Post-Superbowl post

The best way to cope with disaster is to look at the lessons learned. Here's Wayne Allen Root's take on lessons learned from last night's game.

Also, if there's hope for the Saints, there's hope for anybody. On that note, I would like to invite you all to come out and meet Scott Wise, the likely Libertarian candidate for the 3rd District Congressional seat. He'll be speaking at our next meeting, details are posted at the top of this blog.

Economic Battle Rap

Those of us who insist on taking part in the political process by voting should take the time to learn something about economics. Here is Hayek and Keynes, dumbed down.

Libertarians @ Large live tonight from 7-8P

Libertarians At Large airs on channels Comcast 57 and Verizon 27, from 7-8 p.m., every third Thursday of the month. Tune in tonight as Doug Horner's guest this month will be Libertarian, Scott Wise from Whitley County, one of the contenders for the 3rd Congressional District. Call in to ask questions or just let us know you are listening. Please contribute to the conversation. By following this link you can see a three minute clip from September 2009 show when Scott appeared with Doug along side Dan Drexler.

The Libertarian Party of Allen County would like to thank Access Fort Wayne and the Allen County Public Library for providing us these opportunities to serve the public and promote the discussion at all levels of government about what is best for the future of of our communities, state, and nation.

Also please remember that we now have a Facebook Group Page also, check it out.

LPIN NEWS

The Libertarian Party of Indiana has announced that the State Party's website has been revamped to a magazine style and will launch sometime in February in a wordpress format. They are looking for contributors and editors video and podcasters. For more information contact Chris Spangle the LPIN Executive Director via email lpinhq@lpin.org at your convenience.

Additionally, In previous years, the Libertarian Party of Indiana held a strategy meeting in every January of an election year. Chair Sam Goldstein has announced the restarting of this tradition on January 30th, 2010. All LPIN membership is encouraged to attend, and help set our goals for not only the 2010 election cycle, but the next two years. Long range planning is essential to success. All those planning to run for office in 2010 should attend this meeting.

* When: January 30th at Noon.
* Where: The Life Center, 4002 E Southport Road Indianapolis, IN 46237
* (Behind Fifth Third Bank and McDonald's)
* Who: All State Officers and Central Committee Members will be in attendance.

All Members and candidates are welcomed to help set the 2010 Election strategy. (This is a closed party event. Non-LPIN members are not allowed to attend. For more information, please visit the membership page of LPIN.org: http://www.lpin.org/membership

How to help Haitians and raise home prices

There are over 15 million vacant homes in the United States. This is a problem if you want to sell a home, but it gives you an edge if you are a first time home buyer. Since bad news is more dramatic than good news, there has been much more fuss about the plight of homeowners than the discount that home buyers are getting.

So there have been many policy proposals intended to raise home prices. Personally I don't think it should be a priority. Artificially propping up home prices treats the symptom and not the disease. (The disease is a matter for another post.) But if you, unlike me, happen to think that raising home prices is a legitimate policy goal, here's an idea that I'm throwing out there.

We should let Haitians displaced by the earthquake resettle in the US. There are potential economic pros and cons to this, but I would argue that humanitarian considerations outweigh both at the moment. We could set up a system in which states and cities decide how many refugees they are willing to accept. I would imagine that some states would prefer to not allow any Haitian inside their borders, but hopefully other states would be generous enough to allow a few in.

Thought of the day

Our country was a lot safer when our enemies fought each other. Remember the good old days when Iraq was fighting Iran and Osama Bin Ladin was fighting the Soviets?

What does a Muslim look like?

There have been some calls for Muslim men to be subject to extra scrutiny when boarding an airplane. Morality aside, this simply is not an effective strategy for detecting or deterring potential terrorists. How do you tell if someone is Muslim?

You could ask them, since most Muslims are quite open about their faith. But I would suspect that a Muslim with hostile intentions would lie about his faith to avoid increased scrutiny.

Skin color is a poor indicator, since there are black, white, and Asian Muslims.

In India, if a male body goes unclaimed, it is given a Muslim burial if the penis is circumcised and Hindu cremation if it has not been cut. Of course this method of determining someone's religious faith would be ineffective in the US.

Putting in a policy that subjects Muslims to additional scrutiny would only serve to alienate peace-loving Muslims.

Predictions for the new year and new decade

It's been a week, so you all should be over your hangovers by now. It New Year and New Decade prediction time. Feel free to post your prediction for this year or the next ten years. I only ask that you post your basis for your prediction.

My prediction for the year: Obama's approval ratings will play a role in the midterm elections. If his approval ratings are above %50, the Democrats will gain seats in the House. If his approval ratings are below %50, his party will lose seats. Conventional wisdom holds that the party that controls the White House loses seats during the the midterms. That was not the case in 1998 and 2002, when Clinton and Bush's higher approval ratings seemed to give their respective parties a boost.

My prediction for the decade: Unemployment will stay above %5 until US forces are withdrawn from Iraq. It is a common fallacy that war is good for the economy. In fact, whether a war is justified or not, it still constitutes a heavy expenditure of resources, time, effort, and human lives. There are a lot of talented people serving overseas right now. They could be here figuring out the best way to develop American industry.

Christmas Day attack

1. The passengers and crew of a plane bear the ultimate responsibility for the safety of an aircraft. When you are in a sealed container miles above the ground, and somebody is trying to blow up the plane or stab the pilot to death, don't sit around and wait for help to arrive.
2. You have to give the current system at least partial credit for saving the lives of the people on the plane. The use of metal detectors at airports means that would be bombers are prevented from using bombs with metallic content. That means that they can't use switches, wires, shrapnel, or blasting caps. Which in turn means they are forced to awkwardly light a fuse while surround by nosy passengers.
3. Al Qaeda appears to be playing a game in which each attack means that passengers must endure more indignity. After 9/11, you had to throw out your nail clippers. After the Shoe Bomber, you had to start taking off your shoes. Now they are talking about using body scanners. How long before passengers are required to undergo a colonoscopy?
4. I propose an experiment. Let's have a experimental group of flights in which security procedures are changed with every new attack, and a control group of flights in which procedures stay the same. My hypothesis is that the control group will be more popular for passengers, and that the experimental group would have more terrorist incidents. Terrorists like it when their $50 bomb causes us to spend $10 million more on equipment. Also, I'm guessing that squeamish people make more attractive targets.
5. It's important to keep the hazard in perspective. The reason why terrorists attack airplanes is because it gets more headlines than other forms of carnage. People will remember a failed airplane bombing longer than a successful mass shooting.

The state sales tax

This time of year, people are shopping gifts both online and in brick and mortar stores. Both have their own appeals. Some people seem to like the crowds or at least tolerate them well. Cell phones certainly make waiting in line more bearable, and I would guess that some people multitask their Christmas shopping while stuck in a slow-moving queue.

Online retailers do have one highly unfair advantage. Indiana's 7% sales tax applies to purchases made in stores, so the tax is automatically added to the price you pay at the cash register. When you buy something online while in Indiana, you are supposed to report that on your IT-40. Human nature being what it is, you can bet that many people either forget or refuse to add up everything they bought online in a year. But order to ensure compliance with this law, the state would have to subpoena financial records such as your credit card statement.

So retailers who choose to locate in our great state are at a 7% disadvantage to retailers who locate elsewhere. The state would be wise to find other sources of revenue.

Yes, I report my online purchases and pay the tax. I pretty much have to, since blogging about this matter might put me on the Indiana Department of Revenue's radar. I don't want to be the test case, nor do I think any judge is going to allow the "everybody does it" defense for tax evasion.

When the shoe is on the other foot

Conventional wisdom says that a future GOP president and/or Congress would not dare repeal any healthcare reform that is passed this year. Conventional wisdom is probably right, assuming that there will be another Republican POTUS.

A skilled politician uses the status quo to his advantage. Any new law that increases government healthcare costs would create what could be considered by some to be a compelling state interest in anything that affects our health. That's already the case with tobacco; the taxes you pay on cigarettes at age 20 are supposed to pay for the oxygen tank that you'll need at age 70, when you're covered by Medicare.

Hypothetically, what if everyone were covered by Medicare? The federal government would have to provide Zithromax for everyone who needed it for an infection related to nocturnal activities. An outbreak of infections could give an GOP-controlled CDC the pretext to close nightclubs. Lawrence v. Texas could be overturned.

You want funding for abortion? You'll be lucky if it's allowed at all. Experts might disagree on whether or not abortion causes breast cancer, but don't doubt the potential for someone to manufacture the evidence. They'll say "If you're not allowed to smoke in a hospital, why should you be allowed to have an abortion in a hospital that gets federal funding?"

Ever hear a parent say "You have to follow my rules until you can pay your own bills"? Imagine what it will be like when you are prohibited from paying your bills.

Hypothetical "Tea Party" leads GOP in new poll

According to a new poll, a hypothetical Tea Party candidate would receive more support than a GOP candidate. Who's the third party now?

It would take too long a new political party from scratch by the next election. I don't think that the GOP can be reformed in time if at all. Those options would be like choosing between a old, rat-infested mansion that has seen better days and a vacant lot. Fiscal conservatives should choose the Libertarian Party as their new home. At least we have the framework up.

An disturbing quote

I hope that there aren't very many people who share this woman's attitude:

"Had Barack had a white wife, I would have thought twice about voting for him," Johnson Cooper said.

I found it in this article. Frankly, I'm curious about her voting habits. Does she abstain from voting in races in which all the candidates have Caucasian spouses?

Afghanistan and Iraq: An observation

In 2001, the US demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden. Had they complied, we would not be at war with them and they would be in control of Afghanistan.

In 2003, the US demanded that Saddam Hussein allow UN weapons inspectors to search for WMD's. If he had complied, he would still be alive and in power.

Both the Taliban and the late Saddam Hussein are worse off as a result of their defiance. A skilled politician could argue that our military has succeeded in dealing out retribution to our enemies and it is time to bring our boys and girls home.

The profit motive in healthcare

If the people behind "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" are allowed to make a profit off of their product, then Eli Lily should be allowed to make a profit from its products as well.