FREE WHITEWATER

Monthly Archives: October 2008

Holiday

Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater 2008

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Here’s the FREE WHITEWATER list of the scariest things in Whitewater for 2008. Last year’s edition is available for comparison.

The list runs in reverse order, from mildly frightening to horrifying.

10. Nostalgia. Why is it necessary to describe everything today as a reminder of what some small, humble person in town did forty three years, seven months, and four days ago? Not merely describe it that way, but likely see it that way — so that the present is only visible through a hodgepodge of scenes from the past?

9. Temporal Imperialism. Much worse than seeing everything though a sepia-colored lens, is the idea that everything was better way-back-when. Yes, yes, I am sure that you think everyone in Whitewater was out of Norman Rockwell decades ago, as though that were a better life. They weren’t, it wasn’t, and it’s all just so much self-flattery and self-deception to think so.

8. Cheerleaders. Not just silly, but wrong, is the idea that the best a politician can do for this community is to be a cheerleader for it. A serious man would be humiliated to think this way, but it passes for profound here. If it makes so much sense to think this way, then why not dress the part, for the full effect? I’ll spring for the costume — just email your address to adams@freewhitewater.com. I won’t even charge for shipping.

7. Jaywalkers. Why even bother with an explanation — isn’t it obvious that these no-good, lawbreaking punks are a problem that should be restrained through easier ticketing? Fine away!

6. Squirrels. They’re still walking freely around here. A whole year, and what’s been done? Nothing — these beady-eyed demons should have been stopped long ago. Yet, our local politicians have done nothing. Set a few coyotes out in the downtown, and the problem will be solved.

5. Markets. Why have buyers and sellers, freely choosing, when you can have regulators, picking and deciding for us?

Leave it to the super-smart politicians on Council. You hush up, they’ll run Whitewater for you.

4. Conflicts of Interest. Like poltergeists, they’re invisible here. No one in Whitewater has ever seen a conflict of interest. One cannot see what is so easily rationalized and wished away.

Politicians and press, sycophantic friends on boards, etc. — they’re not conflicts if the town fathers insist that they’re not. It’s just that simple. Houdini couldn’t make things disappear so quickly.

3. Parental Homeowners. People from sick, disgusting communities like Waukesha, New Berlin, and Whitefish Bay are buying homes in Whitewater for their college-attending children. Can’t you stop this, town fathers? They’ve made our neighbors a wasteland, dead, Dead, DEAD!

2. Foreign Homeowners. Did you know, really did you, that there are — right here in our midst — foreign homeowners? Yes, not even God-fearing, red-blooded American parents, but people who grew up beyond our Republic. Worse, they came here. Worse still — nearly unbearable — some of them bought property in our very city.

Any other community would be happy to have willing buyers — for Whitewater, it’s an invasion.

By the way, who were all the ancestors of the local residents of our community, a few generations ago? Were their villages in Europe communities of milk and honey, streets paved with gold, fair maidens everywhere, in Germany or Scandinavia?

No, I think not — why leave if that were so?

My best guess — some vulgar, dark European rat’s nest, an overweight woman milking a scrawny cow, and not a bar of soap to be seen within a hundred miles.

They arrive here, and suddenly they’re all transformed into local versions of the Vanderbilts.

1. The Police and Fire Commission. Last year’s Number 1 was our police chief, and a year of even greater buffoonery places him as a permanent, Hall of Fame member. For this year, it’s the worst, most embarrassing board or commission in the city. Suitable for any small, reactionary town, the PFC never fails to act as a living cliché.

Why, by the way, the conjunction AND in the Commission’s title? It serves no purpose.

The PFC is a B-movie version of a rubber-stamp body, in contrast with the good and open traditions of our state.

Film these meetings, and we’ll have our own horror-movie industry, suitable for this or any other Halloween.

Uncategorized

The Argument for Rational Voter Knowledge

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Yesterday, I posted on the serious, if unpopular argument, for Rational Voter Ignorance. Are there, even beyond opposing arguments, other options for voters and society? Yes, of course.

A few quick points — these being ones that interest me for Whitewater, specifically —

1. Political Ignorance Isn’t Rational in Whitewater, as Our Election Results are Often Close.

Voters can make a difference in Whitewater. Many of our local elections are close, with districts being decided locally by only several handfuls of votes, in a city with thousands of voters. Consider that our local results have been within two votes between winner and defeated candidate, or are uncontested, or are often decided by far less than 100 votes.

These close results reveal the self-gratifying myth on behalf of local incumbency — that it represents some sort of mandate, etc. No — many races are decided by small margins or totals, or without any opposition, and then incumbents claim a mandate from on High.

It is easy to believe what one wants to believe.

A few more voters in local races, informed and motivated, would make a great difference here.

2. Rational Voter Ignorance Produces an Irrational Society, Itself a Risk to the Individual.

Somin makes this point, himself:

In the political realm, on the other hand, widespread rational ignorance helps to spread conspiracy theory in two ways. First, the more ignorant you are about politics and economics, the more plausible simple conspiracy theory explanations of events are likely to seem. If you don’t understand basic economics, you are more likely to believe that rising oil prices are caused by a conspiracy among oil companies or that the subprime crisis was caused by a conspiracy among banks. If you don’t understand the basic workings of our political system, you are more likely to swallow the idea that the federal government could carry out something like the 9/11 attack and then (falsely) blame it on Osama Bin Laden without the truth being quickly exposed through leaks and hostile media coverage.

We are a community filled with asinine conspiracy theories, suspicions, etc. Some of these men and women are closer to children than mature adults, their self-certainty only confirming the condition.

3. An Informed Electorate is Better Check Against Self-Interested Politicians.

I strongly believe that incumbents’ self-justification of many actions as ‘in the public interest,’ or ‘for the common good,’ is just rationalization for their own continued tenure. It’s absurd to believe — no matter how much they insist — that ordinary self-interest is repealed once they’ve taken office. They are ordinary people in the grip of self-interest as are all others.

A check against their rationalizations is better made from and by an informed citizenry.

If that’s not true here, in Whitewater, then nothing’s true here.

For a much longer discussion of some of these points, and others more detailed, see Jeffrey Friedman’s “Public Ignorance and Democracy.”

Ignorance is the last thing we need here, sadly. It’s just too high a price to pay, locally (and so easily changed in a town of thin margins).

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: October 30, 2008

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Good morning, Whitewater

In Whitewater today, at 7:00 p.m., there’s meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals at the municipal building.

In our schools today, there’s no school. Play.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for a sunny day with a balmy high temperature of 63 degrees. The Farmers’ Almanac continues a multi-day series prediction that it will be “cold and dry just in time for trick or treaters.”

Yesterday’s better prediction: Even — like yesterday, more vital information from the NWS, but otherwise correct on both counts.

In Wisconsin History on this date, in 1914, from the Wisconsin Historical Society comes a proud report that the first 4-H Club in Wisconsin was organized:

On this date the Linn Junior Farmers Club in Walworth County was organized. This club was started five months after Congress passed the Smith-Lever Act which created the Cooperative Extension Service whereby federal, state, and county governments participate in the county agent system.

Coming Tomorrow for Halloween: the 2008 Edition of Boo! Scariest Things in Whitewater. Last year’s edition is available for ready comparison.

Uncategorized

The Argument for Rational Voter Ignorance

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In this contentious election season (and what elections are not?), what to make of the case for rational voter ignorance, that being informed about candidates and issues is of slight value, and may rationally, sensibly be ignored?

Today, I’ll briefly set out the case that proponents of the concept make. Tomorrow, I’ll reply to it. Make no mistake, it’s a serious, and not a trivial argument. Those who advance it are hardly foolish, but are themselves rational, sober, intelligent.

Ilya Somin of the George Mason School of Law sets out the argument for rational ignorance:

Voters do not have to be policy wonks to make an informed decision. Sometimes they can get by through the use of what scholars call “information shortcuts,” relying on small bits of information as a substitute for deeper knowledge. For example, even if a voter knows nothing about Candidate X as an individual, a lot of useful information about X’s policy positions can be derived simply from knowing what party he belongs to. But lack of basic knowledge is difficult to overcome through shortcuts. Knowing that a candidate is a Democrat is only useful information to a voter if he or she has some idea of what positions the Democrats stand for, how they differ from the Republicans, and what the likely effects of their competing policy proposals are.

Why Political Ignorance is Rational

It is tempting to conclude that voters must be lazy or stupid. But even a smart and hardworking person can rationally decide not to pay much attention to political information. No matter how well-informed a citizen is, one vote has only a tiny chance of affecting the outcome of an election; about one chance in 100 million in the case of a presidential race. As a result, even a citizen who cares a great deal about public policy has little incentive to acquire sufficient knowledge to make an informed choice. Becoming a well-informed voter is, in most situations, simply irrational. Unfortunately, the rational decisions of individuals create a dysfunctional collective outcome in which the majority of the electorate is dangerously ill-informed.

People who can influence politics in ways beyond casting a vote and those who simply find politics interesting might learn about it for perfectly rational reasons. Political professionals such as lobbyists and interest group leaders have strong incentives to become informed. But few of us are influential activists, or otherwise have political clout that goes beyond the power of the vote. And most Americans find politics far less interesting than other forms of entertainment. Polls show that many more people know the names of the judges on “The People’s Court” than those on the Supreme Court. A March 2006 survey revealed that 52% of Americans can name two or more characters from the Simpsons, but only 28% can name two or more First Amendment rights.

(Note: Somin does not advocate ignorance — he simply observes that in elections it may be rational.)

A podcast in which Somin sets out the argument of rational ignorance is available at Cato:

So, if Somin’s right generally — and he himself is knowledgeable and personally informed — why learn about candidates, issues, blog on politics, support the League, etc?

Tomorrow: Arguments in Favor of an Informed Electorate.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: October 29, 2008

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Good morning, Whitewater

In the city today, at 6:30 p.m., there’s a special budget meeting of the Common Council at the municipal building, rescheduled from yesterday. The agenda for the meeting is available online.

Earlier, at 5 p.m., the Community Development Housing Authority’s Housing Committee will meet at the municipal building.

In our schools today, it’s VIP day at Lincoln School, and there is a 6 p.m. Halloween Party at Lakeview School.

The National Weather Service predicts that today be sunny (no ‘mostly’ involved), with a high temperature of 51 degrees. The Farmers’ Almanac ends the month with a new multi-day series prediction that it will be “cold and dry just in time for trick or treaters.”

Yesterday’s better prediction: Even — more detail from the NWS, but otherwise similar predictions.

In history today, Wired reports that it’s the anniversary of the day in 1675 on which “Leibniz Sums It All Up.” The skinny from Wired on Leibniz:

Gottfried Leibniz writes the integral sign in an unpublished manuscript, introducing the calculus notation that’s still in use today.

Leibniz was a German mathematician and philosopher who readily crossed the lines between academic disciplines. He had a doctorate in law, served as secretary of the Nuremberg alchemical society and fancied himself a poet.

He also conducted diplomatic missions in London and Paris. While visiting those cities, Leibniz acquainted himself with such scientific luminaries as Christiaan Huygens, Robert Boyle, Robert Hook, John Pell and Jacques Ozanam. He showed an unfinished calculating machine to the Royal Society, which elected him a fellow.

Never mind the wig — Leibniz was sharp where it mattered.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: October 28, 2008

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UPDATE 5:57 PM: Council Meeting has been rescheduled for 10/29.

Good morning, Whitewater

Tonight, Downtown Whitewater, Inc. will be celebrating a birthday.
Tuesday October 28, 2008 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Cravath Lake Front Building. (More information about Downtown Whitewater is available at www.downtownwhitewater.com.)

In the city today, at 6:30 p.m., there will be a special budget meeting of the Common Council at the municipal building. As of this writing, the agenda for the meeting is not yet posted.

The National Weather Service predicts that today be mostly sunny, with a high temperature of 46 degrees. The Farmers’ Almanac ends the month with a new multi-day series prediction that it will be “cold and dry just in time for trick or treaters.”

Yesterday’s better prediction: NWS — we had — however briefly — the first snowflakes of the season.

A sad day for liberty, today — on this date in 1996, President Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

What’s wrong with the DMCA? More on that later.

What was wrong with Clinton? I don’t know — depending on the next guy to take the Oval Office, we may be wishing for Clinton!

Register Watch™

Register Watch™ for the October 23rd Issue

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Last week, of the October 16th issue of the Register, I wrote

What happened? I had to put on reading glasses to make sure that I was looking at the Whitewater Register. The paper has two front page stories on significant fiscal or administrative matters in our school district, and a story on the upcoming Common Council meeting’s agenda.

Well, that’s suitably different – a Whitewater paper with even, straight-forward front page stories about Whitewater.

(See, Register Watch™ for the October 16th Issue.)

I’m not a wild-eyed optimist, and my reserve proves correct: Welcome to the October 23rd issue of the Register, much more typical.

There are two above-the-fold stories in the paper: (1) “WCEDA Unveils Its Countywide Economic Strategy,” and (2) “Out and About,” concerning a campaign visit from U.S. Representative Tammy Baldwin and Wisconsin Representative Kim Hixson.

First, the story on the Walworth County Economic Development Alliance’s countywide economic strategy. Early on, we learn that it’s been five-months’ time in the works, with Whitewater City Manager Kevin Brunner as WCEDA Vice President. (There is an Executive Vice President, too, in Fred Burkhardt.)

Predictably, the Web-averse Register offers no links for WCEDA, but there are online pages for WCEDA and WCEDA Whitewater.

The story continues inside, and lists how the WCEDA representatives tried “scrutinizing several targeted areas” including

The current county economic development process, and a recommended solution to enhance the process;
How to align workplace, workforce and workforce training to assure business that there will continue to be [a] skilled workforce;
How to maximize use of existing manufacturing facilities, improve productivity and build out present business and industrial parks;
and to develop a strategy in such a manner as data information and findings could be used in the economic element of the county’s Smart Growth initiative currently under way.

The men named four driving issues in developing its strategy, including economic dynamism, workforce availability, revenue from taxable sales, as well as coordination and alignment of processes.

I’d say this was all just middlebrow gobbledygook, but that would be too generous. This group, even with the greatest regulatory authority (that no one would be so foolish as to confer) will not be able to engineer these results. Private concerns are best left to their own internal management of dynamism, workforce recruitment, and ‘processes,’ whatever they may be.

This is coordinating and managing nothing, but writing and pretending to do so. A career political appointee with no experience in private industry would only be wasting the time of knowledgeable executives, and compromising shareholder value.

The Register waits far too long to discuss the skepticism that met parts of the study.

Readers have to wait nine paragraphs, until inside the paper, to see that other WCEDA committee members were skeptical of the idea that, as the Register quotes Brunner more specifically, “it is astounding how much money is leaking from Whitewater.”

I should say so. The idea that there is a ‘natural’ or ‘proper’ level of sales, or taxable revenue for a county, is just nonsense. (The WCEDA study contends that sales are ‘leaking’ from Walworth County to other counties.) This is just ignorance posing as knowledge, and others on the committee are right to doubt the notion.

This is no natural level, just amount, or just price, in these matters. None. There is only the ebb and flow of exchange in the market, or by contrast regulation leading to stagnation. How much is supposed to be in one place or another is just guesswork in a fancy binder.

Later, we learn that the WCEDA Executive Vice President disputes that the “county is leaking” sales, but that the study provides a ” ‘shopping list’ of opportunities.” (Sales of 200 million, presumably.)

Please — this study provides a shopping list?

Later still, we learn that the WCEDA study offered a goal of “12,500 new living wage jobs [however they might define it] no later than Dec. 31, 2018” in a county, as Supervisor Bromley notes, that only has “about 2,000 unemployed residents.”

How should this story been headlined? How about, “Five-Month WCEDA Study Meets Skepticism,” the punchier “WCEDA Study’s Not So Studious,” or the ultra-punchy, “Duck! Another Wacky Study Comin’ At Ya.”

Note: As of this writing, the WCEDA’s Development Opportunities page is — ready? — Under Development.

First the webpage, then the county…

Second, the Register‘s other above-the-fold story offers “Out and About,” with photos of our Congressional and Wisconsin representatives. I’m not covering either race, and although I am favorably inclined to one of the two politicians, there’s not much ‘story’ here. Baldwin, Hixson, Towns, Ryan (from a different district) — it doesn’t matter to me — this is more ‘free publicity’ than ‘story.’

(Which one do I prefer, of these two Democrats, by the way? The high-quality one.)

Daily Bread

Daily Bread: October 27, 2008

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Good morning, Whitewater

In the city today, at 4:30 p.m., there will be a meeting of the Community Development Authority Board of Directors at the municipal building. The full agenda for the meeting is available online, and includes these items:

1. Call to order and roll call
2. Approval of the Agenda
3. Adjourn to closed session at approximately 4:35PM to reconvene at approximately 5:30PM Per Wisconsin Statute 19.85 (1)(e). Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business, whenever competitive or bargaining reasons require a closed session.
a. Consideration of acquisition of the following properties:

406 W. Whitewater St.
250/252 4th St.
244 4th St.
236 4th St.
411 W. Forest Ave.
412 W. Whitewater St.

4. Reconvene to open session at approximately 5:30PM and roll call.
5. HEARING OF CITIZEN COMMENTS. No formal CDA Action will be taken during this meeting although issues raised may become a part of a future agenda. Items on the agenda may not be discussed at this time.
6. Consideration and possible action of the acquisition of the following properties:

406 W. Whitewater St.
250/252 4th St.
244 4th St.
236 4th St.
412 Forest Ave.
412 W. Whitewater St.

Consider adoption of a Relocation Order which provides for the acquisition of 406 West Whitewater Street, Whitewater, Wisconsin (OT 00174) and 412 West Whitewater Street, Whitewater, Wisconsin (OT 00179) under the procedures set forth in Wisconsin Statute §32.05 based on a finding that those properties are blighted properties.

Authorization to hire a consulting firm to provide relocation services for any residents at 406 West Whitewater Street and 412 West Whitewater Street, if relocation is determined to be necessary.

Authorization to retain Attorney Benjamin Southwick to act as a consultant to the City Attorney on the
acquisition by eminent domain of the properties.

7. Review and Possible Action on Proposals for 4th Street Redevelopment
8. Approval of the September 22, 2008 Minutes
9. September, 2008 Financial Reports
10. Receipt and Filing of the September 8 Business Park Marketing Committee Meetings
11. Discussion and Possible Action on 2009 Goals and Objectives
12. Update on Decorative Landscaping Around Entrance Signs to Business Park
13. 2008 Scheduled Business Park Infrastructure Improvements Update
14. Business Park Marketing Committee Report and Discussion and Possible Action:
a. Corporate Drive Ribbon Cutting Event
b. Results on TID (1, 2 & 4) Investment in the Whitewater Business Park
c. Applied PhD Research – Post Card Campaign
d. Marketing Campaign Timeline & Roll-Out
e. 2009 Marketing Budget
15. Discussion and Possible Action on Rail Spur Initiative in Whitewater Business Park
16. Discussion and Possible Action on Crop Lead Bid Process
17. Discussion and Possible Action on Dirt Pile
18. Discussion and Possible Action on Planning and Preparing Project Plans & Design Concepts for Future TID 6 Planning
19. CDA Coordinator
a. Report on Housing Loan Program
b. 5-Points Phase II Update
c. Activity Report
20. Confirm November Meeting Date of Monday, November 24, 2008 @ 4:30PM
21. Future Agenda Items
22. Adjourn to closed session at approximately 6:30PM not to reconvene per Wisconsin State Statutes
19.85(1)(c) considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data
of any public employee over which the government body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility.
a. CDA Coordinator Employment Review & Working Agreement
23. Adjourn

In our schools, there will be a regular meeting of the School Board at Central Office at 7:00 p.m.

The agenda, available online, includes the following items:

Call to Order and Roll Call
Pledge of Allegiance Presentation Time:
Approval of Agenda (Action Item) 1 minute
Announcements and Recognitions (none)
Student Reports (none)
Public Comments – Non-Agenda Items: No formal School Board action will be taken although issues raised may become a part of a future agenda. Participants are limited to an appropriate amount of time determined by the Board President.

Agenda Items: Citizens may speak to specific issues at the time the Board discusses that particular item.

Special Reports and/or Action (None)
Personnel Report (None)
District Administrator Reports
Overnight Field Trip Approval (Action Item) 5 minutes
WUSD Endowment Fund Committee – Adopt Bylaws and Approve Fiscal Safeguard Policy (Action Item) 10 minutes
American Education Week Proclamation 5 minutes
Business Office Reports
2008-09 Budget Approval (Action Item) 15 minutes
2008-09 Levy/Tax Rate Certification (Action Item) 5 minutes
403(b) Rule Plan Approval (Action Item) 10 minutes
Consent Agenda (Action Item) 5 minutes
Minutes of Regular Meeting September 22, 2008; Special Meetings October 6 and October 13, 2008; and Committee Meeting October 9, 2008
Voucher Approval
Second Reading of Policies 731.1, Locker Room Privacy, and 731.3, Video Surveillance
Student Transportation Contract Approval
Appoint Agent for School Board Election
2008-09 Nonrepresented Group Contracts Approval

Unfinished Business (None)
New Business
Contributions/Gifts to District (Action Item) 5 minutes
Board Communications 5 minutes
Preliminary Approval of Next Month’s Agenda
Adjourn
Presentation Time: 66 minutes (1 hour 6 minutes)

(Note the careful timing from the district — a less structured approach would require more discipline, but also evince greater interest for some of these topics. Student reports – none; Announcements and Recognitions – none. Shouldn’t these be among the most important matters?)

The National Weather Service predicts that today will bring a slight chance of rain or snow, and a high temperature of 42 degrees. The Farmers’ Almanac ends a multi-day series with a prediction that “wet weather will be followed by clearing and colder conditions.”

Last week’s better predictions: NWS.

In Wisconsin History on this date, in 1864, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society, a Waukesha soldier led an effort to sink a Conferderate ship:

On this date William Cushing led an expedition to sink the Confederate ram, the Albermarle, which had imposed a blockade near Plymouth, North Carolina and had been sinking Union ships. Cushing’s plan was extremely dangerous and only he and one other soldier escaped drowning or capture. Cushing pulled very close to the Confederate ironclad and exploded a torpedo under it while under heavy fire. Cushing’s crew abandonded ship as it began to sink. The Albemarle also sunk. Cushing received a “letter of thanks” from Congress and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. He died in 1874 due to ill health and is buried in the Naval Cemetery at Annapolis, Maryland.

Libertarians

ACLU on the “Constitution-Free Zone” of the United States

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The ACLU has a page describing how encroachment of federal power has produced a virtual “Constitution-free zone” for American citizens — almost 200 million — living near the so-called borders of our country:

Using data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the ACLU has determined that nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.

The government is assuming extraordinary powers to stop and search individuals within this zone. This is not just about the border: This ” Constitution-Free Zone” includes most of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.

We urge you to call on Congress to hold hearings on and pass legislation to end these egregious violations of Americans’ civil rights.

These searches extend far beyond any legitimate definition of the borders of our country. Expansion of the definition of border to stretch 100 miles into America unjustifiably extends search powers that should be exceptional, and narrowly defined.

This gross assertion of power erodes the value of citizenship, and treats Americans as though they were the subjects of a vulgar, banana republic. These proposals come from citizens who value the lives of their fellow citizens too cheaply. Advocates of these search provisions are often among these most ignorant and disrespectful of the heritage of the republic in which they live.

America is no mere nation — we are a constitutional order — although advocates of greater state power are often too superficial or ill-educated to respect the distinction.

Here’s a video in which Vince Peppard, a citizen of the United States, recounts his experience of how far security over-reach has gone.


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Libertarians

Barr Against the Bailout: Linking McCain to Big Government

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Following my last post, Barr hits on McCain — not really Obama — as a big spender in favor of the bailout. (No one doubts that Obama will spend big.) When Barr says that there’s not a dime’s worth of difference, it’s really a contention that McCain‘s the one whose a poor representative of his party’s traditional (fiscally conservative) views.

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