John Galt Vs. Mr. Thompson (aka ObamaBush)

Galt________________Thompson/Obama/Bush

Justice____________________Mercy
Independence_______________Unity (i.e. Collectivism)
Reason____________________Faith (i.e. coerced charity)
Wealth____________________Need
Self Esteem_________________Self-Denial
Happiness__________________Duty

More good news, really

January 23, 2009

Dear Mr. Tokyem,

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

I voted against H.R. 384, the TARP Reform and Accountability Act, which passed the House 260 to 166 on January 21, 2009. The legislation will place taxpayers on the hook for an additional $350 billion investment for a Treasury program that has been managed with little transparency, no accountability, and in a way inconsistent with how it was sold to Congress.

Signed into law last fall, TARP funds were intended to buy "toxic assets" to help unlock the credit markets at the center of the financial crisis. Instead, the Treasury Department utilized funds to help financial institutions acquire other banks, additional funds went to the auto companies, and still more taxpayer money is unaccounted for.

The time for bailouts is over. This money doesn't belong to the government - it's pried from the pockets of the American people and has been used in an unacceptable spendthrift manner.

I believe the better solution is to support families through tax relief and provide economic relief for American businesses and entrepreneurs who create jobs and spur economic growth. The United States of America did not tax, spend and borrow its way into becoming the largest most successful economy in the history of the world. Rather, the American people created this success because they have been free to reap the rewards of their own hard work and ingenuity.

Be assured that I will keep your comments in mind as I continue to monitor this situation.

For more information about my work in Congress or to send me an electronic message, please visit the 21st District's website, http://lamarsmith.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Lamar Smith
Member of Congress

Katie, bar the doors! (or, welcome to the People's Republic of America)

A couple of recent notes from my lawyer updating me on new legislation:

"In a move designed to promote Congress's aggressive pro-labor/pro-employee
agenda, last week the House leadership introduced into the "American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" stimulus bill a number of pro-labor
provisions."

And, perhaps more frightening:

EFCA: Four Letters, One Huge Employment Law Change:

"The Employee Free Choice Act will make successful union organizing, even in Texas, the rule and not the exception. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the House last year, but fell a few votes short of passage in the Senate. It may well become law in the first 100 days of the new 2009 Congress; it has been designated as a high priority for passage by the congressional leadership.

I ask my Right Honorable Friends from the Left, how will these changes help to make American more productive? If, as those friends claim to agree, domestic production combined with competitive exports are key to (re-) building our nation's wealth, how will these two bills help? Will they promote domestic production (vs. outsourcing)? Will they encourage employers to hire workers here in America? Will these bills reduce costs of domestically produced goods to better compete with China?

First draft of history

I've been thinking about a prediction for Obama's legacy. Something to give my daughters so they have an understanding of how things were before the biggest cult of personality I have ever witnessed. Behind the scenes are pure back-to-the-bad-old-ways of pre-Thatcher Britain or pre-Reagan US. Leave it to Dick Morris to get it done before me...

http://thehill.com/dick-morris/the-obama-presidency--here-comes-socialism-2009-01-20.html

Some Optimism from Reason

The Libertarian Moment
http://www.reason.com/news/show/129993.html

Bush Legacy

"This does ensure that President Bush will have a legacy," laughed Competitive Enterprise Institute president Fred Smith after that Americans for Tax Reform meeting. "It's a legacy that will set back the concept of economic liberty by a century. The free market, for all intents and purposes, is dead in America."

Some interesting reading:

Atlas Blinked: http://www.reason.com/news/show/129941.html