On Constitutional Concerns

Last week the media focused on President Obama's basic eligibility to be president while ignoring the unconstitutional manner in which he governs. For example, his recent use of a signing statement to affect a line-item veto on a bill he signed into law as president. The recent continuing resolution to fund the government through September had an amendment that defunded four of his czar positions as a cost-cutting measure. These "czars" are administration appointees who exercise influence on policy matters, yet because they are classified as "advisors" and not cabinet officials, the President is able to avoid the Senate confirmation process.

Quote 2144

"No.

"I refuse. So long as consciousness remains, so long as cognizance holds sway, so long as I can function as a thinking being, I repudiate the notion of capitulation.

"However fruitless the effort may appear, we will continue to search for possibilities, my old friend. We will do this not because we must, or because we see avenues that may lead to success, but because it is what we do. Evolution has given us the ability to reason. If we choose to abjure it, we surrender the one thing that makes us worthy of continuance."

— Truzenzuzex

Quote 2143

Yet all knowledge conceals within it danger to a greater or lesser degree. If it did not, governments would not be so anxious to regulate it.

— Lord Eiipul IX

Surviving Swat Teams to Empower a Real America

The Banks sent a Swat Team to kill him. But Walter Reddy survived and is still working so your state can have a money system based on gold - and every community can provide real security to you and your family.

Waking Up to Economic Realities

Last week the financial markets were roiled by Standard & Poor’s announcement that they will change their outlook on the fiscal health of the United States over the next two years from “stable” to “negative”. The administration decried this decision as political. However, it seems the only political thing about this decision is the fact that it took so long. The Washington Post recently reported that the White House and the Treasury Department put tremendous pressure on S&P not to do this. However, if S&P made its ratings based on political pressures rather than economic reality, it would cease to have any relevance to the business community. Even if S&P delayed its announcement that U.S. government bond market would be downgraded, at some point it would become obvious that the finances of this country are out of control and our leadership is out of touch. All credibility would be lost if S&P simply continued to assign U.S. debt a AAA rating.

Garry Reed's picture

Heicklen: judges are scamming jury rights activists

Julian Heicklen, the jury rights activist frequently featured in Libertarian News Examiner articles, has uncovered what he calls The Scam while handing out Fully Informed Jury Association literature in California.

Quote 2141

The distrust of wit is the beginning of tyranny.

— Edward Abbey

Quote 2140

Grown men do not need leaders.

— Edward Abbey

Quote 2139

Anarchism is founded on the observation that since few men are wise enough to rule themselves, even fewer are wise enough to rule others

— Edward Abbey

Quote 2138

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.

— Edward Abbey

Quote 2137

When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary.

— Thomas Paine

Quote 2136

It is more beneficial that many guilty persons should escape unpunished than one innocent person should suffer, because it is of more importance that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in the world that all of them cannot be punished, and many times they happen in such a manner that it is not of much consequence to the public whether they are punished or not. But when innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, the subject will exclaim, "it is immaterial to me whether I behave well or ill, for virtue itself is no security." And if such a sentiment as this should take place in the mind of a subject there would be an end to all security whatsoever.

— John Adams

Garry Reed's picture

Atlas Mugged: big media maligns the movie

The movie Atlas Shrugged Part 1 is ideology.

It isn’t art. It isn’t cinema. It isn’t epic saga. It’s ideology.

Budget Cuts are Meaningless Without Fed Transparency

Congress focused on issues surrounding government spending this week as talk of deficits, the national debt, and the debt limit saturated the airwaves. This is a positive development. In years past, there was very little concern over how much was spent here in Washington, how it was spent, or how much of our gross domestic product was being consumed by government. That blissful ignorance naturally resulted in decades of government spending with impunity, bringing us to where we are today: trillions in debt with astronomical entitlement obligations that will be impossible to fulfill in the not too distant future. So it is a good thing that there is so much political pressure now on our leaders to actually put the brakes on runaway spending.

Garry Reed's picture

Edgar the Exploiter wants your money!

Actually, it's Edgar's creator who wants your money.

A libertarian animator named Tomasz Kaye needs your voluntary donations so he can finish his short film of freedom in time for the 2012 Elections.

The video is Edgar the Exploiter, described as "An animation showing the hidden costs of government intervention."