United Liberty

The Treasury Department has allocated $250 billion to buy senior preferred shares of dozens of the nation’s largest banks as part of the “Troubled Asset Relief Program,” (TARP). Our government however, has haphazardly invested these relief funds in banks that have shown a propensity for making irresponsible and imprudent business decisions. On top of a lack of disclosure of the criteria for approved banks the government has displayed no consideration for the American public. By printing new money and diluting existing shareholder positions our leaders have proven they care more about saving poorly run businesses than their constituents.

No other election day has held the level of significance for me than this one does. While I’ve always voted, this was the first election cycle in which I took an avid interest and actually became involved in the political scene. For nine months, I was an active supporter of my hero, Dr. Ron Paul. After Super Tuesday, and it became evident that Dr.

United Liberty was begun by individuals from a large variation of backgrounds, all having the same goal in mind- the maximizing of individual liberty. We are not a monolithic group, seeing everything through the same eyes, and therefore have different ideas about how to best achieve that goal. All of us began as supporters of the same candidate, but since his name will not be on the ballot in our respective states, we wanted to share who we will be voting for and who we predict will win.

Editor, B J Lawson-

I wish I had an answer, but I’m still undecided :-/

Don’t think I know until I get into the voting booth.

At least I know how I’m voting for Congress…

 

Contributor, Scott Morris-

The 2008 Mises Institute Supporters Summit

The Gold Standard Revisited

This past weekend was a chance for many of the Mises Institute’s supporters to get together, get familiar, and get updated on the Austrian tradition’s interpretation of recent events.  The focus of this weekend seminar was on the gold standard, and the increasingly desperate need for sound money in today’s fiat fiasco of an economy.  Speakers, local and international, delivered the message of monetary sanity to the supporters and students in attendance, as well as those who tuned in around the world via Mises.org.  Talks were given by many of today’s

For this entry, we will go outside his aforementioned email. Don’t worry; we’ll be returning to it very soon.After taking another look at the debate between Congressman Price and Dr. Lawson, his “Keeping in Touch” newsletter that he sent to the 4th District voters (at taxpayer expense), and his Vote Smart page, there’s a particular claim that Congressman Price likes to make (or at least imply) that his recent record shows to be a bowl of mush.

This claim is that he is some sort of a principled fiscal conservative who works tirelessly for balanced budgets.

I’m grateful that Dr. Tom DiLorenzo, professor of economics at Loyola College, took the time to write a rebuttal to an inexplicably ignorant hit-piece recently published in the Wall Street Journal entitled “A Short Banking History of the United States.”

The author of this article, Mr. John Steele Gordon, makes a number of spurious claims in an attempt to discredit the economic philosophy of sound money controlled by the people, and defend Alexander Hamilton’s loyalty to banking interests in the drive to create a private central bank to own our money supply.

During Tuesday’s debate, John McCain discussed briefly a plan to spend $300 billion taxpayer dollars to transform households in foreclosure into FHA guaranteed fixed-rate mortgages. Yesterday afternoon, he followed it up with an e-mail to supporters (of which, I am not, but I like to keep abreast of general asshattery) that gave us a link to follow to learn more. I took him up on the offer, and I decided to take a look at real numbers to put the plan in perspective, since $300 billion taxpayer dollars is a pretty lofty sum for someone else to promise.

Most of us have seen the passionate speech given by George Baily in It’s a Wonderful Life to the evil bank-owner, Mr. Potter, begging for leniency towards Potter’s delinquent homeowners and espousing why owning a home makes the residents of Bedford Falls better citizens and more productive members of society.

Mr. Potter is simply interested in making sure his payments are received on time and that foreclosures are issued to those who fall behind.  He believes, and rightly so, that if a man has overextended himself and cannot pay his bills, the mortgage owner has the right to claim the house and boot the residents out.

George Baily, however, is more interested in promoting the “American Dream”- home ownership- and has built his life and Savings and Loan business around helping families buy homes… even if they’re not quite ready to take on that financial responsibility.

You, dear reader, all are in for a real treat. Dan Carlin is the host of the acclaimed podcasts Common Sense with Dan Carlin and Hardcore History. Originally from Hollywood, California and born to a family of entertainers, Carlin continues the family tradition while simultaneously educating his audience. This is the first interview with him for United Liberty.