Libertarian – Page 4 – Zombies Uncensored

Volunteer Service: The Art of Taxing without Taxing

Involuntary Servitude (docv-downinthemouth.blogspot.com)

New Jersey Assembly Bill , A.B. 4175, introduced on 23 November 2009 will require physicians, dentists, and nurses to complete 30 hours of volunteer service in their respective fields as a condition for biennial registration.

New Jersey’s state/local tax burden rate is the highest in nation by the Tax Foundation. Rather than run the risk of raising taxes, or registration fees, they simply use a different type of taxation with a much friendly tone.

The wording in the bill for the new tax on physicians, dentists, and nurses is “volunteer medical services.” Volunteer medical services has a much nicer ring to it than increased registration fees, unpaid overtime, or involuntary servitude.

It’s just nice and thoughtful of medical practitioners to volunteer their time to help the needy. LPN Training states that nurses in New Jersey make $23.83, multiply that by 30 hours and its $714.90 worth of “volunteer” medical services and thoughtfulness.

With voters angry over the current tax levels, government representatives are becoming adroit in the art of taxing without taxing. Just as mandatory purchases are a new venue for taxing, expect to see more of the community service types of taxation, as a new lane in the Superhighway to Serfdom opens.

Legislators may realize they are playing with fire in taxing hours instead of dollars. Its safer to tax dollars than hours of lives, because many people have a disconnect between money and the hours spent earning money.

Politicians risk alienating willing victims of taxation, the “it’s only money” people–the people that see money only as pieces of paper. This group tends to view freedom as having as much leisure time as possible. Holding onto money is seen as being selfish; but free time to live your life as you choose is their definition of freedom.

Once the “it’s only money” people start having their leisure time taxed, they might start to see the connection between hours of their lives and money. Once governments start mandating how time is spent instead of taxing, the illusion that taxing income is not an intrusion on freedom starts to fade.

It’s Only Money – Groucho Marx and Frank Sinatra

Nominee for Worst Government PR Campaign: EPA

EPA Contest Seeks Videos Promoting Government Regulations (CNSNews.com)

President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency is encouraging the public to create video advertisements that explain why federal regulations are “important to everyone.”

The contest, which ends May 17, will award $2,500 to the makers of the video that best explains why federal regulations are good and how ordinary citizens can become more involved in making regulations. The videos must be posted on YouTube and can be no more than 60-90 seconds in length.

In the current contest, each video must include the slogan “Let your voice be heard,” and it must direct viewers to the government’s regulatory website www.Regulations.gov. The winning video will then be used by the entire federal government to promote the regulatory process and enhance the public’s participation in it.

The regulations.gov site not only highlights the video contest, but has lots of other useful information. You’ll find a searchable database of all documents on their site. It’s possible to find out how many regulations there are about any subject.

I’ve always thought there was a plethora of federal regulations, but I had no way to quantify these regulations, until now. Here are some random keyword searches from the regulations site, and the resulting number of rule matches.

Windows (1303)
Dirt (145)
Hair (132)
Schools (2437)

But wait, there’s more! The site claims on its front page, “On average, federal agencies and departments issue nearly 8,000 regulations per year.'” The site also has newly posted regulations, and the numbers in there don’t match up with the front page.

For today–April 19th, 2010, 74 regulations were posted, and in the last year there were 23,867 regulations posted. Can you now see why the federal government needs your help? With roughly twenty-four thousand regulations in the last year, they need all the help they can get to thoroughly promote them!

The site also allows you to comment on rules, but only rules that are open to comments. In the 145 rules on dirt, only two are open for comment. I’d post a comment, but I’m fairly sure a comment thanking them for exposing just how bloated and overbearing such regulations are would not be appreciated.

Soon there will be other contests concerning government regulations, but they won’t be coming from the EPA. This video promotion is an easy setup for limited government people to hold contests of their own. How about a find things the government does not regulate contest? I tried searching for something not regulated, but even flatulence was mentioned in a proposed rule.

How about an award for worst government PR campaign? The EPA should at least be a nominee for that award.

National Day of Shut the Hell Up

Federal judge rules National Day of Prayer unconstitutional

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0omBnUcdnm4

This video is about the controversy surrounding the National Day of Prayer. As pointed out in the video, a National Day of Prayer is nothing new, and has a long history in the US. The Continental Congress even issued a day of prayer in 1775 as “a time for prayer in forming a new nation.”

From judge Barbara Crabb’s ruling:

“It goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgment’ of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context,” she wrote. “In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”

Acknowledgment of religion by anyone in the government is fine; the first amendment to the US Constitution should not be turned into a denial of religion. Judge Crabb’s ruling is correct on the part about the government is taking sides in a matter of individual conscience.

The real problem is not over religion–it is any time the government takes sides in areas of individual conscience. The government should not be used to call for days of service, or prayer, or to honor Confederate soldiers. The role of government is not to direct the conscience of the country.

The Constitution should go further in limiting the role of government’s interference in areas individual conscience. It’s a shame the constitution doesn’t have an amendment telling the government to “shut the Hell up” in areas of individual conscience in general.

These non-binding proclamations waste and time and money. They often lead to lawsuits because for every pro position, there is an anti position. Someone will speak up and say, “This doesn’t represent my views and the government should not be taking sides.”

Stop wasting tax dollars and the resources of our courts on these non-binding proclamations over what the people should think about or honor. The time of our government officials could be put to much better use if they were instead focused on their job and not proselytizing to the people.

National Day of Shut the Hell Up

Federal judge rules National Day of Prayer unconstitutional

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0omBnUcdnm4

From judge Barbara Crabb’s ruling:

“It goes beyond mere ‘acknowledgment’ of religion because its sole purpose is to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, an inherently religious exercise that serves no secular function in this context,” she wrote. “In this instance, the government has taken sides on a matter that must be left to individual conscience.”

Federally Funded PBS: Why are Voters Upset how Taxes are Spent?

PBS Town Hall: role of government and how tax dollars are being spent

JUDY WOODRUFF: We came to Tampa, Florida, to throw a spotlight on what Americans think the role of government should be and how their tax dollars are being spent. To that end, we asked our local PBS affiliate, WEDU, to help us round up the people you see behind me, all residents of this area.

There is just so much wrong here, I’m not sure where to start. The painful irony of seeing tax dollars spent to air why the public is frustrated with how tax dollars are spent.

It should come as no surprise that in discussing how tax dollars are spent, PBS fails to mention the 430 million PBS takes from tax payers each year. There was no mention of conflict of interest from the federally funded broadcast network. Any other media organization would be chastised for failing to mention their connection to the organization they are covering.

What you won’t hear in this video: No mention of the original role of the federal government. Nothing about the amount of money spent on two wars. Nothing about federal spending in regards to subsidies, corporatism, or the war on drugs. Watching this PBS spotlight on voter frustrations on how tax dollars are spent is like watching the drunk looking for keys under the streetlight–because the light is better.

Federally Funded PBS: Why are Voters Upset how Taxes are Spent?

PBS Town Hall: role of government and how tax dollars are being spent

JUDY WOODRUFF: We came to Tampa, Florida, to throw a spotlight on what Americans think the role of government should be and how their tax dollars are being spent. To that end, we asked our local PBS affiliate, WEDU, to help us round up the people you see behind me, all residents of this area.

There is just so much wrong here, I’m not sure where to start. The painful irony of seeing tax dollars spent to air why the public is frustrated with how tax dollars are spent.

Happy Hour for the Pauls, and for Freedom

Congressman Ron Paul on Happy Hour April 14

Happy hour sums up how I feel about Ron Paul today. First there was Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Pit maverick Republican Congressman Ron Paul against President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up, and the race is – virtually dead even.

Also today, Ron Paul introduced the “End the Mandate Act,” to take out the mandatory portion of the new health care law.

Madam Speaker, today I am introducing the End the Mandate Act. This legislation repeals the sections of the recently-passed health reform bill that forces all Americans to purchase federally-approved health insurance plans.

Forcing every American to obtain health insurance is a blatant violation of the Constitution. Defenders of this provision claim the Congress’s constitutional authority to regulate “interstate commerce” gives Congress the power to mandate every American obtain a federally-approved health insurance plan.

However, as Judge Andrew Napolitano and other distinguished legal scholars and commentators have pointed out, even the broadest definition of “regulating interstate commerce” cannot reasonably encompass forcing Americans to engage in commerce by purchasing health insurance.

And wait-there is more: Retiring Senator Jim Bunning named Rand Paul (Ron Paul’s son) as his chosen successor today.

“Dr. Paul will be his own man in Washington, not beholden to the special interests and beltway insiders who come looking for handouts on a daily basis,” Bunning said. “Instead, Dr. Paul will be a strong voice and advocate for the people and values of Kentucky.

Normally I would complain about media bias for the “I think I love him” comment at the end of the clip. I can tolerate my own bias pretty easily, so I’ll let it go, and just say its happy hour for the Pauls and happy hour for freedom.

Pres. Lincoln: ‘Ship ’em back to Africa’

Southern Avenger Jack Hunter: Slaves to ‘Settled’ History

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPCDPhLoA5U&feature=player_embedded

Southern Avenger Jack Hunter: Liberals, and quite a few mainstream conservatives, believe that any questioning of official Civil War history is not even to be permitted.

The controversy over declarations honoring Confederate soldiers opens the question which facts from the Civil War are permissible, and makes yet another argument for getting the government as far away from the public school system as possible. Part of the reason for the lack of civility when it comes to discussions about the civil war is due to how the war is taught in school.

The recent debate over the moral high-ground led me to dig deeper into the history of the war–deeper than what I was taught in school. A little research led to several “that wasn’t in my history book” moments.

Ron Paul had pointed out several times the Civil War might have been avoided if slaves were bought by the federal government to free them.

PAUL: No, I don’t think he was one of our greatest presidents. I mean, he was determined to fight a bloody civil war, which many have argued could have been avoided. For 1/100th the cost of the war, plus 600 thousand lives, enough money would have been available to buy up all the slaves and free them. So, I don’t see that is a good part of our history.

I dug a little deeper and learned something new: what Paul was referring to is called compensation emancipation. President Lincoln did propose compensated emancipation for slaves in six Union slave states. In the proposal Lincoln sent to the Union states, slaves had the cost at $400 per slave, $300 in compensation to the slave owner, and $100 for deportation and colonization.

Not only did Lincoln propose compensated emancipation, on April 16, 1862, it was enacted, at least in the District of Columbia. After the Civil War started, President Abraham Lincoln signed the The District of Columbia Emancipation Act, which ended slavery in the Capital and compensated former owners loyal to the Union $300 per slave.

At the moment, I’m not so sure about Paul’s view that Lincoln was “‘determined to fight a bloody civil war,” because Lincoln supported a version of compensated emancipation; I can’t say I see Lincoln as a great President, though, because Lincoln held a ‘ship ’em back to Africa’ attitude.

At the moment, I say I’m not sure because I have no way of knowing what other facts were buried in Civil War history. The unpopular and obscured facts from Civil War history I’ve stumbled upon feels akin to finding out you’re adopted, because the country I thought I came from turns out not to exist.

Blowback of Powerful Government: Homegrown Terrorism

On the topic of homegrown terrorism: It is a natural consequence of government growth to produce homegrown terrorism. One of the dynamics in all forms of governing is to slowly increase the size and scope of power. To paraphrase, ‘power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ Power grows; the growth of power is absolutely assured.

I’d add ‘government power grows’ to ‘death and taxes’ as things we can be sure of. It’s a law of nature for those in power to continually seek more ways to involve government in more areas. I assume it has something to do with the perception if you have power and don’t use it, it’s letting the power go to waste.

There is no political system I know of with a built-in mechanism for reducing the growth of government’s power. No governmental structures automatically review laws at some later date to examine the effectiveness or necessity. Laws are sometimes repealed and often updated, but few are reviewed directly, leaving many odd and outdated laws on the books.

The rule of power growth applies to all forms of government–it’s not an issue with just Communism, Socialism, Democracies, or Republics. It’s not a matter under which form government exists; it’s an issue of the dynamics of power itself. Eventually all governments grow and grow, the longer their existence, the greater the number laws.

With each new law comes the potential for more citizens to become criminals. As the laws grow, so grows the group of disenfranchised citizens who see themselves not as being protected by laws, but rather the victims of too many laws. The more power governments have, the greater the resentment when their power is exercised.

Once you see the government as deliberately excluding you and your way of life, you start to see yourself as a second class citizen. When the power of government grows to the point where people believe they have nothing left to lose, they often lash out towards their government.

People who have lost their property or children or right to vote often feel they have nothing to lose. There are several areas for potential homegrown terrorists in the US, due to the growth of governments power.

Budget shortfalls are causing most governments to seek new sources of revenue. Taxes and fines and license fees will see increases, so too will IRS audits.
Parental rights. Parents have had their parental rights taken away from them for a wide range of reasons. How they named their kids, too much religion and no religion, polygamy, weight, and even bath time photos.
Drug laws which allow government to seize personal property, imprison, and deny the right to vote.

I am ignorant as to just how others are impacted by the continual growth of laws, because every law and right has a unique impact on the individual. Freedom of speech is more important for those that have much to say than to those who keep opinions to themselves. Laws can’t have an equal impact on everyone, because we don’t all live our lives the same way.

While I can’t say which groups will be added to the list, I can say there are many more groups of the disenfranchised that will be added as governmental power grows.

Political Pedophiles at School

St Paul’s and St Michael’s School, Performing their “MP Diane Abbott RAP”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GMunSfsyUI&feature=player_embedded

The children attend St Paul’s with St Michael’s Church of England Primary School. They are singing praises to their Member of Parliament (MP), the UK equivalent of a member of congress.

Why would a private church school teach their students to sing praises to their government representative, Diane Abbott? This school is a Voluntary Aided School, which means they receive all their operating costs from the central government. It’s like a little league team in America singing praises to their sponsor.

It’s perfectly fine for schools to educate children about their government and representatives. Teaching children tolerance and concern for others is a good idea. I question, however, the school taking such a major role in promoting political positions, primarily a parental responsibility.

Praising children for performing songs reciting campaign points of ruling politicians is a perversion of education. We have age of consent laws because children aren’t adequately developed, physically or emotionally, to consent to sexual acts. How is it that adults, in positions of authority and trust, ignore the fact childhood reasoning processes are not adequately developed to discern the relevant merits of political systems, either?

Using children in this manner to promote specific agendas is simply political pedophilia.