Rational Nation USA

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny President Obama and the Occupy Wall Street crowd has succeeded in turning the nation's focus increasingly to the idea of wealth redistribution. This of course is allegedly to make things a bit more "fair", to use one of my favorite anti-concepts . Recently thinking about this my mind turned to the concept of property rights . While I knew the framers of our Constitution were advocates for individual property rights and set themselves to the task of insuring their protection I went searching for some on line reference material to help put things in proper perspective. I found it at the National Center for Constitutional Studies . Below is from the Center's front page. I encourage everyone concerned with the present day trend towards wealth redistribution and its cousin, collectivism to visit the Center . Protecting individual property rights is critical to protecting freedom and individual liberties. ...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Submitted by a regular visitor the following "fum facts" or "trivia", however you view them, are telling. There are actually two messages here. The first is very interesting, but the second explains a lot. A recent "Investor's Business Daily" article provided very interesting statistics from a survey by the United Nations International Health Organization. Percentage of men and women who survived a cancer five years after diagnosis: U.S. 65% England 46% Canada 42% Percentage of patients diagnosed with diabetes who received treatment within six months: U.S. 93% England 15% Canada 43% Percentage of seniors needing hip replacement who received it within six months: U.S. ...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Republican -vs- Democrat claims as to which party is responsible for the nation's deficits and national debt is ongoing. With neither side giving an inch or taking responsibility. As such We the People continue to be the beneficiary of bad fiscal management and government. The reality is this, both are responsible and until such time as we hold our elected officials feet to the fire not much is going to change. Our biggest problem is that we have become addicted to "big brother" government, expecting Leviathan to solve our problems for us and take care of us without considering the expense and who is ultimately footing the bill. An interesting and spot on article from 2010 . Not much has changed really.

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny There is just something I don't understand about the big "R" republicans. Getting our fiscal house in order, and restoring constitutional governance should be of the highest order. Yet the party that ought to be concerned with how we spend the people's money seems more concerned with telling us all how we should live our lives and creating the invisible boogeymen the party wants us all should fear. The Hill - The House voted Thursday to override steep cuts to the Pentagon’s budget mandated by last summer's debt deal and replace them with spending reductions to food stamps and other mandatory social programs. While doomed in the Senate and opposed by the White House, the legislation, which would reduce the deficit by $243 billion, is a Republican marker for post-election budget talks with the White House. Members approved the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act in a party-line 218-199 vote....

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny Upon hearing President Obama has finally "evolved" into supporting "gay marriage" I was cranked to do a critical post on how he is the "typical leftist" hypocrite. Especially in light of his prior position ( 2008 campaign ) not supporting "gay marriage." As I found myself reflecting on my own views on this nettlesome issue I realized three things; 1) my views are not that different than the Presidents, 2)they are based on the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, and 3) that this nation has by far more pressing things to work on than the issue of "gay marriage." In light of the above considerations there is little I can add. Other than to say any time wasted on this issue, and we all know the socons are revving their engines as I type, is exactly that, a gargantuan waste of time and energy. What we need to ...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny I Having forever been one who values freedom and individual liberty I cannot help but question if my grandchildren will enjoy the same freedoms an individual liberties I, as well as millions of others have enjoyed. Considering the ever expanding and more intrusive role government plays in our lives it is both reasonable to question the likelihood and be very doubtful at the same time. It has always been clear, at least to this writer, for freedom and liberty to survive and flourish they must be based on ethical and moral principles that are understood and accepted by a vast majority of any given society. When thinking about freedom and liberty it seems only natural that one consider and reflect on the views of John Stewart Mill , one of the 19th century's preeminent philosophers. The following is an excerpt from John Stuart Mill and the Three Dangers to Liberty by Richard M. Ebeling, June 2001. JOHN STUART M...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Liberty -vs- Tyranny James Carville does have a way with words. CNN - Democratic fundraisers, activists, supporters, and even politicians alike have somehow collectively lapsed into the sentiment that the president is going to be reelected and that we have a good shot to take the House back while holding the Senate. I ask: What are you smoking? What are you drinking? What are you snorting or just what in the hell are you thinking? I've been asking myself precisely these questions for some time. Albeit for obviously different reasons. Via: Memeorandum

An economic policy that disproportionately helps A, while disproportionately harming B, doesn't help the economy. It helps A. This whole antiseptic notion that, if we simply put stiffer tariffs on certain countries in an effort to help certain industries, the entirety of the nation will somehow benefit from it is absurd. There are always, ALWAYS, unintended consequences............................................................................................And the fact of the matter is that we can certainly stimulate the economy without these measures. Reducing and simplifying the corporate income tax rate (right now we have companies like G.E. paying zero and other companies like U.P.S. paying a cart-load), continuing to explore and market domestic sources of energy (even as it stands now, a lot of new manufacturing jobs are being created here in at least some small measure due to the cheap natural gas that we have), reducing the amount of red-tape necessary to st...