Robert Byrd, Federal Bankruptcy, and Moral Debauchery
by Jacob G. Hornberger

Mainstream commentators were extolling the effectiveness of Senator Robert Byrd, who recently died. They pointed out how successful he was in bringing federal largess to West Virginia. Their accolades reflect not only why the federal government is broke but also the moral bankruptcy into which our society has plunged.

Indeed, how much federal largess a member of Congress brings home to his district has become a standard measuring rod for the mainstream press over how effectively he has represented his district. Whenever a U.S. Representative or U.S. Senator announces a federal grant has been awarded his area, which oftentimes occurs during campaign season, the local mainstream press goes gaga over what an effective member of Congress they have representing them.

Let’s examine how this system works to see how sordid it is.

Through the federal income tax, the American people are forced to send a portion of their hard-earned income to the IRS. Although federal officials sometimes tell people that America’s tax system is “voluntary” (see this video, for example), nothing could be further from the truth. If you don’t pay your taxes, they will prosecute you and do their best to see that you go to jail. They will also pursue you with civil processes, including liens, foreclosures, garnishments, and attachments.

Gulf Crisis Exposes Failures of Centralized Power

by Brian Roberts, Texas Tenth Amendment Center

Obama, the great centralizer, recently stated that he was looking for the right ass to kick. With this now famous statement he hoped to divert public attention from the failures of centralized power and begin to set a public mood against the oil industry and for expanded regulation and taxation. Other recent federal actions and statements make it painfully obvious that the federal government has zero interest in backing any plan to clean up the gulf in a timely manner.

While the crisis demands a federal response to help with stopping the leak and cleaning up the gulf, the ultimate goal of this administration is centralization of power. The following responses to the gulf crisis are effective methods in use today by Obama’s government to further this goal:

• Present false arguments for centralized power; ignoring the disastrous role regulation played in creating the crisis
• Attack and blackmail BP, and thus the oil industry as a whole, for a crisis created by faulty regulation that forced bad decisions
• Further the crisis by refusing to help clean up the disaster and hindering state and private action
• Leverage the emotional and financial impact on states and individuals to create a misguided street-level demand to pass the climate bill, giving more power to the feds

Yes, the ass Obama wants to kick is state sovereignty and individual freedom; so that his administration can centralize power.

When There is No Rule of Law

Last week ended with some promising news on finally stopping the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Unfortunately, the administration still seems to believe that shutting down working oil wells is a higher priority than effectively dealing with the broken one.   They are again issuing a moratorium on off-shore drilling, while maintaining a de facto ban on new permits even for shallow water drilling, which they previously stated would be unaffected.  The courts have twice declared this unconstitutional, over 70 percent of the people see this as unreasonable, yet the administration seems determined to simply end off-shore drilling, at least for those producers that cannot afford to sit idle for an unknown period of time until the ban is lifted.

Whether or not this latest effort will hold up in court is yet to be seen.  Sadly, many smaller oil producers in the Gulf see the writing on the wall, and instead of waiting around and risking their livelihoods on the whims of American politicians and judges, they are leaving for friendlier business climates.  What is happening to this country when the Republic of Congo is better for business than the United States?  One big factor is regime uncertainty.

Regime uncertainty is the opposite of the rule of law.  It is the rule of the whims of the people in charge and what mood they are in on any particular day.  It is usually associated with third world dictatorships and plays a major role in why some countries remain poor.  When a business cannot predict whether a government will issue a permit, confiscate or nationalize their capital investments, tax them into bankruptcy, or arbitrarily stall their operations, they tend to do business elsewhere.   This type of government hostility is not conducive to wealth creation and it is tragic to see it chasing away businesses here when we need the jobs and productivity more than ever.

Race Card Fraud

by Thomas Sowell

Credit card fraud is a serious problem. But race card fraud is an even bigger problem.

Playing the race card takes many forms. Judge Charles Pickering, a federal judge in Mississippi who defended the civil rights of blacks for years and defied the Ku Klux Klan back when that was dangerous, was depicted as a racist when he was nominated for a federal appellate judgeship.

No one even mistakenly thought he was a racist. The point was simply to discredit him for political reasons -- and it worked.

This year's target is the Tea Party. When leading Democrats, led by a smirking Nancy Pelosi, made their triumphant walk on Capitol Hill, celebrating their passage of a bill in defiance of public opinion, Tea Party members on the scene protested.

All this was captured on camera and the scene was played on television. What was not captured on any of the cameras and other recording devices on the scene was anybody using racist language, as has been charged by those playing the race card.