Idaho Libertarian Times

Disastrous Economic Fallacies - Terror as Stimulus?

James Oaksun Speaking on why he's running for LP Treasurer

PODCAST#23 the healthcare reform bill & the results

Podcast#23, Sat Mar 27 2010

Libertarian GOP governor Butch Otter of Idaho: "Not a single member of the House or Senate has a complete understanding of that legislation any more than they understood all the implications of the USA PATRIOT Act"  (reason.com)

Full text of the law

http://reason.com/blog/2010/03/23/the-patriot-act-of-health-care

Big employers rethink their healthcare plans

Firms that offer retiree drug benefits say the U.S. healthcare overhaul -- which eliminates a tax deduction -- could force them to curtail or cancel their benefit plans.
By Jeffry Bartash
March 27, 2010
Washington - AT&T Inc. said Friday that it would record a $1-billion noncash expense in the first quarter related to the newly passed healthcare law, joining a growing list of large U.S. companies.

The AT&T write-down is the largest reported so far. Caterpillar Inc. this week recorded a $100-million charge in the first quarter, and Deere & Co. said it would report a one-time $150-million expense.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-fi-att27-2010mar27,0,3725184.story

    CBO says Obama deficits will approach $10 trillion over the next decade. People who biatched over Bush's much smaller deficits can make excuses over to the right  (foxnews.com):
Updated March 05, 2010
 AP
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that Obama's budget plans would generate deficits over the upcoming decade that would total $9.8 trillion.
CBO: National Deficit to Hit Nearly $10 Trillion Over Upcoming Decade
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/05/cbo-national-deficit-hit-nearly-trillion-upcoming-decade/

Social Security is now in the red, and Medicare is sure to follow: Welcome to the start of the massive fiscal crisis everybody predicted but nobody wanted to do anything about  (theatlantic.com)
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/03/social-security-goes-into-deficit/38019/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100325/ap_on_re_us/us_marijuana_legalization
Hi, I'm George Zimmer, founder and CEO of Men's Warehouse, and if me and my babe busting blunt have anything to say about it, marijuana will be legal in California. I GUARANTEE IT  (news.yahoo.com)
Calif. pot vote isn't just hippies versus cops
By LISA LEFF and MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writers Lisa Leff And Marcus Wohlsen, Associated Press Writers   – Thu Mar 25, 7:10 pm ET

China state media says Google 'is not god'
Mar 24 07:04 AM US/Eastern
China's state media on Wednesday slammed Google after it effectively shut down its Chinese search engine, saying the US Internet giant was "not god" and accusing it of working with US intelligence.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.18707598ab36312be1a9311022b92501.3a1&show_article=1

5 Dystopias Healthcare Reform Could Prevent (And One It Could Cause)
We've heard a lot of hype, on both sides, about the healthcare reform, Here's Dwights  view on the issue
http://io9.com/5499549/5-dystopias-healthcare-reform-could-prevent-and-one-it-could-cause

When drug makers' profits outweigh penalties
Off-label use is the practice of prescribing pharmaceuticals for an unapproved uses.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/19/AR2010031905578_5.html?sid=ST2010032003370

PODCAST # 22 : Rob Oates chats with us on the national league of city's meeting in Washingington DC

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2010/03/19/the-troll-president.php
The Troll President
Posted by DJ Drummond
Published: March 19, 2010 - 9:24 PM

http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2010/03/idaho_first_state_to_sign_law.html
JOHN MILLER, Associated Press Writer
BOISE, Idaho - Idaho took the lead in a growing, nationwide fight against health care overhaul Wednesday when its governor became the first to sign a measure requiring the state attorney general to sue the federal government if residents are forced to buy health insurance.
Similar legislation is pending in 37 other states.

Rob Oates chats with us on the national league of city's  meeting he attended in Washington DC for the  congressional city conference.
This occured this last week. And this is what Rob observed ;

PODCAST#22 Sat Mar 20 2010, length 55 minutes

Yeah I could make it up , but why: Remington Shotguns Solicitation Number: EDOOIG-10-000004

Radley Balko noted this today I looked it up, it is weird, its not what I'd expect department of education to be buying,,, shotguns, from the looks, it isn't the first buy either read the RFP

Synopsis:

Added: Mar 08, 2010 10:39 am Modified: Mar 11, 2010 10:16 amTrack Changes

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14" - PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT - XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID - 14" LOP are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.
The required date of delivery is March 22, 2010.
Interested sources must submit detailed technical capabilities and any other information that demonstrates their ability to meet the requirements above, no later than March 12, 2010 at 12 PM, E.S.T. Any quotes must be submitted electronically to the attention of ****>****@ed.gov, Contract Specialist (Contract Operations Group), with a concurrent copy to****.****@ed.gov, Contracting Officer (Contract Operations Group).
The following clauses are applicable to this requirement:

This is mere conjecture from here on but think about it:

Weird possibility:  it looks like an off the books black bag operation doing a straw man deal through these guys , question is, who would be desperate enough to run a straw man deal in a public environment like this.  

The other possibility is the Department of education is buying 27 Remington model 870 shotguns with 14 inch barrels.

Question is why?

Senate Plan Calls for National ID Card to Curb Illegal Immigration

From NEWSMAX.com

By: Dave Eberhart

A national ID card using biometric data such as fingerprints is at the center of an immigration reform bill being hammered out in the U.S. Senate – a measure that once again probably will pit advocates of homeland security and tough immigration enforcement against civil libertarians, employers and immigrant rights groups. The new effort by Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., will revive the “Real ID” debate that has festered for years with little effect on illegal immigration. Under their plan, a universally required card would be encoded with all sorts of information regarding the holder, as well as contain a unique biometric signature created from either fingerprints or the vein patterns on the tops of the hands. Bottom line: Employers will not be able to hire applicants who do not present a valid ID. Schumer and Graham are slated to meet soon with President Barack Obama to brief him on their work. An administration official said the White House has no position on the biometric card, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Graham’s approach to the controversial IDs is simple: Americans already carry Social Security cards – this is the same thing, except tamperproof. So what’s the big deal? “We’ve all got Social Security cards,” he said. “They’re just easily tampered with. Make them tamper-proof. That’s all I’m saying.” “It’s the nub of solving the immigration dilemma politically speaking,” Schumer told the Journal. The card, he argued, would nip in the bud any surge of illegal immigrants. “If you say they can’t get a job when they come here, you’ll stop it.” All sounds well and good, but predictably there are critics who see the card as the ultimate invasion of privacy that puts Big Brother at the shoulder of every honest American worker. Conservatives are divided depending on their views on immigration vs. the potentially intrusive role of government. Fox New host Bill O’Reilly said Tuesday night that he favors a National ID Card, citing among other things the additional taxes that would be collected through reduced fraud. He called it a “moneymaker for the U.S.” O’Reilly, as well as former CNN host Lou Dobbs, an advocate of strong immigration enforcement, wants the measure fast-tracked this year. But others don’t like the idea of a government with control of biometric data of every U.S. citizen. “It is fundamentally a massive invasion of people’s privacy,” said Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, according to Homeland Security Newswire. “We’re not only talking about fingerprinting every American, treating ordinary Americans like criminals in order to work. We’re also talking about a card that would quickly spread from work to voting to travel to pretty much every aspect of American life that requires identification.” Meanwhile, Alex Nowrasteh, an analyst at the pro-business Competitive Enterprise Institute, conjured up a number of reasons why America should steer clear of a national ID card. “Every worker would have to ask permission from the federal government to get a job. American workers shouldn’t have to beg or plead to anybody to get permission to work. Being employed should be a private agreement between an employer and employee,” he told for FoxNews.com. What's more, the system will exclude millions of legal workers by accident and fail to catch the majority of undocumented immigrants, Nowrasteh said. “For instance, if E-Verify were instituted nationwide, 3.6 million Americans would be denied employment each year and have to visit the Social Security Administration to correct their records,” he said. (E-Verify is an online system to check whether potential employees are in the United States legally, but there have been chronic worries about the reliability and effectiveness of the system.) There is also a question of practicality for the small business owner who would be required either to buy a special $800 scanner or trot his applicant worker information down to the nearest DMV to use a public scanner. “The last thing an employer wants to do is spend time at the DMV when he could be spending it improving his business,” Nowrasteh said. The cards would treat every American like a criminal by requiring them to enter their most intimate and personal data into a government database, he said. Even as the national ID card remains a hot-button issue in any rework of immigration laws, the amnesty word still lingers. Under the Graham/Schumer bill, the 10.8 million or more people living illegally in the United States would be offered a path to citizenship. To ensure that the path to legality does not smack too much of the dreaded “amnesty” word, the bill requires the illegals to register, pay taxes, pay a fine and wait in line. Meanwhile, a guest-worker program would crack the gates open to let a limited number of new foreigners come to the United States legally to work. White House aides made it clear last year that immigration reform legislation would be on the administration’s target list in 2010. However, healthcare and attempts to mitigate the nation’s unemployment crisis has pushed immigration reform to the background. © Newsmax. All rights reserved.

via newsmax.com

Podcast #21 James Oaksun talks about the LP, his run for the National LP Treasurer & how he would like to try to fix the party.

Podcast#21 Fri Mar 12 2010, 12:02:38

The following is James Oaksuns agenda shared in an email with me ;

"Here is my concept for zero based budgeting.

Right now, the LNC (or at least the LNC's dominant coalition) divides our money as follows:

40% overhead
30% fund raising
20% what I call "talking to ourselves"
10% building the party (meaning ballot access, events, conference appearances, and the like)

I have this in a pie chart on my website, www.JamesOaksun.com.  I also distributed it in Austin, much to some of the LNC members' chagrin.

I think this allocation is just ridiculous. 

So my idea is to start from zero in an exercise I call zero based budgeting.

To do this, you set every line item in the budget to zero.  All of them.

You start with a clean sheet of paper and you say, what are the absolutely most mission critical things we ought to be doing.

Yes there are some "overhead" functions we have to have.  Accounting/FEC filings, legal, maybe some others.

But we get everything rank ordered.  Then you put price tags on it and say, if we have $1 million what do/can we fund.

And that's what we do.

We've been adrift, we have no strategy, we are shrinking.  We need to revitalize things.
Nobody wants to give of their money and time just to pay the overhead, or send out fundraising letters.  Activists need and deserve activity.

Implications:

1. Example rent.  Last year we spent $141k on rent.  Why.  In fact, my starting point is, why do we even need to have an office period.  I know people who run million dollar businesses from spare rooms in their home. That's where I start.  Justify to the members why we needto have *any* office, and then look them in the eye and say why we need to spend $141k per year on it, especially if we don't own it.  Of course the current management will not do this.  They had their chance.  They have not led.  We Will.
2. Example staff.  It may turn out that certain functions are best fulfilled with a paid staff.  To me, I start from zero.  Why do we need any paid staff.  OK, maybe an Exec Director.  Why anyone beyond them?  Lots of things can be outsourced.  We are a small business essentially, we need to start thinking like one.  Thinking like guerrillas.
3. Example website and electronic communications.  We spend in excess of $100k/yr on this.  Ask me my opinion of the current http://lp.org   site.  Ask me also what http://JamesOaksun.com   -- a site that gets more traffic than all but 3 state LP websites, and almost as much traffic as Wayne Root's site -- cost me.

The step beyond is, of course, the future strategy -- where do we want to go with this, what do we want to become.  And then, how to fund that.  The two exercises are related.  But first, the zero based budget represents a fresh start.
"

http://www.jamesoaksun.com/

Angela Keaton On Freedom Watch 2/20/2010 “Obama Slightly Worse Than Bush On Foreign Policy” // video added March 06, 2010

http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?p=3385

Judge Napolitano and Angela Keaton discuss how Obama is slightly worse than his predecessor when it comes to liberty, foreign policy, constitutional respect and war. In the end, the establishment candidates are interventionist in nature.

Podcast # 20 The Post Austin / Pre StLouis Game Show!

 George Phillies & Carolyn Marbry talk with Dwight & I about Austin, St.Louis & the Libertarian party's future & their plans as Candidates for LNC Chair & Vice Chair

PODCAST#20, Sat Mar 06 2010, 09:53:12

Stay tuned Next Week for our interview with James Oaksun :

Rob Power, Carolyn Marbry , George Phillies , James Oaksun .

George & Carolyn will be on this weeks Idaho Libertarian Times podcast with James scheduled for next week We hope you'll listen.