Liberty Point

Independence Day. In between the parades, fireworks, BBQs, baseball games and other patriotic festivities, you may have occasion to actually read the Declaration of Independence. After all, that document is what this holiday is supposed to be about. You might even have time to read some editorials and news articles, watch some TV program or hear politicians pontificate about the significance of that document. And you’ll probably here these words:

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

But read on, to the part the political class and power elites don’t want you to hear:

“–That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that Governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security.” Continue Reading »

In the waning days of his administration, Governor Easley has given North Carolina voters three classical examples of the arrogance and corruption of the political class. First, he spends $170,000 of your money on an Italian vacation for he and his wife. Mrs. Easley barely had time to unpack her bags before the governor then spent another $109,000 of your money to send her on an excursion to Russia. Finally, when she returns from this boondoggle, she receives an 88% pay raise for her position at NC State University. (Carolina Journal, Mary Easley Gets 88 Percent Pay Raise).

Power indeed corrupts … but it pays well.

I’m sure the governor thinks he’s being a “good steward of the taxpayer’s money” by making these trips. After all, they will bring businesses, tourists, jobs and art treasures to North Carolina, won’t they? Well … maybe. As one taxpayer notes in a letter to the News & Observer, the governor did not visit Milan, which is the financial and industrial capital of Italy. And undoubtedly, any business that does move to North Carolina will get lucrative “incentives,” like not having to pay taxes or follow the regulations that apply to everyone else.

Governor Easley defends his extravagant spending by whining “It costs what it cost. The dollar is very weak over there.” Yes, the dollar is weak, pathetically weak, but because governments have made it weak by taxing and spending.

The solution is lower taxes, less spending and less government. It is simply not the proper function of any government to recruit businesses, tourists or art. These endeavors can take care of themselves, especially when freed of the burden of taxation and regulation.

Governor Easley should reimburse North Carolina taxpayers for the $270,000 spent on these trips, and Mrs. Easley should resign from her position at NC State.

News release from the Libertarian Party of North Carolina

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding the individual right to own guns is a victory for the rights not only of gun owners but of all Americans, the Libertarian Party of North Carolina said.

“For years, Libertarians have argued the Bill of Rights was specifically written to protect individual rights,” said Barbara Howe, state party chair. “It’s gratifying that the Supreme Court has finally acknowledged that fact.”

“I am pleased to see that the Court has agreed to the Founders’ definition of militia as ‘the whole of the people,’” she said.

Libertarians hope the court’s ruling will help defeat anti-gun legislation currently in the NC General Assembly. One such bill, SB2081, is being considered by the State Senate. If implemented, SB2081 will result in thousands of people being barred from owning guns, even though they are a danger to no one, according to Grass Roots North Carolina.

Federal law requires states to report involuntary commitments to mental institutions for the purpose of gun purchase background checks. Attorney General Roy Cooper includes those remanded to outpatient care in these reports, even though state law specifically defines such persons as “not dangerous.”

Virginia, a state with a smaller population than North Carolina, used a similar law to deprived 80,000 people of their right to own a gun, according to GRNC.

For more on SB2081, go to GRNC.org

Steve Newton writes in Delaware Libertarian that the 2008 election is an opportunity for Libertarians to “stick it to the Ass and Pachyderm.” He wrote, “Let’s make election night a real nail-biter for all those apparachiks who for years have given us only the choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledumber.”

I like it.

Another week, and another report of a state or spending government official spending taxpayer money like (pardon the expression), a drunken sailor.” The only unusual twist to this latest example of power corrupting is that the official was actually fired. (Firing ends Wake official’s travels). At least he didn’t use the excuse — well, the governor did it!

Otherwise, this incident playing out in much the same way previous incidents. A supervisor was “demoted,” to a $94,973 salaried job. (Note: Due to the furor which arose after the story broke, the county revised that to $85,000.) Last month, Patsy Christian went from a “gilded frame to a golden parachute” said the N&O. She was “demoted” from her job as director of a new state mental hospital, to a position to a job paying 95% of her previous salary. Christian was accused of using money supposed to benefit patients to have a portrait of herself painted.

The new Butner facility, by the way, isn’t ready yet because it’s been declared unsafe. The N&O recently did a great series on the catastrophe that is the state’s mental health system.

A few months ago, Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner George Tatum resigned after he was accused of helping a friend get a replica truck titles as the real thing. And then there’s the $18.6 million road repair needed on the supposedly “new and improved” stretch of I-40 in Durham. A few minions were “punished” for that foul up.

What’s missing form this picture? No one went to jail and no one was made to pay back what the cost the taxpayers. If these shenanigans had occurred in the private sector, not only would the person responsible be summarily fired, he or she would probably be sued for damages, and the government, no doubt fired up by 24-hour media coverage, would probably be going after them for fraud or worse.

No one should be immune from prosecution when a crime is committed, and government officials abusing or misusing their authority is a crime.

Jim Black is in jail. Mike Nifong should be in jail. The characters I’ve mentioned here should be tried, and if convicted, spend some time behind bars — and be made to pay back what they stole from the taxpayers.

I’m not here to say that the government is always right, but when the government tells you to do something, I’m sure you would all agree that I think you all recognize that is something you need to do.

– Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Mo).

Bond, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was primary Republican senator involved in the negotiations over a deal that gives telecom companies immunity from civil lawsuits for agreeing to let the government tap the phones and read the emails of customers.

That’s the same excuse Nazis used to justify the Holocaust.

Read the story.

Who guards us from the guardians? In another example of law enforcement officers flaunting the law, the News & Observer reports that the Camden County Sheriff accepted a “gift” of 34 assault weapons from Blackwater, a government “contractor.”  Yet the 19 deputies are not qualified on the AK-47s and Bushmaster M4s, and there need for the rifles is “minimal.” To be kind, that’s an understatement. Camden has had two murders and three robberies in ten years, and there are no reports of any Al Quaida cells in the county.

I’m sure the sheriff’s spinmeister will explain how this is not an illegal “straw purchase,” just as gun-grabbers distort the meaning of militia (”the whole of the people’).

The answer to the question is — the people. That’s what the 2nd Amendment is all about.

Read the story.

America has more people in prison than any other nation in the world. No politician wants to be labeled “soft on crime,” so it’s easy, and natural for them to shout, “Build more prisons.” It’s what they do best — create bogus problems, sow fear, and devise wasteful and meaningless solutions

Since Democrats and Republicans are only interested in maintaining their power, they constantly seek to invent “crimes” which they can vilify in order to gain votes.

Half the people in NC prisons are there for non-violent offenses. In 2002, 21 percent of those in prison were serving time for drug offenses, most for simple use. In the South, 82 percent of drug arrests are for simple possession, according to Human Rights Watch. And most of those incarcerated are black.

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News from the NC Libertarian Party

Not content with its failed efforts to keep the Libertarian Party off the ballot, the Democratic-Republican duopoly has again excluded the Libertarian candidate from the North Carolina gubernatorial debates.

According to the Associated Press, Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and Republican Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory agreed to hold five debates. Dr. Mike Munger, the Libertarian candidate, hasn’t been invited.

“Since North Carolina has such restrictive ballot access laws, simple fairness requires that every party crossing that very high threshold must be admitted to the debates,” said Dr. Mike Munger, Duke University political science department chair.

“Let’s be very clear: the General Assembly established a criterion for inclusion, and the Libertarians passed that test,” Dr. Munger said. “Yet we’ve been excluded from participation, without explanation. The political elite of our state has made a decision to put its own convenience over the obvious will of the citizens.”

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I endorse this analysis of the budget by Joseph Coletti of the John Locke Foundation. Clearly, we can reduce the size and cost of State government, if we elected people to the General Assembly who have the intestinal fortitude to do it. I do and I will.

RALEIGH – The N.C. House’s proposed $21.2 billion state operations budget spends too much money on unproven ideas, overspends one-time money for long-term expenses, and sets up future legislatures for budgetary problems. That’s the assessment of a John Locke Foundation analyst who’s studied the House plan.

“The good news in this plan is that the House avoided the tax increases and shaved some of the spending increases proposed in Gov. Mike Easley’s budget,” said Joseph Coletti, JLF Fiscal Policy Analyst. “But there’s still plenty of bad news in the House plan. State senators could make major improvements to this plan.”

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