2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #130 “Proof Once Again, Government is Money”

       Government is Money!  As Shakespeare said in a different context: “’Tis true ‘tis pity; ‘tis pity ‘tis true.”  But this dreary fact was recently brought home to me once again when I learned that each Republican member of Congress is expected each quarter to raise several tens of thousands of dollars for the National Republican Party.  Furthermore, before a Republican member of Congress can be appointed to chair a committee that member must “tithe” up to $100,000 to the party’s coffers, the exact amount depending upon the importance of the chairmanship.  I have no direct information as to what the Democrats do, but anticipate that it is equally discouraging.

So what is the answer?  Nothing is perfect, but my suggestion is to support the Libertarian Party.  Libertarians are classic conservatives: they really do want to reduce the size, cost and complexity of government.  In other words, Libertarians believe that you and I are better able to decide how better to spend our money than is the government.  But we are also classic liberals: we really do want to get the government out of our bedrooms and protect and defend our liberties.  And Libertarians would never engage in a “little honest payoff” in order to become a chair of a committee!  As has been written often in this column, we get the government we deserve.  And if this is happening on our watch, shame upon all of us!!  This is not Liberty!  This is not the honest government of “We the People.”   So we should contact the media, take to the airwaves, and otherwise pass the word that this is not what we condone!  And we should support political parties and candidates that would eschew such practices!  Thus we should show ourselves and the world that our government is not, or at least should not be, for sale!

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 to further the discussion. 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!

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2wAXoRD
via IFTTT

2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: #129 “Install A Statue of Responsibility?”

         Regretfully, our great country has strayed away from a climate individual responsibility and instead fallen back into one of victimization.  For example, numbers of years ago a man who had been drinking too much one night dove headfirst off the Newport Pier into three feet of water, hit his head on the sand below and, tragically, became a paraplegic.  So then what happened?  He sued the City of Newport Beach on the theory that it should have posted a sign warning people that there was sand under the water.  (As if, under those circumstances, it would have mattered.)  And he won!  (At least partially.)  So he received some money, and the city posted the sign in self-protection. Recently, my sister sent me some pictures of similar public warning signs.  These included signs:

• in a grocery store sitting on top of large numbers of peanuts in the shell saying “This product contains peanuts;”
• a ten by four-foot picture advertising a hot dog, saying at the bottom “Not Actual Size;”
• over a lit barbeque saying “Caution: Fire is Hot;”
• floating in a swimming pool saying: “Caution: Wet Floor,” and another saying “Caution: Do Not Breathe Under Water;”
• a picture of a metal clothes hanger saying: “Caution: Do Not Swallow;”
• in front of a door saying: “If Door Does Not Open, Do Not Enter;”
• on a public street saying “Wet When Raining;” and, finally,
• in front of a public beach saying “No Swimming If You Can’t Swim.”

Maybe some of these are simply meant to be funny, but all of them are at least unintentionally so, because they show how far astray we have come.  So in response to that reality, I suggest that we should balance the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor by creating and installing a Statue of Responsibility in San Francisco Bay.  At least that would be a start!

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 to further the discussion. 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!

 

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2w1Inr4
via IFTTT