SnakeRiverLib

Now that I have invoked not only one of the premier economists of the Austrian School (FA Hayek), but the mother of objectivist thought (Ayn Rand) as well, let's talk. Why Socialism is taught as anything other than the abject failure that it leads to is beyond me.  To have to suffer through studying this farce of an economic system is more than idiocy, it is dangerous.  Marxism , of course is the same application.  Why do I say that?  Men are not perfect, and no matter how socialism is implemented, it is doomed to fail . Exhibit 1 is Venezuela.  Already the drums are beating to blame Maduro for failing to carry on Chavez's legacy.  They also blame capital for fleeing the nation.  I wonder why that is.  A member of OPEC, and sitting on one of the largest known reserves of oil, one would think that if there was ever a case for Socialism to work, it would be there.  So, what happened?  Well, not satisfied with the royalties being received from the oil companies, Cha

I figured a cross over from the Rim deserves another cross over from the Lib. I can't find the talk, but President Marion G. Romney, then a member of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints told a story back in the early 1980s. On the gulf coast of Florida, fishermen put out their nets after fishing for them to dry.  As there were small fish, and pieces of larger ones stuck in them, they attracted a large number of seagulls.  Over time, these gulls became accustomed to waiting for the fishermen to return because with all of the fish left over, there was no need for them to fish themselves.  There were generations that were taught to wait for the nets.  One day, the fishermen didn't come.  They had relocated to a different place on the coast.  Literally hundreds or thousands of these gulls starved, as they had never learned to fish. How does that relate?  Keep reading. For over 50 years we have been fighting a war on poverty .   This is a

If you read Mad magazine, then the title is familiar.  I wasn't going to write about this subject, but there are some red flags that really should be disseminated. We are familiar with the investigations going on.  A Special Counsel has been appointed by the DOJ to investigate a crime that as yet there is no evidence that it happened.  Let me say that again.  As of today, there is NO EVIDENCE that the Trump campaign colluded with the Ruskies .  Waters has admitted it, Feinstein has admitted it.  The Dems have hung themselves out on a huge limb. If the Special Counsel says nothing happened, that will not satisfy the other side, by the way. So, Trump advisers had spoken with the Russians .  It may have been that the Russians were trying to sway the election, though if so, I would have thought they would have been going in with Hillary.  After all, she approved a sale of 20% of US uranium production to a Canadian company owned by.... The Russians .   What did she get?  Oh, a

The President's budget was rolled out today.  As is typical, it will be dead on arrival.  There will be the gnashing of teeth, and the normal grandma eating dog food, children starving, or dying of a sinus infection because of cuts.  Here is the truth. DC cuts are not cuts like we understand.  It is because the government operates on a system known as "Base Line Budgeting" .   What this means is that before any work is done on the numbers, a presumed increase is built in.  So if some program received $100 last year, anything less than $106 will be a cut.  That is right!  That is what they will say.  So if the new budget calls for $103, then you will hear that there is a 50% cut in spending for that program.  Because it is half of the projected increase.  Prepare to be buried in that in the communication arm of the Democrat party, i.e. the media. How much do the Feds spend on needs based assistance?  $60,000 a year per family below the poverty level.  Considering that

Yesterday was a letter to the President of the United States. Today.  It is a call to libertarians everywhere. Hey fellow libs! I read your posts about how the Courts have appropriately overturned the Debate Council's bogus rules regarding debates, and the polling requirement to get on the stage. I know you love your "Don't blame me, I voted Johnson" T-shirts.  I wanted to, until he went Jackbooted thug on individuals.  He did.  You can't deny it. Look.  As a third party, you have to stand for your beliefs.  If Johnson supported government putting the gun to businesses in regards to discrimination, he deserved to lose.  He proved to be too much establishment. I will stipulate that government CANNOT discriminate based on the normal parameters.   Sex, gender, preference, religion, age, race, nationality, and so on .  The 14th Amendment applies these parameters to the states.  So stipulated.  However, Title II of the Civil Rights Act is blatantly unconst

Funny how innocent until proven guilty rarely applies to Republicans, and certainly not to the current occupant of the White House. I can't write anything that will make you think I am not a Trump shrill.  If he tried to influence the FBI's cases, he MUST resign.  That is it.  End of story  He can't win.  No, he doesn't help his cause.  His communications are terrible, and horribly inconsistent, with ever changing stories.  But if he shut off Twitter, and went incommunicado, then we would be hearing about everything cloaked in secrecy.   Oh, and on a side note.  If the Supreme Court had approached O-care the way that the 9th Circuit is approaching the President's travel ban, (by referring to campaign rhetoric) then it would have been ruled unconstitutional, as people were promised that "if they like their plan, they can keep their plan" (Politifact's 2013 lie of the year)  A law should be judged based on the language of the law, and that is it.

So, Ms USA is not a feminist, and she thinks that healthcare is a privilege, not a right.  If that is not bad enough.  She is also black, was the Ms. District of Columbia, and works for the federal government.  So, those things would lead someone who profiles to think that she would give a PC answer.  You know.  All blacks are progressives.  All blacks vote Democrat.  All women are feminists.   Traitor!  Traitor! It is the racist that assumes personal opinion based on skin color , and the sexist who assumes based on gender. President Trump is moving too slowly on nominations.  At first, I thought: okay, just not fill the positions.  But that is a bad idea.  Because by not putting in people that want to eliminate jobs, to streamline government, there will be no pretense of getting things done.  The bureaucrats in cubicles in DC do one thing well.   Justify their jobs .  It would be next to impossible even with heavy handed heads of departments to chop anyway.  Congress needs to st

I really hate to follow up what I thought was a pretty decent post, but when something comes to me, I just got to put it down in Cyber ink, otherwise it is lost. I have written about the Welfare state, and what it has done to the lower and underclass.  I actually will include the middle class in the welfare state, thanks to the subsidies of Ocare.  The tax credits, or whatever they are have cemented many into the same plantation that Democrats put the poor in decades ago. No, Using the term "plantation" and all that it implies is not hyperbole.  It is every bit true, and accurate.  Those who are now multi-generational welfare recipients are attached to the Democrat plantation every bit as much as slaves were pre-Civil War.  Instead of manual labor, they are required to go to the polls and vote the "D" . So, most people feel that there should be a social safety net.  To provide for those that CAN'T provide for themselves.  Whether it is healthcare, food,

I have been thinking on this for several days.  I had some clarifying feelings that helped me to put it into words. Yes, I have written on rights before.   Yes, I know that while I write this for myself, there are some that feel my words have value.  I think they do.  I know I could improve the writing, but mostly these are raw expressions on the passing scene. Speaking on rights.  I have mentioned that individual rights are very important.   Life, Liberty, and Property.  Those are the rights espoused in the Declaration of Independence.  These are the rights that government is supposed to protect.  These are known as Natural Rights for those who do not believe in God, and if you do believe, as most did in those times then they would be, as Thomas Jefferson wrote, "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" . I do not see in there the right to an education, or food, or health care.  Searching the Constitution of the United States, defining the limitations

President Trump is decrying the filibuster.  He is complaining about the rules of the Senate which allow a party that will vote for nothing "Trump" to control the legislation.  Don't give me the BS about the Republicans in the Senate under President Obama.  It wasn't they who stopped legislation.  It was the Senate Democrats (majority party) under Senator "Dingy" Harry Reid.  Senator Reid stopped any legislation that worked.  Any legislation that would fund the government (actual funding bills, not Omnibus CRs).  And if it would make President Obama or the Democrat party look bad, then it didn't see the light of day.  He did the same as the Minority Leader in the Senate under Republicans. So, our President is said to be a man of action.  Okay.  ACT! VETO THE DARN BILL! Send it back.  Say that the Congress is not doing the will of the people.  Single out Republicans that are balking.  Group the Democrats. Next step?  Ensure that essential service