To get an idea of what this looked like, I created a map to help:

View Antiwar demonstration 08-09-10 in a larger map

Shortly after arriving, I saw a middle-aged woman being taken away in cuffs. I immediately pulled out my FlipCam and started recording. Turns out her name was Stacy Robin Schneider and she was merely collecting signatures for an open letter/petition for TexasEnvironment.org. You may not agree with the group’s position, but for the police to arrest her for this is just stupid.

Just minutes later, I was recording a little video of the line and turned around to find Dan McCarthy interacting with a police officer, trying to move his poster closer to the corner and to the press vans. He was arrested as well, ultimately under the charge of “criminal trespassing” on what I believe was a “public sidewalk.” Here’s the footage, although the sound did not come out well (if somebody wants to caption it, that would be awesome).

This was all KXAN had to say about these arrests:

The media finally paid attention to us, and I was even interviewed at one point (though I cannot find a video online right now). It was quite interesting to see the variety of people present at this demonstration. I met people from the Socialist Worker, from immigration groups, from the Tea Party, and more. And for the most part, we all got along peaceably so that we could protest Obama’s policies, especially the WARS, together.

It was now about 2 p.m. and people were quickly flowing into the building. The back of the line quickly moved past us and thus the free speech zone now held absolutely zero value for the protesters. As the demonstrators began to disperse, I asked them to stick around a little longer while I tried to convince the police officers to allow us to move the “free speech zone” closer to Gregory Gym. So, I found an officer and respectfully made my request. He immediately said no. I asked if there was someone with more authority we could talk to. He called his Sergeant, and the Sergeant said no as well. I asked if I could appeal this even higher. He said there was a Lieutenant on duty, and I asked if I could talk with him. Lieutenant Birdett (I think that was his name) came over and we had another chat, with no positive result. We couldn’t go anywhere else. However, the Lieutenant did reveal something I didn’t know: when the president is around, the Secret service has, quoting the Lieutenant, “total control”.

“Really?” I asked him. “Can I get you to say that into the camera?” as I hastily reached into my pocket to pull out the FlipCam again. But no, he wouldn’t give me the satisfaction. Rats!

At this point, I ran into a guy with an insane sign, saying “The Obama Presidency is Christianity in Action!” Read my comments about this guy here.

I left after this because I needed to work more that afternoon, but the action didn’t stop there. Long after the line was gone, more demonstrators were arrested simply for exercising free speech. Antiwar activist Chanda Seymour was arrested for asking “Who designates the free speech zone?” and she wasn’t even asked to leave:

Just minutes later, as I understand, John Bush of Texans for Accountable Government was arrested, even though he even had a press pass (which should have, in theory, afforded him even greater protection). His response to the police’s actions was above reproach and absolutely heroic:

Finally, I recorded a recap video once I got home, so you can see better some of the signs that Dan had brought to the campus and that I made for the demonstration.

Thankfully, all of those arrested were able to go home at midnight on $20 bail.

Dan McCarthy, dragged away in cuffs

Photo credit: KXAN. Many thanks as well to all of those people who recorded the day’s events to put on display to the world.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Demonstration Report from UT-Austin on August 9, 2010

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: Civil Rights, first amendment, free speech, Obama, police, politicians, politics, protesting, rights

Related Content:

• The Dismal Year (1)
• Why Every President Sucked (5)
• Why does the Tea Party support Scott Brown? (10)
• Top 10 Disasters of the Obama Administration in 2009 (1)
• Rand Paul Moneybomb August 19/20 and Interview Announcement (0)

I saw this today at a demonstration at UT-Austin in front of Gregory Gym and the library. Of all the ridiculous things I’ve seen in the past year, I think this takes the cake.

I asked the gentleman how Obama could be “Christianity in action” if it requires aggression against a neighbor to act. His response, I kid you not, was that back in the first century they had despots as leaders, and now we have representative government. After laughing hysterically, I then proceeded to ask how he justifies his task of blowing up the Middle East, I mean, they’re still his representatives of Christ, right? On the contrary: “Love for neighbor cannot be delegated” said Pope Benedict XVI.

I just can’t wait for Obama to go back to DC so he can put more Christianity into action!

I’ll post more about the protest later. Lots of stuff happened…

Thanks to Heather from LP-Texas for taking the picture. Heroic!

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Christianity in Action – the Obama Presidency

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: charity, ethics, Obama, theology

Related Content:

• Obama’s New Theocracy (0)
• Turning the Other Cheek — Matthew 5:38-42 (6)
• Theological Traditions (3)
• The Proper Origin of Rights (24)
• The Humongous Page of Libertarian Resources (14)

Hey Jon, didn’t I promise you Bush 3.0? You may not be a libertarian now, but keep this up for long and you may end up, oh I don’t know, like John Stossel or Andrew Napolitano…

But I’m still curious, why do “conservatives” want to oust Barry? Seriously, he behaves exactly like Republicans should want: he gives corporate handouts, he passes socialized medicine (remember Bush’s “Prescription Drug Plan” plus some), he encourages education (No Child Left Behind!), and most of all he ratchets up every war effort possible. What’s not for a conservative to love?

Oh wait, I get it. He’s a Democrat stealing the thunder of Republican big-government programs. That’s why.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Jon Stewart Crushes Obama on Civil Liberties

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: bush, civil liberties, Civil Rights, humor, News, Obama, war, war on terror

Related Content:

• Simple Arguments Against the Iraq War (4)
• Dick Cheney admits he is a war criminal (0)
• Change Never Seemed So Similar (4)
• Bush REGRETS the war now? (0)
• WikiLeaks releases suppressed video from Iraq (24)

So yes, congratulations are in order…

Congratulations, President Obama, for proving yourself time and again that you are just Bush 2.0 (or is it 3.0).

Congratulations, conservative warmongers, for towing the party line and keeping this war going.

Congratulations, supposedly anti-war liberals, for believing the lie hook, line, and sinker, and supporting an immoral President through thick and thin.

Congratulations, establishment media, for continuing to shill for the State as thousands upon thousands of innocents suffer. Why should it take an independent media organization to expose what you should have been saying from the beginning?

Congratulations, Christian conservatives, for selling out to a political party where you don’t even get any positive influence in return, and using whatever influence you do have to promote continued murder. Seriously, you’re embarrassing. Stop it.

Okay enough with the sarcasm. You know who should get real congrats? Those who have been consistently anti-war since the beginning of the 21st century, no matter their political stripe. Those such as Lew Rockwell, Justin Raimondo, Laurence Vance, Ron Paul, heck even Cindy Sheehan have stayed true to consistent morality and opposed what is plainly an immoral, unjust, and unrighteous war.

Stay the course, friends. We must continue to oppose evil and call it by its name. Do not despair, for truth and justice prevail in the end.

(Hat tip to J.H. Huebert for the photo.)

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Mission Accomplished, Obama-Style

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: Afghanistan, conservatism, ethics, iraq, morality, Obama, war, war on terror

Related Content:

• How to Promote Peace in Your Church (7)
• A Peace Prize for a War Hawk (2)
• Simple Arguments Against the Iraq War (4)
• Ron Paul: Get out of Afghanistan NOW! (0)
• Podcast: The President’s Prayer (0)

It’s going to be massive.

Estimates run that the one-hundred eleven new groups formed by the bill will need to employ on the order of 50,000 newbie bureaucrats. But whatever, this country is bankrupt and probably won’t be able to sustain this program for a couple of years. Start taking care of yourself better now so you don’t get smashed by statist health care later.

Read the huge list of new bureaucratic groups after the jump.

1. Retiree Reserve Trust Fund (Section 111(d), p. 61)
2. Grant program for wellness programs to small employers (Section 112, p. 62)
3. Grant program for State health access programs (Section 114, p. 72)
4. Program of administrative simplification (Section 115, p. 76)
5. Health Benefits Advisory Committee (Section 223, p. 111)
6. Health Choices Administration (Section 241, p. 131)
7. Qualified Health Benefits Plan Ombudsman (Section 244, p. 138)
8. Health Insurance Exchange (Section 201, p. 155)
9. Program for technical assistance to employees of small businesses buying Exchange coverage (Section 305(h), p. 191)
10. Mechanism for insurance risk pooling to be established by Health Choices Commissioner (Section 306(b), p. 194)
11. Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund (Section 307, p. 195)
12. State-based Health Insurance Exchanges (Section 308, p. 197)
13. Grant program for health insurance cooperatives (Section 310, p. 206)
14. Public Health Insurance Option (Section 321, p. 211)
15. Ombudsman for Public Health Insurance Option (Section 321(d), p. 213)
16. Account for receipts and disbursements for Public Health Insurance Option(Section 322(b), p. 215)
17. Telehealth Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589)
18. Demonstration program providing reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services(Section 1222, p. 617)
19. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648)
20. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653)
21. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672)
22. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681)
23. Independence at home demonstration program (Sect Health Insurance Option(Section 322(b), p. 215)
17. Telehealth Advisory Committee (Section 1191 (b), p. 589)
18. Demonstration program providing reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services (Section 1222, p. 617)
19. Demonstration program for shared decision making using patient decision aids (Section 1236, p. 648)
20. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicare (Section 1301, p. 653)
21. Independent patient-centered medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302, p. 672)
22. Community-based medical home pilot program under Medicare (Section 1302(d), p. 681)
23. Independence at home demonstration program (Section 1312, p. 718)
24. Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research (Section 1401(a), p. 734)
25. Comparative Effectiveness Research Commission (Section 1401(a), p. 738)
26. Patient ombudsman for comparative effectiveness research (Section 1401(a), p. 753)
27. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1412(b)(1), p. 784)
28. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for nursing facilities (Section 1412 (b)(2), p. 786)
29. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 1413(a)(3), p. 796)
30. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 1413(b)(3), p. 804)
31. National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 1422, p. 859)
32. Demonstration program for approved teaching health centers with respect to Medicare GME (Section 1502(d), p. 933)
33. Pilot program to develop anti-fraud compliance systems for Medicare providers (Section 1635, p. 978)
34. Special Inspector General for the Health Insurance Exchange (Section 1647, p. 1000)
35. Medical home pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1722, p. 1058)
36. Accountable Care Organization pilot program under Medicaid (Section 1730A, p. 1073)
37. Nursing facility supplemental payment program (Section 1745, p. 1106)
38. Demo program for Medicaid coverage to stabilize emergency medical conditions in institutions for mental diseases (Section 1787, p. 1149)
39. Comparative Effectiveness Research Trust Fund (Section 1802, p. 1162)
40. Identifiable office or program within CMS to provide for improved coordination between Medicare and Medicaid in the case of dual eligibility (Section 1905, p. 1191)
41. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 1907, p. 1198)
42. Public Health Investment Fund (Section 2002, p. 1214)
43. Scholarships for service in health professional needs areas (Section 2211, p. 1224)
44. Program for training medical residents in community-based settings (Section 2214, p. 1236)
45. Grant program for training in dentistry programs (Section 2215, p. 1240)
46. Public Health Workforce Corps (Section 2231, p. 1253)
47. Public health workforce scholarship program (Section 2231, p. 1254)
48. Public health workforce loan forgiveness program (Section 2231, p. 1258)
49. Grant program for innovations in interdisciplinary care (Section 2252, p. 1272)
50. Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment (Section 2261, p. 1275)
51. Prevention and Wellness Trust (Section 2301, p. 1286)
52. Clinical Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1295)
53. Community Prevention Stakeholders Board (Section 2301, p. 1301)
54. Grant program for community prevention and wellness research (Section 2301, p. 1305)
55. Grant program for research and demonstration projects related to wellness incentives (Section 2301, p. 1305)
56. Grant program for community prevention and wellness services (Section 2301, p. 1308)
57. Grant program for public health infrastructure (Section 2301, p. 1313)
58. Center for Quality Improvement (Section 2401, p. 1322)
59. Assistant Secretary for Health Information (Section 2402, p. 1330)
60. Grant program to support the operation of school-based health clinics (Section 2511, p. 1352)
61. Grant program for nurse-managed health centers (Section 2512, p. 1361)
62. Grants for labor-management programs for nursing training (Section 2521, p. 1372)
63. Grant program for interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training (Section 2522, p. 1382)
64. No Child Left Non-immunized Against Influenza demonstration grant program (Section 2524, p. 1391)
65. Healthy Teen Initiative grant program regarding teen pregnancy (Section 2526, p. 1398)
66. Grant program for interdisciplinary training, education, and services for individuals with autism (Section 2527(a), p. 1402)
67. University centers for excellence in developmental disabilities education (Section 2527(b), p. 1410)
68. Grant program to implement medication therapy management services (Section 2528, p. 1412)
69. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors in underserved communities (Section 2530, p. 1422)
70. Grant program for State alternative medical liability laws (Section 2531, p. 1431)
71. Grant program to develop infant mortality programs (Section 2532, p. 1433)
72. Grant program to prepare secondary school students for careers in health professions (Section 2533, p. 1437)
73. Grant program for community-based collaborative care (Section 2534, p. 1440)
74. Grant program for community-based overweight and obesity prevention (Section 2535, p. 1457)
75. Grant program for reducing the student-to-school nurse ratio in primary and secondary schools (Section 2536, p. 1462)
76. Demonstration project of grants to medical-legal partnerships (Section 2537, p. 1464)
77. Center for Emergency Care under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (Section 2552, p. 1478)
78. Council for Emergency Care (Section 2552, p 1479)
79. Grant program to support demonstration programs that design and implement regionalized emergency care systems (Section 2553, p. 1480)
80. Grant program to assist veterans who wish to become emergency medical technicians upon discharge (Section 2554, p. 1487)
81. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 2562, p. 1494)
82. National Medical Device Registry (Section 2571, p. 1501)
83. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 2581, p. 1597)
84. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 2581, p. 1598)
85. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 2581, p. 1602)
86. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1610)
87. National Woman’s Health Information Center (Section 2588, p. 1611)
88. Centers for Disease Control Office of Woman’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1614)
89. Agency for Health Care Research and Quality Office of Woman’s Health and Gender-Based Research (Section 2588, p. 1617)
90. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Woman’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1618)
91. Food and Drug Administration Office of Woman’s Health (Section 2588, p. 1621)
92. Personal Care Attendant Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 2589(a)(2), p. 1624)
93. Grant program for national health workforce online training (Section 2591, p. 1629)
94. Grant program to disseminate best practices on implementing health workforce investment programs (Section 2591, p. 1632)
95. Demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (Section 3101, p. 1717)
96. Demonstration program for substance abuse counselor educational curricula (Section 3101, p. 1719)
97. Program of Indian community education on mental illness (Section 3101, p. 1722)
98. Intergovernmental Task Force on Indian environmental and nuclear hazards (Section 3101, p. 1754)
99. Office of Indian Man’s Health (Section 3101, p. 1765)
100. Indian Health facilities appropriation advisory board (Section 3101, p. 1774)
101. Indian Health facilities needs assessment workgroup (Section 3101, p. 1775)
102. Indian Health Service tribal facilities joint venture demonstration projects (Section 3101, p. 1809)
103. Urban youth treatment center demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1873)
104. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for diabetes prevention (Section 3101, p. 1874)
105. Grants to Urban Indian Organizations for health IT adoption (Section 3101, p. 1877)
106. Mental health technician training program (Section 3101, p. 1898)
107. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (Section 3101, p. 1909)
108. Program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims and perpetrators (Section 3101, p. 1925)
109. Program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (Section 3101, p. 1927)
110. Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1966)
111. Committee for the Establishment of the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation (Section 3103, p. 1968)

(HT FalkenBlog)

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

How Much Bureaucracy Did Congress Just Buy Us?

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: constitution, economics, Obama, universal health care

Related Content:

• Top 10 Disasters of the Obama Administration in 2009 (1)
• ObamaCare finishes what LBJ started (0)
• GW’s Presidential Review (0)
• 5 Predictions for 2009 (0)
• What’s the difference between a gas station and a hospital? (3)

"This is what change looks like," Obama said later in televised remarks that stirred memories of his 2008 campaign promise of "change we can believe in."

"We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people."

Ron Paul would disagree. Watch this video from Fox Business Channel.

This is indeed a dark day for liberty.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

ObamaCare finishes what LBJ started

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: economics, free market, free society, Obama, universal health care

Related Content:

• What’s the difference between a gas station and a hospital? (3)
• Top 10 Disasters of the Obama Administration in 2009 (1)
• Progressives Against Progress (3)
• Mises Circle Houston Recap (1)
• How Much Bureaucracy Did Congress Just Buy Us? (1)

The First Anniversary of Hope and Change by Anthony Gregory

Moderate Americans tend to trust Democrats in domestic affairs and Republicans on national security issues. The financial collapse of 2008 played into the hands of Democrats who wanted to use the crisis as an excuse to expand government power and implement the policies they had long wanted – just as 9/11 was the type of foreign-policy crisis that formed the perfect storm for Republican interventionism.

Indeed, in the domestic arena there has been the most actual change, at least superficially. Most of the debates in the last year have concerned domestic policy. The flavor of central planning we could always expect under Obama is a mixture of center-left Keynesianism, corporate socialism with an egalitarian veneer, and the machine-politics pragmatism of Chicago from whence his career was launched.

But libertarians, limited-government conservatives and anti-corporatist liberals should actually agree on one thing: Obama’s economic policy has been a disaster and a betrayal in practically every way.

We could tell there would mostly be continuity when Obama picked Timothy Geithner, who had been intimate in the Bush-Paulson Wall Street bailouts, as his Treasury Secretary. From then to Obama’s nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve another term as Fed Chairman, there has been little for anyone wanting actual "change" to celebrate.

First, a note on Obama’s style of governance. A product of a tech-savvy and youthful political movement, Obama repeatedly promised transparency, transparency, transparency. He said the deliberations with drug and insurance companies would be on C-SPAN. He said all non-emergency legislation would be online for five days for the public to read before it was voted on. He has broken these promises.

The first bill Obama ever signed, the Lilly Ledbetter "Equal Pay for Equal Work" law, was not put online as promised. Neither was the stimulus bill. And neither have all the health care talks been on C-Span, as he repeatedly promised. It is also difficult to find an excuse for why Obama’s website that showed where all the stimulus money was supposed to be creating jobs listed 440 Congressional districts that don’t even exist. This is the kind of mistake that is either the product of such brazen hubris, or such incompetence, that it makes even the most cynical opponent of government corruption scratch his head and laugh.

Now, in the case of the stimulus bill, Obama did claim it was an emergency. The cost of inaction was too great to delay action. "[A]t this particular moment, only government can provide the short term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe." He also said, "For every day we wait or point our fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs.  More families will lose their savings."

And how did that work out? As USA Today reported just recently:

Even before Barack Obama took the oath of office, his economic advisers projected that without hundreds of billions of dollars in government spending, the U.S. economy could lose another 3 million to 4 million jobs on top of the 3.1 million lost in 2008.

It turns out they were optimistic. Even with the $787 billion stimulus package that Obama signed in February, more than 4 million jobs have been lost in 2009, the worst year for job losses since World War II. The jobless rate that advisers projected would peak at 8% has topped 10%.

Early on, Obama gave us the auto bailouts that Bush probably would have had he continued serving in office, circumventing bankruptcy law, hurting creditors and essentially nationalizing the car industry. Now the Treasury tells us such "loans" are "highly unlikely to be recovered." Related to this of course was the Keynesian and Rooseveltian "Cash for Clunkers" program, an insane subsidy project whereby cars that could have been sold to people who actually could use them were destroyed wholesale in exchange for a voucher to buy a new car. Many of these new cars were foreign imports, even though the program was supposed to boost America’s auto industry. But all in all, what the program did was encourage Americans to either buy a car a little earlier or later than they would have anyway. The only tangible result is American taxpayers were ripped off and perfectly good cars were destroyed.

As far as old-fashioned spending goes, Obama is king. Last Spring, Obama unveiled an unfathomable $3.6 trillion budget with a $1.2 trillion deficit. The deficit is now nearly as large as the entire budget was when Bill Clinton took office in 1992. In real dollars, you can go back to the height of the Vietnam War, and the U.S. was still not spending as much as the U.S. is borrowing today. Talk about scary.

In terms of the general flavor of Obama’s domestic policy, it is generally the same welfare-state corporatism we have become all too familiar with. Those progressives who think the president is standing up to corporate interests should read Matt Taibbi to learn all about how Obama has only taken the Wall Street–Washington revolving door and widened it.

There is a new emphasis on regulation and welfarism that we did not get from Bush, but the shift has mainly been rhetorical. The corporatist nature of America’s mixed economy can be seen in Obamacare – where the insurance companies will have a captive market, thanks to the "individual mandate" that candidate Obama claimed he opposed – as well as in Cap and Trade, which will create a commodity market in the right to pollute (and that’s assuming you take the administration at its word that carbon dioxide is a pollutant).

Speaking of health care, the interventionist scope of Obama’s bill is deeply unsettling. By forcing people to buy insurance, the government will soon embark on a virtually unprecedented and unconstitutional intrusion into our personal lives. Meanwhile, keeping with the corporatism of the previous president, Obama’s FDA has successfully opposed the reimportation of cheap drugs, which Obama once supported, and his Department of Agriculture represents a continuation of the corporate-welfare subsidies and cartelization in farming we’ve seen over the years.

Overall, there has been a sharp acceleration of intervention at home. There is no doubt. Obama’s health-care plan represents a tax increase, which he claimed he would not impose on the middle class. This administration has banned flavored cigarettes, invaded the corporate boardroom, expanded the budget, buffed up the EPA and regulatory agencies, pushed for an "network neutrality" policy that would hand the internet over to the FCC, and on and on.

Read the entire article at LewRockwell.com.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

The Dismal Year

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: economics, Obama, politicians, politics

Related Content:

• Top 10 Disasters of the Obama Administration in 2009 (1)
• Demonstration Report from UT-Austin on August 9, 2010 (9)
• Why Every President Sucked (5)
• Why does the Tea Party support Scott Brown? (10)
• What are we so worried about again? (3)

Top 10 disasters of the 2009 Obama administration:

1. Cash for Clunkers
2. War escalation in Afghanistan
3. Giant government health care expansion bill
4. Post office loses money hand over fist
5. Stimulus package
6. Expansion of "state secrets" doctrine
7. Big increase in unemployment
8. "Bailout" Geithner as Treasury Secretary
9. Skyrocketing federal spending
10. Huge federal deficits

Now wait a second, doesn’t this sound familiar? Hmm…

Top 10 disasters of the 2001-2008 Bush administration:

1. Cash for Car Companies
2. War in Iraq
3. Giant Medicare expansion bill
4. Post office loses money hand over fist
5. Stimulus "rebate" checks
6. PATRIOT Act
7. Big increase in unemployment
8. "Bailout" Paulson as Treasury Secretary
9. Skyrocketing federal spending
10. Huge federal deficits

Wes Benedict, Libertarian Party Executive Director, commented:

"Republicans and Democrats keep expanding government and creating more and more problems. We’re encouraging as many Libertarians as possible to run for Congress in 2010. In Texas, the state with the earliest filing deadline, Libertarians have already filed for 31 of 32 Congressional seats."

Another article you might want to check out is by Mary Ruwart, one of my favorite libertarians — How Liberty Makes Health Care Virtually Universal.

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

Top 10 Disasters of the Obama Administration in 2009

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: bush, economics, Obama, politics, universal health care, war

Related Content:

• GW’s Presidential Review (0)
• 5 Predictions for 2009 (0)
• The Dismal Year (1)
• Simple Arguments Against the Iraq War (4)
• ObamaCare finishes what LBJ started (0)

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

What are we so worried about again?

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: economics, Obama, socialism, video

Related Content:

• The Full Socialization of America is Nigh (0)
• Universal Health Care is the new Post Office (3)
• Top 10 Disasters of the Obama Administration in 2009 (1)
• The Dismal Year (1)
• Speedlinking Friday: Food for Thought (0)

I think I may scream. Hold on a second…

…

Ok, I’m done now.

Fine, so Obama talked a little about peace and changing stuff during his campaign. He has upon occasion criticized the war in Iraq. Yet, since he took office, peace has grown ever more distant. There is no other verdict to draw from his actions other than we are under Bush Number 3. As I have noted in various ways here, here, and here, Obama has not come close to acting like a President interested in peace. I even predicted some of the things that he has done (or not done). In fact, his egregious actions against peace are so numerous at this point it hasn’t even been worth cataloguing in blog posts. Just watch the news for a while or read Antiwar.com. Seriously.

But really, REALLY, would you ever expect someone interested in peace to…

• Not even supporting the rescinding of the Patriot Act (much less actually getting rid of it)
• Not stopping illegal wire-tapping
• Say you’re going to close Guantanamo Bay, but then move the prisoners to other secret prison locations?
• Say you’re against torture, yet not stop the practice of it
• Appoint ultimate war hawk Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State
• Send 20,000 more troops to Afghanistan (with room for more), escalating a conflict that cannot end
• Supports intervention in Darfur
• Supporting bills that allow for the President to shut down the internet at his discretion for a “cyber-security emergency,” while at the same time criticizing Iran for censoring Twitter.
• Escalating Federal spending on defense

The only thing Obama has done right for peace – and only thus far has he done it right – is to keep the United States out of Iran. And who knows, even that might come to a close sooner or later.

Perhaps this should not come as a surprise, however. The Nobel committee did give the Peace Prize last year to someone who likes to scare people into thinking they’re all going to die from the sun. At least the hawkish conservatives who believe that “war is peace” can be pleased that finally someone is getting recognized right – support war, get a Peace Prize.

We live in a bizarro world, folks, when you can get an Economics Prize for supporting the destruction of an economy (Paul Krugman), a Peace Prize for frightening people (Al Gore), and now a Peace Prize for supporting war (Obama). Of course, Hans Hermann Hoppe once said that to win a Nobel Peace Prize, one should be a mass murderer — or at least that helps. You’re well on your way, Barry…

Post from: LibertarianChristians.com

A Peace Prize for a War Hawk

Please support LCC by sharing this post on your favorite social network.

Tags: Afghanistan, iran, iraq, Obama, war, war on terror

Related Content:

• Podcast: The President’s Prayer (0)
• Mission Accomplished, Obama-Style (0)
• How to Promote Peace in Your Church (7)
• Everything you need to know about the Wikileaks Afghanistan Leak (11)
• Simple Arguments Against the Iraq War (4)