1Declaration: Free Markets, Free People, Free Minds

A simple quote to think about by one of our founding fathers, the architect of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, for those that have placed there faith in a certain politician in this years Presidential race.

Experience [has] shown that, even under the best forms [of government], those entrusted with power have, in time and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.

This years race seems to be more hyped than ever before, yet we have two of the worst candidates in history to choose from if you limit yourself to the major parties. People have placed hope that the politicians will change things but Americans are reaching for answer that has caused the problems that we have today: government.

Government has slowed economic growth, inhibited job growth, and increased the reliability on social welfare programs. I have awaited the day until I found a group that has the answers that the American people want but refuse to believe: Libertarians. The Libertarian has recognized the problems in America today can be solved by less regulation, fewer social programs, and lower taxes. Libertarians recognize that government if given the time and it is not long will become tyrannical and oppressive. This is the same idea that the founders recognized.

When you go to the ballot box this year, remember that government has failed us and the answer is not more government, more failed promises, or more of the same. It is time for the Libertarians! It is time for small government! It is time for a return to the Constitution! It is time for low taxes! It is time for a return to Liberty and individualism!

It is time! Make your declaration!

With the upcoming election many thoughts have come to my mind. I was browsing the internet the other day contemplating the likely election of Barack Obama. Barack Obama is clearly charismatic, eloquent, and one of the greatest political leaders in the last 60 years. All of this does not make him fit to be President because he is young, inexperienced, espouses dangerous political ideology, and geniuenlly does not seem to understand the basics of economics. When browsing the internet I came upon this quote that clearly describes contemporary American politics and more clearly the Barack Obama mania.

Unthinking Respect for Authority is the Greatest Enemy of Truth.
--Albert Einstein

It seems in America today that the wave of socialism is rapidly sweeping across our great country. A smaller group but much louder is contesting this view point and is led by Texas House member Ron Paul, appropriately titling his book The Revolution. The wave of socialism or fascism is led by Democratic Presidential nominee, Barack Obama. And for those who think I have used fascism in an inappropriate manner I encourage you to read Jonah Goldberg's Book, Liberal Fascism.

Today about half of the citizens of this country no longer want to work hard for a better life like our ancestors have. These citizens have fallen into the rut where they believe that they are entitled to handouts from the government because of past injustices, current societal problems, or poor personal decisions that they should be saved from (having children they could not afford, using drugs and alcohol, not working hard in school, buying a house they could not afford, etc.).

Americans more commonly have neglected history respecting the government and political leaders without looking to the future detrimental impact of their request. They do not question their motives if it seems beneficial to society. This has been the case of the rise of tyrants throughout history like Adolph Hitler, Mussolini, Castro, Saddam Hussein, Mao Zedong, and Hugo Chavez to name a few. These leaders promised great social benefits, more equality among their people, and a better life. From a distant look their policies looked promising. Looking back or from the inside of these countries now their policies have been of great detriment to their country.

The people of these societies gave up freedoms for a better tomorrow and a better tomorrow never came. Society did not question their motives becoming and unthinking mob with great respect for their authority. This led them down a road to where truth was no longer appreciated and was usurped for greater governmental power and the erosion of individual Liberty.

The followers of Barack Obama today are often times called Kool-aid drinkers and for good reason. They have sacrificed reason and truth for eloquent speaking, hope, and change. They do not hesitiate to question the motives and policies of this charismatic leader that violate the Constitution, strip individual choice, and further degrade individual Liberties. The unthinking mob has placed their complete faith in government while neglecting the principles that were instilled in the founding of our country and enabled our rise to the premier superpower of the world.

Respect for authority is not a poor quality of individuals because it allows for a civilized and orderly society. Unthinking respect however leads to the deprivation of Liberties, removal of the freedom of choice, and is the greatest enemy of Truth. It is a shame to see Liberty so voluntarily disposed when people around the world are looking towards our model to achieve their own Freedom from the tyranny.

Unthinking Respect for Authority is the Greatest Enemy of Truth.
--Albert Einstein

I will never sacrifice my Liberties for the benefit of the collective. I will not remove my right to individual choice for the help from the government. I will not bow down to the alter of political leaders. I will not silence my voice of opposition to the fascistic policies of the left. I will not sacrifice my Liberties!

Today marks the second set of three minimum wage increases due to last years Democratically pushed Fair Minimum Wage Act. Today's jump increased the minimum wage to $6.55 and hour. The third set of increases will occur next July (2009) to $7.25 an hour.

Minimum wage is a contentious issue. There are two competing thoughts in the matter. The first is made by Democrats in order to garner more votes from the poorer classes in society spewing rhetoric how these people have given an unjust situation in life. The other group stands on principle on the facts that demonstrate that minimum wage has a detrimental impact on economic and job growth.

Economic Results of Minimum Wage Increase

A study carried out by Dr. Josephy Sabia of the University of Georgia for the Fiscal Policy Insitute presents clear evidence to the detrimental impacts of minimum wage increases especially among low-skilled and entry level workers. It should be noted that the information from this study was obtained from government data from 1979 to 2004 related to retail and small business employment. Keep in mind today's increase was 11.96% and 19.8% since the act has been passed. After the final increase minimum wage will have increased over 27%.

For every 10% increase in minimum wage, it will lead to the following:

1. Retail Employment

• .9-1.1% decrease in employment
• 2.7-4.3% decrease in employment among teens
• 5% decrease in average retail hours among all teens
• 2.8% decrease in average retail hours among teens who remain employed

2. Small Business Employment

• .8-1.2% decrease in employment
  
• 4.6-9.0% decrease in teen employment
• 4.8-8.8% decrease in average hours among teens

If you would like to view an entire list of negative consequences of minimum wage increases with studies visit here Talking Points from the Joint Economic Committe of the US Congress from 1995. The list includes impacts from reduction of employment opportunities amongst unskilled workers, hard impacts on the black community, increase in job turnover, harder times for lower wage workers during economic downturns to detrimental effects on lifetime earnings, reduction of fringe benefits, and increase in welfare reliance. This is a great list that gives specific studies that can be reviewed if you wish.

Other Economic Impacts

Some would then ask why politicians would even consider raising a rate that affects primarily teenagers who remain dependent to their parents and around .5% of total employment. The answer is the power of unions. The Democratic Party has been corrupted by the detrimental impacts of unions. Unions generally negotiate wages directly towards a factor of the minimum wage. Taking the current number of $.70 and doing some simple math we can demonstrate. A factor of 2 will increase wage by $1.40, 3 by $2.10, 4 by 2.80, and so on. This as you can imagine will have to result in an increase in price among the widgets (general term for a miscialneous product) that the widget factory creates.

One aspect of increases should be mentioned. Take the impact of a person who made $6.55 yesterday. This was $.70 above minimum wage at the time and above lower level employees. To maintain the same standard of living because of the increase in cost in consumer goods and services that employee's wage would have to increase as well, which is up to the discretion of the employer. This will have a negative impact on that employee and many others who will have taken in effect a pay decrease with the mandatory increase in minimum wage.

Companies will seek to maintain their profit. In order to do this they must do one of several or combine several aspects. 1) Move jobs to less regulate areas (overseas). 2) Decrease employment (usually the first step). 3) Increase modernization efforts to decrease reliability on people in the production of their product. 4) Increase the price of their goods. All of these will have detrimental impacts on the American economy by moving economic investment into offshore markets, decrease job opportunity especially amongst low-skilled or low educated workers, or decrease the purchasing power of other workers who did not receive a corresponding raise by artificially increase the price of their goods.

For other economic impacts which I will not cover here to save space view this Joint Economic Committee Report in 1996 that points to the job decrease of nearly 625,000 jobs mainly at entry level when minimum wage was increased from $4.25 to $5.15. The report also cites many other negative impacts of the increase.

Conclusion

Companies pay their employees as a compilation of many different characteristics. Some jobs like a burger flipper are inherently by their nature require less skill and can be filled by a greater segment of society making these jobs easy to fill and less valuable earning the employee less income. Artificially elevating the income of these employees by governmental regulation will require cuts in other areas of buisness to maintain the profit margin or increase prices.

Quite simply companies will pay people what they are worth and their is a reason why those making minimum wage are earning what they are. They have made poor personal choices that have placed them in the situtation by neglecting their education/training, having children they could not afford, spending money on unnecessary items like cigarettes, alcohol, or the latest technology, or by acting in a manner that does not reflect well upon them-self and the potential company that might hire them.

Wage's if left to the free market to decide will be adjusted to what society and individuals are willing to accept. An employer who pays $1/hr for an employee may not be able to find a person to fill this position or at least the quality of person they desire while an employer who pays $4/hr will be able to. If an employer does not pay enough the job will not be filled requiring the company to increase the wage until it is acceptable.

Artificial pay increases such as minimum wage do not have a net positive impact on any groups with the exceptions of those who negotiate their salary as a factor of minimum wage like labor unions. When a politician says minimum wage increase it is not meant to benefit those making minimum wage. It is a tool used to pander to lower income families for increase power and job security in the form of votes, nothing more. Either that or they are beholdent to the special interests of labor unions. Either way they do not deserve the vote of Americans.

More layoffs are coming. Let's hope its not your job!

Sources

Fiscal Policy Institute: The Effect of Minimum Wage Increases on Retail and Small Business Employment
Minimum Wage to Jump by 70 cents Thursday
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Joint Economic Committee Report: The Case Against a Higher Minimum Wage
Joint Economic Committee Talking Points: 50 Years of Miminum Wage Research

The Bill of Rights is the most important precedence for the maintenance of freedom for all individuals in the United States. For those not in the know, the Bill of Rights is the 1st 10 Amendments to the US Constitution. I urge you to read the amendments carefully before you continue reading this article. You can view them here.

It should be understood that the Bill of Rights does not constrain the rights of individuals or individual freedoms as some liberals and conservatives would exist such as the right to bear arms, gay marriage, the right for largely unregulated talk radio on political issues, and a host of other issues. The Bill of Rights was designed to protect individuals from the tyranny of government because the founders understood clearly the oppression that government of any size or nature can bring.

The 2nd Amendment is often highly neglected in liberal circles as they try to institute greater gun control laws in an attempt to eliminate gun ownership altogether. The reason for this is not because guns cause crimes, they don't as guns are inanimate objects without the ability to form thought. The reason for their desire for control is to take greater control of society and limit individual choice. No greater evidence can be brought forth aside from the clear wording of the US Constitution of the right to bear arms than from the words of the principal architect of the US Constitution Thomas Jefferson.

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

The Bill of Rights is a constraint of the power of government on rights that no power, group, or entity has the power to take away. The rights of individuals is the most important principle in the founding of our government. Unfortunately our rights have been abridged by a government seeking to create a form of social justice in the implementation of the income tax, which has been previously been declared unconstitutional because of its violation of the 6th Amendment.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The right to privacy in financial matters and secure in papers has been obliterated by the IRS and more importantly perhaps the most oppressive law created by our government the 16th Amendment, which has fostered a climate where politicians espouse rhetoric about the evil rich, greedy corporations, and more generally class warfare. It has fostered an environment that penalizes hard work, individuality, high achievement, sound investments, economic growth, and has pushed jobs to overseas markets resulting in slower job creation and higher unemployment than would otherwise be possible. The reading of the 16th Amendment is frightening in and of itself.

Article XVI [Proposed 1909; Questionably Ratified 1913]: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

The amendment proposes no limits on the amount of taxes collected meaning tax rates could be as high as 100% meaning all income would be collected despite fierce opposition from the governed and leaves no recourse for petition from those whom are affected. This is why I support the Fair Tax, which you can find out more on in my FairTax series in March-May of 2008.

The Bill of Rights does not limit the freedom of individuals only the power of government. Activists judges liberal fascists (like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and the like) have sought to remove these rights in the name of social justice, governmental control, and social order. The founders recognized that increased governmental power is among the greatest evils the world has ever known and sought to ensure the protection of individuals including their ability to protect themself against physical abuses (2nd Amendment) amongst many other governmental abuses.

Numerous times I have explored the depths that are anthropogenic global warming - that is human induced emissions for those not of the scientific persuasion. I have mentioned numerous times that global warming is not a result of human activity or at least not the primary or secondary reason, essentially that it is highly exaggerated.

The reason for the global warming alarmism by Al Gore and other men and women of little understanding on the issue is not for the well meaning intentions they portray. Instead it is to start a sort of cultural revolution to destroy the United States capitalist economy further, portray the need for the protection of the collective by spreading fear to remove individual rights, and aggregate power in the hands of a professional, expert government that can make society dependent and therefore easier to control.

Global warming alarmists have set out to dismiss and completely dismantle the careers of those who oppose global warming. Al Gore has concluded that global warming is a proven reality and those who do not believe should be dismissed and removed from the scene. Some have even threatened to sue nonbelievers.

Change of Position

I am far from the only one who doubts the validity of anthropogenically caused global warming.

The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming. The APS is also sponsoring public debate on the validity of global warming science. The leadership of the society had previously called the evidence for global warming "incontrovertible."

This is a monumental change in position that without doubt will cause much controversy among the political sphere of global warming alarmists like Al Gore. Their livelihood is wrapped up in the spreading of fear in order to garner themselves political and monetary power. This change in position or at least opening for debate proves without a doubt that anthropogenic global warming is still a highly controversial and debated field in academia and among research scientists and intellectuals.

Why the Change?

Al Gore as we all know created a move, Inconvenient Truth, that created a surge in support for the idea of global warming. The APS now has reasons to doubt man made global warming with the publishing of a report by Lord Monckton of Brenchley, which finds that the "climate sensitivity -- the rate of temperature change a given amount of greenhouse gas will cause -- has been grossly overstated by IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] modeling. A low sensitivity implies additional atmospheric CO2 will have little effect on global climate." A professor at Hartford, Larry Gould, has called the paper "expose of the IPCC that details numerous exaggerations and '/extensive errors'."

The APS has also found other evidence that I have pointed to in the past here that the reason for warming is more likely due to increased solar activity.

Monckton, who was the science advisor to Britain's Thatcher administration, says natural variability is the cause of most of the Earth's recent warming. "In the past 70 years the Sun was more active than at almost any other time in the past 11,400 years ... Mars, Jupiter, Neptune’s largest moon, and Pluto warmed at the same time as Earth."

Clearly the debate on the validity of anthropogenic global warming is not as clear cut as Al Gore has made it out to be. Before we take drastic actions that will be of great detriment to the US and world economies we need more debate on this highly controversial subject. The call by Al Gore for America to go 100% green within 10 years is absurd, unrealistic, and economic suicide!

Sources

Primary: DailyTech - Myth of Consensus Explodes: APS Opens Global Warming Debate
Other articles:
New York Times: Gore Urges Change to Dodge and Energy Crisis
Guardian: Put oil firm chiefs on trial
Climate Sensitivity Reconsidered
Science Daily: Warm Coronal Loop Offers Clue to Mysteriously Hot Solar Atmosphere
Tennesse Center for Policy Research: Al Gore's Personal Energy Consumption Up 10%

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When deciding who to vote for this year I encourage everyone of you to look towards the Libertarian Party, what TIME Magazine has labeled in a recent article as A (Not So) Lunatic Fringe. The idea of libertarianism really became prominent during the Ron Paul campaign.

Maybe you haven't heard, but this is the year of freedom. First there was the Ron Paul revolution, in which an avuncular 10-term Representative from Brazoria County, Texas, raised more than $34 million as a pseudo-Republican candidate, garnered more than a million primary votes and outperformed Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson, all on the back of a get-government-off-my-back platform. Now there's the Libertarian Party, which sold a little bit of its hard-line liberty-loving soul in exchange for the most respectable candidate it has ever had: recently converted former Republican Congressman Bob Barr, who's polling nationally near 6% and could conceivably Naderize John McCain in a few key states and help nudge the presidency to Barack Obama.

In a year when no small government politician exists in the major 2 parties many Americans have turned their attention to the candidacy of Bob Barr. The proof is seen in the polling on Zogby's 50 State interactive map. Barr is polling in at 6% nationally, and is reaching double digits of support in some states.

If you are a true conservative and believe in smaller government, lower taxes, elimination of the IRS, and Liberty then Libertarian candidate Bob Barr is the choice for you. I urge you to strongly question your support of the Republican Party this year, a party that has lost its principles that is seeking governmental solutions to problems that government has created.

To find out more about Bob Barr visit BobBarr2008.com.

To finish reading the TIME article: Libertarians: A (Not So) Lunatic Fringe - TIME

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