State-Smashing

Two Huge Victories in Colorado for the Second Amendment

"Even though there had never been a successful recall in Colorado history, and even though advocates of gun rights were targeting Senators in two districts that voted overwhelmingly for Obama, and even though the statists had a huge money advantage, what mattered most was that voters did not want their gun rights eroded by politicians. Polling data shows the American people would engage in massive civil disobedience if politicians tried to ban guns. But it’s also comforting that voters also are willing to overcome heavy odds to knock off politicians who push for any type of gun control." Continue reading →

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Two Colorado lawmakers lose recall elections over support for gun laws

"Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs and Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo lost their jobs as lawmakers in an election seen as a national measure of popular support for gun legislation. They were replaced by two gun-rights Republicans. Angered by new limits on ammunition magazines and expanded background checks, gun rights activists filed enough voter signatures for the recall elections - the first for state legislators since Colorado adopted the procedure in 1912. The recalls prevailed despite some $3 million in contributions for the incumbents. The recalls were the latest chapter in the national debate over guns - and, for some, a warning to lawmakers in swing states." Continue reading →

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Is it time to get rid of the DEA?

"There is no doubt the agency should be reformed. It is also worth asking if it should continue to exist. According to a Reuters investigation, the DEA has been gathering information from other agencies, as well as foreign governments, for years. The DEA has also been collecting its own arsenal of data; constructing a massive database with about 1 billion records. This information is shared in secret. By hiding the origins of its data from defense attorneys, prosecutors and judges, the agency and its partners effectively are undermining the right of the people it targets to a fair trial." Continue reading →

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Mises’ Answer to Would-Be Conspirators: You Will Lose

"The heart, mind, and soul of Austrian school economics is this: the free market provides better information and better incentives to satisfy customers than any rival system can ever offer. Therefore, the free market will grow at the expense of central planning. The decentralized decisions of people with money -- decisions informed by market pricing -- will be more accurate than the centralized decisions of any committee. This is why I really do not pay a lot of attention to the Bilderberg, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission. Ultimately, they are going to lose, just as their British equivalents and predecessors lost, 1914-1945. The digital genie is out of the bottle." Continue reading →

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Liberty Empowered Coverage of No War in Syria Rally: Tulsa

"On Saturday of Labor Day weekend, while the majority of Americans were enjoying their time off drinking beer at the lake, a minority of Americans across the nation labored tirelessly for the cause of peace. Most major cities across the nation hosted a No War in Syria Rally, sporting picket signs and protesting American intervention in Syria’s civil war. Even on a worldwide scale, individuals showed their support for peace in record numbers. Here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a group of about 60 activists gathered together for their No War in Syria Rally: Tulsa, in 104 degree heat to 101st and Memorial to unanimously show opposition to America’s involvement in another country’s civil war." Continue reading →

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Tax Havens Are Crucial if We Want to Restrain Predatory Government

"Politicians have little incentive to control spending and reform programs if they think that higher taxes are an option. So how do we control their appetite for more revenue? There’s no silver bullet solution, but part of the answer is that we need tax competition and tax havens. Politicians are less likely to over-tax and over-spend if they’re afraid that the geese that lay the golden eggs can fly across the border. In other words, tax competition is a necessary but not sufficient condition to promote good policy. And that’s why I’m willing to defend tax havens, even if it requires bringing a message of liberty to traditionally hostile audiences such as readers of the New York Times and viewers of CNN." Continue reading →

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Schneier: US gov. has betrayed the internet. We need to take it back

"Government and industry have betrayed the internet, and us. By subverting the internet at every level to make it a vast, multi-layered and robust surveillance platform, the NSA has undermined a fundamental social contract. The companies that build and manage our internet infrastructure, the companies that create and sell us our hardware and software, or the companies that host our data: we can no longer trust them to be ethical internet stewards. This is not the internet the world needs, or the internet its creators envisioned. We need to take it back. And by we, I mean the engineering community." Continue reading →

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Colorado Sheriff: ‘Should Be Able To Fire Representatives Who Ignore Constituents’

"When Breitbart News asked Maketa what he thought of the recall efforts, he said: 'I firmly believe that if voters think their representatives are not representing their views fairly, then they ought to be able to fire them.' 'Constituents should be able to fire representatives who ignore constituents,' Maketa stated. 'Voters think the two senators currently being recalled dismissed their opinions--literally said they did not want to hear from them--and when a representative shows that kind of arrogance, that kind of tyranny, the people ought to be able to fire them.'" Continue reading →

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Decentralize to Neutralize Turmoil in Middle East

"The international community—which includes many multi-tribal, ethnic, racial, or sectarian states—frowns on solutions that formally or implicitly break up states. Many have their own minorities that might be encouraged to break away. Thus, arguments are used that it’s a form of apartheid or that boundaries cannot be drawn exactly and will always leave some unfortunate souls on the other side of the line. In South Africa, apartheid was forced separation using armed might of a minority against a majority. In Iraq and Libya, such decentralized governance would have to be voluntary and would reflect existing ethno-sectarian or tribal areas, respectively." Continue reading →

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