7 May 2010

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS demonstrated that, when Sarah Palin claimed that President Obama
wanted to give a government panel the power to deny medical care to the
What Do The Economist’s elderly and disabled based on cost-effectiveness criteria, the president
had in fact proposed a panel with the power to do exactly that.
Bloggers Think a Free Market
I agree with M.S. about this much: “once people are exposed to false
Is, Anyway? [Cato at Liberty] information, it’s extremely difficult to convince them it’s false.”
MAY 06, 2010 09:06P.M.

By Michael F. Cannon
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
A correspondent for The Economist, whose initials are M.S., posts this
on the Democracy in America blog: Probable Vote on Illinois
[T]he new health-care-reform law passed in March is an Cigarette Tax Increase Tonight
entirely private-insurer, free-market-based reform. If
someone were to refer to it as a “government takeover of the [Americans for Tax Reform]
health-care sector”, that person would hold a factually MAY 06, 2010 06:40P.M.
incorrect ideological belief.
Illinois lawmakers continue to float the same failed policies of yesteryear,
I wonder what convinced M.S. that the new health care law is an entirely despite that tax hikes which were roundly rejected by the public a year
free-market-based reform. Was it the expansion of the government’s ago are probably even less popular today. Th...
Medicaid program to another 16 million Americans? Was it the 19-
million-plus other Americans who will receive government subsidies to
purchase private health insurance? Was it the new price controls that the
law imposes on health insurance? Or the price and exchange controls FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
that it will extend to even more of the market? Was it the dynamics those
regulations set in motion, which will reduce variety and innovation in The ‘What Reasonable Doubt?’
health insurance? Was it the mandates that require private actors to
spend their resources according to the wishes of the state? Or the new Act of 2010 [Cato at
federal regulations that will shape every health insurance plan in the
United States, whether purchased through the employer-based market, Liberty‘What Reasonable
the individual market, or the new health insurance “exchanges”? Was it
the half-trillion dollars of (explicit) tax increases over the next 10 years? Doubt?’ Act of 2010]
MAY 06, 2010 06:39P.M.
I wonder what it is about this law that M.S. thinks is consonant with the
principles of a free market. Perhaps we have a different idea of what By Julian Sanchez
“free” means.
Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Scott Brown (R-MA), joined on the
M.S. lists other “factually incorrect beliefs,” including: House side by Reps. Jason Altmire (D-PA) and Charlie Dent (R-PA),
today introduced a little publicity stunt in legislative form called the
that the Clinton plan would deny patients their choice of Terrorist Expatriation Act, making good on Lieberman’s pledge to find a
doctor, and that the health-care-reform bills in Congress at way to strip the citizenship of Americans—whether naturalized or native
the time involved government “death panels” that could born—who are suspected of aiding terrorist groups. It does so by
decide to withhold care from elderly patients on a cost- amending the Immigration and Nationality Act, which lays out the
benefit basis. various conditions under which a person may renounce or be deprived of
citizenship.
I won’t dredge up the Clinton health plan. But I have previously

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

A couple things to note about this: of crimes!

First, the act as it stands now contains a provision that could probably
be used to revoke the citizenship of terrorists. One of the ways to trigger
the loss of citizenship is by: FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS

committing any act of treason against, or attempting by force From Abu Dhabi to Dubai [Cato
to overthrow, or bearing arms against, the United States,
violating or conspiring to violate any of the provisions of at Liberty]
section 2383 of title 18, or willfully performing any act in MAY 06, 2010 05:35P.M.
violation of section 2385 of title 18, or violating section 2384
of title 18 by engaging in a conspiracy to overthrow, put By Christopher Preble
down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United
States, or to levy war against them…

So why isn’t this enough to satisfy them? Well, I left off the very end of
the clause:

if and when he is convicted thereof by a court martial or by a

court of competent jurisdiction.

Needless to say, actually “bearing arms against the United States” is a

rather more serious offense than providing “material support” for
terrorist groups. Indeed, someone who knowingly provides funding or
“expert assistance” (including legal or humanitarian aid) to a designated
group may, under current law, be guilty of providing “material support.”
Yet these more serious acts of betrayal still require that someone be
convicted in court before the penalty of expatriation can be imposed. If
they want to revoke Faisal Shahzad’s citizenship, they can do it already:
just convict him of one of those offenses. After another fascinating day in Abu Dhabi, which included a visit to
the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (the picture can’t do it justice) and the
Another clause of the existing law provides that someone who joins a more-than-5-star Emirates Palace Hotel, we rose early this morning and
foreign military may, indeed, lose their citizenship without being traveled the short distance (about 90 minutes on the highway) to the
convicted of anything. But as a subsequent section of the statute makes second largest emirate, Dubai.
clear, citizenship can’t be revoked on these grounds while the person
remains in the United States. They have to actually, physically “go over The visit began with a visit to the enormous DP World facility at the
to the other side” and take up residence abroad. So again, the Jebel Ali port, one of the most active in the world. Millions of tons,
assumption is that someone residing in the U.S., and therefore subject to chiefly goods in 20-foot container boxes, move through this facility every
apprehension and trial, ought in fact to be tried before such a drastic step year. DP World remains one of the stronger subsidiaries in the troubled
is taken, even if we’re prepared to skip the trial when someone is actually Dubai World’s portfolio, and the company and that first visit became a
overseas and marching about in an enemy uniform. metaphor for the day: Dubai has had its difficulties, but the
fundamentals that drove its spectacular growth over the past few decades
Finally, note that the bill’s definition of “material support” for terrorist remain strong. Dubai is located at a crossroads – both strategically and
groups explicitly invokes the criminal statute covering such actions. economically. It is leveraging this geographic advantage through
Which is to say, revocation of citizenship under the new bill is triggered investments in infrastructure – from the port expansion, to the just
by committing a particular federal crime. Except that the Immigration opened metro, to a massive new airport that is still under construction
and Nationality Act only requires that one of the predicates for – in the hope of attracting and retaining entrepeneurs and capital. And it
revocation be established by a “preponderance of the evidence.” So in continues to celebrate its tolerance and openness, which it hopes can be
effect, the bill takes what is already a crime and says: Proof of guilt a model for the region.
“beyond a reasonable doubt” is no longer a prerequisite for the
imposition of punishment for this crime. Senior officials spoke frankly about their slow response, particularly
their inadequate communications, surrounding Dubai World’s debt
What a convenient end-run around that pesky due process! Just think payments. They understand the value in greater transparency and
how we could reduce the burden on our courts by doing this for all sorts oversight, but are reluctant to institute sweeping new regulations that
might impede their recovery.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

Tomorrow we’re hoping to visit the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest
building, and then off to Riyadh in the evening.

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS

Murphy Gets Murtha’s Seat on

Appropriations [The Club for
Growth]
MAY 06, 2010 05:13P.M.

It was announced recently that Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA-08) will replace
John Murtha on the powerful Appropriation Committee. Since the
But they also sought to correct the record about the actual state of Approps panel is where all the porkers are, how qualified is Murphy?
Dubai’s economy. Judging from some news stories, I was expecting to Well, he got a 0% on the Club Politics as usual here in DC.
see hundreds of abandoned skyscrapers, cars left unattended on the
highway, and tumbleweeds rolling through the city streets. The reality
was considerably less dire. There are some building projects that appear
to be on hold (cranes not moving, no workers milling about), and traffic FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
on the wide highways is not particularly heavy, but there is still
considerable activity both at the port and in the downtown area. “Good Federal Spending” versus
Meanwhile, during a visit to the Mall of the Emirates this evening (the
one with an indoor ski slope) I found relatively few vacant storefronts Bad Federal Spending [“Cato at
(no worse, for example, than what I’ve seen in Northern Virginia).
Liberty” versus Bad Federal
Anecdotes are one thing; key questions remain. It is difficult to get a read
on the actual statistics. And it appears that senior officials in Dubai still Spending]
don’t know the true gap between the value of Dubai World’s assets and MAY 06, 2010 05:13P.M.
its liabilities.
By Justin Logan
Meanwhile, just as in Abu Dhabi, there are anxieties associated with
Iran’s rising power. This was the other key theme of today’s meetings. Washington, DC is a company town, and the company is the federal
Senior officials pointed to their compliance with existing UN sanctions government. Between the executive branch, the Congress, the Supreme
that prohibit the sale of certain materials that might be useful in Iran’s Court and all the rent-seekers and hangers-on that come to court power,
nuclear program. They stressed that they would support additional the city is a veritable petri dish that breeds and nurtures the worst
UN sanctions. But while they are want desperately to prevent Iran from human impulses. Some Cato people live here, too.
acquiring nuclear weapons, the repercussions of military action against
Iran would hit Dubai the hardest. The very attributes that make the Local politics in DC is so dominated by Democrats that the Republican
emirate so attractive to enterpreneurs and tourists would evaporate in Party in DC is a perennial butt of jokes. Between its role as the seat of the
the event of war. Beyond the lives lost in retaliatory actions throughout federal government and the Democratic Party’s Turkmenbashi-level
the region, capital would seek out other safer investments. Tourists can control of local government, it is a city that conservatives love to hate.
choose many other places to visit. Or they can just stay home.
Across the river in Virginia, by contrast, there are lots of Republicans,
I certainly hope it doesn’t come to that. No one does. There is great and they are still able to compete against the Democrats statewide. Lots
potential for Dubai (and Abu Dhabi) to serve as a model for the region. of Republican politicians in Virginia sing sweet songs about the dangers
The international character of this place is almost impossible to describe, of big government and hold themselves out as the true holders of the
but I’ll close with one more anecdote. When I flipped on the television, I limited government faith. But it sure would be nice if they could spit the
could watch cricket, two soccer games, handball, or ultimate fighting. I teat out of their own mouths while they warble:
could also watch a movie about tennis in English. Or “Meet the Fockers”
with Arabic subtitles. World news in Farsi. Financial news in German or Ten cents of every federal procurement dollar spent
Italian. Movies in Chinese, Korean or French. I could go on. anywhere on Earth is spent in Virginia. More than
15,000 Virginia companies hold federal contracts, a number

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

that has almost tripled since 2001. Total federal spending — Virginia jobs, close to one in five in the state.” Moreover, McDonnell
from salaries to outsourced contracts — has more than makes no argument about why we need to prepare to fight China, which
doubled, to $118 billion, since 2000, as homeland security makes up the bulk of the justification for the Northrop project in
and defense spending skyrocketed in response to the 2001 Newport News. (Which, by the way, is an awesome sight, in a literal
terrorist attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. By sense, but also terribly wasteful.)
2008, it accounted for about 30 percent of Virginia’s entire
economy. Moreover, you could zero out “pork” and earmarks tomorrow and while
morally satisfying, it would not come even close to filling in the giant
Federal dollars have filtered through the rest of the economy, hole our rulers in Washington have dug. And as for entitlements? By all
too, helping to build the high-tech Dulles corridor and means, let’s take a scythe to them. Except a recent Economist/YouGov
funding new homes and cars for federal workers and poll asked the question “If government spending is reduced in order to
contractors and meals at local restaurants. The billions have cut the budget, which of the following government programs should
helped fuel the economic boom cycles of the past decade and receive lower federal funding than they currently do?” Seven percent
have cushioned the blow of the recent recession, particularly ticked the “Medicare” box, seven percent ticked “Social Security” and 11
in Northern Virginia, where the unemployment rate has percent ticked “Medicaid.” In fairness to McDonnell, only 22 percent
stayed stubbornly below 6 percent, less than the state and selected “national defense” and there was only one item, foreign aid, that
national rates. won a majority.

[...] If getting the deficit fixed means relying entirely on cutting pork,
earmarks, and entitlements, the picture is grim. Defense spending needs
to be on the table. Even the parts in Virginia.

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS

Dodd Financial Bill Creates

ACORN for Risky Credit
Applicants [Americans for Tax
Reform]
MAY 06, 2010 04:52P.M.

Nearly every page of Senator Dodd’s 1400 page financial regulation bill,
Good Spending the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, aims to increase
the scope of government. This long and comple...
In an interview, [Governor Bob] McDonnell acknowledged
last week that federal per-capital spending is high in Virginia.
And it is true, he said, that most of Northrop Grumman’s
business comes from the government. But he said the
company’s business is largely defense-related, including
shipbuilding in the Newport News area.

“I call that good investment and good federal

spending,” he said.

He said the government must restrain spending in other

areas — entitlements, earmarks and “other kinds of pork
projects.”

Note that McDonnell’s definition of “good” versus “bad” spending seems

either to be determined by potential lethality or by location in his state.
As the article points out, “defense spending accounts for 900,000

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS

McConnell-Shelby Attempt to
Fix Consumer Protection
Bureau Fails [Americans for Tax
Reform]
MAY 06, 2010 04:27P.M.

Moments go, Senators Shelby (R-Al.) and McConnel (R-KY) amendment

to Senator Dodd’s “Wall Street Bailout” bill, S. 3217 the Restoring
American Financial Stability Act of 2010, tha...

Each circle represents an area that is 300 miles in diameter. The idea is
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS for the bus to settle in the center of the area for the designated week and
lead or participate in programs in any direction during that week. Folks
The Liberty Bus Tour [Cato at interested in having the Liberty Bus participate in a program or event
should contact Liberty in America here.
Liberty]
MAY 06, 2010 03:56P.M. For those unable to physically meet up with the Liberty Bus, material
from the tour can be requested here.
By Tad DeHaven

A new organization called Liberty in America is launching a nation-wide

“Liberty Bus” tour in Buffalo next week. The goal is to educate Americans FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
across the country on the need to reduce the federal government’s role in
our lives. Downsizing the Federal Government materials will be among Cameras, Crime, and Terrorism
the educational resources the Liberty Bus will be making available to
concerned citizens. [Cato at Liberty]
MAY 06, 2010 03:43P.M.

By David Rittgers

The attempted bombing in Times Square brought terrorism and the

capabilities of surveillance cameras to the top of the headlines this week.
As I pointed out in my Politico piece, cameras have not proven an
effective deterrent to terrorist attacks. Cameras are generally useful in
piecing together the plot after the attack (not so much in this case, since
police were looking for a middle-aged white man and not a young
Pakistani male) and helped in this capacity in the Madrid, London, and
The following map shows the Liberty Bus’s schedule:
Moscow commuter system bombings.

I discuss the usefulness of cameras in this podcast:

Whether cameras are helpful enough to justify massive spending to

install more of them in New York is another matter. NYPD
Commissioner Ray Kelly seems to think so, even though it’s already been
the site of significant surveillance funding from the federal government.
Steve Chapman remains skeptical of them, and former NYPD
counterterrorism cop Michael Sheehan is honest enough to admit that
their value is in investigating attacks, not deterring them. London has a
million cameras, making it the most heavily-surveilled city this side of

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

Pyongyang. Though sold on a joint counterterrorism-crime rationale, I am happy to report that the Cato Institute’s excellent pocket copy of the
they did not deter the 7/7 bombings and roughly 80% of crime in U.S. Constitution daringly omits any warning and lets readers take the
London goes unsolved. Of the cleared cases, roughly one in a thousand is Constitution straight up.
a camera success story.

As Roger Pilon points out, cameras are useful in law enforcement

operations outside of blanket surveillance. They can deter excessive use FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
of force and other unlawful conduct by police officers or at least provide
a means of punishing those responsible, as they did in the recent beating How the Debt Crisis Will Stop
of University of Maryland student. Police officers realize this, and
actively deter filming their questionable activities. [Cato at Liberty]
MAY 06, 2010 02:06P.M.
A camera is an honest cop’s best friend. It can provide a defense against
groundless claims of brutality. At least eleven states and 500 local By David Boaz
jurisdictions require that interrogations be videotaped. Beyond the
protection of civil liberties and preventing false or coerced confessions, The economist Herb Stein famously said, “If something cannot go on
these videos make for highly probative evidence. The jury gets a window forever, it will stop.” That’s a good riposte when people wring their hands
into the interrogation room. The defendant’s mannerisms, demeanor, over something unsustainable. Of course, that fact doesn’t tell you how
and a lack of police coercion tied to the defendant’s statements make for unsustainable situations will stop, and some ways are less pleasant than
good, and more transparent, policing. others.

I thought of “Stein’s Law” when I read former California Assembly

speaker Willie Brown’s response to a question about whether California’s
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS lavish public-employee pensions would bankrupt the state:

A Warning Label — on the U.S. No, it’s not going to bankrupt the state. My guess is that the
State of California, like most places involved with pensions, is
Constitution [Cato at Liberty— going to cease to pay them.

on the U.S. Constitution]

MAY 06, 2010 03:35P.M.
FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
By Walter Olson
Cato Pledge Drive [Cato at
Knowing of my interest in oddball warning labels, reader Clark S. alerts
me to this $4.95 paperback copy of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Liberty]
Independence, and Articles of Confederation, which contains the MAY 06, 2010 01:44P.M.
following advisory (readers may need to scroll to the “Copyright” section,
depending on how the page displays) By David Boaz

© Wilder Publications 2008 Public radio talk show host Diane Rehm said during WAMU’s pledge
drive yesterday:
This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the
same values as it would if it were written today. Parents “Whenever I meet someone who says, ‘Diane, I love your
might wish to discuss with their children how views on race, show, I love what you do,’ the first thing I ask them is, ‘Are
gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and interpersonal relations have you a member?’”
changed since this book was written before allowing them to
read this classic work. “Member” means financial contributor, of course, and she went on to
make the point that if you value public radio, you should contribute. Of
A bit of Googling revealed that the same publisher slaps the same course, every taxpayer is a contributor to public radio, whether he values
boilerplate language on other reprints including the Federalist Papers it or not.
and The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc. Do they perhaps put it on all
works composed before a certain cut-off date? Wilder Publications is But that’s not true for the Cato Institute. We don’t accept government
described here as in the business of “publishing print-on-demand books money. Indeed, a few years ago, we rejected a large contribution from
(mostly self-help and public domain reprints).” Fannie Mae when that entity announced that it was going to add Cato to

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

the vast list of Washington organizations and politicians on whom it The German parliament will vote tomorrow on this package. Should it be
showered its ill-gotten gains. We also, as it happens, got only 2 percent of voted down, all hell will break loose again in world stock and credit
our funding from corporations last year. The money that enables Cato to markets.
do its work comes overwhelmingly from 15,000 individual contributors.
And then there’s Britain. The Tories may win a close election tonight and
So Diane Rehm’s question is much more valid in our case: Do you visit dethrone Labour. But if so, David Cameron & Co. will be a minority
the Cato website or enjoy seeing our scholars on television and in the government.
newspapers? Do you value the work we do on behalf of liberty and
limited government? Are you a Sponsor? If not, shouldn’t you become a I still believe that one of today’s key themes is a global revulsion toward
Sponsor and help make sure we can continue and expand that work? the massive spending and debt programs put in place by the U.S.,
Euroland, the G20, and the IMF back in late 2008 and 2009. Unwinding
And if you are a Sponsor, thank you! these Keynesian mistakes is not an easy thing to do. But financial
markets are now exerting discipline on this out-of-control spending and
borrowing.

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS Financial markets don’t like these big-government policies at all. Neither
do voters. The markets don’t trust the ability of these nations to service
Debt-Deflation-Contagion the interest payments on all this new debt. And voters are much opposed
to the tax-hike implications of the debt.
Panic: It’s a Bloody Mess [Larry
In particular, the U.S. and the Western countries in Europe have lurched
Kudlow’s Money Politic$] left in recent years. It’s bad for growth, it’s bad for credit quality, it’s bad
MAY 06, 2010 01:06P.M. for banks, and it smacks of credit-deflation bankruptcy. In short, it’s a
bloody mess.
Panic has gripped stock markets worldwide over the Greek debt crisis
and the threat of a debt-deflation contagion through banks in Europe
(primarily) and the U.S. that own the bonds of Greece, Portugal, Spain,
and so forth. If these bond asset prices collapse totally, lending facilities FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
would be badly crimped for both the short and long term. And that, in
turn, would damage prospects for economic recovery. Mark Penn Mourns the Plight of
The Dow closed today off nearly 350 points. Earlier in the day the Dow Libertarian Voters [Cato at
was down 850 points, though there is talk of computer glitches and
technical problems that may have temporarily undermined trading. Liberty]
Either way, the market is getting creamed as a result of the Greek story. MAY 06, 2010 11:51A.M.

The real winner today? Gold. It’s up about $25, to $1,200. People want By David Boaz
real money. They do not trust the debt-laden currencies of Europe and
the United States. Or for that matter Japan. Gold is fast becoming, once Mark Penn, who has been a pollster and consultant to the presidential
again, a reserve currency of choice. campaigns of Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Anderson, and Ross Perot,
writes about political discontent in Britain and the United States in the
Meanwhile, the EU/IMF bailout package for Greece, which does include Washington Post today, noting that in this country
draconian budget cuts, contains a 2 percentage point increase in the VAT
tax that is anti-growth. Steve Forbes correctly said last night on CNBC socially liberal and fiscally conservative voters believe,
that the Greeks should be slashing spending and should move to a flat especially after what happened with health care, that they
tax, just like the countries in Eastern Europe. I gave him a Nobel Prize have no clear choice: They must sign on with the religious
for that. right or the economic left.

Market chatter, at least in Europe, is suggesting that the $150 billion Exactly the point that David Kirby and I have been making in our studies
bailout is not enough. But it may be that the left-wing union mobs in on the libertarian vote, as in the first line of this January study:
Athens have caused a major backlash throughout Europe and elsewhere.
Despite the mob, the Greek parliament was able to pass legislative Libertarian — or fiscally conservative, socially liberal —
approval of the bailout package. This caused a small stock rally for a brief voters are often torn between their aversions to the
time this morning. Republicans’ social conservatism and the Democrats’ fiscal
irresponsibility.

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

Libertarian-leaning voters are a large swing vote, and they do indeed find FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
problems with both parties. As parties increasingly cater to their “base,”
libertarian-leaning independents find themselves dissatisfied with both Americans for Tax Reform
liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans. We noted in our first
study, “The Libertarian Vote,” that according to the 2004 exit polls, “28 Supports McConnell-Shelby
million Bush voters support[ed] either marriage or civil unions for same-
sex couples” and “17 million Kerry voters . . . thought government should Consumer Protection
not . . . ‘do more to solve problems.’” That was 45 million voters who
didn’t seem to fit neatly into the red-blue, liberal-conservative Amendment [Americans for Tax
dichotomy.
Reform]
But Penn is on less solid ground in his next line: MAY 06, 2010 11:30A.M.

It is just a matter of time before they demand their own Americans for Tax Reform supports Senators McConnell (R-Ky.) and
movement or party. Shelby’s (R-Al.), amendment (#3826) to S. 3217, the Restoring American
Financial Stability Act of 2010, which looks to create ...
Movement, maybe. The Ron Paul campaign certainly appealed to
antiwar, small-government voters. And the Tea Party movement focuses
almost exclusively on economic and constitutional issues, making it
more appealing to libertarians than typical conservative organizations. FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Meanwhile, as the Tea Party opposition to the Democrats’ big-
government opposition surges, so does progress toward marriage Americans for Tax Reform
equality and rational drug reform. Maybe those various libertarian-
leaning groups will find each other. But a new party is a much bigger Supports McCain-Shelby-Gregg
challenge. It’s no accident that the only third party that achieved even
modest success in recent history was headed a billionaire who was also a Amendment to S. 3217
celebrity, Ross Perot. Ballot access laws, campaign finance restrictions,
exclusion of third-party candidates from debates and media coverage, [Americans for Tax Reform]
single-member districts — all make it difficult to start a successful third MAY 06, 2010 11:21A.M.
party. It may also be the case that moderates, who tend not to be very
angry, and libertarians, who don’t really much like politics, are Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) supports Senator’s McCain, Shelby and
particularly ill suited to undertake the massive amount of work that a Gregg’s amendment to S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial
new party requires. Stability Act of 2010. Their amendment puts in p...

But Penn is absolutely right to point to the plight of “socially liberal and
fiscally conservative voters,” forced in every election to ”sign on with the
religious right or the economic left.” FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS

Congress to FCC: Don’t Enact

Net Neutrality [Americans for
Tax Reform]
MAY 06, 2010 09:50A.M.

Yesterday, the FCC made the bold announcement that it will begin
procedings to regulate the Internet. But before the announcement was
made, there was a flurry of activity to manufacture hollo...

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected] 7 May 2010

FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS slope arguments, or of having “outdated” views of political theory. But
really, when the “right” to a paid vacation is ensconced in so many
Want a Free Vacation? Move to countries’ laws, when it gets its own article (24) in the UN Declaration of
Human Rights, is it that far-fetched for someone to come up with an
Europe [Cato at Liberty] actual state-provided vacation? Apparently Spain has already been doing
MAY 06, 2010 08:58A.M. it.

By Ilya Shapiro

I recently returned from a short vacation — had to get it in before the FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
Supreme Court begins announcing decisions in this year’s big cases and
the president nominates a replacement for Justice Stevens — but it A Day in the Life of Regulatory
seems that I’m a chump for paying for it myself. While I was gone, the
EU’s commissioner for enterprise and industry, one Antonio Reform [Reason TV]
Tajani, declared that vacationing is a human right, one that ought to be MAY 06, 2010 08:55A.M.
paid for by the taxpayers:
This is CEI’s submission to the EPA’s “Regulations Matter” video
Tajani, who unveiled his plan last week at a ministerial contest. CEI VP Clyde Wayne Crews, Jr. does an extensive report each
conference in Madrid, believes the days when holidays were a year on the costs of federal regulations. It’s called Ten Thousand
luxury have gone. “Travelling for tourism today is a right. The Commandments; here’s the link. www.cei.org/10kc
way we spend our holidays is a formidable indicator of our
quality of life,” he said.

Tajani, who used to be transport commissioner, said he had FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE BLOG FEEDS
been able to “affirm the rights of passengers” in his previous
office and the next step was to ensure people’s “right to be American’s for Prosperity EPA
tourists”.
VIdeo Contest Entry [Reason
As Dave Barry would say, I’m not making this up:
TV]
Tajani’s programme will be piloted until 2013 and then put MAY 06, 2010 08:20A.M.
into full operation. It will be open to pensioners and anyone
over 65, young people between 18 and 25, families facing The EPA is holding a video contest asking citizens to explain why
“difficult social, financial or personal” circumstances and government regulations are a good thing, with the winner receiving
disabled people. The disabled and the elderly can be $2,500. Here’s AFP’s entry. Do you think we’ll win?
accompanied by one person.

In the initial phase, northern Europeans will be encouraged

to visit southern Europe and vice versa. Details of how
participants are chosen have not yet been finalised, but it is
expected the EU will subsidise about 30% of the cost.

Officials have envisaged sending south Europeans to

Manchester and Liverpool on a tour of “archeological and
industrial sites” such as closed factories and power plants.

With apologies to friends who are fans of the Man U and Liverpool
soccer teams, I’m not sure those cities would be on my list of top 1000
places to visit. But still this program illustrates the logical culmination —
one logical culmination – of a view that government exists to provide all
things to all people and that everyone has a “right” to whatever makes
life good and pleasant and fulfilling.

Libertarians are often assailed for exaggerating the problems inherent

in large, unlimited government, or of making ad abusurdum slippery