United Liberty

Below is a collection of several links that we didn’t get around to writing about, but still wanted to post for readers to examine. The stories typically range from news about prominent figures in the liberty movement, national politics, the nanny state, foreign policy and free markets.

Below is a collection of several links that we didn’t get around to writing about, but still wanted to post for readers to examine. The stories typically range from news about prominent figures in the liberty movement, national politics, the nanny state, foreign policy and free markets.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has found his way off my list of potential Republicans I could vote for in 2012 as he recently said that he was open to tariffs on imported oil and a VAT (though to replace the current tax system):

Daniels, once the Hudson Institute’s chief executive, described himself as an acolyte of Kahn’s and marveled at the creative thinking evident in his 1982 book, “The Coming Boom.”

Daniels recited from Kahn’s book: “It would be most useful to redesign the tax system to discourage consumption and encourage savings and investment. One obvious possibility is a value added tax and flat income tax, with the only exception being a lower standard deduction.”

“That might suit our current situation pretty well,” said Daniels, who served as George W. Bush’s Office of Management and Budget director and was a senior adviser in Ronald Reagan’s White House. “It also might fit Bill Simon’s line in the late ‘70s that the nation should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose.”
[…]
Daniels also suggested support for increasing gasoline taxes. Kahn wrote, in a passage Daniels read from Thursday, “One fully justifiable tax would be on imported oil. Any large importation of oil by the U.S. raises security problems. There are, in effect, external costs associated with importing oil that a tariff would internalize.

“Now, maybe that transgresses some philosophical viewpoint of yours,” Daniels told the well-heeled crowd of 250. “But to me, that’s an interesting point today, just as valid as the day he wrote it.

With Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) planning to push a new energy bill between the time Congress come back into session and the end of the year, possibly during a lame duck session, the National Taxpayers Union has launched a new campaign to push back against the proposal.

NTU argues, correctly in my view, that the proposal is a double tax on American-owned energy companies and make the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil and “signal[s] a new wave of punitive tax policies aimed at politically convenient targets.”

The title is deceptive because I’m not talking about the tea party rallies that have sprung up across the nation. No, I’m refering to a protest that took place yesterday in LaFayette, Louisiana to fight back against the oil drilling moratorium that the Obama Administration has put in place:

Thousands attended a rally in Lafayette Wednesday aimed at convincing the Obama administration to lift the federal offshore drilling moratorium, which officials said could further endanger the state through the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.

The “Rally for Economic Survival” was held at the Cajundome and drew about 11,000 people, some dressed in their oil industry uniforms, others in shirts bearing messages of “Drill Baby Drill” and “No Moratorium.”

The event attracted national media attention and featured elected leaders from the local, state and federal level.

Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle served as master of ceremonies and fired up an already lively crowd, proclaiming that “it is time to quit punishing innocent American workers to achieve some unrealistic political agenda.”

Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of 12 speakers at the two-hour event, pleaded with President Barack Obama to “let our people work.”

There is reason to protest. According to a new study, the moratorium will only add insult to a region that has suffered so much over the last several years:

President Barack Obama’s oil spill commission is questioning the administration on the drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico:

The co-chairmen of a presidential commission said Tuesday that moving testimony about the economic damage caused by President Obama’s drilling moratorium has convinced them to press the issue.

In fact, one of the co-chairs, former Environmental Protection Agency chief William Reilly, said he can’t understand why more hasn’t been done to shorten the moratorium, which has been the subject of a federal court battle and now extends through Nov. 30.

“I come to this experience with a much greater sense of the economic dislocation being experienced here than I had three days ago” before the commission began hearings in New Orleans, Reilly said at a midday news conference. “It’s not clear for me why it should take so long to reassure oneself about (safety) considerations on those rigs.”
[…]
[Former Democatic Sen. Bob] Graham chimed in, too, saying he was disturbed by a “disconnect between Washington and the Gulf region about the sense of urgency needed.” He said that if the moratorium is a “timeout” to gather information and assurances that drilling can continue, “it’s a legitimate question to ask what we’re doing to inform ourselves, establish new standards and make a quick judgment.”

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) isn’t thrilled about the moratorium:

“About an hour ago, Secretary Salazar announced ‘new deepwater drilling suspensions.’ Unfortunately, this new plan does not address many of the concerns expressed by the experts, the court system, and families and businesses along the Gulf Coast.

Independent voters will make an impact in this year’s mid-term elections, and polling indicates that President Barack Obama’s agenda is not sitting well with them:

A new poll from Resurgent Republic shows independents increasingly leaning to the right on three key issues, with majorities favoring a repeal of President Obama’s health care reform bill, continued offshore drilling, and a freeze in federal spending.
[…]
According to the new poll, independents increasingly stand with mainstream Republicans on key issues.

• Independents would like to repeal the health care reform bill by a margin of 52 to 39 and agree with a statement saying, in part, “Obama’s law will drive health care costs through the roof and bankrupt the country.”
• Independents support further offshore drilling, and, by a margin of 56 to 36, agree that “we should not let one bad accident in the Gulf divert us from the importance of more offshore drilling to create jobs and make us less dependent on foreign oil.”
• Independents say the federal budget should be frozen for five years, and agree, by a margin of 52 to 35, that “By funding only the top priorities, we will get the budget deficit back under control, and stop bankrupting the country and mortgaging our children’s future.”

I’m still skeptical that Republicans are going to take back the House or Senate, but by the time Democrats realize that they have lost independents, it’ll be too late for them not to have lost a significant number of seats.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me eight times, am I a f**king idiot?” - Jon Stewart

Ok, I’m not the biggest fan of The Daily Show or Jon Stewart, but the last couple of clips I’ve seen are hilarious because they’ve been so spot on in showing how pointless our elected officials are.

In no way am I an advocate of cap-and-trade or increased environmental regulations. I say open ANWR and have more off-shore drilling. In many respects, government is just as responsible for what has happened as BP.

Anyway, Stewart’s diatribe is funny and worth a listen:

Some non-shocking but nonetheless ridiculous news about the people we pay to oversee offshore coastal drilling:

So what were the staff members at the Minerals Management Service—the Interior Department division in charge of regulating offshore drilling—doing instead of their jobs? Watching pornography, according to a report from the Interior Department’s inspector general, as well as a slew of other offenses, including at least one inspector who used crystal meth and may have been under its influence at work. Staff members also accepted tickets to sporting events and free lunches from the oil and gas companies they were supposed to be overseeing. “[W]e discovered that the individuals involved in the fraternizing and gift exchange—both government and industry—have often known one another since childhood,” the inspector general wrote.

A libertarian friend of mine (what a shock!) said brilliantly of the administration’s regulatory policy: “If the people you’re trying to regulate are endorsing your policy, the chances are you’re not doing it right.”

And seriously - crystal meth? When I hear stories like this or political leaders having secret affairs with fellow males (often when they’re stomping on gay rights), I just have to sit and wonder. Doing hard drugs and having gay love affairs are not everyday trivialities that everyone engages in like jaywalking or even shoplifting. If you’re engaging in these activities, it’s emblematic of something else.

Democrats are using the BP oil spill as an excuse to increase taxes:

Responding to the massive BP oil spill, Congress is getting ready to quadruple—to 32 cents a barrel—a tax on oil used to help finance cleanups. The increase would raise nearly $11 billion over the next decade.

The tax is levied on oil produced in the U.S. or imported from foreign countries. The revenue goes to a fund managed by the Coast Guard to help pay to clean up spills in waterways, such as the Gulf of Mexico.

The tax increase is part of a larger bill that has grown into a nearly $200 billion grab bag of unfinished business that lawmakers hope to complete before Memorial Day. The key provisions are a one-year extension of about 50 popular tax breaks that expired at the end of last year, and expanded unemployment benefits, including subsidies for health insurance, through the end of the year.

The House could vote on the bill as early as Tuesday. Senate leaders hope to complete work on it before Congress goes on a weeklong break next week.

Guess who is going to pay for this? Here is a hint, not the oil companies. It is a tax on consumer.