If this is what you really believe then I would urge you to support a limited federal government in all matters.

The issue is this: If you give them the power to regulate X, they invariably regulate Y and Z. On the other hand if you do not want Z to be regulated then you may have to settle for X and Y going unregulated as well. It's not to say your state government could not be more proactive. Invariably power over one object extends to power over other objects until power over all things is obtained. Just consider the velocity US policy in the 20th century.

So, if you do not want your morals controlled you may have to give up federal control of say education and healthcare. Let the states handle it. There is something to be said about 50 competing solutions. Eventually someone will get it right. On the other hand if we have a single solution and get it wrong... It really makes for a mess. I believe any inefficiencies are made up for by the robustness of a decentralized solution.

I would urge you to read the Constitution and see if those words justify: 1) Any of the bailout nonsense, including the take over of GM. 3) Marijuana prohibition. 4) A central bank. 5) Universal healthcare or indeed medicare or medicaid.

For what it's worth I agree whole heartedly with you about MJ. It can be harmful. Hell, you may eventually get lung cancer from smoking it someday, but (at least in my eyes) you own yourself and you are as free to make your own decisions as you are free to deal with their consequences.

Anyway, please think how control begets more control.

These rules are not being written by the legislative branch of government. What exactly is the US Sentencing Commission anyway? What are non-congressional bodies doing making laws? Congress is not empowered to delegate its power to write laws.

The government shouldn't pick winners and losers regardless of what the perception of the technology is. No government loans for Tesla. No government loans for GM. The Public Private Partnerships smack of fascism.

So don't do business with them.

You pay for electricity, what's so weird about paying for the bits you download?

Similar thing happened in Missouri recently. See : http://www.unitedliberty.org/articles/ron-paul-supporters-terrorists

The government is out of control... They should not be calling out places/groups/persons that express dissent. But this is what is happening. Hell it's been happening for decades, but that doesn't justify it... COINTELPRO?

If you don't mind me asking, what country do you live in? How does it measure up in terms of liberty and property rights?

You live in US? What state? I'm in Michigan.

Are you aware of the Campaign for Liberty (www.campaignforliberty.com)?

Here's what has to happen:

The people whose schools these are, if its a big enough issue to them, need to oust their school board, and make sure that "zero tolerance" policies are sane, and that administrators are held accountable. (i.e. The school board should immediately dismiss the folks that were involved in this incident. Period. No bullshit. No second chances.)

We can not expect our problems to be solved top-down by nine despots in robes.

Real change comes from the bottom-up. Don't like your government school system, think the education they provide stinks, think the people who run them are incompetent corrupt assholes? Get involved. Get rid of them.

Things have gotten to be the way they are because good people have essentially ignored their responsibility to hold public officials accountable. Many times good people have avoided getting involved altogether just because its messy business. They have assumed someone else would handle things. Of course, it seems that those who have typically volunteered to handle things have been some of our society's worst.

Seriously, it's time to start a bottom-up movement to take this country back. It's time to hold our elected officials and appointed officials accountable. It's time to demand self-responsibility of those around us and to let those who will not be responsible suffer the consequences of their actions.

You take your backyard. I'll take mine.

Play time is over.

Which is sort of proof positive that it didn't actually work. Every panic/depression prior to the 30s was cleaned up in a matter of years.

Even Roosevelt's own Treasury Secretary admitted that nothing they did worked.

Keynesianism is just a favorite of politicians because it supports power grabs.

That's what they say on CNN and Fox.

Funny thing, the "theory" that backs it up has never worked in practice.

That's what some folks say.

Others say that the path we're on now leads to hyper-inflation, loss of liberty, plus what you mention. Except that it happens over a longer period of time. Keynesianism has never worked in practice.

I did, didn't I? Sorry. My mistake. Things do seem to be accelerating though.

Yeah, I second that one. $165 million is chump change compared to what AIG has taken from the government. They should have been allowed to fail, claim chapter 11 or chapter 7 if it came to that.

But again, Paulson was looking out for his buddies.

Welcome to the Fascist States of America

Tufte looks interesting.

This whole government stimulus/bailout stuff is just a multi-trillion dollar boondoggle designed to enrich the already filthy rich at the expense of the populace. Ultimately it will do more harm than good. Wait for the hyper-inflation...

Anyway, the theory (if you can even call it that) used to justify this whole scam has never been proven to work in practice. In fact, every time its been applied it has failed.

Actually it is does do one good thing, at least for those in power. It allows them a helluva lot more power.