Wednesday, November 30, 2016

2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #95 “Recall The FDA”

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Last week’s edition of this column discussed the areas of water and air pollution, where we probably need the government’s involvement for the health and safety of the general public.  But there is another area where most people believe we need government involvement which actually could be much better addressed by the private sector.  This is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Taken from its website, its formal mandate is to be responsible for “protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices, cosmetics, animal foods & feed and veterinary products.”  But in so many ways the FDA actually works against the public’s health and safety.

It is generally agreed that it costs hundreds of millions of dollars for a company to receive an FDA certification for any new products, whether they be pharmaceutical, medical devices or otherwise.  That means that only products that will potentially generate large amounts of income will be pursued.  This in turn means that products that would be of large benefit to small numbers of people or small benefit to large numbers of people will likely be lost because they simply don’t pencil out.  In addition, the FDA’s involvement adds many years onto the certification process, which means that some people could die or needlessly suffer because of the delay.  Why does it cost so much and take so long?  Because the FDA is a vast bureaucracy in which there are multiple incentives for a bureaucrat not to make a decision.  For example, if an FDA official certifies ten products, and nine of them are successful in saving lives and alleviating pain, etc., but one of them causes upset stomachs or headaches, figuratively that person’s head will roll.  Instead, a private company, such as Underwriter’s Laboratories, could step in and both speed up the process, alleviate suffering and cost much less.  Why?  Because there would be competition among various private companies to do a timely and effective job.  And there still would be accountability, because if the company certified a product that did not perform as advertised, both that manufacturer and certifying company could be successfully sued.  Unlike with air and water pollution, it would be clear who the manufacturer and certifier were, so they could be held responsible for their products and representations.  So once again, in this area, as well as almost all others, Liberty results in better outcomes than Big Government.

 

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration.  And, by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayoai, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.




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Thursday, November 24, 2016

2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #93 “There Must Be A Balance”

6a00d83451721569e2017c330a31db970b       For the past 92 editions this column has advocated the benefits of Liberty as opposed to Big Government.  But this does not mean that greater Liberty and a lessening of government always produce the best results.  The “reset button” should always favor Liberty, but sometimes there must also be a balance.  This point was reinforced again when a great friend of mine recently sent me the book Leaded: The Poisoning of Idaho’s Silver Valley by Michael C. Mix (Oregon State University Press, 2016).  In this book, Dr. Mix traces the history of mining in Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Valley from its beginning in the 1880s, when the area was truly pristine and even sublime, until the last large mining operations closed in December of 1981, after which the area was soon designated as one of the most polluted of the Superfund sites.

       Most harms inflicted by people, companies or even governments can be effectively addressed through our civil justice system.  Ideally, even with the pollution of rivers and streams, the injured downstream parties can successfully sue the upstream polluters.  But, as a practical matter, this sometimes is not a sufficient remedy because it can be hard to prove or even determine where the pollution like lead or sulfur dioxide actually came from, or how much came from where, or whether the pollution was the actual cause of the subject injuries.  And those problems can be compounded when it comes to air pollution.  Furthermore, it can be hard successfully to sue large polluting companies, which often have an abundance of influence and resources to use for their defense.  So sometimes we do need government statutes like the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Clean Water Act of 1972, as well as their accompanying regulations to implement and enforce them.  As has been stated in this column numerous times, Liberty demands responsibility, and sometimes it takes government regulations to achieve that end.  But the bureaucracy enforcing the regulations should be continually monitored to keep from getting too large or despotic, and it should be used only in those rare cases in which enforcing property rights is difficult and using things like effluent taxes don’t achieve the socially desired results.  So the balance almost always favors Liberty, but in some limited circumstances there can be a blend.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration.  And, by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayoai, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.




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Tuesday, November 15, 2016

2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #92 “Liberty in Voting”

untitled    Under our nation’s laws governing presidential elections, each state is empowered to choose how their citizens’ votes will count in the Electoral College.  Most states have chosen a “winner takes all” system.  The exceptions are Maine and Nebraska.  In those states, the winner of the popular vote receives two Electoral College votes, and the winners of the two individual congressional districts in Maine and three in Nebraska receive one vote each.  But there are other systems that would bring more Liberty in voting, so that people could both vote their consciences and also keep from “wasting their vote” by voting their consciences.  The most promising systems are “Instant Runoff Voting” and “Approval Voting.”

Instant Runoff allows people to vote for their favorite candidates, and also for their second choice at the same time.  Then if their first choice doesn’t win, and no other candidate received 50 percent of the votes plus one, there would be an immediate “runoff” between the top two remaining candidates in the race.  In the runoff the lowest candidates would be eliminated, and there would be a recount.  Voters who still had a candidate among the top two would have their votes counted.  In Approval Voting, people would vote for all candidates of whom they approved or accepted, but no one could vote more than once for any one candidate.  Then the votes would be tabulated, with the highest vote-getter winning the election.  Under that system if voters pretty much would be content with Candidate A or B, but really disapproved of Candidate C, their vote would count for Candidate C not to win the election.  In both of these systems, people could vote for the “best” candidate, but still have their choice for the “lesser of two evils” votes counted.  In that way, there would be much more Liberty in voting.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration.  And, by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayoai, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.




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Wednesday, November 9, 2016

2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #91 “Election Post-Mortum”

7357379_origHere are some observations and final thoughts about the 2016 presidential election:

  1. How could this have happened to us?  I have never seen a presidential election with so few bumperstickers .  To me that means that most voters were unenthusiastic about the candidates they voted for.
  2. Money still means much too much in elections, particularly national ones.  Arianna Huffington once jokingly said that we should do away with the elections, and simply give the job to the person who raises the most money.  Can this somehow be changed?
  3. Although most people decry negative campaigning, it is still often much more effective than discussing issues – especially this year!
  4. Campaign pros focus on the “3 M’s” of an election: Money, Momentum and Message.  This election added one more: Misery.
  5. Common decency still is not common.
  6. More “sunset laws” should be passed and enforced.  That would mean that all laws would have to be reviewed and re-passed every five or so years, or they would expire.  This would keep more people focused on issues and reduce crony capitalism, which is defined as laws that favor some special interests over others.
  7. It almost always feels better to vote in favor of a candidate than against one.  (So I feel good about my vote for Governor Gary Johnson!)
  8. Don’t be afraid!  We are a resilient people.  But concentrate on the Golden Rule, and remind others to do the same.
  9. The criteria used to invite candidates to participate in the three final presidential and one vice presidential debates must be changed.  Both the candidates for the Libertarian and Green Parties were on the ballots in enough states technically to win the presidency.  Had they been able to be in the debates, it would have changed the face and results of the election, where we reaped the results of an unworkable two-party system.

   The most achievable of these changes is that dealing with the presidential debates.  When the League of Women Voters oversaw those debates, the candidates of any political party that were on enough ballots technically to win the presidency were invited to participate.  But when the Republican and Democratic National Parties gained control of the Commission on Presidential Debates and changed that criterion the League left, saying publicly that it would not be a part of the “hoodwinking of America.”  At this moment, the Libertarian and Green Parties, as well as their 2012 presidential and vice presidential candidates, have a lawsuit against the Commission and the main two parties to change back to the way it was before.  If you would like to donate to this cause, please contact me and I will provide you with the necessary information.  In my view, this in many ways is the biggest investment anyone can make in our great country, and in Liberty!  And that will keep the 2020 election from a repeat of 2016.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
along with Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration.  And, by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayoai, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

 




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Thursday, November 3, 2016

2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #90 “The Importance of Your Vote for Liberty”

99a3f0e6e2ac09e2d96145fe3d41c7ef-350x196As I hope you have noticed, for the past 89 weeks this series has focused upon how Liberty in so many circumstances more positively and effectively addresses and resolves issues and problems in our world than Big Government.  And this has been shown to be true in many areas, including justice, the tax code, education, healthcare, security, immigration, international relations and many more.  In addition, I anticipate that you have noticed my assertions that Libertarian Gary Johnson is the only presidential candidate who would consistently employ Liberty in Washington, just as he did as the two-term governor of New Mexico.  In fact, this directly led to his campaign slogan “Good Government is Easy: Watch!”  Well, the presidential election is now upon us, but Governor Johnson will not win it outright. (He could still win if the election is sent to the House of Representatives under the 12th Amendment.)   Why won’t he win it outright?  Because even though he is on the ballots in all 50 states, he was not included in the presidential debates, which is the Super Bowl of presidential politics.  And he was not included because the debates are completely controlled by the so-called Commission on Presidential Debates which, in turn, is completely controlled by high-ranking Democrats and Republicans.

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President,
Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

Please forward this on to your circle of friends for their consideration.  And, by the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejimgrayoai, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.




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