Category Archives: Politics: International

Beware The Liberal Siren Song

If you believe the likes of Barack Obama and his of his socialist, fascist friends, you will believe that the American system of economics benefits the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

The rich get the breaks and the poor are exploited.

Don’t believe it:

Did you know that in Denmark, the poorest 30 percent pay 14.1 percent of all taxes and the richest pay 48.7 percent, while in the United States, the poorest 30 percent pay just 6.1 percent of all taxes and the richest 30 percent pay a whopping 65.3 percent? The surprising thing is not that the richest pay most of the taxes but that the U.S. has nearly the most progressive tax system in the world, while the Scandinavian countries have about the least progressive tax systems, contrary to commonly held belief.

Obama and his team are radical extreme thinkers when it comes to organizing our economy.  The only thing saving us is the fact that he and his team don’t have any experience in running an organization.  He simply couldn’t manage his way out of a wet paper sack.
Thank God!

Lessons From South America: Chile, Argentina and Venezuela

Some time ago I stumbled on the CATO Institute’s Dan Mitchell.  He has an awesome video on how to balance the budget; a concept I’ve taken a liking to:

He also has his own blog that he regularly contributes to.  The other day he referenced a great post of his where he links economic freedom to prosperity:

What’s responsible for the turn-around in each of these nation’s welfare?

As Mr. Mitchell says:

— Chile’s score jumped from 5.6 in 1980 to 8.0 in 2008, and the country now ranks as the world’s 4th-freest economy (ahead of the United States!).

— Argentina’s ranking has improved a bit, rising from 4.4 to 6.0 between 1980 and 2008, but that still only puts them in 94th-place in the world rankings.

— Venezuela, by contrast, is embarrassingly bad. The nation’s score has dropped from 6.3 to 4.4, and its ranking has plunged from 22nd-place in 1980 to 121st-place in 2006.

Chile was the poorest and is now the most wealthy of the three.  Venezuela has seen just the reverse.

Fascinating.

Meanwhile, In Other News

With all the news this weekend focusing on Irene, it’s important to note that Obama and his administration continue to operate in the back-ground.

For example, there are reports that the “War on Terror” is moving along swimmingly:

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, Atiya Abdul Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, a U.S. official said Saturday.

The official would not discuss the circumstances behind his death, but did say Rahman is a key loss for al Qaeda.

“There’s no question this is a major blow to al Qaeda. Atiya was at the top of al Qaeda’s trusted core,” the official said. “He ran daily operations for the group since Shaykh Sa’id al-Masri was killed last year, and has been (Osama bin Laden successor Ayman al-Zawahiri’s) second-in-command since bin Laden’s death in May.”

Excellent news during a day filled with storm damage!

Further, on the science front, specifically geology, the Obama administration is equally busy:

Richmond, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Scientist studying the recent Virginia earthquake have identified a new geological structure that many feel explains the recent seismic activity in the region.  The region had known boundaries, referred to as tectonic zones.

Researchers began studying historical sources for past earthquakes in the region and were surprised to find indications of such activity from an unlikely source; Native American relics.  In fact, there are records dating back as far as the 1600’s that show significant activity in the region, known as Unega Gihli.

The Obama administration, eager to understand what Unega Gihli meant brought in linguistic experts to study the reference.  As it turns out, Unega Gihli is Cherokee for “Bush’s Fault”.

All is well in the world of Team Obama!

Libyan Consequences

I’m all for two things regarding Libya:

  1. The fall of the Colonel.
  2. Free people exercising Liberty.

In respect to those two things; Libya is a positive so far.  And I’m glad, I think, that we assisted in the struggle.

However, there is circulating a draft constitution for the new, as of yet formed, government.

Part I Article I?

Islam is the Religion of the State, and the principal source of legislation is Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia).

I’m kinda not so down with the whole “established religion” thang.  I bet the Left isn’t either.

What gives?

On Why We MUST Fix Global Warming

This sums up my view of why the Left is so very critically concerned about the whole warming of the globe:

The solutions proposed by the left aim to leverage this problem to build the economic order they have failed to achieve by other means.

Exactly!

It would be easier to listen to the Liberal solution to this problem if it didn’t sound EXACTLY like the normal meme of taking resources from the evil rich and giving it to the victimized poor.

Now, go read the whole article.

Free Health Care Leads To Not Free Health Care

Ask anyone on the street if they would be willing to see the needy get the medical care they need and the answer is a massive “Hell yeah!”.  But ask them HOW that is to happen and you get a whole bunch of, “Hell, I da’know.”.

And so’s the quandary of the average American.

And so it is, when faced with work, and love, and school and bills and and and…we are willing, almost demanding, that this burden be taken from us and handled by someone else.  The Genesis.   The lightning striking the mud.

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Unintended Consequences

It turns out that this global economy has implications. Namely that money is movable and flexible. The other implication is that government is seen as damage and as much as possible people will avoid it; even uber-liberal ones like George Soros.

“It emerged that George Soros is to close his hedge fund to outside investors and will refund $1 billion to those who have put in money. The prominent financier blames new regulations that require investment advisors to register with the SEC.”

Nice.

Good Intentions: Where They Lead

Immigration.

Boy, talk about a word that conjurers up a ton of emotions.

On the one hand, we have stories of “Irish Need Not Apply”.  On the other, heroic remembrances of a time gone by when determined folks would walk off a ship with barely a nickel to their name.  And die rich.

And now…well, now we have newscasts of drug runners, cartels and coyotes.  Fences and tunnels, arms deals and drug wars.

Ugly stuff this.  To be sure.

But when the drama and the histrionics have past and we have boiled away all that isn’t really truly important, what are we left with?  To me, in it’s simplest form, we are left with one single human being wanting to make a better life for himself.  His family.

We are left with that most American story of boots and straps and pull.  We cheer for the individualist.  We build a culture that applauds that individual.  And rewards him with adoration and, perhaps, wealth.

To me, that’s the American Dream.

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Wherein Barack Obama Channels George Dubya Bush

Remember when Barack Obama was against all that Bush was for?

Debt limit being raised?  Against it.  [Though to be fair, every single Democrat in the Senate, every single one, voted against it.  And I suspect now that each and every one will vote FOR it.  Again, in the spirit of fairness, every single Republican also voted FOR it.  Sill y business hits.]

War in Iraq?  Against it.

Gitmo?  Against it.

Rendition?  Against it.

And now this one.  Libya.

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Baseball And Hopscotch Are More Fun

It’s no secret, the hard makes the great.

This is true in sports, in business and in baseball.

That it wouldn’t be equally so in governing is silly.  Look, do I want people to do the right thing?  Of course.  Do I want money to flow from those that have to those that need?  Yes.  Is it hard to manage a group of people into doing that right thing?  Without a doubt.  Would it be easier to just pass a law? For sure.

But there can be little doubt that a group of people voting that property be transferred from one to another is as tyrannical as a feudal king simply taking it.

Liberty is tough; but the tough is what makes it great.  Demonstrated here via