I am full time college student and six year army veteran. I am the owner of a very small seasonal business. I relate closesly to the libertarian side of politics because people are entitled to their successes and failures and I don't believe government should be in the business of selecting the successful or protecting from failure.
Recent Comments
Agreed
This shows that we don't always need the government in order to help people and it is good to see the money helping people directly and not being passed through a couple of greesy palms first.
Decisive Victory?
Mitt Romney got essentially the same amount of the vote that he got in 2008 if not less. The only state that Romney has had a gain in over 2008 is Florida. With the amount of time and money Romney has spent campaigning I think the numbers that have come out of these first 5 contests shows Romney is not increasing his support at all, which is a bad sign for republicans who want to defeat Obama. If he cant win people over in his own party with mass expenditures how exactly will he win people over in the general election?
"The goal of Democrats is to
"The goal of Democrats is to help people, to bring them up out of poverty, to help them become self-sufficient; to help those who cannot help themselves". Good intentions dont always produce good results.
"Not everyone is able to achieve the goal of progressing out of poverty into a self-supporting job, but many do, and that is well-documented". Many can support themselves yet do to the apathy created by dependance choose to do nothing.
"The need for a single-payer, efficient and fair health care system is obvious". Government intervention stagnates innovation. Healthcare services are a work product of others, I will never understand what makes people feel entitled to other peoples time and money at the governments dictate.
After Florida under 5% of the
After Florida under 5% of the delegates are appointed. The story after each primary has been how it is all over. There is still 95% of the game left. Does anyone shut off a football game because their team is down by a field goal 3 minutes in? There has been an attempt to crown Romney the winner since Iowa, yet he has only won one state so far and it was the population centers close to Mass. (where he was governor)that carried him to victory.
"we MUST make it clear that
"we MUST make it clear that when the &*$# hits the fan we will side with Israel". Agreed but if &*$# did hit the fan congress would most likey declare war on the nation or nations involved and a President Paul would take our country to war win it and come home and other nations would be aware of this. This should always be the stance of the United States. We fight when the nation, not one man, feels that we have to. We are the strongest and most well equiped military in the world and other nations know that and do not want to go to war with us even if we are stationed a little further away at home.
I wont bother to argue any
I wont bother to argue any points with you the juvinile tone of your statement tells me I would be waisting my time.
Sorry
You are absolutely correct I did misquote him.
I would refer you to Netenyahu's speech before congress where he states that Isreal does not need the US to defend them and they can defend themselves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_ECgLpwPg4
As far as the rest of his foreign policy, the president does not have the authority to unilaterally attack another nation war is declared by congress. We are not in the cold war and we posses the technology to defend ourselves without being an empire that dictates to and occupies other nations.
Thank you for the respectful tone and I do appreciate the insights but when Ron Paul is stating that we should do for isreal exactly what Isreal is asking of us what is the problem?
I read it.
The author claims ron paul does not believe Isreal has a right to exist. In 1981 Ron Paul refused to support a resolution condemning Isreal for attacking an Iranian nuclear facility citing their right as a soveriegn nation to defend themselves. The author continued on as a staffer long after he learned of what he says are Dr. Pauls views. Why would he choose to work for him for all of those years and now decry the "views" of Dr. Paul. I will stick with what I have heard Dr. Paul say and write and a long track record that does not fit what this author has written.
I find it hard to believe
I find it hard to believe that taken in context Dr. Paul has said in uncertain terms he would not defend Isreal. He does not like to speak in certaintees, which I have heard him say, and also believes strongly that it is congress that declaires war and the president is commander in chief of the forces. What could be more common sense than that?
When I was a small child before I can remember Reagan called One Trillion dollars an unfathomable number now we run that up in debt every year and there is absolutely no sign of it slowing down. When I hear Mitt Romney say "we will have a military so strong no one will want to challenge us" I worry what that means. With 865 bases around the globe not including those in Afghanistan and Iraq what does a stronger military mean. While the democrats compromise to spend money on the populace and their corporate freinds the republicans compromise to spend on the military and their corporate friends and all the while nobody seems to worry we are going to leave those that come after us completely defensless because they will be crushed with debt and unable to fund a strong defense.
I am a Ron Paul supporter
Mr. Lachance,
I would like to say that one should not judge a candidate by the words of those that support them. And I think it is the responsibility of those that support Ron Paul as well as others to refrain from name calling and attacking peoples opinions while attempting to inform about their understanding of the candidates policies.
On the issue of Isreal I believe we do an injustice to Isreal by acting like a big brother to them and telling them how to handle their own affairs. We should be an ally to Isreal but not send them money or try to interfere in their relations. Isreal has the ability to defend themselves considering they have over 100 nuclear weapons and are the only nation in the region that can make such a claim. One thing that seems to be glossed over is that Dr. Paul wants to end the foreign aid to Isreals enemies as well.
Do some research
He has accepted responsibility for those statements being published under his name. There were over 200 publications of said newsletters with six of them containing racist or other defamitory statements only one letter is normally cited and was a special edition with a guest editor. Considering he did not write or edit the material maybe you should look to something he wrote or said to defame his character. He has written 11 books spoken for countless speeches and I challenge you to find one instance of him being "racist, anti-Semitic, and bigoted" using his words.
Throwing charges of racism against a man who treated poor minority people for free as a doctor without accepting medicare or medicade is not only disgusting but shows an inabitlity to attack him on his stance on issues. Those statements may have slipped through in his newsletter because he was to busy being a doctor and studying economics.
Nothing is decided
Unless the rest of the nations republican electorate allow it to be so. Mitt Romney has less than 1% of the delegates he needs to win the nomination. If New Hampshire and Iowa decide who the nominee will be it is only because the rest of the electorate allows themselves to be lead around by their nose.
I think that the idea of
I think that the idea of having a way to help people that would like quit smoking is fine, but these ciggarrette taxes are a blatant end run around outlawing them. It seems for those that dislike the idea of someone else smoking it is the goal to tax people into submition. This is a scary sentiment for respecting the rights of individuals to make their own decisions, considering that someday maybe those on high will dictate that something that another group that is not the majority is doing is wrong and makes an attempt to tax them into their way of thinking as well.
Thank you for the informative
Thank you for the informative discussion and you have a wonderful day as well.
The market is not a creation of the government
A market exists whenever I have something that someone wants and they in turn have something I want. The only reason we have money is so that we dont have to barter because it would be very burdensome. When the money is attatched to absolutely nothing then it has no inherant value only the traders belief in its value gives it value. You seem very knowledgable about the monetary system and markets and am surprised you do not see the house of cards that our US and world economy is currently built on.
You are right there is no
You are right there is no longer a free market because with government subsidy and regulation it stomps out the unconnected from having opportunity.
The Fed is a private bank that prints our money without oversight. Congress used to dictate how many troy onces could be redeemed for a certain amount of money which would be truly regulating the value of money. The value of your money now is based on other peoples misplaced confidence in worthless paper.
If you think that the federal
If you think that the federal government is an efficient allocator of resources I do not know how to convince you otherwise the waste is there for all to see. I dont think you will find many economists that believe the government is more efficient than the market.
To dismiss the ever decreasing adherance to the standard as a factor is also illogical.
Our adherence to a gold standard allowed all of the other currencies to essentially work on the same standard by pegging them to the dollar.
Have you seen congress take any votes to change the value of your money? Then why has it changed? Because congress no longer regulates the value of money.
And thank you for the reply. Always enjoy an informed discussion.
Cutting the federal budget is
Cutting the federal budget is not deflationary because it leaves the money in the hands of the market to be allocated more efficiently or we can just keep having $250,000 volts. Our economic growth has slowed on a long term perspective as we moved away from the gold standard since 1913 and because they did not require 100% backing they kept printing money. Then in 1970 when they couldnt print more because they couldnt meet the 40% minimum requirement Nixon removed the gold standard altogether. Gold as a currency has been around for thousands of years and this experiment of fiat currency does not have the same track record. The reason that The dollar became the currency others were tied to is due to the gold standard and removing it is why the dollar has lost its sway in international trade. The us dollar is worth 98% less than in 1913. What will the dollar be worth in 2113 will there still be any trust in it, will it still exist? In just 100 yrs we have gone from a redemable currency to something that is backed by absolutely nothing issued by a private organization that answers to who?
"Give me control over a nations currency, and I care not who makes its laws.”
Baron M.A. Rothschild
Ron Paul a racist?
I would think someone like that would support Ron Paul because they like having the right to be a racist. Ron Paul does not support racists but like anyone who has sworn an oath to the constitution he will defend someones right to be one. Support of the constitution and not being a worldwide dictator does not make a presidential candidate a crank.
As far as his newsletters he did not write them and the whole history is well explained at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0hpiwfM2qo&feature=related
It takes effort and resources
It takes effort and resources to develop medical equipment, medicine, medical facilities and medical personnel. For some reason people think they are entitled to benifit from the investment of effort and resources of others for no reason other than it exists so why shouldnt they have it.
I can understand the state providing basic medical care like setting a broken bone or antibiotics to fight a simple infection. For people to feel entitled to things like CAT Scans, MRI's, dialisis, organ replacements, or any other advancement that came about through other peoples effort and investment is rediculous. Where do people think these advancements would come from if there was no expectation of a return for investment or effort?
When the government subsidizes anything it causes that thing to have lower quality at a higher price.
One suggestion for saving money would be for the state to only provide care that has been available for more than 15 years which would allow people basic care without breaking the bank.
What is the message here?
If you are unable to provide for yourself have kids you can not afford or we can not help you.
Police Training
I am not a police officer but from my understanding they are only supposed to use their firearm when their is an imminent threat to themselves or someone else. When that imminent threat is present it would not be appropriate to aim at limbs. No matter what a tv show shows you the best way to hit a target is to aim for center mass because there is less chance of missing and allowing the target to hurt or kill someone innocent with return fire. Disabling and not killing someone with a well placed shot only happens in the movies.
I have been having trouble
I have been having trouble figuring out if the one in front of Walmart is the same one as in front of Denny's regularly. Pan handling seems to be a good enough profit to keep them coming back regularly either way.
The Mob used to do the same
The Mob used to do the same thing. Give us money and we will provide you protection from us. No one is entitled to the money earned from the sweat of another no matter how hard their life is. I also was not intending to imply you as an individual are cowardly, just that to use the logic of if we don't provide them with a job or food and shelter that they will take from those who have it to justify providing every basic human need is playing on fear of not being able to defend one's self from having your property violated. I have made good and bad decisions in my life and have recieved the consequences for both types of decisions and when I make bad decisions I do not expect the rest of society to make sure it is all ok for me.
There is no reasonable explanation for this
Sexually assault a child and no jailtime? At the same time people are in jail for driving cars (without the states permission), and for non-violent drug offenses. This child will be dealing with the repercussions for the rest of their life while the offender get's to move on with their life after one year of probation The prosecutor should be proud.
So, your saying we better
So, your saying we better give them stuff or they will just take it? That seems to be a rather cowardly approach. Maybe the government can stop giving them stuff and all the people who work can defend themselves and each other from their "tendency to wrest it from others".
What a shock!!!
Your actions in life have consequences. Making good decisions like going to college or the military make you more employable and breaking the law resulting in a criminal record makes you less employable. Each individual is influenced by their previous experience's if those experiences include taking the life of another person or stealing what someone else has earned your resume might not stand out in a positive light. I love the quote “I want to work, When I’m home, I sleep most of the time because there’s nothing else to do.” Maybe less sleeping and more job hunting or volunteering would be the way to go.
NCLB
Whenever I read an opinion letter chastising NCLB it never fails to mention how teachers have to spend all their class time teaching to the test. If that is the case why do so many schools still fall short on the same tests that so much of the valuable class time is spent on.
This was a program from the private sector
According to the Libra Foundations home page "The Libra Foundation is a private foundation established by Elizabeth B. Noyce which became active in June, 1989". So the argument you are attemting to make just doesnt hold water in this case. I do hope however that private organizations will continue to support kid's ability to participate in summer camp programs in the future.
Free Market will handle that...
With consumers becoming ever more environmentally and economically concious there is a demand for more fuel efficient vehicles already. Since it is the goal of businesses to address the desire of the consumer in their products (to increase demand for their product)car manufacturers will continuosly make improvements in the area of gas mileage without government interferance and regulation. If some manufacturers choose not to increase the gas mileage of their vehicles then those companies will fail to deliver what the consumer desires and fail to prosper and eventually go out of business. If a majority wants something they don't need the goverment to do it, they just need to make purchases based on what they desire and business will comply or fail.
I'd have to disagree
Mr Breton,
I don't think everyone who doesn't want to pay union fees are freeloaders. Could it be that they feel they have skills and value to provide their employer that allow them to negotiate their own pay and benifits without giving any of it to a union? An employees customer is their employer the more value that they can deliver to their customer the more they can charge just like businesses. Using the logic of unions all products in a category should be sold at the same price regardless of how efficient and usefull they are. As far as all non-union workers working for minimum wage, there are many people working for non-union businesses that make more than minimum wage and their employer is free to provide them compensation based on the value they ad to the business.
Nail on the head
You are absolutely correct that retirement can last 25-30 years for some. With the average life expectancy working its way up to 80 years old the idea that retiring after working for 30 years should be over unless u have earned enough to pay your own way. If people continue to live longer and contribute the same amount of productive years the math for taking care of everyone living longer does not work, even if every able bodied individual worked a full thirty years. We are guaranteed life, liberty and the persuit of happiness, we are not guaranteed food, clothing, shelter, meds, or an easy aging process.