been made available online yet, but preliminary details, and some reactions, are available