United Liberty
Quote of the Day
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 6:28pm | posted by Jason Pye
Peter Suderman on health care over at Reason…
Heritage: CBO ignores key factors in cost of cap-and-trade
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 5:24pm | posted by Jason Pye
The Congressional Budget Office released cost-estimates to households under the cap-and-trade legislation, known as Waxman-Markey, currently under consideration in the House.
The CBO says:
[T]he net annual economywide cost of the cap-and-trade program in 2020 would be $22 billion—or about $175 per household. That figure includes the cost of restructuring the production and use of energy and of payments made to foreign entities under the program, but it does not include the economic benefits and other benefits of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and the associated slowing of climate change. Of the total cost, CBO could not determine the incidence of certain pieces (including both costs and benefits) that represent, on net, about 8 percent of the total.
NY Times oversamples Obama supporters in health care poll
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 12:53pm | posted by Jason Pye
You may have heard about the New York Times/CBS poll showing support for government-run health care. It turns out that the sample was tilted towards Barack Obama:
As can be plainly seen on page 7 of the poll’s data, only 73 percent of respondents divulged who they voted for last November. 48 percent said Obama, 25 percent McCain.
What this means is this poll surveyed 66 percent Obama supporters versus 34 percent McCain.
As the final tally last year was 53 percent to 46 percent, this poll WAY oversampled Obama voters.
Free-Market case against Obama’s tax increases
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 11:39am | posted by Jason Pye
Chris Chocola, president of the Club for Growth, recently explained the opposition to the tax hikes proposed by Barack Obama and Keyesian economics:
SCOTUS rules on Voting Rights Act
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 11:02am | posted by Jason Pye
As expected, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the challenge to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which deals with federal pre-clearence of election laws in nine states and parts of several others. In an 8 to 1 decision, the law will remain intact:
With only one Justice voting to strike down Congress’s 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act’s controversial Section 5, the Supreme Court on Monday interpreted the law in a way that saves it. The Court said that all local units of government must be given the option to bail out of the requirement that they get Washington approval for any changes in their election laws or methods.
The Motorhome Diaries: Searching for Freedom
Mon, 06/22/2009 - 9:11am | posted by United Liberty Guest
Pete Eyre is the former “Crasher-in-Chief” at Bureaucrash and former Director of the Campus Network at the Institute for Humane Studies. Pete is now part of the Motorhome Diaries, currently traveling around the country spreading the message of liberty.
The Motorhome Diaries (MHD) is a project that places me and Jason Talley (as the crew) and Adam Mueller (our current fellow-traveler) in a RV to film an almost-real-time documentary while traveling across North America in search of freedom. Jason and I had worked in the DC think tank world for a number of years and thought that we could have a greater impact advancing the freedom movement through a project such as MHD.
Iranian protests continue
Sat, 06/20/2009 - 7:12pm | posted by Jason Pye
Protesters continue to press on inside Iran as the government has become increasingly violent in response:
Thousands of protesters defied Iran’s highest authority Saturday and marched on waiting security forces that fought back with baton charges, tear gas and water cannons as the crisis over disputed elections lurched into volatile new ground.
[…]
Some bloggers and Twitter users claimed that there had been numerous fatalities in Saturday’s unrest, reports that could not be immediately verified.
The clashes along one of Tehran’s main avenues — as described by witnesses — had far fewer demonstrators than recent mass rallies for Mousavi. But they marked another blow to authorities who sought to intimidate protesters with harsh warnings and lines of black-clad police three deep in places.
UL on Twitter
Sat, 06/20/2009 - 6:34pm | posted by Jason Pye
United Liberty is back up and running on Twitter. Add us and follow our feed.
Congress to work on $500 billion transportation bill
Sat, 06/20/2009 - 12:56pm | posted by Jason Pye
It’s that time again, transportation leaders in Congress will soon begin to piece together another wasteful appropriations bill to fund projects the country doesn’t really need:
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee wants $500 billion over the next six years for the nation’s roads, transit and high-speed rail, according to a blueprint of the bill that committee leadership hopes to pass before the current highway authorization expires at the end of September.
[…]
Land of the Free, Home of the… Life Sentence for Pot?
Sat, 06/20/2009 - 10:33am | posted by Anonymous
Congressman Mark Kirk has announced that he will call for stricter punishments for possession and sale of marijuana with THC content above 15%.
Surprised? No? Well, here’s the kicker, he is pushing for first time offenders to face up to 25 years in jail. Yes, you read that correctly, 25 years.
So, where does it end? There are nearly 2.8 million Americans currently in our prison system. With 1 million people last year arrested on marijuana related charges and congress currently in committee to overhaul the already overpopulated federal system, how could anyone champion this cause?
Good idea, Mr. Kirk.
