National ID Cards

Unpersons has a fantastic post about national ID cards. The post specifically addresses Britain, but I think much of what the post says is easily applicable to the U.S.

FEC

The first half of this post by RandomActOfKindness is a rather interesting rant against the FEC. He wants to ban campaign contributions from organizations such as labor unions, corporations, PACs, etc. He's basing this on the premise that only individuals can vote, not organizations. Sounds good to me.

No objections here

Zell Miller advocates repealing the 17th amendment, which states that Senators shall be elected by the people as opposed to being appointed by the states.

Update: The Smallest Minority has more regarding the idea of repealing the 17th amendment.

Internet Tax Ban

The Citizens Against Government Waste support the ban on internet taxes. Unfortunately, there's an alternative proposal that would ban internet taxes for four years instead of permanently, which is probably going to be more popular among the political establishment since the idea of taxing the internet is popular among politicians who want as much tax dollars that they can get their hands on.

Overtime Pay

The Mises Institute shows us the folly in the current debate about overtime pay. Why are overtime regulations bad? The article explains:

"The economy suffers greatly when such regulations are forcibly added to voluntary labor contracts. Firms that hire low-wage workers who traditionally work more than 40 hours a week will be forced to reduce their labor demand, leaving many workers either out of work (and eligible for various forms of unemployment welfare) or forced to work in other areas of the labor force."

and also:

"...the regulations will harm those firms that found it necessary to attract high wage earners by offering overtime pay. People who used to work overtime repeatedly—to their personal betterment—will be forced to stop. Employers who were once generous about allowing workers to work extra hours will no longer be able to. The full cost of such interventionism must include the workers who are now denied opportunities, as well as hard cash, for their work. Never mind the effect that the proposals may have in terms of short-term political impact."

Banking

An article by the Cato Institute discusses banking in poor countries. The author argues that there is an alternative to the fraudulent and bankrupt systems that are endemic in poverty stricken countries. Some of the recommended solutions include privatization, lowering barriers to entry, some regulations that require information disclosure and one other step, which is somewhat controversial, would be to let banks go uninsured by the government.

Voting

Richard Winger of Ballot Access News has written an article in the San Diego Daily Transcript about the "Voter Choice Open Primary" initiative in California and why he opposes it.

The non-sense continues

Drug War + Mandatory Minimum sentences - presumption of innocense = disaster.

Link via Liberty Log

One reason why we don't need a draft...

U.S. Soldiers Re-Enlist in Strong Numbers

Earth Day

Well, since today is Earth Day, I'll link to some free-market environmentalist organizations. Here is the Thoreau Institute and here is NewEnvironmentalism.org, which is a project of the Reason Public Policy Institute. For more info click here.

Update: Here is another one, the Property and Environment Research Center.
Update 2: Here is yet another one, A Better Earth which is a project of the Institute for Humane Studies.

Part-time Legislators

The Adam Smith Institute blog mentions the possibility that California will return to having part-time legislators. The merits of part-time legislators is that if legislators spend less time making laws, then they're less likely to spend and waste money. This is summed in what's called Parkinson's Law which states: "WORK EXPANDS SO AS TO FILL THE TIME AVAILABLE FOR ITS COMPLETION". Therefore, if you limit the amount of work you also limit what is completed (which in this case would be the creation of laws and the spending required to fund them).

Porker of the Month

The Citizens Against Government Waste's Porker of the Month is Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington D.C. He was awarded this honor "...for seeking $340 million in public funds to build a new baseball stadium in the District of Columbia".

Income Taxes and Civil Liberties

I know I'm a day late, but the Cato Institute has an excellent editorial about civil liberties abuses and the income tax.

Obituary for anti-capitalism

The Scotsman has an article about the rise and fall of the anti-capitalist/anti-globalization movement.

Link via Johann Norberg

Church Tax?

No wonder why Europe is becoming more and more secular, I would leave in protest if I had to pay a church tax like the Germans do.

Regulatory Capture

Marginal Revolution provides us an excellent example of regulatory capture. "...the Department of Agriculture is refusing to let a Kansas beef producer test its cattle for mad cow disease. Yes, you read that right". This is just shocking.

Postal Privatization

This article from the Hoover Digest argues that the best way for the postal service to be more accountable would be by privatizing it. The article also goes on to say that privatization may not be easy, but there are other countries who are making major reforms and they might set an example that can be used here.

Link via NCPA

Federalism and Taxes

"Ronald Reagan said people vote with their feet. They choose to live where there is more freedom. This was most striking when he pointed to those fleeing communism in Cuba and the old Soviet Union.
But Reagan also pointed to taxpayers moving from state to state for more economic freedom. And he was right. There has been significant migration to states without an income tax, for example (Vermont)."

Link via Dissecting Leftism

Over-Fishing

The Canadian Fraser Institute says that a good way to prevent over-fishing is through fishing quotas.

More on Toll Roads

Here's more info on toll roads. The article also mentions Orange County, California (where I reside):

Orange County, California now charges for the use of "express" lanes on its busiest highway, State Route 91, and San Diego County is extending HOT lanes along I-15.

2004 Pork

Citizens Against Government Waste has published its 2004 Pig Book. Some examples of waste include:

$4,860,000 for the Jamie Whitten Delta States Research Center in Stoneville; $1,400,000 for the Delta Conservation Demonstration Center; $900,000 for cattle and nutrient management in stream crossings; $885,000 for advanced spatial technologies; $524,000 for aquaculture; and $134,000 for an extension specialist.

This is just a small sample, if you want to know more you should click on the link and read. Some of the things that taxpayer's money is wasted on is just shocking.

Free-Market Environmentalism

Radley Balko has a new column in which he discusses free-market environmentalism.

Anti-Capitalists Win

The Reason Public Policy Institute weblog reports that Wal-Mart has been defeated by voters in Inglewood. Not only that, but legislators are also trying to increase regulations such as mandating the provision of health-care. For disclosure purposes I do own stock in Wal-Mart so I admit that might cloud my judgement, but I think I would be upset if this happened to any other company as well.

More on highways

Magnifisyncopathological believes, as well as I, that charging tolls on federal highways are a good idea. Paying at the point of consumption is more efficient than paying for goods via taxation. His post also gives some history about why there aren't any federal toll roads, which is pretty interesting.

The Pledge

The Independent Institute has an article about the pledge. Did you know the pledge was written by a Christian Socialist? Who knew the history of this was so dark?

Highway Pork

Radley Balko discusses the pork in the highway bill. Wow, look at how your tax dollars are wasted:

...-- Construction of "Renaissance Square" in Rochester, N.Y., including a performing arts center. $7 million. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a highly partisan liberal Democrat.

-- Renovation of a historic depot and bus station in Jessup, Ga. $1 million. Rep. Jack Kingston, a leading Republican conservative.

-- Improvement of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. $1.5 million. Rep. John Dingell, the senior member of the House and a fierce Democratic battler.

-- A new parking building in Oak Lawn, Ill. $4 million. Rep. William Lipinski, an 11-term Democrat.

-- A series of improvements for the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Va. $2.5 million. Rep. Rick Boucher, an 11-term Democrat.

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I would like to thank everyone who visits my blog. Keep coming if you want to see more info regarding consequentialist libertarian ideas.

Congratulations

Hernando de Soto has won the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. Unfortunately, I haven't read The Mystery of Capital though I'll try to get around to it someday.

Cuban Embargo

The National Center for Policy Analysis and the Hoover Digest argue that the Cuban Embargo has failed miserably. Fidel Castro hasn't loosened his totalitarian grip one bit. The only thing economic embargos do is hurt the people who have to deal with the economic hardship, it doesn't do any harm to the tyrants they intend to harm. If anything, embargoes can make the people more dependent on the very government which oppresses them since the people can't rely on outside support for assistance.