Romney & Obama Slay 'Em at The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner

These two videos are packed with laughs from last night’s Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation fundraiser traditionally attended by both presidential candidates. The two candidates are roasting each other hard – it’s hilarious! Note. Alfred Emanuel “Al” Smith was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times and was … Read more

All Hail Bloomberg!

Check out this video of Mayor Bloomberg speaking to Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN just after his recent ban on large sodas was approved by the Board of Health in New York City. In the clip, Bloomberg does a better job than any libertarian ever could of demonstrating how centralized economic plannning per force results in the violation of personal liberty. For all “left-leaning libertarians,” please take this as an opportunity to observe how government provided economic services cannot coexist with personal liberty. Specifically, Bloomberg’s argument demonstrates that the primary danger of Obamacare is not how it will impair the quality and availability of healthcare itself (though that is inevitable and a valid fear) but the primary danger is that Obamacare will be used as a justification for total control over what should be personal choices.
In the video, Bloomberg rightly points out that the cigarette ban was widely criticized when it came to pass but now that us frogs have been boiling for awhile we don’t even feel the heat. He goes on to claim

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Recommended Reading: With God in Russia & Other Stories of Survival

I am a big fan of well-written survival stories and I have read a few great ones. Here is a list of my favorites: Stories of Survival. I wish to feature, however, the one I read most recently: With God in Russia, by Father Walter Ciszek, S.J.

With God in Russia
4 of 5 stars true

This is the story of a Jesuit priest who went to Poland and ultimately went undercover as an ordinary peasant to minister to Poles behind Russian lines during World War II. Upon being discovered as a priest by the Russians, he was charged with subversion and imprisoned for 23 years until his release through exchange for two Russian prisoners in 1963.
The story is so humbly and straightforwardly written that it takes awhile to realize how greatly Fr. Ciszek is suffering through all of this. For his dedication to the service of God and his defense of the Faith, Fr. Ciszek is up for sainthood. He has many devotees, including my mother, who pray for his canonization regularly–there are whole societies dedicated to him, and I can understand why.
I won’t go through all of the many hardships Fr. Ciszek endured, but I will relate how his story stays with me and why I think of him often. 

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Ron Paul on Jay Leno September 4, 2012

Would it be disrespectful of me to say that Ron Paul gets more adorable all the time? I’m beginning to agree with my 83-year-old mother who says, “That Ron Paul – He’s a cutie!” [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr4R_Q6aDbQ] And speaking of cute, I found this video of a backstage interview after Ron Paul’s Leno appearance in December. Enjoy… … Read more

Please Don’t Feed Me Neo-Con and Tell Me That It’s Liberty (Part 3)

This post is the third in a three post series. Click for part one and part two.
Though the press has made much of the notion that Paul Ryan is a “conservative of the libertarian kind,” I actually believe just the opposite. Within the Republican Party there are two competing ideologies: traditional conservatism emphasizing fiscal temperance and constrained government on the one side, and neo-conservatism with an emphasis on social legislation and foreign influence on the other. I believe not only that Paul Ryan is firmly in the camp of the neo-conservatives, but also that he is the pivotal figure in the neo-conservative metapmorphosis of the Republican Party. In my view, the selection of Paul Ryan as Romney’s running mate is an indication that the neo-conservatives believe that their transformation of the Republican Party is assured and they are ready to challenge the Democrats on their own turf: Establishing, Embracing and Controlling Big Government.
The real tell that this is the moment the neo-conservatives have been building toward can be seen by comparing

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Why Do Professional Economists Overwhelmingly Support the State?

In reflecting on Paul Krugman’s seemingly 100% record of supporting state intervention as exemplified in my last post, I recall having formerly wondered why economists overwhelmingly support State-based economic views and rarely support free market views. 

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Please Don’t Feed Me Neo-Con & Tell Me That It’s Liberty (Part 2)

This post is part two of a three-post series.  Click here for part one and here for part three.

The Republican establishment, and to some extent the Democrats as well, are labeling Paul Ryan “a conservative of the libertarian kind.” I reject this characterization in its entirety. Libertarianism has three basic positions: strict adherence to free markets; strict protection of civil liberties; and strict defense of property rights (which strongly correlates with non-intervention in foreign affairs). Paul Ryan has affirmed in word and deed his desire to limit civil liberties, legislate morality and spread around the world his version of Americanism by use of force. Ryan, therefore, has denied two of the three tenets of libertarianism right out of the gate, but he does not renounce the third: he claims to support free markets and tries to continue to lay claim to the label of fiscal conservative. The question is, what kind of conservative is Paul Ryan really?

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Please Don't Feed Me Neo-Con & Tell Me That It's Liberty (Part 1)

Everyone is abuzz with Romney’s “bold choice” of running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan. Every bobble head with a press badge is telling us that the Tea Party and Ron Paul supporters should be psyched because, to borrow a phrase from Harry Reid: “The word is out!” Ryan’s a libertarian!
What else could he be? Ryan quotes Austrian economists and loves Ayn Rand – he must be a libertarian! And anyway, everyone says he is: Forbes calls Ryan “Ron Paul-esque,” the Financial Times calls him “a conservative of the libertarian kind,” and New York Magazine calls him “Your Annoying Libertarian Ex-Boyfriend.” He even has a libertarian-sounding name for crying out loud: Ron Paul, Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan…it just flows! As a matter of fact, someone said to me yesterday that Ron Paul was Romney’s running mate—true story! I mean those two are practically interchangeable!
What was that? You’re not so sure? Oh come now, don’t be such a purist, and don’t you dare let those nagging doubts about Ryan’s voting record bubble up to the top of your brain. And of all things, please don’t fall for it when Democratic operatives say things like, “while he may be a devotee of Ayn Rand, he has voted more like a Republican hack than a revolutionary,” or “Paul Ryan Record Shows He Could Be Running Mate of Obama.” Libertarians really do need to be more pragmatic.
Sure, Ryan denies being a libertarian

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