Why do we import certain things instead of make it ourselves?

Walter Williams has written a wonderful article on exporting Jobs  in comparison to importing certain goods like Cocoa. The interesting thing is that his example does not just apply to people losing jobs to overseas country, but also applies to jobs that are loss do to better competitors in the U.S. that create jobs for their companies, but cause people to lose jobs in other companies. The economy is always balancing itself out to improve the living standard of everyone as long as we have a free market. If not the benefits of division of labor would be crushed by government rewarding their friends while punishing their enemies. Click below to read Walter's article:

Trade Deficits and Exporting Jobs: Why Trade At All? by Walter Williams -- Capitalism Magazine

Technorati Tags: jobs, politics, economics, free market

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Pentagon taking a page from the government of V for Vendetta?

If ever there was a sign that we are headed towards Fascism. The pentagon starting a News Correction Unit? Let's say it together- "political censorship". Yes, it appears that is on the horizon coming to a town or blog near you. See the link below for more info:

Slashdot | Pentagon Reveals News Correction Unit

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It's time to Cash in on the River

The flop has been laid out, but will we cash in on the river. DownsizeDC has found another great way to increase the minute men and women of liberty.  If you know how popular Texas Hold'em is around the world, then you need to read about how this game can help us grow the DownsizeDC community and push forward the Read the Bills Act.  Click the link below for more info:

DownsizeDC.org Blog | Opportunity knocks for the Read the Bills Act

Technorati Tags: Poker, Politics, regulations, Read the Bills Act

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Technorati Tags: Poker, Politics, regulations, Read the Bills Act

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Technorati Tags: Poker, Politics, regulations, Read the Bills Act

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The Ultimate Fight Championship

Don't forget this Saturday  July 8th



This will be showing on pay per view and can be seen also on UFC on Demand for the replay.  Sparks are going to fly on this one!

Technorati Tags: MMA, Fighting, Pay per View, grudge matches

Happy Capitalism Day!

Today is the international day of celebration for Capitalism.

Why celebrate Capitalism? Read the two articles below:


The Bernstein Declaration On the Principles and Possibilities of Capitalism

Global Capitalism: The Solution to World  Oppression and Poverty


Technorati Tags: Capitalism, Free Markets, Holidays, Individual Libety, Private Property

Free Markets Can Even Change Minds

The American Spectator has a nice article talking with CEO of Whole Foods
Market John Mackey. John started off believing that business was a
necessary evil and ended up seeing the benefits of the free market
through opening a small grocery store. He also makes a great point
regarding the branding of Individual rights and free markets. His point
is that we have not been branding our product very well dealing with
side issues. As Harry Browne has often said, we need to show them how
Liberty improves every one's lives and that it is just and moral. Ayn
Rand also showed that primarily it is our culture that must be focused
on first and not politics. As long as people believe that Capitalism
and Individual Liberty are evil, how many people will accept it.  Read
the entire article below:


Freedom's Whole Foods


Technorati Tags: Capitalism, Marketing, Liberty

Urgent Action Item

The DownsizeDc.org has posted a very important message regarding preventing Congress from regulating grass roots organizations see urgent action item.

Media alert: Jim Babka will be on "The Tony Macrini Show". See info below:

Location: Norfolk, VA

Date: Thursday June 1, 2006

Time:

7:30 AM Eastern

6:30 AM Central

5:30 AM Mountain

4:30 AM Pacific

Station: 790 AM WNIS

Host: Tony Macrini

Show: The Tony Macrini Show

Topic: The Read the Bills Act

Guest: Jim Babka, President, DownsizeDC.org

Internet: Log on to www.wnis.com

Click on the headset labeled "Listen Live" in the left-hand column. Winamp required.

Technorati Tags: Politics, regulation, grass roots groups

Hunger Insurance?

The Hunger insurance article is an  excellent thought game by Joseph Bast. He shows
you the parallels between if we adopted Hunger insurance and the
current Health Insurance we have. Another solution not mentioned in
this article is getting government completely out of the Medical
industry.  The high cost of Health care is also due to government
licensing laws, and FDA laws. Though that would be a subject for an
article of its own. The article is below:

What Hunger Insurance Could Teach Us About Health Insurance | The Foundation for Economic Education: The Freeman, Ideas on Liberty

Technorati Tags: Health care, Health insurance, politics, Free market

The Objective Standard has a blog!

John Lewis has posted a nice article about fake self-interest vs. real self-interest.
Read it below:

The Objective Standard Blog: The Social Worker and The President

Technorati Tags: Objectivism, Reason, rational selfishness

Getting Corn-holed at the gas pump

Many people are unaware of the down falls of ethanol. Here is an article about the high cost of ethanol.



Technorati Tags: Ethanol, politics, gas, oil

Immigration: A much needed trip down memory lane

There is a lot one can learn from history when one is guided to essential facts.

Here is a great article on Immigration:



U.S. Immigration Debate Is a Road Well Traveled

Technorati Tags: Immigration, Individual Liberty, politics

Price Gouging and Consumer Gasoline schemes

Every time the price of gasoline goes up, emails start circulating
about how we should have a day with out buying gasoline. Another email
suggests that we avoid the big two oil companies Exxon and Mobil and
buy from their competitors. The going with out gas scheme does not
address the many other factors for the rise in gasoline prices. On the
other hand, the using the competitor scheme does not address the demand
issue. If the competing companies' demand increases due to business
taken away from Exxon and Mobil, but the supply does not increase, this
results in higher gasoline price at the competitor that you have chosen
to buy gas from. Exxon and Mobil at this point can keep their price the
same and it would be as savings compared to the higher gas price of
their competitors or they can charge the same high price that the
competitor's gas has risen to.  When it comes to gasoline, we tend to
react with our emotions instead of our intellect.  If we study Austrian
economics, we find that their can be many reasons for the rise in price
and that one of the main solutions is to increase the supply of oil. 
George Reisman has put up an excellent article about Price gouging and
the true reasons for the rise in gasoline price. See his article below:

George Reisman's Blog on Economics, Politics, Society, and Culture: “Price Gouging”: Setting the Record Straight

Technorati Tags: Price Gouging, Gasoline prices, Free markets, politics

Will the real friends of workers (i.e. wage earners) please stand up, please stand up

  George Reisman has come out with a great article showing the true
friends of workers (i.e. wage earners).  It is a bit technical at
times, however you can easily figure out the full meaning by reading
it in its entirety.  When he talks about money wages, he  is
referring to an inflated wage. Which may come from either inflation  directly, or
from another artificial raise like force ( i.e. Unions or
Government).  When wages raise artificially, the cost of production
goes up and so does the cost of living. Real wage is mainly dealing
with actual raise in purchasing power. When money wages go up, you are
only able to buy the same amount of things or less, because the cost of
living has gone up accordingly. However, when the cost of living goes
down, due to increased production, your purchasing power increases
even though your monetary wage amount has not gone up.  It is an
interesting article and I would challenge everyone to read it. It sheds light on a
view that most people do not think about. One of these days I will have
to write an article regarding this topic in more layman's terms. For
now enjoy Reisman's article below:

George Reisman's Blog on Economics, Politics, Society, and Culture: The Real Friends and Enemies of Wage Earners: An Intellectual Challenge to the Left

Technorati Tags: Unions, government, politics, economics, wages

Small Government Talk show update!

is helping people achieve a smaller government and regaining our Individual Liberties. You can hear and talk to Downsize DC President Jim Babka on the radio today. The show is called THE DOWNSIZE DC CONFERENCE CALL

Today's topic/s: Immigration

You can hear the show at www.GCNLive.com.
Click on Listen Live and choose one of the first two channels to get
the free feed. You can also call-in to talk to Jim on the air at
1-800-259-9231

The show is broadcast live at ...
Eastern: 5pm - 6pm
Central: 4pm - 5pm
Mountain: 3pm - 4pm
Pacific: 2pm - 3pm
Alaska: 1pm - 2pm
Hawaii: Noon - 1pm

Technorati Tags: small government radio show, politics

Just a reminder for Mixed Martials Fans

Just a reminder: Ultimate Fight Night and the 3rd season of Ultimate Fighter begins tonight on SpikeTV. Check out both websites: UFC and SpikeTV


Technorati Tags: mixed martial arts, fighting, sports

New Fossil: evolution evidence contiues to build

Another transitional fossil has been found showing the transition from fish to land animal. Read the whole article here:


Technorati Tags: evolution, transitional fossils, missing link

Congress is trying to stack the deck!

Reposted from: DownsizeDC.org

It appears that Congress is trying to take your voice out of Washington. They like to tax us, but they do not like to represent us. Here is an excerpt from the DownsizeDC.org Blog:

DON'T LET THE INCUMBENTS SET THE RULES

If H.R. 4694 passes into law . . .

• You won't be able to use your own money to support or oppose federal candidates.
• Taxes will fund all federal campaigns, with winners getting more money, and losers less.
• To get full funding third parties and independents will have to collect signatures equal to 20% of the votes cast in the last election, but paid petitioners will be outlawed!
• It's well-established that challengers must outspend incumbents to unseat them. This law would make it impossible for any challenger to outspend any incumbent.
• Your tax money will be used to fund candidates you oppose.
• Candidates unwilling to take government funds will be prohbited from spending any money at all.
• It will be illegal for citizens' groups to spend money discussing federal campaigns.

This bill would be the absolute end of free elections in America.

To send Congress a message opposing H.R. 4694 click here.

WE NEED MORE MEDIA CONTACTS

To meet our April media goals we need more media contacts. If you provide contacts for radio talk shows in your community we'll make the calls to get on the air where you live. It's easy. Click here to find out what to do.

Technorati Tags: politics, congress, freedom of speech, individual rights

"Online Freedom of Speech Act" Update

Here is an update from DownsizeDC.org: The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has issued its court-ordered regulations covering political expression on the Internet. Individuals have been largely exempted from the burdens of the campaign finance regulations. So far so good. But the Incumbent Protection Gang won't be satisfied. They'll almost certainly file suit claiming the FEC has not complied with the original court order. Meanwhile . . .

The House leadership has withdrawn the "Online Freedom of Speech Act" once again on the grounds that it is no longer needed. This is a mistake. If they would go ahead and pass this bill the whole matter would be settled. Otherwise, the entire issue is going back to the courts, which have already ruled that Congress originally intended for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act to apply fully to the Internet. Only Congress can inform the courts differently by passing the "Online Freedom of Speech Act."

Here's the bottom line: The only reason the FEC went easy on the Internet was because of public pressure. Remember, the original Internet regulations they drafted were harsh, not easy. Public pressure makes a difference! So now we need to apply pressure on Congress to go ahead and pass the "Online Freedom of Speech Act." You can do so here:
Contact Congress

Plus, if you reside in the districts of the House leaders, Hastert and Boehner, please call them and ask them to bring the "Online Freedom of Speech Act" to a vote. Our system will provide you with their phone numbers after you send them your electronic message.

This is an issue where public pressure has worked, and it can continue to work if we continue to apply it.

Technorati Tags: Online Free Speech, politics, Individual Rights

Dumbing our kids down by banning sugar from the cupboard

It's that time of year again.You know which one I'm talking about. Children everywhere are growing obese in alarming numbers. What are we to do? Should government come up with an emergency plan. I can hear it now. Threat level is cupcake alert. Government stepping in is a bad idea in itself and is better left a subject for another article. Preventing kids from having sweets and junk food all together is the solution that has been catching my eye of recent. A war on junk food where the first casualty will be our kids' minds.

When we hide all the snacks or prevent our kids from having any sugary snacks at all, we take away our children's opportunity to use their mind.
Self-responsibility is born out of making decisions. A child must
learn the fundamental principles of making a good decision in order
to survive and prosper in life. It is our job to guide and educate
our children in those principles. This would require that we give
them as many opportunities to make decisions as possible.

As parents, we default on our responsibilities when we do not take every
opportunity to help our kid think for themselves. Banning sweets from
the cupboard and school vending machines is an example of dropping
the parent's responsibility ball. We have to give facts to why we are
preventing them from doing something. Often is the case, that the
parents have not checked the facts themselves and can not back up
their decision. If we do not give an explanation when we prevent the
child from doing something, this leaves the child with two
decisions. Do I continue to ask questions so that I can figure out
why my parent has made that decision, or do I just accept my
parent's authority and let them do the thinking for me. No
matter what we do , the child always has one basic choice. This
is to think for themselves and try to figure out the answers to their
questions or to submit to the parents answer of "Do it because I
say so!" A child that submits to his parents, when they
have not given him real answers, begins to think for themselves
less and less. The child grows to be dependent on his parents for
guidance instead of learning to think for himself. As an adult,
he is unsure of himself and has low self-esteem. When he runs into a
situation that his parents did not give an answer to, he is totally
lost and immobilized. Furthermore, the commands of the parents may
have been irrational. So he would follow irrational guidance in a
situation that could be detrimental in his life. Let's say that his
parents are racist and he never questions their views. In adult life
he may act out on that racism and beat someone up or seriously get
hurt while attacking someone.

Our children will prosper the more we give them the responsibility to think.
The principles we need to guide them on is using Reason and Logic. They
need to keep things in context by checking all the facts in the
situation. Then they need to determine based on those facts, what
actions and choices would be best in that given situation. This is
why we need to sit down with them and teach them the
facts that too much sweets can make them overweight, have cavities,
and bad health. However, in teaching them the facts, they would also
learn that balancing their meal would allow them to have sweets,
without leading to the destructive outcomes of over eating those
sugary snacks. This process of learning to check the facts of a
situation, and evaluate the costs and benefits of each decision, will
give them tools to combat any situation that life throws at them. I
say let them eat sweets, but make sure you are taking the parent's
responsibility to show them how to apply their minds to the world
around them.

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Technorati Tags: Culture, Politics, Philosophy, Junk Food

"Freedom Jacked"! Congress is trying to pass another Abramoff Deal

Did you hear about the new lobbying scandal? It is an "Abramoff Deal". What is an Abramoff Deal you may ask? It is when a person or group of individuals try to gain an advantage by playing both sides. Similar to a Faustian deal, they both come back to bite you in the behind. However, an Abramoff Deal is worse. In a Faustian deal, you at least know that you have a good chance of the screws being put to you. Yet with a Abramoff Deal, they will support you and your adversary at the same time. This way they gain more money or advantages from the escalating conflict between you both.

Congress is trying to pass the new Abramoff Deal as they normally like to do it. They present their bill with a name that everyone can like or would find hard to oppose. For example, the "Patriot Act" and the "Real ID ACT" both sound like something we should favor. However, if Congress would only READ THE BILLS they pass, we would cut down on some of the Individual Rights being lost and get a chance to DownsizeDC. Now, Congress has a new bill "The Lobbying Reform Act", which will make grass roots activism more difficult and costly to accomplish. It does this by requiring grassroots groups to fill out all kinds of paper work on its members and adds layers of regulation. While Congress can continue jet setting with high powered lobbyist to beautiful vacation spots rather than hear the voices of the people they represent. This puts us under scrutiny instead of the politicians.

Instead of the politicians and government power becoming more limited, it cuts out the grass roots competition. A government created monopoly helps no one except government and it's friends. As if this were not bad enough, a very important bill for individual rights (The Online Freedom of Speech Act) has been lumped together with the "The Lobbying Reform Act". The Online Freedom of Speech Act would protect our freedom of press and apply it to individuals as it should be. This way blogs and websites would rightfully enjoy the same protections as the mainstream media. The Online Freedom of Speech Act has no reason to be combined with another bill and should be voted on its own. Here Lays the Abramoff Deal, by supporting the good bill, the bad bill is passed. The bad bill will make the good bill null and void. If the The Lobbying Reform Act bill is shot down, so will the Online Freedom of Speech Act bill. Congress can now say, they supported both lobbying reform and freedom of speech or its opposition. While at the same time, they would get exactly what they wanted all along. Which is to cut out their competition and silence their critics. This allows them to continue to grow their governmental power. Congress would be playing both sides to get what they wanted.

Is this Abramoff Deal signed, sealed, and delivered? The answer is not yet. Groups like DownsizeDC.org are making it easier for our representatives to hear the full force of our voices in unison for a return to a constitutionally limited government.

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Technorati Tags: Politics, Individual Rights, Online Freedom of Speech