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Liberty and Power

  • Jul 15, 2004

    The FMA: A Victimless Crime?

    by Liberty and Power

    [cross-posted on Austro-Athenian Empire]

    A correspondent asks me what rights the Federal Marriage Amendment would have violated. Gays would still have had the right to have private, non-state-sanctioned marriage ceremonies, he argues; they would simply have forfeited governmental benefits to which no one has any right anyway.

    I think this is too quick. These"governmental benefits" include rights that any couple
  • Jul 15, 2004

    Sniffing Glue with Rick Santorum

    by Liberty and Power

    [cross-posted at Austro-Athenian Empire]

    Senator Rick Santorum, chief supporter of the Federal Marriage Amendment, has said that his effort"was not about hate" but was simply a matter of"doing the right thing for the basic glue that holds society together."

    Given Santorum's infamous comparison of homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality, one may be forgiven for doubting his sincerity when he denies being motivated by
  • Jul 15, 2004

    A Shameless Plug for Libertarian Women

    by Liberty and Power

    The comments to Gene Healy's post on an online libertarian dating service are funny as the post itself.

    On the appeal of libertarian women: Based on personal experience, I'll agree with Gene's commenters. I can say without reservation that in D.C. at least, libertarian women are head and shoulders more attractive, sexier, smarter, and more passionate than politically-co

  • Jul 15, 2004

    An Early Case for Private Schooling

    by Liberty and Power

    Here's a paper on the impracticalities and futility of public education, and on how crime and"the production of great men" varies in states with public school systems versus states that rely on private and home schooling for primary education.

    Publication date: 1886.

  • Jul 15, 2004

    Doctor-Patient Privilege?

    by Liberty and Power

    A Pennsylvania man was admitted to a hospital to treat an irregular heartbeat. While there, he told doctors he on average drinks a six-pack of beer a day. And then...
    Emerich received a notice from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in April that his license was being recalled effective May 6 for medical reasons related to substance abuse. He has petitioned a judge to restore the license, and a hearing h
  • Jul 15, 2004

    Left at the Altar

    by Liberty and Power

    [cross-posted at Austro-Athenian Empire]

    So the Federal Marriage Amendment has failed. Thank the gods for small mercies!

    This isn’t over, though. The Republicans are threatening to make this"an election year issue" -- that is, they'll be trying to get more bigots elected so they can bring the Amendment up again next year. Still, for now it's pleasant to see Congress frustrating the Bush gang's tyrannical ambiti
  • Jul 14, 2004

    Increasing ideological polarization?

    by Liberty and Power

    The “Today Show” on NBC this morning had a long segment on the increasingly partisan nature of American political debates. It featured a couple of professors claiming that America’s two main political parties are increasingly ideological, the Republicans becoming more exclusively “conservative” and the Democrats more exclusively “liberal.” This was proffered as an explanation for the allegedly growing polarization of political discussions in America today.

    This is becoming received wisdom

  • Jul 14, 2004

    Bush LIED!!!!

    by Liberty and Power

    Will the hawks give us this one, at least?

    "We've also discovered through intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States."

    --George W. Bush, October 7, 2002.

    I'm not talking

  • Jul 13, 2004

    Will the Real Bush Please Stand Up?

    by Liberty and Power

    There is perhaps no better litmus test, in my view, than free trade to judge how"good" a politician is on liberty today. I should say for the record that several folks have made the case to me that Second Amendment rights are the most important test for liberty among public officials. I respect that position, but believe that free trade shows that an individual understands the economic arguments that folks like Smith have been advocating for hundreds of years. Like the right to bear arms, it'
  • Jul 13, 2004

    Minimum Wages and Margins of Adjustment

    by Liberty and Power

    Interesting discussion about the effects of minimum wage laws shooting around the blogosphere.  The big question seems to be why so few, at least recent, studies show any major effect of increasing the minimum wage.  I think Tyler Cowen has it right in arguing that employers have multiple margins to adjust on when forced to pay hi

  • Jul 12, 2004

    The inscrutably vapid minds of college students

    by Liberty and Power

    Let me begin by thanking Professor Beito for inviting me to be a contributor to Liberty and Power. It is an excellent forum with commentary worth reading--unusual for a blog. I am honored to be a part of it.

    I am a philosophy professor at the University of Alabama. (Professor Beito asked me to introduce myself, but knowing that you won’t be interested in me, but only--possibly--in what I say, that should suffice. E-mail me at jroii@hotmail.com if you would like to know more.) I’m new to b

  • Jul 12, 2004

    The Forgotten Bush "Mistake"

    by Liberty and Power

    While most of us dwell on the Senate's report outlining the amazing failure of U.S. Intelligence in Iraq it's useful to remind ourselves that this is not a one off event. To the contrary, this is a pattern within this administration to rely on faulty or false data to sell major policy initiatives to the American public. Does anybody remember the Medicare prescription drug benefit?

    Just to refresh our memories, this allegedly conservative administration decided that the wealthiest segment

  • Jul 12, 2004

    A Simple Question

    by Liberty and Power

    I've been impressed with the quality of recent discussion here at L&P over the war in Iraq, and I realize that even"nonpartisan" reports from governmental committees reek of partisanship. But with the 9/11 Commission preparing to issue its final, critical report, and with the Senate Intelligence Commission having issued its report, I really h

  • Jul 12, 2004

    Comics Lit

    by Liberty and Power

    While I'm still recovering from laughter over Radley Balco's"Tyranny of the Twit," I figured I'd write a far more serious postscript to my previous entry on comics. Interested readers should take a look at an essay in Sunday's NY Times magazine, written by Charles McGrath:"