Thoughts for the Day

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered;yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods;
and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated."
-- Thomas Paine (1737-1809) December 19, 1776 Source: The American Crisis, No. 1

"America's abundance was created not by public sacrifices to "the common good," but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for America's industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance -- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way." -- Ayn Rand (1905-1982) Author

The European Union near collapse

A passionate commentary from a Member of the English Parliament Nigel Farage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsgrfQ-4zRg

Giving Thanks for the Free Market

There is much talk these days of how conservatives need “new ideas” in these troubled economic times. And as we look at our nation’s troubled landscape, there is much work that needs to be done if we are going to return economic prosperity to the country. But as we sit down to celebrate Thanksgiving with our friends and family, recalling the true story of the Pilgrims should remind us all that the core principles that have made this nation great are unchanging, and that we risk ruin if we abandon them.

http://blog.heritage.org/2008/11/26/morning-bell-giving-thanks-for-the-free-market/

Quotes for the Day

The people are the masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who would pervert it! -- Abraham Lincoln

"The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves." ... whenever the Legislators endeavor to take away, and destroy the Property of the People, or to reduce them to Slavery under Arbitrary Power, they put themselves into a state of War with the People, who are thereupon absolved from any farther Obedience, and are left to the common Refuge, which God hath provided for all Men, against Force and Violence. Whensoever therefore the Legislative shall transgress this fundamental Rule of Society, and either by Ambition, Fear, Folly or Corruption, endeavor to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other an Absolute
Power over the Lives, Liberties, and Estates of the People; By this breach of Trust they forfeit the Power the People had put into their hands, for quite contrary ends, and it devolves to the People, who have a Right to resume their original Liberty." -- John Locke

"The statist objective, always, is to make as many persons as possible, as dependent as possible, on a government as big as possible." -- Robert W. Lee Source: Tracking the Budget Beast, THE NEW AMERICAN, p. 21, May 27, 1996

The Many Impositions of the State

"Those who would give up essential Freedom, to purchase a little temporary Security, deserve neither Freedom nor Security." Ben Franklin

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/tgif/the-many-impositions-of-the-state/

Did you Know?

China is going Green according to the NY Times. Read what they have to write, and then read the following paragraph. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/science/earth/08fossil.html?_r=1

China’s impressive growth over the last 20 years and its potential for growth in the upcoming years have been and overwhelmingly will be fueled by the greens’ most-hated energy source of all: coal. Coal has provided the vast, vast majority of the nearly 500 percent increase between 1990 and 2008. (See Power Hungry by Robert Bryce, page 60). And don’t just take my word for it; see the statistics provided by the Obama administration’s Energy Information Administration. Of the 77.3 quadrillion Btus China produces annually, coal provides 74%, oil 15%, hydroelectricity 7%, Natural Gas 4%, Nuclear 1%, and so-called Other Renewables (solar, wind, ethanol) 0.2%! Whatever solar and wind farms China is building, to great fanfare, are mere window dressing to win over world opinion.

Those who admire China for its economic progress should take note: it is not coming from the endlessly subsidized, diluted, intermittent, expensive sources such as solar and wind–it is coming from highly concentrated, cheap sources such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and hydro (all of which the “green energy” movement opposes as “unnatural”). The lesson? If you want more prosperity, don’t go green–go industrial.

Klavan's Back

My favorite political satirist has another entertaining piece!

http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=mpg&mpid=80&load=4459

The Ultimate source of Wealth

Among economic thinkers over the past 200 years, there have been two dominant schools of thought on the nature of wealth. According to men like Adam Smith and J.B. Say, wealth is primarily a matter of the human spirit, “the result of ideas, imagination, innovation, and indi vidual creativity, and is therefore, relatively speaking, unlimited, susceptible to great growth and development.” The other dominant school, represented by such men as Thomas Malthus and Karl Marx, believes “wealth is essentially and primarily physical and therefore ultimately finite.”^[4]

^{In the free world “the major productive resource is personal productive capacity—what economists call ‘human capital.’”[9] Human capital includes things like character, knowledge, skills, creativity, health, imagination and liberty.}

^{The person or people possessed of substantial human capital is characterized by a strong future-orientation. That is, they are willing to delay present satisfaction in order to enable either themselves, their children, or someone else to enjoy greater satisfactions at some later time. The future-oriented father is concerned to develop his children’s potentialities to the full, and toward this end he stresses the values of hard work, self-discipline, initiative, honesty and unselfishness.}

^{http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/the-ultimate-source-of-wealth/}

Where's my Obamacare waiver?

It's all about control. If central planners can't dictate what health benefits qualify as "good," what plans qualify as "affordable" and how health care dollars are best spent, then nobody can. The ultimate goal, of course: precipitating a massive shift from private to government insurance.

But perhaps the most politically noteworthy beneficiaries of the HHS waiver program: Big Labor.

Unions who won protection from Obamacare:

-- United Food and Commercial Workers Allied Trade Health and Welfare Trust Fund

-- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union No. 915

-- Asbestos Workers Local 53 Welfare Fund

-- Employees Security Fund

-- Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 123 Welfare Fund

-- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 227

-- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 455 (Maximus)

-- United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1262

-- Musicians Health Fund Local 802

-- Hospitality Benefit Fund Local 17

-- Transport Workers Union

-- United Federation of Teachers Welfare Fund

-- International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (AFL-CIO)

-- Plus two organizations that appear to be chapters of the International Longshoremen's Association

http://townhall.com/columnists/MichelleMalkin/2010/11/17/dude,_wheres_my_obamacare_waiver/page/full/

The Seasons in Life

Every now and then I post something apolitical. This video was too beautiful not to share. Enjoy!

http://www.openmyeyeslord.net/theseasonsoflife.htm