United Liberty

…just call the folks down the street who happen to have a monopoloy on lethal force. Yep, that oughta do it.

That’s exactly what some local restaurant owners in Los Angeles do when mobile food trucks (Taco stands, snack carts etc…) open up shop along the curb outside their business. The food carts offer cheap and quick bites, which are posing stiff competition to established eateries around town.

Instead of coming up with innovative ideas to compete with the new kids on the block, some restauranteers have called local law enforcement in to make it more difficult for the fresh competition to conduct business.

The fine folks at ReasonTV tell the full story:

As a critique, it would have been helpful to see an interview with one of the restaurant owners.

A recent comment from a reasonable, fiscally conservative Republican state legislator in Georgia became a facepalm moment for me. Rep. Chuck Martin, (R-Alpahretta) who co-chairs the Budget Committee addressing a $1 BILLION shortfall in the State budget told department heads: “This is not personal, this is not anybody questioning your professionalism, but we’re in a very difficult time here in Georgia. We are frankly in a position where we have to do more for the same or less money.”

Did you catch that? Did you see where he went exactly WRONG? With all due respect to Rep. Martin, you don’t have to do more –you have to do LESS. You have less money. Do less. Shrink government. Cut services, programs, employees and pay.

Amidst all the hand wringing about the “budget woes” plaguing every state, county and municipality in the nation, nearly none of the coverage reports an actual shrinking of the size and the scope of government. The news media dutifully reports that elected officials are “wrangling,” having to decide between “modest” tax hikes or “Draconian” budget cuts. Well, it’s time for less modesty and more Draco.

It can be done. Residents in Tracy, California have been given a choice –pay $48 per year to call 911 whenever they want, or skip the annual fee and pay $300 for each time you call. Colorado Springs asked the voters of that city (population 400,000) to pony up for a tax hike (the largest in the that city’s history) –which voters rejected. City leaders are closing parks, shutting off every third streetlight and auctioning off police helicopters.  Yet somehow, the sun is still rising in Colorado and California.

You may have seen the video from Carly Fiorina’s campaign attacking the fiscal record of Tom Campbell, both are seeking the Republican nomination for United States Senate in California. Chuck DeVore is also running as well, and is viewed as the most fiscally conservative candidate in the race.

In the video, Fiorina accuses Campbell of being a wolf in sheep’s clothing, hitting him on support of tax increases, billion dollar budget deficits and failing to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. At the end of the video, you seen the “demonsheep” wondering in the field. It has since become a hit on Twitter, with some of the Red State guys creating an account for the demonsheep.

Here is the “Fiscal Conservative in Name Only” (or FCINO) ad. Have a laugh:

From CNN comes an awesome story about a medical marijuana superstore that has just been set up in my second hometown - Oakland, California. To paraphrase what the San Francisco Chronicle said, we can all thank Dhar Mann, the owner, and the City of Oakland for one important step in the legalization/decriminalization of marijuana in the United States.