United Liberty

The fine folks from Reason TV just released a new documentary series, “Reason Saves Cleveland,” which traces the rise and fall of the once great Midwestern city, and how a few reforms can get “the mistake on the lake” back on track.

Here’s their description: “Sixty years ago, Cleveland was a booming city full of promise, opportunity, and people. Today, the city’s population is less half of what it was in its prime and it ranks as one of the poorest big cities in the United States. Hometown hero Drew Carey reflects on how the city became “the mistake on the lake” and wonders about the city’s future. Is a Cleveland renaissance possible or is the city doomed to long, slow death?”

I’ll be posting new episodes all week. Enjoy.

Oniomania (from Greek onios = “for sale,” mania = insanity) is a medical term for the compulsive desire to shop. Oniomania is the technical term for the compulsive desire to shop, more commonly referred to as compulsive shopping, compulsive buying, shopping addiction or shopaholism.  Wikipedia

The consensus coming from Washington DC is that the solution to the coming recession is more of what got us here in the first place- borrowing and spending.  Not only does Congress and the White House plan on continuing this dangerous trend, they’re encouraging all Americans to be good citizens and do the same.  So, apparently, what the economy needs are a few million oniomaniacs and banks brave enough to issue them credit.

There’s been alot of hubbub over the murder of a pinned, unarmed man by BART police in Oakland. Bloggers over at Reason magazine have been relentless, posting the citizen-shot video of the murder, which firmly illustrates the police were totally out of line.

The offending police officer has now resigned. Brian Doherty noted a San Francisco Chronicle article in which Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff said, ”These things normally take weeks rather than days, but I am trying to expedite this and get it resolved as quickly as we can.” Doherty correctly asks whether it would really “take weeks” if this were an average citizen pinning an unarmed man down and shooting him in the back and not a police officer. Working for the government gets you special privileges, like the ability to destroy lives with no repercussions.

Following is a clip of Morning Joe on MSNBC, wherein Joe Scarborough has on two of my favorite political commentators: Christopher Hitchens and Pat Buchanan. Hitchens takes apart the idiotic US anti-drug policy in regards to how it is applied in Afghanistan. He later goes on to criticize Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s use of sex appeal.

During this evening’s Senate vote, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) took the podium to explain her position on the proposed bailout package. In her statement, she explains that she received 91,000 calls and emails, with 85,000 of them opposed to the measure. Even armed with the knowledge that 93% of her constituents passionate enough to contact her office pleaded for her to vote “nay”, she votes in favor of the bill, claiming that “there is a great deal of confusion out there” and these people “don’t understand” the situation.

See the video below:

By: Dr. David T. Beito

Here is a rare respite for the standard pro-New Deal newsreels that usually can be found on youtube. It is a sympathetic depiction of Fred Perkins, a battery manufacturer from York, Pennsylvania who chose to go to jail rather than obey the mandates of the National Recovery Administration.

Senator McCain is supposedly “suspending” his campaign because of the current economic crisis and has asked that the debate scheduled for this Friday evening be postponed til next Thursday- the day the VP debate was supposed to take place, giving Palin a probably much needed reprieve.

But McCain also canceled his Wednesday appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, claiming that he was already on his way back to Washington and would no longer be in NYC at the time of the taping of the show.  Turns out, this wasn’t exactly true- Dave found out during the taping that McCain was actually still in town, and then hilarity ensues.  Enjoy!

While the $700 billion bailout seemed a certainty only two days ago, outcry from the public and bi-partisan concern about giving the Treasury Department carte blanche has put some speed bumps in the path of passing this historical legislation. Though there is some finger-pointing going on between the two parties about who caused this crisis in the first place, it appears that an equal number of Republicans and Democrats are now questioning the wisdom of Secretary Paulson’s bailout plan and are willing to take a deep breath, step back, and consider all the options before saddling the tax-payers with this enormous and unpopular government intervention. Observing that the urgency placed on passing this plan immediately is reminiscent of Bush’s insistence on funding for the disastrous Iraq War, lawmakers are showing trepidation about making the same mistake twice. These kind of high pressure tactics are normally reserved for the used car lot, and our legislators are wise to think twice before investing the American public’s money into another Bush Administration lemon.

Bailouts Will Lead to Rough Economic Ride

By: Dr. Ron Paul - CNN

“The solution to the problem is to end government meddling in the market. Government intervention leads to distortions in the market, and government reacts to each distortion by enacting new laws and regulations, which create their own distortions, and so on ad infinitum.”

Socialism in the Treasury Chest

By: Mark Hemingway - National Review

“If you believe that the best way to handle the current economic crisis is hurling gobsmackingly large amounts of money at it, all to be used at the discretion of the Treasury secretary and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, you may well be an idiot. That’s according to a rule of thumb devised by famed investor Warren Buffett.”