Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

[brucefan]

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
If Obama's Plan Doesn't Seem to Make Sense, it's Because it Doesn't

Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics



America's largest third party says that President-elect Barack Obama's spending plans are based on flawed economics. "If you think Obama's economic plans don't make sense, it's because they don't," says Libertarian Party National Chairman William Redpath.
"Americans are taking a look at Obama's economic plans and scratching their heads," says Redpath. "And, there is good reason to do so. The theory behind his plan, Keynesian economics, has been unsuccessfully tried by multiple presidential administrations in the past. It didn't work for President Hoover in the early 1930s. It didn't work for President Roosevelt in the Great Depression. It didn't work for President Ford in 1970s. Why does Obama think it will work for him now?"
"Just look at the last eight years," says Redpath. "President George Bush did more to increase government spending during his administration than any president in American history. Yet, this is the same period in which we entered into economic decline. Is there any reason then to believe that more government spending will pull us out of this decline?"
"Keynesians believe that government can jump-start the economy by creating artificial demand through massive spending projects," says Redpath. "This debt is later repaid with magic money borrowed from foreign countries, printed out of thin air or from tax increases. But, unfortunately, government can't spend billions of dollars without incredible amounts of waste, through fraud or worthless projects. So, much of the money taken out of the economy, in order to jump-start the economy, is lost, leaving American taxpayers with a flat economy and even more debt to pay."
"Politicians like Keynesian-based spending plans because it makes it easy to bring pork projects back to their districts, and they'll be out of office before they ever have to worry about paying down the debt," explains Redpath. "It's all about power. It's not about helping the American people."
"Obama's plans will put the United States another trillion dollars in debt while doing nothing to pull us out of the recession," says Redpath. "Taxpayers have good reason to be skeptical of the stimulus plan because it is their money backing Obama's multibillion-dollar boondoggle."
The Libertarian Party recommends permanent tax cuts for individuals and businesses as an alternative to government spending projects, which have proven records of economic stimulation. The Party also states that any cuts in taxes must be offset by cuts to spending.

For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please email Andrew Davis at andrew.davis@lp.org, or call (202) 731-0002.

The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom

:cheers

 

[Doc Mercer]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

I would prefer to see this country stay on the GOP plan ....

that has worked very nicely !!!

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

How about a Libertarian Party solution??

 

[reanimator]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

If Obama's Plan Doesn't Seem to Make Sense, it's Because it Doesn't
Get used to this.

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Obama's focus on basketball picks, not the economy, doesn't pan out




It looks like Barack Obama, who thinks tax hikes and bloated goverment will make America prosperous, is just as skilled at picking basketball games as he is at picking economic policies and Cabinet nominees.
CBS2 Chicago reports Obama, who hosted a public press conference where he announced his picks for the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, picked only 11 correct results out of 16 games. That would place him in just the twenty-seventh percentile among those competing in the CBS Bracket Challenge.
The TV station's traffic reporter, who watches little basketball, beat Obama, picking 15 of 16 games correctly.
The Libertarian Party has a better idea. Instead of watching college basketball, perhaps the president should be cutting taxes, granting regulatory relief to responsible employers, scrapping the income tax code and abolishing corporate welfare and billionaire bailouts. Those libertarian solutions are already proven to get the economy moving and create jobs, and they are what America needs.
Oh, and he shouldn't have picked BYU over Texas A&M.

 

[Doc Mercer]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

wow ....

gosh dang it ....


well just Impeach Barack right now !!!!

 

[Jesse Livermore]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

We need to impeach Bush, Obama, Cheney, Biden, Hassert, Frank, Dodd and all the rest of them.

When does the revolution start ?

 

[Doc Mercer]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

I say overthrow the entire govt and lets put Reaminator in charge


Ohhhhh ...... say that "realllll slow ...."

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky: Tea Parties were "despicable" and "shameful"

posted by Donny Ferguson on Apr 16, 2009


U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) blasted millions of Americans yesterday, labeling the Libertarian Party-inspired "Tax Day Boston Tea Party" movement "despicable" and a "shameful political stunt."
According to Schakowsky, the millions of angry Americans coming out to oppose higher taxes and spending were all part of a conspiracy and acting on secret orders from businesses, lobbyists and Fox News. Schakowsky is an advocate of higher taxes, bigger government and the nationalization of health care.
She may be reached at 202-222-2111. Tea bags may be mailed to 2367 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC 20515.

 

[tank]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky: Tea Parties were "despicable" and "shameful"

posted by Donny Ferguson on Apr 16, 2009


U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) blasted millions of Americans yesterday, labeling the Libertarian Party-inspired "Tax Day Boston Tea Party" movement "despicable" and a "shameful political stunt."
According to Schakowsky, the millions of angry Americans coming out to oppose higher taxes and spending were all part of a conspiracy and acting on secret orders from businesses, lobbyists and Fox News. Schakowsky is an advocate of higher taxes, bigger government and the nationalization of health care.
She may be reached at 202-222-2111. Tea bags may be mailed to 2367 Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC 20515.

The spending i don't like but what higher taxes are we talking about that effect 99% of the population?

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

How do you think the spending gets paid for?

:+clueless

Take a look at New York and Ca. to see whats coming

 

[Doc Mercer]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

"Obama's plans will put the United States another trillion dollars in debt


BUSH ADDED FIVE TRILLION TO THE NATIONAL DEBT!!!!

 

[tank]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

How do you think the spending gets paid for?

:+clueless

Take a look at New York and Ca. to see whats coming

Hello;
The spending hasn't been paid for in years.

 

[Doc Mercer]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Bruce:

I take it you were in a Coma for the last 8 yrs?

Ya think BO showed up on 1-20 and "booommmm ..." everything went
down the shitter


My God ....


and now your answer to this mess is who? WAYNE ALLYN ROOT?

<style></style>No messing around here: This is an attack piece. There's no other way to describe it, and I'm not going to waste time trying to convince you that it's something else. That said, the factual claims in this attack piece are properly sourced and will withstand your scrutiny. Don't believe me. Check for yourself.

If the Libertarian Party was treated as a "major party" in the mainstream media, the material below would be news. Real reporters would spend their time and their employers' money digging for the gory details. Sine the LP isn't considered a "major party" by the MSM, opposition research doesn't have much chance of being effectively leaked through, say, the New York Times. If the dirty laundry is going to get aired, we have to hang it out on the line ourselves.

As a candidate for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination, Wayne Allyn Root has promoted himself as a "business mogul and entrepreneur extraordinaire." And let's face it, in the LP, that kind of image sells. Lately, Root has shifted toward a "small business" image, and that plays well with Libertarians, too.

But how accurate are either of these images? And are they based on the kind of record that the LP wants in a presidential candidate? The answer to both questions is a resounding "no."

Let's tackle the "mogul" angle first.

At this time, Root's company (W Technologies, Inc., formerly Winning Edge Technologies, Inc., formerly GWIN, Inc.) is apparently a dead stick. Here are some highlights from the company's Business Week profile:

- The company sold its operating assets in September of 2007.

- In November of 2007, the company's auditor reported to the SEC "an unqualified opinion expressing doubt that the company can continue as a going concern."

- Late last month the company defaulted on a payment due of more than $90,000 against promissory notes of more than $450,000. The profile is pessimistic: "If the Company cannot reach a restructuring of the notes, which have an outstanding balance of approximately $456,522, the Company may have to seek bankruptcy protection."

- The company's market cap of about $390k is less than the outstanding debt it's trying to restructure (is there other debt? Well, the company's best performance in the last four years has been a $1.2 million net loss, so ...). Its 52-week high stock price -- which it hit last May -- was 3 cents per share, and as of Valentine's day it stood at eight one hundredths of one cent per share.

I'd say we're waaaaaaay out of "mogul" territory here. The business is neither huge -- its market cap, if liquidated, wouldn't buy a nice house in the Bay Area -- nor successful. It's a bust.

But, it's a small bust (if we concentrate only on the profits and ignore the debt and losses), so maybe we should take Root's new "small businessman" rhetoric to heart. Ah, small business! Main Street USA! Mom and Pop and good old-fashioned American values like honesty, thrift and hard work.

Except, well, it's not really much like that. The Las Vegas Better Business Bureau lists 14 complaints versus Root's company over a period of 36 months, with only five of those complaints resolved to the BBB's satisfaction and none of them resolved to the customer's satisfaction. Among the complaints are one for "deceptive sales practices," two for "unauthorized credit card charges," and one for "unauthorized bank debits."

Scratch the cheap gold paint Root has dipped himself in, and what you find beneath doesn't look much like a "business mogul" or an "entrepreneur" or a "small businessman." It looks a lot more like a con artist -- specifically the kind known in the sports betting world as a "scamdicapper."

Unfortunately a considerable percentage of Libertarians seem to be falling for Root's latest, greatest scam: His presidential campaign. That's understandable -- we're eager to be seen as successful, and to be represented by candidates with "success" in their image profiles. But it's important to scrutinize such image profiles. The truth about Root is important -- and it's more, not less, important since he's used his alleged business success as a selling point for his candidacy.

None of the other candidates for the LP's presidential nomination make the kind of self-promotional claims that Wayne Root makes. On the other hand, the claims they do make stand up to scrutiny.

George Phillies has plausibly claimed modest wealth based on wise savings and investment decisions over the course of a successful academic career, and he's invested thousands of dollars of that honestly earned wealth in his campaign.

Steve Kubby plausibly describes his past business successes -- and in the last two years he has come out of an unjustified imprisonment with $110 to his name, worked his way through a protracted divorce proceeding, paid off his debts, paid off all fines and costs related to his probation and earned early termination of that probation, secured a residence and built back his life while continuing to fight successfully for freedom.

Those accomplishments may not be "mogul" stuff, but they're real and true accomplishments, and the candidates who claim them also have long records of dedicated activism in the Libertarian Party. They're the real thing.

It's time to wise up, folks. We can't fool the American people with a candidate like Wayne Allyn Root -- and we shouldn't fool ourselves with him either.

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Will: Obama's auto takeover another exercise in government futility

posted by Donny Ferguson on May 07, 2009


In today's Washington Post, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will picks apart Barack Obama's futile plan to resurrect the American auto industry -- by placing it in the fumbling iron grip of the very government and unions that drove it into bankruptcy.

Gulliver's travels took him to the Academy of Lagado, where "professors contrive new rules and methods" for everything: "One man shall do the work of ten; a palace may be built in a week, of materials so durable as to last forever without repairing. All the fruits of the earth shall come to maturity at whatever season we think fit to choose, and increase a hundredfold more than they do at present." There was, however, the "inconvenience" that "none of these projects" had yet come to fruition and "the whole country lies miserably waste." But "instead of being discouraged," people were "fifty times more violently bent upon prosecuting their schemes," which included "extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers."
At the Academy of Obama, professors and others devise plans for extracting a new and improved automobile industry from a semi-sort-of-bankruptcy arrangement that -- if it survives judicial scrutiny; that is not certain -- will give the United Auto Workers 39 percent of General Motors, with the government owning 50 percent. During future contract negotiations, will the union's adversary be an administration that the union helped to put in power...
...The president has chosen to blame "speculators" -- a.k.a. investors; anyone who buys a share of a company's stock is speculating about the company's future -- for Chrysler's bankruptcy and the dubious legality of his proposal. Yet he simultaneously says he hopes that private investors will begin supplanting government as a source of capital for the companies. Breathes there an investor/speculator with such a stunted sense of risk that he or she would go into business with this capricious government?
Its chief executive says: "If the Japanese can design [an] affordable, well-designed hybrid, then, doggone it, the American people should be able to do the same." Yes they can -- if the American manufacturer can do what Toyota does with the Prius: Sell its hybrid without significant, if any, profit and sustain this practice, as Toyota does, by selling about twice as many of the gas-thirsty pickup trucks that the president thinks are destroying the planet..

​

Will's conclusion, which you will have to click here or buy a Post to read, should be coming from the mouths of every elected official.
The recent announcement that Chrysler will go into bankruptcy after accepting billions in bailout funds -- leaving taxpayers at a loss succeeding in placing the company in the hands of government and Obama's campaign supporters -- is a crystallized example of Obama's folly. While it will fail in its stated mission of restoring General Motors and Chrysler to their former glory, it will succeed in its intended mission of shoveling billions of taxpayer dollars into a self-destructing union that funded Obama into office, giving the UAW a taxpayer-funded stay of execution.
Libertarians believe struggling automakers should isolate unprofitable operations, declare bankruptcy, reorganize finances and then focus on producing cars Americans want, not the cars Obama orders them to build.
Please click here to read Will's column, or if it's offered in your area go out and pick up a copy of The Washington Post.

 

[Doc Mercer]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

George Will?


Lets see:

WAYNE ALLYN ROOT --- FAILED BUSINESSMAN

GLENN BECK - DRUG ADDICT AND ANTI AMERICAN VIEWS


Now Will?


Who is next? Michelle Malkin?


:LMAO:LMAO:LMAO:LMAO:LMAO:LMAO:LMAO:LMAO

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

PROOF That Obama?s Economic Plans Are Wrong for America:
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 10:26 AM
Capitalism Works in Las Vegas, Nevada!

Las Vegas Home Sales Up Staggering 86%!

Las Vegas First Out of Recession?

By Wayne Allyn Root, 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee

While President Obama moves our country and economy further away from capitalism, entrepreneurism and personal responsibility, my adopted hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada proves that the opposite direction is the one that works. Despite the worst economic downturn since 1929 (that I correctly labeled as a ?depression? in the Spring of 2008), and a national economy showing few signs of life, Las Vegas is springing back to life. As usual, the most capitalist and fiscally conservative economy in the nation (Nevada) will be the first out of the recession.

In a sign that the local Nevada economy is far outpacing the nation, despite today?s gloomy report that national retail sales are once again in decline, Las Vegas home sales were up a staggering 86% month-to-month. Yes I said 86%. In the middle of an economic tsunami, capitalism is alive and well in Las Vegas. This is the 12th consecutive month of improvement in month-to-month home sales in Las Vegas. Other signs of recovery in Las Vegas: hotel occupancy is up; the visitor count is up; and MGM Mirage just announced its first increase in hotel room prices in months. All of these are positive signs that Las Vegas is springing back to life to lead America?s recovery.


But it?s who is buying all these Las Vegas homes that is important. Almost 40% of the homes have been bought by absentee buyers- otherwise known as INVESTORS. These are the people President Obama seems to dislike- he calls them ?speculators? as if that is an evil word. They are high-income earners willing to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars (or millions) of their hard-earned money to buy property during an economic Armageddon. They are heroes. Their courage is uplifting. Yet Obama chooses to disparage and denigrate them in the media; he punishes them with the tax code designed to soak the rich and raise capital gains taxes on investors; and worst of all, he just stole their property (literally) in the Great Chrysler Robbery (where Obama handed 55% of the company to the Auto Workers Union- which was last in line and unsecured, while ignoring the rule of law to rip off secured creditors who were legally first in line).

Ironically, these speculators serve as real-life proof that capitalism works. They are not bad people to be attacked, discouraged, denigrated, and punished. If Obama understood capitalism, he would understand these are the heroes of the American business world. These are the only people that can save our economy and Obama?s Presidency from ruin. They are the entrepreneurial risk-takers that we so desperately need to invest in America again. To build businesses, fund businesses, and create new jobs. Without speculators (risk-takers) looking to earn a big payday, who exactly would invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, and small business? Who would create the new jobs that our economy so desperately needs? Without speculators earning big profits, who would pay the taxes that Obama so desperately needs to pay for his record-setting spending?

Thank goodness for greedy capitalist speculators. To encourage them, we should be lowering income taxes, or better yet, suspending them for a one-year Tax Holiday. We should be lowering capital gains taxes, or better yet, eliminating them to encourage investment in American stocks, real estate and industry from around the world. If you truly want economic recovery President Obama, tell speculators that we appreciate their risk, and will reward them handsomely. Then watch a worsening economic nightmare morph into the economic comeback of a century.

Why are speculators betting it all on Las Vegas? Why are we poised to become the first state out of the depression? Because we are the ultimate free market economy. We are the test tube baby. Nevada represents everything Obama stands against. We are a Wild West frontier state with a constitution that bans income taxes, but welcomes guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens. Even more importantly, our state constitution limits the time that politicians can spend in session- our legislature is only allowed to meet for 4 months every 2 years. That limits the damage politicians (like Obama) can do to our economy. We also have made term limits the law for politicians in Nevada.

As Obama moves towards more spending, more taxes, ?soak the rich,? and hire more government employees as his flawed economic strategy, he might just want to study our Nevada model. We have no income taxes, no business income taxes, no capital gains taxes, no death taxes and property taxes limited by law. We choose to legalize ?sin? and tax it- thereby lowering our other taxes. That is a model for the country.

We also have among the fewest government employees per population of any state in America. That Mr. Obama is certainly the model for America. That could be why Nevada has been the #1 fastest-growing state in America for the last 25 years. More importantly Mr. Obama, your own Census Bureau predicts our state will be #1 in America for growth in the next 25 years. Lower taxes and smaller government is the answer.

Even with so few government employees, our state has over $10 Billion dollars of unfunded employee pension and health care costs. Even with so few government employees, our state economy is under siege (and debt) from government employee costs, compensation and pensions. Yet our problems are small compared to states like California, New York, Michigan or Obama?s home state of Illinois- all of which are close to bankruptcy under the weight of government employee cost. Obama?s ?solution? for the nation is more spending, more government hiring, more powerful government employee unions, and bigger pensions and lifetime health-care benefits for government employees. Obama?s plan is unaffordable and unsustainable. Nevada proves the lie of Obama?s plan.

Wayne Allyn Root was the 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate. His new book will be released by John Wiley & Sons this Spring entitled, ?The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts.? The book is available for pre-sale at Amazon.com. For more of Wayne?s views, commentaries, or to watch his many media interviews, please visit his web site at: www.ROOTforAmerica.com

 

[roscoe]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

mr root failed to mention that the median home price in las vegas has fallen by 40%!

 

[Joe Contrarian]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

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[Joe Contrarian]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

The verdict is in:

Obamanomics = failure

2938u4ji232938u4ji232938u4ji232938u4ji232938u4ji232938u4ji232938u4ji232938u4ji23

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Was the Stimulus Irrelevant?

By: Edward Morrissey

In early January, a joint paper [PDF file] by Dr. Christine Romer, then the nominee to chair the Presidential Council of Economic Advisers, and Jared Bernstein from Joe Biden's advisory team painted a bleak view of a world without the off-budget stimulus plan. This paper drove the administration's agenda on the stimulus bill and helped formulate the calculus that gave a much higher priority to public-works projects as opposed to tax cuts and business incentives. Failure to act, Romer and Bernstein warned, could have dire consequences (page 5):

The U.S. economy has already lost nearly 2.6 million jobs since the business cycle peak in December 2007. In the absence of stimulus, the economy could lose another 3 to 4 million more. Thus, we are working to counter a potential total job loss of at least 5 million. As Figure 1 shows, even with the large prototypical package, the unemployment rate in 2010Q4 is predicted to be approximately 7.0 percent, which is well below the approximately 8.8 percent that would result in the absence of a plan.

Sounds dire, doesn't it? Unemployment could hit 8.8 percent if Congress didn't start throwing money away immediately, and five million jobs could disappear. In fact, Figure 1 details the challenge better than the text does:

In February, the Obama administration demanded immediate action on the economy from Congress. Nancy Pelosi took charge of building a stimulus bill that wound up spending $787 billion dollars and shoving it through an offended House Republican caucus, while Harry Reid convinced three GOP Senators that the country would tumble into an economic abyss without it.

The final bill passed in mid-February, intended to stave off the doomsday scenarios spun by Barack Obama's team of economic advisers.

After the passage of the bill authorizing the off-budget spending of almost $800 billion, one might have thought that the crisis represented by the light-blue arc would be avoided. Guess again. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment in April had risen to a peak of 8.9 percent, more than the doomsday scenario laid out by Romer and Bernstein in their January paper. In fact, March had exceeded the recovery-plan curve and the non-recovery plan curve, too, as this revised graph clearly shows:

This could have been worse, of course. The unemployment figures showed a net job loss of 539,000 in April, better than the adjusted loss in March of almost 700,000 jobs. However, many media outlets missed the fact that 611,000 private-sector jobs got lost in April. Massive government hiring lowered the overall figure, but 66,000 of the 72,000 new government hires came with the Census Bureau ? temporary jobs for next year's decennial survey.

Not only did the stimulus plan not work, the unemployment actually rose faster with the ?recovery plan? in place than the Obama administration predicted unemployment would rise without it. :doh1

Obama backers would say that the administration always predicted more job growth in the second and third year of the plan. Indeed, on page 8, the authors wrote:

The different components of the stimulus package also differ in terms of the timing of the jobs they will create, and therefore serve different purposes in terms of cushioning the downturn and fostering recovery. Because it takes time to carry out new spending programs authorized by legislation, we expect the jobs created by spending on infrastructure, education, health, and energy to be concentrated in 2010 and 2011. At the other extreme are funds to protect the most vulnerable, which are generally spent promptly, and tax incentives for businesses to invest quickly. State fiscal relief and broad-based tax cuts fall in between: funds for these programs can be disbursed quickly, but there can be a delay before the main response of spending.

Return, though, to the graph created by Romer and Bernstein. They clearly predicted that the main explosion of unemployment would come this year, tapering off into 2010 and going lower in 2011 whether or not the stimulus bill passed. The issue has been how high would unemployment initially get before a recovery would start creating jobs, and how fast would jobs get created. The graph shows that their primary purpose in pushing the stimulus was to keep unemployment from peaking above eight percent.

We spent almost $800 billion to keep that bubble low, and the stimulus failed completely at its task.

Note that in the graph, the two lines meet in 2014, meaning that the American economy would have recovered with or without the stimulus plan and that unemployment would return to five percent. Unfortunately, having spent the $787 billion, we have massive debt to repay when those lines meet, debt that we incurred in a failed policy of irresponsible spending when we should have been encouraging capital investment in private enterprise, the real engine of job creation. Even if we do return to 95 percent employment, each worker will carry the burden of debt from Romer, Bernstein, and Obama ? a burden that paid no dividends but will encumber us for generations.

We only wish that the stimulus bill was as irrelevant as it was useless.

http://www.americanissuesproject.or...e/2009/05/14/was-the-stimulus-irrelevant.aspx

Edward Morrissey's Bio
Ed Morrissey writes for Hot Air, where he also has a daily political talk show. Ed has written for the Washington Post, the New York Post, the New York Sun, and has made numerous television and radio appearances. He lives in Minnesota with his wife, son, and two granddaughters.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow! That didn't take long.

What's Hussein going to say now? :doh1

 

[MannyLovitto]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

116 Days Down....Over 2800 to go

Raise a glass to eight years of weengin' and whinin'!!

 

[scrimmage]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

The line forms on the Right,until there's nothing Left for anyone.

The Standard
Posted on May 11, 2009

By Mr.Fish

http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/20090511_the_standard/

By jack, May 12 at 9:24 am
This hits the spot. Obama?s job is to be a smiley face and give false hope as the ground is dug out from beneath the feet of the middle class. The American way of life is being destroyed?Obama is doing nothing but giving nice speeches, wearing nice suits. And don?t bother looking to Michelle ?let them wear $540 sneakers? Antoinette. They?re props. Obama is the elite banksters? bitch. It?s that simple.

By david middelstetter, May 13 at 8:56 pm
So sad, but so true. Obama?s presidency reminds me of the old myth that, once females made their way into the executive suites of America, they would have more heart for the employees than the male executives had. What was overlooked was that the women couldn?t get become executives without being put there by the good old boys and only greedy, heartless toadies could make the grade. Same thing with politics: Obama was chosen by corporate shills to be a corporate shill. The downtrodden will continue to be trodden upon.
P.S. I voted for him in hope that he?d turn out to have the guts to really change things, but each day convinces me more that I should have just sat out the election.

​

 

[Joe Contrarian]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

P.S. I voted for him in hope that he’d turn out to have the guts to really change things, but each day convinces me more that I should have just sat out the election.

Looks like the Kool-Aid is slowly wearing off.

Ten years from now you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who will admit they voted for this clown.

 

[scrimmage]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Looks like the Kool-Aid is slowly wearing off.

Ten years from now you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who will admit they voted for this clown.

Joe Contra;
The quote you chose in part misrepresented my post,and made it appear as though I regreted voting for Obama.
The full quote was as follows,and puts the mans opinion in its proper context:

By david middelstetter, May 13 at 8:56 pm
So sad, but so true. Obama?s presidency reminds me of the old myth that, once females made their way into the executive suites of America, they would have more heart for the employees than the male executives had. What was overlooked was that the women couldn?t get become executives without being put there by the good old boys and only greedy, heartless toadies could make the grade. Same thing with politics: Obama was chosen by corporate shills to be a corporate shill. The downtrodden will continue to be trodden upon.
P.S. I voted for him in hope that he?d turn out to have the guts to really change things, but each day convinces me more that I should have just sat out the election.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Looks like the Kool-Aid is slowly wearing off.

Ten years from now you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who will admit they voted for this clown.

why wait ten years! TODAY you will be hard pressed to find anyone who will admit they voted for the train wreck named george bush! unfortunately i must be honest and admit that i did vote for bush. i made a great mistake! i voted for obama and will never deny my vote!:thumbsup

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Polls Prove That Independents Will Shine in 2012
Monday, May 25, 2009, 09:29 PM
Obama?s Radical Leftist Union Agenda Not Winning Converts

America is Still a Center Right Nation

But GOP Loses Ground- More Voters See Themselves as Independents Than Ever Before

Root Sees Opening for Libertarian Candidates

By Wayne Allyn Root, 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential nominee
A new detailed political and ?American values? poll by Pew Research Center should give both Democrats and Republicans sleepless nights. Despite the election of a charismatic newcomer as President, very little has changed since the election- except for the fact that more Americans than ever call themselves independents. This detailed 160 page political poll gives Libertarians (like me) reasons to cheer, and look forward to 2012.

It?s no wonder that neither major party is winning converts. On one hand we have Obama?s radical leftist pro-union agenda turning off millions of right wing, center right, and moderate Americans- the majority of voters. Obama?s agenda is to ask everyone in America to sacrifice except union members- employees of auto unions, government employee unions, and teacher unions are given cost of living raises, step-up raises, more job security, bigger pensions, and in the case of the auto unions, unexpected gifts wrapped in pretty bows- majority ownership of entire car companies! How wonderful.

While millions of us in the private sector lose our jobs and businesses, Obama thinks the solution to our economic crisis is to hire millions of new government union employees- and give them raises. Obama agenda includes giving away over $125 Billion of taxpayer money to states to make sure that government employees union members don?t get laid off- and get their raises. Obama has even gone so far as to demand that the state of California scrap planned layoffs and cuts in salaries of government employees, or he threatens to cancel billions of dollars in government bailout money earmarked for the state. If Obama was a businessman, his actions would be classified as extortion.

It?s taken me a long time, but I think I?ve finally figured out why Obama has such a radical pro-union agenda. He?s got the record of his hero Abraham Lincoln confused. He must think that when Lincoln ?saved the union,? he meant the auto union, teachers union and government employees union. So much for a moderate political agenda to win over center-right and independent voters.

Then on the other side of the aisle, we have the incompetent, pathetic, and hypocritical GOP. They wonder why they have zero respect or credibility from voters. Could it be because Republicans rant and rave about the irresponsible and unsustainable spending of Obama, but provide no solutions of their own? Could it be because most Republicans voted for the same bailout as Obama (with Bush in charge)? Could it be because the Big 3 automakers bailout began under Bush? Could it be because whenever Republicans are in charge, they spend recklessly and irresponsibly- just like Democrats.

The results according to Pew Research are startling.

First despite Obama?s personal popularity, there has been no leftward shift by voters on issues like the role of government. Nor has there been a voter I.D. shift to the Democratic Party. While the ranks of GOP voters is the lowest since Watergate, these ex-Republicans have not moved to the party of Obama. The number of voters calling themselves independents is the highest in modern political history.

These independents- like most Libertarians- tend to be conservative on economic issues. They are pro-business, pro-free markets and support capitalism. A majority of Americans still believe that ?government regulation does more harm than good.? A startling 76% of Americans report that ?the strength of this country today is mostly based on the success of American business.?

Good news for my Libertarian Party comes in this impressive independent surge. A remarkable 36% of Americans today describe themselves as independents, the highest total since Ross Perot?s candidacy in 1992. Those independents moved RIGHT over the past two years on economic issues, even as Obama was elected President promising to ?redistribute the wealth.? Independents skewer rightward on issues such as the size of government, expansion of entitlements, and in opposition to affirmative action. These are all Libertarian issues. Interestingly on the social side, these same independents skewer leftward on issues such as religion and gay rights. This again plays right into the hands of Libertarian candidates. And on the issue of foreign policy and national security, while voters are not fans of the Iraq war, a majority still believes in ?peace through military strength?- again a moderate Libertarian opinion.

Even more importantly, for a candidate like me who identifies himself as conservative Libertarian, conservative independents outnumber liberal independents by 2 to 1. Overall this is still a very much center right nation with American voters identifying as conservative versus liberal by a count of 37% to 19%. This is all good news for a Libertarian Presidential candidate in 2012.

All things considered, any independent third party, but more specifically the Libertarian Party, should be excited about their prospects as more and more voters realize that Republicans and Democrats are big and bigger, dumb and dumber.


. For more of Wayne?s views, commentaries, or to watch his many media interviews, please visit his web site at: www.ROOTforAmerica.com
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[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Wayne on FOX & Friends on 5/29/09

<EMBED src=http://www.youtube.com/v/L2Zx62nz_6A&hl=en&fs=1 width=425 height=344 type=application/x-shockwave-flash allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></EMBED>


<CENTER>Wayne with Glenn Beck on FOX News Channel (Part 1)

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Wayne with Glenn Beck on FOX News Channel (Part 2)

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</CENTER>

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Monday, June 8, 2009
Libertarians condemn Obama?s still-skyrocketing unemployment numbers

Jobless rate explodes to over 9%, highest in 26 years as 14.5 million Americans jobless
Tax and regulatory relief would create ?the jobs Americans need?



WASHINGTON -- With unemployment exploding to 9.4 percent in May instead of decreasing as Obama promised with passage of his ?stimulus? package, America?s third-largest party urges Congress to instead consider tax and regulatory relief to give the nation ?the jobs Americans need.?
?There is no doubt our economy will recover. Americans have always overcome adversity with our tenacity, creativity and optimism,? said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director. ?But as unemployment continues to rise when it should be falling by now, it begs the question of how long will recovery be delayed by Obama?s Big Government agenda??
?The Libertarian Party seems to be the only party promoting a smart program of tax and regulatory relief aimed at freeing up capital,? said Ferguson. ?History shows it?s the most effective way to give those 14.5 million unemployed the jobs Americans need.?
?Sadly, Obama instead chose to exploit this tragic situation to advance his personal agenda of bigger, more expensive government ? which has unemployment now skyrocketing to its highest levels in a quarter-century,? said Ferguson. ?Because of Obama, our economic recovery has been seriously stunted and delayed.?
Figures released Friday by the Labor Department show unemployment rose to 9.4 percent in May from 8.9 percent in April as the number of unemployed persons increased by 787,000 to 14.5 million. Unemployment is highest among blacks (14.9 percent) and Hispanics (12.7 percent.) The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 268,000 over the month to 3.9 million according to the Labor Department.
?Unfortunately, it looks like the Libertarian Party was proven right when we said back in January that Obama?s explosive growth of government and out-of-control spending would delay our economic recovery. We should be further along in our recovery, but Republican and Democrat spending and bailouts are delaying that,? said Ferguson.
?History has proven time and time again that decreasing the size of government, cutting taxes and freeing up people to create jobs and business are the best way to stimulate growth,? said Ferguson. ?Libertarian urge Congress and the White House to take these real, proven measures, instead of exploiting people?s misfortune to inflate the size of government.?
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or email DonnyFerguson@gmail.com.

The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Thursday, July 9, 2009
With unemployment skyrocketing, Libertarians suggest real stimulus

GOP, Dems debate passing another spending expansion, despite past failures



WASHINGTON -- America?s third largest party Thursday criticized Democrat and Republican leaders in Congress for suggesting that rising unemployment can be solved by passing another ?stimulus? government expansion, or by spending current appropriations more quickly. Libertarians propose an alternate package of tax and regulatory relief that will create the jobs Americans need.
When Congress passed President Barack Obama?s ?stimulus? package early this year the White House stated the spending expansion would keep unemployment below eight percent. It instead skyrocketed to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, which Republicans blame on not spending the money fast enough and Democrats claim is reason to pass another, similar bill.
?While Democrats are proposing another several hundred billion dollars on dog parks and ACORN recruiting and Republicans are complaining Obama isn?t spending stimulus money fast enough, Libertarians are focused on growth policies that create the jobs Americans need,? said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.
?We can start by preserving the 2001 and 2003 pro-growth tax cuts, scale back taxes on investments so job creators can expand their businesses, reduce taxes on individuals so Americans will have more money to save and meet basic needs and reduce unnecessary and unneeded federal regulations that are stopping employers from creating jobs,? said Ferguson. ?The Libertarian Party is the only party in America with a proven plan to create the jobs Americans need.?
?Poll after poll shows Americans are skeptical of trying to spend our way to prosperity. Poll after poll also shows they agree with the Libertarian Party that government cannot create wealth. It?s no wonder that?s why Americans are showing a growing interest in the Libertarian Party?s common-sense, reasonable and proven job growth policies.?
For more information on this issue, or to arrange an interview with the Libertarian Party, please call Director of Communications Donny Ferguson at 703-200-3669 or 202-333-0008, x. 225, or email Donny.Ferguson@lp.org.
The Libertarian Party is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971 as an alternative to the two main political parties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party by visiting http://www.LP.org. The Libertarian Party proudly stands for smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Rationing away medical care

posted by Donny Ferguson on Aug 13, 2009


Also from today's Washington Times. The unavoidable reality of rationing basic care is one of many reasons why Libertarians oppose government-run health care and prefer to open up the insurance market. Click here to read the full editorial, which states:

President Obama told a rally in Portsmouth, N.H., on Tuesday to ignore the "scare tactics" of opponents to government health care. He denied that his plan would ration care. "You will have not only the care you need, but also the care that right now is being denied to you -- only if we get health care reform," he said. The president's promise of unlimited care at a greatly reduced cost isn't feasible.
To confirm that rationing is inevitable, we only need to consider how the Democrats are proposing to "pay for" the new health care plan. In addition to new taxation, they are considering cutting the already below-cost reimbursement rates that Medicare and Medicaid make to hospitals and doctors. When doctors and hospitals get reimbursed for less than their costs, they lose money. That loss has to be made up somehow, such as through cuts in other areas. Hospitals that lose money may close or let go of personnel to make ends meet. Fewer hospitals, doctors and nurses mean less care...
...At the June 24 ABC Health Care Town Hall, one participant asked Mr. Obama: "Outside the medical criteria for prolonging life for somebody who is elderly, is there any consideration that can be given for a certain spirit, a certain joy of living, a quality of life, or is it just a medical cutoff at a certain age?" The president's cold response was: "I don't think that we can make judgments based on people's 'spirit.' ... But what we can do is make sure that at least some of the waste that exists in the system that is not making anyone's mom better, that is loading up on additional tests or additional drugs, that the evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve care. ... Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller." In April, Mr. Obama questioned whether the elderly should get hip replacements and warned that it isn't "sustainable." He explained: "The chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health-care bill out here."
...Lawrence H. Summers, the president's chief economic adviser, said that merely eliminating unnecessary surgeries could save "as much as $700 billion a year out of our health care system." That's about 30 percent of total health care spending. There's no way to eliminate that much spending without denying some people the care they think they need.
The health care bill in the House of Representatives proposes the creation of a Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research. This new federal bureaucracy would determine what care is supposedly most effective. Patients and doctors should be the ones deciding what care Americans need -- not bureaucrats or the president

http://www.lp.org/blogs/donny-ferguson/rationing-away-medical-care
​

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

Unemployment Hits 10.2%. Obama Sends Us on Path to Economic Ruin.
Friday, November 6, 2009, 08:52 AM
Forget ?Death Panels? for Obamacare- The Real Tragedy Is Obama Killing Small Business!

Obama Wakes Up To Big Surprise- Government Creates No Jobs?Unions Kill Jobs.

By Wayne Allyn Root, Author
The Conscience of a Libertarian: Empowering the Citizen Revolution with God, Guns, Gambling & Tax Cuts


The national unemployment rate hit 10.2% today. What a surprise! Actually it may have come as a great surprise to ?the Messiah? aka President Barack Obama, but it came as no surprise to anyone who understands economics. My old college classmate Obama is not among that group.

Small business creates upwards of 75% to 80% of all new jobs. If small business is failing, there are no new jobs. Without a robust small business community, there can be no economic recovery. All the stimulus money in the world going to Obama's big business campaign contributors- unions, government employees, banks, Wall Street- will not end the recession. All the government jobs ?saved? and created will do nothing, but take money and jobs AWAY from the private sector. All the billions of dollars lavished on unions and union workers will push the country back into recession. All the government union workers honored with raises by Obama will increase the national debt and damage the economic recovery. Only a recovery led by small business can save us. We are staring at an economic Armageddon- not just for us, but for our children and grandchildren.

We have been lied to- by Obama, by Pelosi, by Treasury Secretary Geithner, by Fed Chief Bernanke. There is no recovery. The recession isn't over. To the contrary, we are in the start of a long-term depression caused by big government, big spending, onerous taxes and government regulations placed on business, too much deficit and debt.

Obama isn't the solution. He is the problem. He knows nothing about business- small or large. He has never owned a business, run a business, funded a business, or created a job in his life. His entire knowledge of economics comes from books. And they are the wrong books- Karl Marx never created a job either.

I didn't need today's bad news on unemployment to know we were coming out of the recession. I only needed to open my eyes and see the real tragedy right in front of me on Main Street:

*The hair salon where I've had my hair cut for 8 years- a bustling, loud, prosperous small business in Las Vegas (before Obama)- went out of business last month. Closed with no notice- the doors padlocked by sheriffs.

*The healthy fast food restaurant where I ate organic hamburgers, organic milkshakes, and baked fries for years- also a bustling, prosperous business (before Obama)- went out of business last month. Not just one small business, but rather the entire chain of 5 restaurants in Nevada and Florida gone.

*My biggest competitor in the sports handicapping industry, a legend in our industry, after 30 years in business, closed up shop 2 weeks ago. 30 years of prosperity, hundreds of millions in revenues pumped into the economy, and 100 good-paying jobs down the drain. All it took was 9 months of Obama running the economy.

*U.S. Air- the 2nd largest airline carrier into Las Vegas- announced just last week that they are cutting HALF their routes. Does that sound like the end of a recession?

*One of my neighbors- a well-known celebrity, CEO and multi-millionaire- has put his multi-million dollar Vegas mansion up for ?short sale? to stave off foreclosure.

*One of my best friends has closed or sold off 8 of his 12 vitamin stores to try to ?stop the bleeding? of business losses. He reports that the last 4 months have been the worst of his 25 years in business. He says, ?business has literally dropped off a cliff.? He also says and I quote, ?anyone that says we are in recovery is either a fool or a liar.?

Small business is in freefall. Not only will there be no new jobs, we will continue losing jobs until Obama finds a way to save small business. Unemployment will only go up from here. Saving or creating government jobs won't save the American economy- as we now see. Obama's theories don't work in the real world. They only work in books- books written by Karl Marx. The Obama experiment is a massive failure.

But the reality is Obama has a much bigger problem on his hands. Small business doesn't just create all the jobs, it pays virtually all the taxes. That means there will also be no tax revenues to pay for Obama's massive spending programs, entitlements and stimulus. That means all of Obama's deficit forecasts are way off. Since Obama projects almost $10 trillion in deficits over the next decade, my educated guess is we should count on a figure closer to $15 to $20 trillion in deficit. We are in a world of trouble under the leadership of a man who thinks government creates jobs. Good luck with that.

Having said all of that, just criticizing isn't good enough. Critics need to provide solutions. In my next commentary I'll show a simple two-step program (direct from the pages of my new book) to save small business and turn this entire economy around quickly. Obama, are you listening?


Wayne Allyn Root was the 2008 Libertarian Vice Presidential candidate

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

December 14, 2009

<TABLE width="95%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=left width="80%">Mission Not Accomplished

</TD><TD align=right></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Although Barack Obama has refrained, at least for now, from delivering triumphant speeches in a naval flight suit, there is nevertheless a strong tone of accomplishment emanating from the President and his deputies. Over the weekend, top White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers even pronounced that the recession is now over. Without hedging his bets, Summers declared that thanks to the Obama Administration's wise stewardship, economic stimuli, and emergency bailouts, another Great Depression, set up by the prior Administration, had been narrowly averted. Summers saw no impediments to the return of sustainable growth. He may as well have delivered these remarks from the deck of an aircraft carrier.

I hate to shoot down these high-flying expectations, but the economy is not improving. All that has changed is that we are now more indebted to foreign creditors, with even less to show for it. Washington's current policies have once again deferred the fundamental, market-driven reforms needed to redirect us onto a sustainable path. Instead, through aggressive monetary and fiscal stimuli, we are trying to re-inflate a balloon that is full of holes. This was the Bush Administration's exact response to the 2002 recession. It's shocking how few observers note the repeating pattern, especially the fact that each crash is worse than the last.

Obama's claim of success largely derives from the slowing tally of job losses, the seemingly renewed strength in the financial system, the pickup in home sales and home prices, and the positive GDP figures. But these 'achievements' fall apart under close examination.

First, a closer look at the jobs numbers shows that employment improved in sectors that benefited most directly from monetary or fiscal stimulus: government, healthcare, financial services, education and retail sales. Meanwhile, sectors such as manufacturing continued to shed jobs at an alarming rate. These dynamics actually exacerbate our economic imbalances. Recent trade deficit figures (in which the deficit-reduction trend of early 2009 has sharply reversed) show how this employment growth is preventing needed rebalancing. Essentially, the Administration is nurturing firms that cannot survive without subsidies and support.

Once stimulus is removed, the ?saved? jobs will be among the first to go. If the President has not figured this out yet, I am sure Fed Chairman Bernanke has. As a result, the market should discount as pure bluff any claims from the Fed about an eventual ?exit strategy? from current stimuli. Such an ?exit? would bring about Bernanke's greatest fear ? spiking unemployment.

Second, major investment and commercial banks are not back on their feet, but remain fundamentally insolvent. Their current business model of risk-free speculation depends upon the maintenance of government backstops, the continued availability of cheap money from the Fed, and the use of accounting gimmicks that allow them to conceal losses behind phony assumptions.

Third, while it is true that home prices have stopped falling, this represents failure, not victory. True success would be a drop in home prices to a level that homebuyers could actually afford. Instead, we have maintained artificially high prices with tax credits, subsidized mortgage rates, low down payments, and foreclosure relief. With 96% of new mortgages now insured by federal agencies, market forces have been completely removed from the housing equation. With so many government programs specifically designed to maintain artificially high home prices, devastating long-term consequences for our economy are inevitable.

Finally, it is true that the GDP yardstick shows an economy returning to growth. However, as I have often repeated, this measure has deep flaws that render it almost useless for judging the soundness of an economy. Currently, the figures are merely reporting increasing indebtedness as growth. Using GDP as the main financial indicator is equivalent to judging a man's success by the cost of his house, car, and wristwatch. Rather than gauging income, these figures merely indicate a level of spending and have nothing to do with earning power.

Paul Volcker, the only independent voice in the Administration, has not been deceived by his colleagues' sunny claims. He recently noted that our economy still evidences ?too much consumption, too much spending relative to our capacity to invest and export? and that the problem is ?involved with the financial crisis but in a way [is] more difficult than the financial crisis because it reflects the basic structure of the economy.? Yet, President Obama has chosen not to address these concerns.

As Summers and Obama like to point out, the vast majority of economists take it on faith that, with the right finesse, the stimulus can be withdrawn without pushing the economy back into recession. But based on the distortive effects of stimuli and bailouts, our economy has adapted to a climate where cheap credit is not only plentiful but critical.

Eventually, the cheap credit will dry up. Not because the Fed decides it should, but because our foreign creditors stop lending. When that happens, this Administration will look as clueless about economics as the last one was about the pitfalls of nation-building.

But for now, the chattering classes believe strong government action has delivered us from calamity. For them, at least, it's ?mission accomplished!?

http://www.europac.net/#

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]March 19, 2010[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Contact: Wes Benedict, Executive Director[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]E-mail: wes.benedict@lp.org[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Phone: 202-333-0008 ext. 222 [/FONT]

Libertarian Party opposes health care plan

WASHINGTON - The Libertarian Party adamantly opposes the health care bill passed on Christmas Eve by the US Senate that is currently being considered in the US House of Representatives. The Libertarian Party calls on the US House to vote down this disastrous plan, and instead to pass laws reducing federal involvement in health care.

Libertarian Party Chairman William Redpath commented, "We oppose this horrible federal government expansion into health care, just as we have consistently opposed all the increased government intrusion into health care proposed by Republicans and Democrats over the years. For example, we vocally opposed the huge Medicare expansion pushed through Congress by Republicans in 2003."

Redpath continued, "It is a virtual certainty that the cost estimates of this legislation are drastically understated. When Medicare Part A started in 1965, the projected cost for 1990 was $9 billion. It turned out to be $67 billion. Should this bill become law, when the debt of the United States government is downgraded by ratings agencies shortly thereafter, it will not be a coincidence. That will increase interest rates, and the entire economy will suffer."

The Libertarian Party Platform says the following about health care: "We favor restoring and reviving a free market health care system. We recognize the freedom of individuals to determine the level of health insurance they want, the level of health care they want, the care providers they want, the medicines and treatments they will use and all other aspects of their medical care, including end-of-life decisions."

The words "health care" and "medicine" are not found anywhere in the Constitution. Accordingly, the Libertarian Party asserts that Congress has no authority to regulate or appropriate money for health care. (The Libertarian Party has consistently argued for decades that the "general welfare" and "interstate commerce" clauses are not generic authorizations for spending and regulation.)

Redpath concluded, "This is a top-down, Washington-mandated control of health insurance and health care in this nation. It is the antithesis of consumer-driven health care, which is what will ultimately be necessary to control health care costs and to provide the best health care for the greatest number of people."

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets and civil liberties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

###​

 

[brucefan]

Re: Libertarian Party Says Obama Plan Based on Failed Economics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]April 30, 2010[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Contact: Wes Benedict, Executive Director[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]E-mail: wes.benedict@lp.org[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Phone: 202-333-0008 ext. 222 [/FONT]

Libertarians call for more finance industry freedom

WASHINGTON - Libertarian Party Executive Director Wes Benedict issued the following statement today, regarding the financial regulation legislation in Congress:

"The Libertarian Party opposes the legislation currently in Congress. Instead of removing harmful regulations that reduce competition, create winners and losers, and stifle the choices of consumers and financial firms, this legislation merely adds to that heap of regulations.

"It is remarkable that so many people have blamed the banking and financial company failures on the 'free market.' The American finance industry is probably the most regulated industry in human history. It doesn't remotely resemble a free market, and that's been true for many decades. It would be much more accurate to blame the failures on government interference.

"The 2008 TARP bailouts were strongly supported by both Republicans and Democrats. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain both supported them--Senator McCain even 'suspended his campaign' to rush back to Washington and help push through the massive bailouts. On the other hand, Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr firmly opposed those bailouts, and the Libertarian Party has continued to express our opposition since then.

"We're seeing the typical cycle of government regulation:

1. Add more regulations.
2. Watch the new regulations create new problems.
3. Blame the free market.
4. Go to step 1.

"The 2008 TARP bailouts were rationalized with the 'too big to fail' phantom -- the notion that if a big company goes bankrupt, then all financial activity will cease, and the world will basically end. It was one more example of government creating a 'fear of catastrophe' to get people to knuckle under to big government payouts.

"Another major problem with protective government regulation is that it gives consumers the false impression that 'everything's OK, the government will make sure you can't be hurt.' That causes consumers to stop doing their homework, and stop keeping an eye on the businesses they depend on. Then, when the government regulators fail in their job (as the SEC has repeatedly, for example), consumers get hurt much worse than they would if they had never been told the government was taking care of them.

"The problem isn't too little regulation, but too much. Banks, insurance companies, and other financial companies must be allowed to operate freely in a free market, and they must be allowed to fail. No other system will work. Heaping more regulations on top of the already enormous financial regulation pile will only lead to new problems."

Mark A. Calabria of the Cato Institute, writing in the New York Post, commented, "Far from protecting the little guy and sticking it to the fat cats, this bill keeps good, old-fashioned political patronage alive and well."

The Libertarian Party's Platform states: "We favor free-market banking, with unrestricted competition among banks and depository institutions of all types."

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets and civil liberties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.