Trick or treat
Posted in LFA Flashback by R Lee Wrights on October 31st, 2008 Archive for October, 2008
Posted in LFA Flashback by R Lee Wrights on October 31st, 2008 
The health care mess: Destroy the competition
Posted in The Freedom Beam by R Lee Wrights on October 30th, 2008 by Roderick T. Beaman
People like Andrew Taylor Still, Samuel Hahnamann and Wooster Beach can be dismissed as eccentrics and even cranks, but eccentrics and cranks have often been the source of astonishing insights.
So along came the competitors. How did the traditionalists, supposedly, committed to the health of the public respond? Did they welcome the challenge of new ideas? Did they reassess their own positions for the betterment of their patients? Did they investigate the new regimens? Don’t be absurd. They did what any self-respecting powerful group would do under the circumstances when faced with competition. They tried to harass the others out of existence including having the practitioners arrested.
Anything that disagreed with their pre-established notions was to meet the same resistance. Even something as simple as recommending hand washing between patients was met with hostility. When Ignaz Semmelweiss first proposed hand washing between patients as a way to decrease puerperal sepsis, he was met with near violent opposition by the establishment. He only confirmed what the residents of Vienna had been noticing for years, namely that patients in one section of one hospital fared far better than those in another section. Semmelweiss surmised it was the hand washing that made the difference. For his efforts, he was nearly run out of Vienna.
Empty promises
Posted in Straight Shooter by R Lee Wrights on October 29th, 2008 by Jessi Winchester, author of From Bordello to Ballot Box
“What is history but the story of how politicians have squandered the blood and treasure of the human race.”
- Thomas Sowell, African-American Intellectual
Social security originated during the Franklin Roosevelt presidency to provide seniors with some form of financial security at a time when they needed it most. Government plucks our paychecks by mandating a social security deduction despite the fact those contributions may be gone before those paying for it can collect it.
The Bush administration passed the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act which further reduces benefits to older taxpayers when they need it most. Now the Nevada Supreme Court has ruled Medicaid can purloin a retiree’s home in exchange for medical assistance even though that retiree has paid into the program all their working years.
Medicare and Medicaid are both public programs originated to assist the elderly and those with financial constraints respectively. Medicare mandates a federal deduction from employee wages which goes toward Medicare to cover a great deal of medical expenses for older Americans. Medicaid is jointly funded from state and federal coffers, which include direct and indirect taxes such as property tax, sales tax, and other miscellaneous taxes paid during a lifetime of working. Both programs are publicly funded so why should one program have the right to slap a lien on homes of seniors who request help from a program they have contributed to all their lives?
Fallout from failed immigration policy
Posted in Sound Off Soapbox by R Lee Wrights on October 28th, 2008 by Amy Oliver
I live in Greeley. I love everything about it - the people, the politics, the culture, yes, even the smell, which by the way has been outlawed, well almost. I have a daily, two-hour talk show on Greeley’s own 1310 KFKA, the oldest radio station in Colorado. Mostly, I focus on local, regional and state issues. Of all the issues I’ve covered, few are as divisive as illegal immigration. Our agricultural industry attracts a substantial number of immigrants both legal and illegal. As residents of Greeley and Northern Colorado we must grapple with the difficult reality of two different cultures that are bound to collide - not Anglo versus Latino but legal versus illegal.
Current U.S. immigration policy is unenforceable and incompatible with today’s economy. Market forces act as a magnet for immigrants, but immigration policy makes it difficult for them to enter the U.S. in a timely and legal fashion. With unsecured borders, many are willing to enter illegally, as estimates of nearly 12 million illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. proves. Some make their way to Greeley to work in the Swift meat processing plant.
We are a nation based on the rule of law, placing trust in our Constitution and those sworn to uphold it. Greeley is no exception. We are fortunate to have superior law enforcement with both the Greeley Police Department and the Weld County Sheriff’s Office. However the reality of illegal immigration, and our tolerance of it, encourages disrespect for the rule of law and puts local law enforcement in an impossible situation. Local police and Sheriff’s deputies reside in the community in which they cannot enforce U.S. immigration policy which results in a loss of trust. They often get criticized from both sides of the illegal immigration debate.
Real reform - not McCain’s “let’s keep the incumbents in office” reform
Posted in Of The People by R Lee Wrights on October 27th, 2008 by Ed Lewis
“This great center of democracy is truly tainted by money. Particularly after September 11, all of us in this chamber hope the public will look to the Capitol and to the Senate with reverence and pride, not with derision. Our task here today is to restore some of that pride.”
-Sen. Russell Feingold, one of the chief advocates of the “Incumbent Protection Act” (AKA campaign finance reform)
Well, Senator Feingold, McCain, and their associates failed miserably. How in the world do any of the people of this nation believe that reforming campaign finance requires control of the First Amendment? Are the people of the nation that stupid?
And, speaking of stupid, how can any person in their right mind call the Republicans in the various public offices “conservative”. They may be - relatively speaking - but only in the sense they do not want the gravy train they have created for themselves to be derailed. They want it remaining as it is since the majority of them become quite wealthy.
You too can make perfect homemade ice cream
Posted in The N.C. Way by R Lee Wrights on October 26th, 2008 by Sean Haugh
Since I left my position as Executive Director of the LPNC, I’ve been taking the time to sort through my life and discover how I can best travel the path to individual liberty. Sorting is good; it helps one figure out what is truly valuable.
One thing I have found especially valuable is homemade ice cream. I got a Cuisinart machine for my sweetie’s birthday at the end of March. To be precise, I didn’t buy her the ice cream maker. Being the cook of the household, I gave her the gift of constant homemade ice cream to order.
I’ve been having a blast with the thing, and it has made me somewhat of a celebrity at Chicken Sunday, a potluck hosted by our dear friends the Toweys. Even when I can’t attend in person I have to make the ice cream in advance anyway, so I can send it with Pam. Someday I will get back to making vegetable dishes, as I so enjoy having good sides to go with the chicken, but for now I am content to be the ice cream man.
BATFE adds theft to its crimes
Posted in Back Door Politics by R Lee Wrights on October 25th, 2008 by GOA staff
Coloseum Software Corporation has developed software that will help dealers record all of the information that is unconstitutionally required by the federal government — and to keep that information in a way that insulates them from bogus prosecutions at the hands of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (aka The Gang).
The document that is most often involved in “gotcha” injustices is the Form
4473 which all customers must fill out when buying from a licensed federal firearms dealer — a requirement that is yet another unconstitutional imposition by the feds.
One of the favorite tricks of the BATFE has been to pounce on trivial customer errors such as writing “Blto” instead of “Baltimore” on the 4473 Form. One dealer supposedly showed his willfulness in breaking the law when his clerks missed some sixty-plus instances when customers tried to “sneak” Blto past those eagle-eyed inspectors from The Gang.
Failed hurricane response is an opportunity for libertarians
Posted in LFA Flashback by R Lee Wrights on October 24th, 2008 by Phil Jacobson
The ongoing disaster to the US Gulf coast, will have serious consequences for US politics. Libertarians will have a rare opportunity to exploit the policy failures of current and past regimes. But we may not be well prepared to take full advantage, by offering well-considered alternatives.
Over a span of decades, the political pendulum in the USA tends to swing back and forth between “progressive” and “conservative” forces (I put these terms in quotes because actual regimes, while always claiming to follow some variety of one or the other of these ideologies, are in fact based on opportunism - though they typically get knee-jerk support from true adherents). Whenever one side gains dominance, it quickly becomes overconfident, sloppy and corrupt.
At some point an event triggers public recognition of this fact and the dominant side loses the support of the most talented “moderates.” This last group is composed of persons from a variety of backgrounds and interests, who do not truly like either “left” or “right,” but who reluctantly endorse whoever is perceived as the lesser evil - as a matter of practicality, to establish stability. If the dominant group’s corruption is sufficiently exposed, the “moderate” group shifts its support away from them. The non-dominant (yet still widely accepted) side exploits this shift until it becomes dominant and establishes a new regime (not a new system, just a relatively new variety of the old one). Then it begins to make the same mistake of overconfidence, and the cycle continues.
Danger - New Orleans tolerance test in progress
Posted in Random Thoughts by R Lee Wrights on October 23rd, 2008 by Fran Tully
Something about the New Orleans disaster has been disturbing me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I read Robert Tracinski’s article at The Intellectual Activist. The news coverage and the violation of rights in the aftermath of the flood were not only sensational, but downright disturbing. As I considered it, I shared with my wife that this did not seem to me a situation that would be unique to New Orleans or a black community, but rather something that we could expect to see in any major metropolitan urban setting. The entitlement mentality and the senseless violence are both symptoms that have been making themselves known for decades.
I found it interesting that not a single newscaster or talk show host dared to state the obvious. Instead, they begged for our compassion, our donations, and our understanding. Now, no doubt, in addition to the hundreds of millions in private donations, the government will take even more of our money (taxes) and give more handouts to those who are demanding that we do something. There are folks from New Orleans in Salt Lake City now who have been assured that FEMA will pay for the next six months of their rent. Frankly, it irritates me considerably to hear these flood victims saying, “what I want to know is whose gonna pay my bills?!” or whining about getting free debit cards with ONLY $2000 in cash attached to them.
The failure of the Iraq war
Posted in JDM at LFA by R Lee Wrights on October 22nd, 2008 by Jonathan David Morris
In last week’s article, I wrote that “the only thing America’s confident in anymore is its military.” Predictably, I got a couple of letters from people who angrily denied this assertion-only to turn around and remind me we wouldn’t be free if people hadn’t “shed blood” for our country. This was basically exactly what I was getting at. America’s a nation enamored by its military. And judging by the way we use “war” to describe mere differences in opinion (see: the War on Christmas), I think it’s safe to say, as a people, we love a good war.
The problem with this particular fetish is that it distorts our nation’s priorities. People who play the “people shed blood” card would have you believe the only good things ever to happen to this country were purchased, Book of Genesis style, on some great unknown altar. It’s nice if that makes you feel proud of our soldiers. However, at best, it’s only partially true.
The truth is, America’s military isn’t what “made” America free. Freedom isn’t something that can be rationed like so many spoils of war. Freedom is a natural right given to us by our Creator. No military could ever “make” people free. It could only defend them from tyrants who wish to harass them and curtail their rights.
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