The Classic Liberal Blog

The Obama "stimulus" bill is already working to stimulate growth in jobs ... in China, that is ...

The U.S. Agency for International Development, which has handed out over 10 billion "made in the U.S.A." condoms, has decided to buy them from China and South Korea instead. This move will cost some 300 American jobs.

As we talked about the other day, the government is targeting Americans who believe in individual rights and a constitutionally limited-government, and labeling them as terrorists.  Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) is not backing down from this blatant attack on free speech either!

In defense of this very bizarre federal profiling report, which advises cops to be on the lookout for people who gasp ... own gold, fly the American flag, or support Rep. Ron Paul (R). Here's what Nixon had to say:

Getting information, especially public information, out of our fusion center out to local law enforcement agencies is what we do every day and we're going to continue to do.  Any way they take that information and can analyze what the threat levels are is important to make sure the public stays safe.

In the mean time ... the House of Representatives just passed the Obama/Hitler Youth Bill! Believing that "we don't need no stinkin' freedom," the bill introduces government slavery to our formerly free nation.

Among the many disturbing parts of this bill, is that "service learning" will be "a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency," as well as containing provisions for uniforms.

Speaking of the federal government preparing their Marxist civilian army ... Todd Seavey is looking forward to seeing the documentary Indocrinate U this evening.  The film investigates the double-standards used to silence right-wing speech, while at the same time promoting left-wing totalitarian speech.  Sounds like something all Americans must see!

On a lighter note, Todd also directs us to the video below.  In a movie shot during the height of the New Deal, Bob Hope reminds us of the power and persuasion of humor!

As the Democrats continue to march America down The Road to Serfdom, the Republican Party continues to pander, rather than fight.  The "moderate" Republicans who started this march, and subsequently got their ass handed to them in the elections for doing so, still prefer their Big Government agenda!

As Paul Ibrahim says, "the conservative stars in Congress didn't seem passionate about bringing in more conservatives at the cost of unseating liberal Republicans." I guess as far as they're concerned, the Establishment comes first.

What exactly is a "moderate Republican" anyways?  I'll tell you ... it's somebody who wants to talk about limited-government and low-taxes, but really believes in growing the Leviathan at the expense of the individual.  In other words ... a liar!

Now, I'm fully aware that there's a lot of "wedge" issues not only dividing conservatives, but like garlic to a vampire, literally chasing the libertarians away.  That said though, in order to form a new and successful "fusion" to defeat the Washington Monstrosity, we need to focus on the areas in which we all agree - cutting spending, reducing regulation, and lowering taxes!

In regards to the conservative divide, Robert Stacy McCain gets it! As he says:

OK, so let me address Dr. Douglas's comment about conservatism and the electoral necessity of the Republican Party mounting more than an appeal to homo economicus. This is true, but what is that "something else" we all agree on? And given that Obamanomics is driving the nation to ruin -- It Won't Work -- why is that "something else" so important that we must agree on it now?

The argument for economic liberty has the tremendous merit of being true. We know that, ceteris parabus, a free economy is a more prosperous economy in the same way that we know the force of gravity to be 32 feet per second squared. This is a fact, and all effort to convince us otherwise is therefore a lie, and anyone who prefers lies to facts is a fool.

So when David Brooks conjured up his "National Greatness" nonsense, trying to convince Republicans congressional leaders that their idea of limiting government for the sake of economic freedom was a bad thing -- "Oh, those horrid anti-government populists!" -- the conclusion that any honest and informed person should have reached was: David Brooks is either a liar or a fool.

And Todd Seavey addresses the libertarians:

... despite all the talk of a conservative crack-up. We need libertarians and conservatives to set aside and downplay their differences and focus on opposing the apocalyptic levels of government spending we're now seeing (and likely accompanying upsurge in regulation), in much the same way Grover Norquist previously tried to keep them focused on tax cuts. They have to stay focused as though the final battle has arrived. And perhaps it has.

But don't get me wrong: I'm OK with incorporating the "liberaltarian" project into this one, if the liberaltarians are willing to drop the whole idea that the conservatives are the real enemy. Anyone focused on cutting spending and stopping regulation is the coalition, regardless of what they call themselves or how they intuited their way there philosophically, right? Whether Jesus or Rawls or even Ganesh told them to reduce government and favor commerce, we're then headed in the right direction - and we can't really afford to be too picky at this point.

I think that demands, though, a sort of truce based not on looking for apparent foundational-philosophical commonalities but on seeing who puts their money where their mouth is and really opposes spending and regulation.

Meanwhile, as the Republican Party continues to ignore its base to "tweet" their way into "hip-hop" fame ... the most conservative and consistent beacon of freedom in Congress, Rep. Ron Paul, remains the one Republican that Republicans don't like.

"Moderates" Bush and McCain brought America the "compassionate conservatism" of prescription drugs and TARP, while Paul continues to take the opposite approach, digging into the heart of America's problems - a federal government with too much power, and a run-away Federal Reserve!

So while the Democrats were putting their incompetence on display by staging a circus-show starring the AIG bonuses, Rep. Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1207, Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009.

To amend title 31, United States Code, to reform the manner in which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is audited by the Comptroller General of the United States and the manner in which such audits are reported, and for other purposes.