tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-142174352011-09-28T11:18:45.952-04:00Enjoying capitalism since 1984.Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.comBlogger3061100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-39565214525341043952009-05-29T12:02:00.002-04:002009-05-29T12:05:00.213-04:00

The Globe and Mail is reporting on the new cost estimates of the auto sector bailout bill, which could be as large as $13.5 billion dollars. What kind of cost is that putting on taxpayers - many of whom don't have the high wages or padded benefits packages that autoworkers enjoy?At General Motors of Canada Ltd. alone, the rescue package could amount to a staggering $1.4-million for every job

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-89749220173587578732009-05-27T15:41:00.002-04:002009-05-28T10:54:18.672-04:00

I live in Windsor, Ontario, where city workers have been striking since mid-April. There has been no garbage pickup or park maintenance, but I've been happy to see the people of Windsor stepping up to do what they can to take care of the city. People have started going out with their kids to help clean up parks as a way to teach them about littering and keeping the planet clean. One major cleanup

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-41557750829239796452009-05-27T10:55:00.000-04:002009-05-27T10:56:49.062-04:00

You know those ads to raise awareness of the government's new and various tax credits? "You've earned it. Claim it!" - as though you hadn't earned every last penny of the taxes you'd paid instead of just the ones the Ottawa plans to toss back your way.With this year's deficit forecast to be $16 billion higher than planned, clocking in at over $50 billion, it's becoming obvious that Canadians are

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-88876020807971560232009-05-27T10:52:00.001-04:002009-05-27T10:53:51.420-04:00

As we all know, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced yesterday that the government's 2009-2010 budget deficit will be upwards of $50 billion dollars, rather than the originally planned $33.7 billion laid out in the budget.Surely, though, this is simply a result of poorer-than-expected economic performance, right? The finance minister and government couldn't be at fault. Not quite, says Terence

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-72110525609403949952009-05-27T10:49:00.000-04:002009-05-27T10:50:29.726-04:00

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is starting to prepare Canadians for bigger deficit numbers than the government predicted when it tabled its budget in January. This isn't surprising - or shouldn't be to anyone who's a fan of public choice. We should expect to see (and I've predicted) the same thing happen to the McGuinty government's projected deficit in Ontario, and to any other government

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-512923861396532612009-05-18T17:09:00.001-04:002009-05-18T17:10:28.092-04:00

Governer Mark Sanford (R - South Carolina) responds in this short video to criticisms that he might be "too libertarian" in a way that more politicians ought to.Cross posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-42219588425481752712009-05-18T17:08:00.000-04:002009-05-18T17:09:20.386-04:00

The Globe and Mail is reporting that a Montreal woman was handcuffed, detained and fined $420 for not holding the hand rail on an escalator in the Montreal subway system.Bela Kosoian, a 38-year-old mother of two, says when she didn't hold the handrail Wednesday she was cuffed, dragged into a small holding cell and fined.“It was horrible, disgusting behaviour [by police],” said Ms. Kosoian, a 38-

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-5553806836700877172009-05-16T00:29:00.003-04:002009-05-16T00:49:22.170-04:00

Stephen Taylor is reporting the following membership sales according to "a source close to the [Ontario PC] party."Elliott: just over 8,000Hillier: just over 3,100Hudak: just under 7,000Klees : just over 9,000New memberships not attrubuted to a leadership candidate: 6,500I've heard elsewhere that these numbers are very close to accurate.Taylor also mentions that the CP reported that Elliott is

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-31645740240417770802009-05-07T20:27:00.000-04:002009-05-07T20:28:17.472-04:00

Back in October the Shotgun reported here and here on a possible trade agreement between Canada and the European Union as reported by the Wall Street Journal.These talks are back in the news - this time in the Globe and Mail. Quebec now wants in the deal, demanding a role for the provinces in negotiations, and Newfoundland demands that the deal only go forward if the EU lifts its ban on seal

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-39416257754104854822009-05-07T20:08:00.000-04:002009-05-07T20:09:03.046-04:00

Stephen Taylor finishes off his series of PCPO leadership interviews with Randy Hillier this afternoon.Hillier emphasizes the policies he's announced and their benefits to all Ontarians (rather than benefits only to targeted demographics) and delves into some new areas:Musing over the idea of a flat tax, which he says is a worthy one. (He doesn't comment on Elliott's proposal specifically),

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-42711232542399529282009-05-07T11:08:00.003-04:002009-05-07T11:11:06.944-04:00

Christine Elliott, once the "red tory" of the Ontario PC leadership race, announced this morning that she would implement a flat tax in Ontario if she were elected premier. This is beyond my expectations for any major party politician. It's almost too good for me to believe that any leadership candidate in the PCs would endorse this. As a friend of mine often says, a flat tax is just plain

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-56203828118417464172009-05-07T09:48:00.001-04:002009-05-07T09:49:36.620-04:00

Moin Yahya posted an article that he wrote yesterday on the Supreme Court's horrendous decision in Chatterjee v. Ontario to allow asset seizure from those who are suspected of (not "charged with" or "convicted of") criminal activity.Tim Hudak, who briefly redeemed himself to me last week with some good economic policy, has come out, guns blazing, in favour of this policy. In fact, as part of his

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-25744348381752357812009-05-05T20:38:00.001-04:002009-05-05T20:40:53.770-04:00

Hit & Run reportsthat Reason magazine has won a "Maggie Award," given by the Western Publishing Association, for the best editorial cartoon - entitled "What part of legal immigration don't you understand?"I wish (oh, how I wish) that I could post it here in a way that would make it easier to view, but you'll just have to click on it instead. Please do - it's brilliant.Cross posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-66495497454947991632009-05-05T11:21:00.000-04:002009-05-05T11:22:24.137-04:00

Apparently Quebec's civil registrar has the ability to reject names that parents want to give their children, as one Quebec couple found out while trying to give their child the middle name "Avalanche."But Marie Godbout, a spokeswoman for the registrar, says the translated letter should have said the government had a problem with Logan's middle name, Avalanche. She says the registrar only rejects

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-60700678087962232242009-05-05T09:51:00.000-04:002009-05-05T09:52:33.480-04:00

Like Tim Hudak, Christine Elliott has promised that she would freeze Ontario's minimum wage for four years if she were elected Premier of Ontario to help job creation in the province.Elliott voiced her concern about the impact Dalton McGuinty’s wage hikes are having on Ontario’s minimum wage workers: “It is vulnerable new entrants to the workforce especially young people and new Canadians—who are

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-30931621410805083902009-05-04T12:16:00.000-04:002009-05-04T12:17:12.624-04:00

William Joseph reported last week on some promising economic policy (finally) from Tim Hudak's leadership camp.Over the weekend Christine Elliott jumped into the fray as well, first calling for an end to the mandated 48 hour work week to return to the 60 hour work week as specified under the Employment Standards Act of 2000, and then calling for employment insurance reform that's better for

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-4598875830095423002009-05-02T14:01:00.001-04:002009-05-02T14:02:16.747-04:00

Stephen Harper is denying any rumours that his government would form any sort of pact with the Bloc or the NDP. Harper was quoted in this story:"That is absolutely untrue. We listen to all members of Parliament. The Bloc Quebecois stands for the breakup of this country. We will not govern this country in a pact or arrangement with the Bloc Quebecois. We've been clear on that for years. I don't

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-51840259683758432682009-04-30T16:02:00.001-04:002009-04-30T16:04:41.066-04:00

From Aaron Wherry at Macleans:Stephen Harper, Dec. 1.“I would certainly not want to find myself governing this economy today in a situation that required me to follow socialist economics and to be at the behest of a veto of the separatists.” James Moore, heckling Gilles Duceppe, Dec. 1. “Traitor!” Stephen Harper, Dec. 2. “The Canadian people made a choice to elect the Conservative Party to govern

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-15776093168464093742009-04-30T14:33:00.001-04:002009-04-30T14:59:09.485-04:00

I've written before about my feelings about using a dead coalition pioneered by Stephane Dion as a scapegoat for everything the Conservatives have been doing wrong since the last election.So I took notice and was annoyed a few weeks ago when Tom Flanagan posited that, were Michael Ignatieff to get the NDP and the Bloc Québécois to vote with him to bring down the Harper government, he would, in

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-27002628445244955582009-04-30T12:26:00.002-04:002009-04-30T12:47:01.015-04:00

Terence Corcoran has written on the speech Harper delivered at the Manning Centre conference in March. Shotgun bloggers have covered this multiple times, and it's nice to have Corcoran weighing in as well. From the column:What followed was Mr. Harper’s conscious rebuke of libertarianism. In fact, more words were spent undermining libertarians than Liberals. Libertarians, he said, “believe that

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-9183935133713661412009-04-29T13:06:00.002-04:002009-04-29T13:10:15.684-04:00

We seem to have angered some Hudak supporters by alleging that his rebate programs would not constitute tax cuts.This is puzzling to me, since all rebate programs proposed by Liberals are opposed as "big government socialism!" or something like that by Conservatives, but when it's a Tory policy, it's a tax cut. In the comments of Hugh's post on whether Hudak is the new Tory, someone asked how a

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-86798671785491761532009-04-29T12:27:00.000-04:002009-04-29T12:29:00.263-04:00

I'm impressed to see that any provincial leadership candidate is willing to touch education with a ten-foot pole after the whole, you know, faith-based funding thing. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it. Hudak has announced some minor changes that he would make, mostly in the goals of the education system rather than in any kind of substantial reform. The press release is "Supporting families through

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-47694488078454408262009-04-29T12:08:00.001-04:002009-04-29T12:09:40.218-04:00

Christine Elliott announced today that she would double the amount that Ontarians can claim for charitable donations over $200. From her website:Elliott says she would increase the rate of provincial charitable tax credit for donations over $200 from 11 percent to 22 percent, bringing the combined federal and provincial tax credit from 40 percent to 51 percent.I do have some mixed feelings about

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-24689265222369824822009-04-28T18:21:00.001-04:002009-04-28T18:22:44.069-04:00

Tim Hudak has made a few policy announcements on government subsidies to families. From his announcement: The introduction of a Newborn Savings Account to provide theparents of every newborn child with an immediate $1,000 deposit to alocked-in, flexible investment plan; andAllowing income splitting for all families with pre-school agechildren, providing parents with the opportunity and the

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-65211347281173125742009-04-28T18:20:00.001-04:002009-04-28T18:21:40.199-04:00

In an interview with Stephen Taylor, Klees finally lays out a little policy. Take a look - policy talk starts at around 5:50:Stephen Taylor interviews Frank Klees from Stephen Taylor on Vimeo.Klees says he is:In favour of elected Ontario senatorsOpposed to liberalizing Ontario's liquor lawsOpposed to harmonizing the provincial sales tax, specifically because it broadens the number of goods that

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-14413333257726337452009-04-28T18:19:00.000-04:002009-04-28T18:20:17.118-04:00

Yesterday I wondered about the positions of the Ontario PC leadership hopefuls (other than Hillier, who has announced his policy) on the ending of the economically outrageous policy of granting a distribution monopoly to The Beer Store.Frank Klees, in this video interview with Stephen Taylor, clears up his position: he opposes ending the monopoly. Cross posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-38810636061650817122009-04-28T18:18:00.001-04:002009-04-28T18:19:24.221-04:00

I've heard from a few people this weekend that at an event in Windsor Christine Elliott, in conversations with members, revealed that were she premier she would not stop harmonization of the provincial sales tax, but would instead simply cut the rate.This is, of course, the right thing to do. It's what should be done when the harmonization is brought in. It is also not what her announced position

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-35808160310950358012009-04-27T10:17:00.000-04:002009-04-28T18:25:15.276-04:00

As reported earlier today, Randy Hillier has promised that as premier he would end the Beer Store's monopoly on distribution and would allow corner stores to sell beer and wine.It's too bad that there isn't talk of also ending the province's liqour monopoly, but frankly this is a politically smart way to breach the subject. As Hillier points out, the Beer Store is actually a government-sanctioned

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-83536745767450750072009-04-24T10:10:00.000-04:002009-04-28T18:24:38.016-04:00

While Hudak's been talking tax suspension and Hillier's been talking ban repeals, Christine Elliott has been talking Northern development. The candidate announced on Wednesday her plan for helping Northern Ontario:Establishing a law school in Northern OntarioEnsuring affordable access to broadband. (Elliott does not elaborate on what would constitute "affordable" or how the government would

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-73532159262820075912009-04-24T09:51:00.000-04:002009-04-28T18:24:09.939-04:00

Tim Hudak's leadership campaign sent out an email this morning outlining some policy announced yesterday at the Economic Club of Canada:An immediate one-year payroll tax holiday on new hiresSuspending the Land Transfer Tax for one-year on all new and resale home purchases, saving homebuyers almost $3,000 on the purchase of a $300,000 home Stopping sales tax harmonization in OntarioA $2,000

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-60462600177651728242009-04-23T11:24:00.000-04:002009-04-28T18:23:35.362-04:00

Randy Hillier announced today that, were he made Premier of Ontario he would repeal the province's pit bull ban.The effect of the law is that it unjustly targets responsible dog owners and brands Pit Bulls and other larger dogs as dangerous when all responsible dog owners know this is false and does nothing to advance public safety.As the Premier of this Province and owner of “Robbie” (a Pitt

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-75888328119151932012009-04-20T11:14:00.001-04:002009-04-20T11:15:45.298-04:00

Today is the ten year anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, hard as it may be to believe that so much time has passed. (Read here how schools have changed largely as a result of Columbine since 1999.)Although Columbine was not the first school shooting, they have, tragically, happened more frequently in the United States in the past ten years than they had previously. In spite of

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-67152890383966205262009-04-19T22:34:00.000-04:002009-04-19T22:35:28.990-04:00

As I blogged earlier, Christine Elliott has semi-famously come out against Ontario's harmonization of its sales tax in spite of the fact that it's a policy strongly endorsed by her husband, (and economists, by the way) who happens to be the finance minister of Canada.Elliott is an interesting candidate in that she's announced that she has the support of a couple federal members of parliament:

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-29281099178382390582009-04-19T22:33:00.003-04:002009-04-19T22:38:05.986-04:00

It's no secret that the Ontario PCs have been largely useless since they were ousted from government in 2003. Despite the disaster that has been Dalton McGuinty as Premier of Ontario, the PCs have feebly disagreed with the most egregious of the Liberal government's policies (at best) and endorsed them (at worst) for five and a half years. So...... what happens when McGuinty, after 5½ long years

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-65124506783513070552009-04-15T22:11:00.002-04:002009-04-15T22:12:27.326-04:00

If you're an American looking to cut spending (as many apparently were today), the most unbelievably obvious place to start is with military spending. The Department of Defense spent somewhere around $800 billion dollars last year - that's around 30% of taxes collected in the United States and almost half of the world's military spending. That's why Cato's Gene Healy believes that the U.S. needs

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-20766564799826264432009-04-15T20:33:00.001-04:002009-04-15T20:35:08.183-04:00

Over at Hit & Run, Katherine Mangu-Ward writes:Today's Tea Party protests may be having some permitting troubles, but here's a little dose of protest perspective from today's New York Times:  KABUL, Afghanistan — The young women stepped off the bus and moved toward the protest march just beginning on the other side of the street when they were spotted by a mob of men.“Get out of here, you whores!

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-13357984682246753932009-04-15T19:46:00.000-04:002009-04-15T19:47:23.007-04:00

Don't worry, it's easy to find out.Cross-posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-29516382501012782162009-04-15T19:32:00.001-04:002009-04-15T19:33:22.355-04:00

Competitive Enterprise Institute, the think tank I interned at last summer with Bureaucrash, had a stockpile of tea in their office for today's festivities. A photo tweeted by Wayne Crews, VP for policy at CEI first got my attention, but Bureaucrash has the high-res goods and more details on how CEI came to have tea piled to the ceiling in their office:The good folks from MillionTeaBags.org

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-25480934399355085802009-04-15T19:28:00.001-04:002009-04-15T19:29:51.054-04:00

This American tax day, The Onion offers valuable advice for completing tax forms. Although most of our readers are Canadian, I don't doubt they, too, will see the wisdom in these suggestions. Here are a few:Pay your owed taxes in pennies. That will get you on the Yahoo! Newsfront page, and it will most certainly make the IRS feel foolish.Not putting that little dash through all of your sevens

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-66094447342775150262009-04-15T15:02:00.001-04:002009-04-15T15:03:15.423-04:00

Cross-posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-86838029582687924742009-04-15T14:55:00.002-04:002009-04-15T16:35:56.671-04:00

CBC Newsworld just hit what is probably a new low in their coverage of the tax day Tea Parties taking place across the U.S. today. Coverage by "American Politics Panelists" Jeffrey Friedman and Rachel Sklar was less than illuminating. I learned that:The tea party protests are organized by Republicans to protest Obama.The tea party protests are actually teaparties! Or are they? She wasn't really

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-50372412637286333442009-04-15T14:51:00.001-04:002009-04-15T14:52:09.494-04:00

Reason asks, is paying your taxes patriotic? If so, who are the most patriotic Americans? Check out their fun video on American tax facts.Cross-posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-85650871083439774412009-04-15T13:52:00.000-04:002009-04-15T14:53:23.813-04:00

A bill has been introduced in Massachusetts that would revoke the right of anyone disabled or over the age of 60 to consent to pose nude for photography or appear in a sexually explicit movie, regardless of their mental capacity. Says one blog:According to the Massachusetts governement website, the proposal is to insert the phrase “an elder or a person with a disability” and similar language

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-37777872457131369742009-04-10T22:35:00.001-04:002009-04-10T22:42:52.489-04:00

You've heard it all before from me, so without further adieu here's another good article on the drug war from CNN. And here's an excerpt: Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground. This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead.Violence was common in the alcohol industry

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-98581283984902962009-04-10T13:15:00.000-04:002009-04-10T13:16:05.046-04:00

There's a lot of speculation between those that care about ideas and policy over what needs to be done to get Canada (or any country) on the right track. All too often this debate devolves into an argument over which party is best to lead the country. There's contemplation over whether a party performing poorly is at least better than the alternatives, whether this makes them worth rooting for or

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-56527247782587264022009-04-10T13:14:00.002-04:002009-04-10T13:15:13.639-04:00

Jonathan Kay has a good article over at Full Comment in response to conservatives who are upset about the possibility that polygamy could win its battle in the courts and demand that we all renounce support for gay marriage as a result. Kay doesn't think that polygamy will win in the courts, but he thinks it's beside the point, anyway.... even if polygamy makes it through the courts, Warren can't

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-74137799921733421402009-04-10T13:13:00.000-04:002009-04-10T13:14:11.083-04:00

Karen Selick's excellent five-minute explanation of libertarianism that she delivered at the Manning Networking Conference and Exhibition last month as part of the panel of ideological dimensions of conservatism (which I wrote about here) has been republished in the National Post. One of the most important parts of Selick's talk is here:I want to stress that libertarianism is strictly a political

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-53445610073283346492009-04-02T11:24:00.000-04:002009-04-04T11:25:09.270-04:00

When you ask to be removed from all lists someone actually listens. If you don't agree that this is a significant perk you are obviously not on and trying to be removed from any Conservative Party call lists.I'd put money on him still receiving phone calls for years to come, though.Cross-posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-80879550767400143522009-04-01T11:20:00.002-04:002009-04-04T11:25:57.466-04:00

So rumour has it that California is thinking about banning black cars.Yes, you read that right. No, I'm not making it up. It's not an April Fools story. Man, do I wish it was an April Fool's story. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has decided that non-reflective cars get hotter in the sun, which makes air conditioning systems work harder, which uses more gas, which increases

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-11910382865912838962009-04-01T11:18:00.000-04:002009-04-04T11:22:52.842-04:00

If you pay attention to this sort of thing you'll notice that we're coming up on Thomas Jefferson's birthday, which is April 13th. If you know that, it's significantly more likely that you've heard about the "Jefferson 1," a dancer who was arrested for bopping silently to her iPod as part of a group of libertarians celebrating Jefferson's birthday last year.Although those celebrating were

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-64292315794459254302009-04-01T11:17:00.000-04:002009-04-04T11:18:48.608-04:00

Toronto received "dishonourable mention" on Competitive Enterprise Institute's 2009 "Five Dumbest Product Bans" (pdf) list.The lists' main topics are the bans on Provenge, an end-stage prostate cancer treatment drug, online gambling, buying a coffin from an unlicensed dealer, selling a flower arrangement as an unlicensed florist, and selling horse meat.Toronto managed to get a mention on the list

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-43954019157500481442009-03-30T11:45:00.002-04:002009-03-30T12:02:43.319-04:00

Unless Frank Klees has also unexpectedly dropped his policy planks on everyone's lap and I just didn't notice, Randy Hillier is the first to release the principles on which his campaign will be founded. They've been posted on his official leadership campaign website, which I assume was launched when he announced this morning. (The Shotgun covered Hillier's announcement here.)HIllier's picked

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-13864621464493349382009-03-30T08:38:00.002-04:002009-03-30T12:00:23.652-04:00

The "homeless cons" make the news, spurring more talk of a fracture in the Conservative Party, but with Harper at the helm and in the PMO it's all premature if you ask me. Pollsters and Buzz Hargrove interpret a returning of the Liberal base to their party after the disaster that was Stephane Dion as weakness on the NDP's, and more specifically Jack Layton's part.Pierre Poilievre noticed that

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-5000447417352566372009-03-28T16:51:00.002-04:002009-03-28T16:52:57.890-04:00

British Columbia's Supreme Court struck down some of the province's laws limiting third-party spending on advertising outside of the writ period.Justice Frank Cole told lawyers involved in the case Friday he will release a written ruling on Monday that will lift all restrictions from third-party advertisers from now until the writs of election are issued on April 14.Between April 14 and election

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-37044542915006970962009-03-28T09:54:00.001-04:002009-03-28T09:56:56.860-04:00

Or at least the government won't commit to doing so. That's good news. Let's hope they stick to it.Cross-posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-87656025921364965462009-03-28T09:53:00.001-04:002009-03-28T09:54:48.590-04:00

New York will be repealing many of the Rockefeller drug laws implemented in the 1970s, including mandatory minimum sentencing for minor drug offenses. New York Governor David Paterson and state legislators say the laws have been discredited: After 35 years of stuffing prisons with minor drug felons, state legislators have judged the law's mandatory sentencing provisions as expensive and

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-82901204439270184762009-03-28T09:50:00.002-04:002009-03-28T09:58:39.354-04:00

At a time when Ontario PCs are ramping up for a leadership race (that's about to start in earnest on Monday) in an attempt to make themselves something resembling relevant again, members are (or should be) paying attention to where their likely leadership contenders stand on the issues.It might be a bit confusing for some to see Tim Hudak, the perceived front runner in the race, coming out

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-42633073942627664742009-03-24T01:08:00.005-04:002009-03-24T01:21:45.505-04:00

Apparently there is some sort of court challenge to polygamy laws going on and two heavyweights in small-government thought have weighed in on the topic. Tom Flanagan favours keeping polygamy illegal by striking down the court challenge of Winston Blackmore and James Oler from Bountiful, British Columbia. According to Flanagan, the Charter shouldn't be a problem.[...] the Charter also says all

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-20575203451623184492009-03-17T13:16:00.001-04:002009-03-17T13:17:41.386-04:00

It has been frustrating to watch Republicans with newly acquirediscal brains (some already had one, I'll give them that) kicking and screaming over the increases in spending Obama is proposing without recognizing the disastrous record their party has had over the past decade. Well, the Mercatus Center recently released a report on the Bush spending record. Since a picture's worth a thousand words

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-59783742007599644812009-03-17T13:13:00.002-04:002009-03-17T13:18:27.863-04:00

Often I feel as though Conservatives are always wondering what the heck libertarians are always so upset about. I've developed a theory that libertarians just think in a completely different way than partisans -- maybe because libertarians think in terms of philosophy and Conservatives think in terms of practical politics, or maybe there is something fundamentally different about the way

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-85659583363456202572009-03-12T23:36:00.006-04:002009-03-13T00:58:52.764-04:00

My phone started buzzing off the hook tonight with claims that Harper was trashing libertarians in his speech. Stephen Taylor's twitter reports:Harper: sympathy to libertarian ideal - but libertarians often unlikely to take respnsibility. eg drug abuse and unreg'd mrktsbut alsoHarper: conservatism is the three f's... Freedom, family, and faithDoes not compute. If you don't trust people to be

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-29915074637294698422009-03-11T12:39:00.001-04:002009-03-11T12:40:09.978-04:00

Father Raymond de Souza had an interesting article last week in response to the Dziekanski inquiry. In it he wonders openly why, until this inquiry, so many conservatives were willing to defend the RCMP they would have publicly condemned any other body of government from the beginning.Just last week in Vancouver, the Conservative government announced tougher anti-gang measures to acclaim from the

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-49452416159779887692009-03-11T12:38:00.003-04:002009-03-11T15:11:20.398-04:00

... appears to be a tribute site to Tim Hudak's leadership run. No, thank goodness, it's not actually Tim Hudak's website - read the fine print at the bottom. (Note, you might want to turn down your volume before visiting that site.)"Draft Randy Hillier" has a halfway decent looking website up and running, though it is also, and I quote: "Not Authorized by Randy Hillier, or anyone else for that

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-7260806931613878402009-03-03T14:10:00.000-05:002009-03-03T14:11:44.242-05:00

With the long-overdue inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski under way, it's hard to go a day without seeing another Mountie from the incident shown on the evening news changing his official story to better reflect, you know, reality.It's painfully obvious at this point that almost nothing the Mounties responsible for Mr. Dziekanski's death put on the record about that day has escaped

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-10928040103855676972009-02-27T11:31:00.001-05:002009-02-27T11:32:48.884-05:00

In honour of the long-overdue announcement that federal raids on medical marijuana America have ended, I thought I would post an excerpt on the origins of marijuana prohibition from Peter McWilliams' outstanding book, Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do, the text of which is available online through that link (but it's well worth purchasing).The chapter of the book from which I'm drawing the

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-58062825966177942372009-02-27T10:39:00.002-05:002009-02-27T10:43:07.676-05:00

Stephen Harper, in response to a question about the long-term effects of inflation and deficits caused by his stimulus policies, just said something along the lines of the following: "I was taught early in economics classes, the famous economist John Maynard Keynes said that, ‘At times like this, we remember that in the long run, we're all dead.'" Yep. Stephen Harper. Said that.He then went on to

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-53717796208595677222009-02-27T10:36:00.001-05:002009-02-27T10:38:34.117-05:00

Kalim blogged a while ago on Obama's promise to respect states' rights and allow those states in that he would respect the laws of states who have passed legislation to legalize the medical use of pot. Yesterday, Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder announced that federal raids on licensed medical marijuana dispensaries will end.Holder said Obama's campaign promise to stop the raids

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-54529818705844444852009-02-25T19:22:00.002-05:002009-02-25T19:24:00.224-05:00

Andrew Coyne does more this week than provide us with an awesome blog post. He also provides us with some scary news about mumblings of new regulation down at the CRTC:As the comedian Colin Mochrie, who testified at this week’s opening of CRTC hearings on regulating “new media,” observed, now that “the space for content is practically endless . . . content can easily get lost.” State intervention

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-6764337094273704012009-02-24T14:00:00.002-05:002009-02-24T19:12:30.210-05:00

Radley Balko has an explosive article published last week at Reason on the uncovering of manufactured evidence in the cases of death row convicts by two medical examiners. The article, Manufacturing Guilt, (warning - the article contains some images and video that may be disturbing to readers) is centered around the case of a man, Jimmie Duncan, who has been convicted of raping and murdering a 23

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-1500289577672984792009-02-23T16:57:00.003-05:002009-02-23T17:04:16.434-05:00

As we all know, or should, Reason is awesome. Over at Hit and Run, Ron Bailey posts an interesting question: A New Scientist editorial poses this thought experiment:IMAGINE you are seated at a table with two bowls in front of you. One contains peanuts, the other tablets of the illegal recreational drug MDMA (ecstasy). A stranger joins you, and you have to decide whether to give them a peanut or a

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-74056666281070995202009-02-17T12:36:00.002-05:002009-02-17T12:41:37.380-05:00

Reason.TV is at it again. The Peoples' Stimulus is a plan that would cost the same as Obama's stimulus plan, but would consist of one simple act: cancelling all payroll taxes for the remainder of 2009.Now that's change I could believe in.Cross-posted to The Shotgun.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-72144953892712672332009-02-16T23:14:00.001-05:002009-02-16T23:16:15.281-05:00

Ignatieff might be on the record saying that the Liberal/NDP coalition that threatened to seize control of the government was not a mistake, but he seems to have acknowledged that it was a bad idea.... the new Liberal leader acknowledged that Western outrage over the prospect of seeing overturned the results of the last federal election -- which brought a West-dominated minority Conservative

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-43086485941400136082009-02-10T16:46:00.001-05:002009-02-10T16:48:05.259-05:00

Are you upset that the government sold out Canadians in the 2009 Conservative budget? Do you worry that it was hard for Jim Flaherty and Stephen Harper to swallow their free market principles to do what was "necessary," to pass a budget that spends $85 billion more than it takes in? Nonsense, says Andrew Coyne:Why is everyone so surprised? The budget the Conservatives produced last week may have

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-30777066482904537352009-02-05T20:33:00.003-05:002009-02-05T20:36:16.400-05:00

Yesterday Terrence Watson posted on Obama's announcement that he would cap salaries of executives at companies receiving taxpayer support at $500,000.Some say that very high salaries don't necessary guarantee the best executives and that these companies had it coming if they had decided to ask for government aid. These arguments are seductive, but flawed. It's true that having high salaries

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-25302203144304704002009-02-05T20:29:00.002-05:002009-02-05T20:33:37.173-05:00

Austrian economists have been criticized frequently for proposing that we do nothing in response to the economic crisis in a political climate where the majority are demanding that the government do something (anything!)Well, Robert Murphy over at Mises.org takes up the challenge of answering, "do you Austrians have a better idea?"Murphy first points out that you don't actually need have a better

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-16796431934055583622009-02-05T20:24:00.002-05:002009-02-05T20:28:16.102-05:00

Coyne has another great column over at Macleans. Last week he declared the end of Canadian conservatism and caused a ruckus.Conservatism, though, isn't the issue to Coyne. Conservatism may not be my thing, but it is for a lot of other people, and I grieve for their sake that the party they have invested so much of their hopes in has turned to such warm beer. And all Canadians, whatever their

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-54906585523133251052009-02-04T00:13:00.005-05:002009-02-04T00:39:27.361-05:00

Anyone still standing up for free markets in Canada has heard the smug scolding of partisans. "Well just look at the alternative! Think about what would have happened if the COALITION had been in power! There would have been WAY MORE SPENDING and NO tax cuts!! You just have no idea what's politically feasible. Harper had to bring in a big-spending budget in the long-term interests of Canadians!!

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-29141776653069656492009-01-08T13:47:00.003-05:002009-01-08T13:49:34.469-05:00

This and this (in that order) are why I'm not losing any sleep over not being involved in the Conservative Party's policy process.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-89821361539514372722008-11-17T12:08:00.002-05:002008-11-17T12:28:21.480-05:00

Hugh MacIntyre over at The Shotgun just blogged about some horrendous new teen driving laws being proposed by the McGuinty government. They include:- Zero tolerance for any alcohol while driving. This includes 19 year olds who have attained a G license.- A complete ban on more than one teen passenger.- Zero tolerance for speeding. One ticket for a teenager means a revoked license.Go read and

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-82029159804563994232008-11-16T08:56:00.004-05:002008-11-16T09:30:43.987-05:00

By far the most disappointing news to come from the 2008 Conservative Party of Canada convention is the failure of the delegates to pass resolution P-106, which would signal that the party is supportive of encouraging experimentation with private delivery of health care within a universal system.P-106: To encourage provinces and territories to “further experiment with different means of

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-89986278423020460462008-11-13T08:32:00.004-05:002008-11-13T08:50:12.329-05:00

The Institute for Liberal Studies will be hosting its newest seminar on November 22 at the University of Waterloo on Economics and Government.The seminar will be a one-day discussion on an economic analysis of the role of government, but you don't have to be an economist to want to attend. Do you wonder what's going on with our economy? A lot of people have been blaming the government for not

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-56637482799505879902008-11-13T08:24:00.002-05:002008-11-13T08:27:24.758-05:00

Another blog post from over at The Shotgun:After writing my post on the deadweight loss of Christmas, I checked the front page of the Undercover Economist blog and found another fun one. I figure since I'm writing posts sucking the fun out of things that should make us happy, why not go after board games, too?Hartford has written a (semi) tongue-in-cheek piece about how Monopoly might have

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-64067100923023437702008-11-13T08:17:00.002-05:002008-11-13T08:24:34.053-05:00

Here's a post I did for the Shotgun Blog the other day. I've been posting over there most frequently, if you've been wondering where I've gone, but I'll try to cross-post more often.If you're like me, you can really only enjoy Christmas in the time immediately surrounding the holiday. I'm filled with a sense of dull rage through most of the fall and early winter starting when I see that people

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-27104159701218374872008-09-29T23:35:00.004-04:002008-09-29T23:42:44.080-04:00

I blogged tonight at the Shotgun on a great letter by Dr. Steven Horwitz of St. Lawrence University on why the left should not blame the free market for the current financial crisis in the US and why they should reconsider asking the government to remedy the situation.Many of us in the free market movement will insist that "greed is good." I think Dr. Horwitz puts us squarely in our place on that

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-18810720124800119812008-09-19T00:33:00.003-04:002008-09-19T00:35:11.262-04:00

I blogged a bit today for the Western Standard's Shotgun blog. You can check out my posts on: Bill Murdoch's turfing from the Ontario PC caucus, why Elections Canada's own policy supports allowing the sale of votes and Harper's disappointing policy announcement regarding the CRTC.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-37838750253384683972008-09-18T10:27:00.006-04:002008-09-20T23:58:23.046-04:00

The University of Windsor faculty is currently on strike for a variety of reasons, many* some of which seem to have been debunked by a letter from the University's president to students last night.I can't help but wonder how many of the professors and students picketing are the same folks who believe that a post-secondary education is a right and constantly use that opinion as an argument for "

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-65095488795807039532008-09-09T12:17:00.003-04:002008-09-09T12:25:52.927-04:00

Over at CEI's Open Market Blog, John Berlau argues that the announcement that control of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac will be taken over by the US government doesn't matter because the companies have always been controlled by the state even if they were technically privately owned.But is that the case - that it doesn't matter if it's always, technically, been that way, even if it wasn't official? I

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-66551875582072407572008-09-04T16:30:00.004-04:002008-09-04T16:49:01.559-04:00

A friend and I were talking about selling votes the other day, and someone passed along this link to me for my (and now your) amusement.What's really interesting is to look at the sold votes. Unless I'm reading it wrong, it looks like the highest anyone was willing to pay... er... donate to someone who happens to be supporting their candidate of choice... for a vote was $30. I say that's

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-84022955958600556172008-08-18T08:22:00.005-04:002008-08-18T09:43:53.957-04:00

One of my pet peeves about the current government is the insistence of its supporters that the reason government isn't getting smaller is that there's a minority parliament and therefore Harper can't advance his agenda.Nonsense.Harper has been able to advance four of his five election goals, and the fifth (reducing wait times) was a foolish promise to make unless he was willing to amend the

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-54534428166659422202008-08-14T18:01:00.003-04:002008-08-14T18:03:16.659-04:00

Kurt Vonnegut's short story, Harrison Bergeron, is being made into a film.Here's a brief explanation of the film and story:Based on the short story Harrison Bergeron by celebrated author Kurt Vonnegut, 2081 depicts a dystopian future in which, thanks to the 212th Amendment to the Constitution and the unceasing vigilance of the United States Handicapper General, everyone is finally equal... The

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-34836726337397510552008-08-10T21:16:00.001-04:002008-08-10T21:18:17.060-04:00

Today's moment of zen. Click on the image for the full story. (This isn't a specific attack on Bush, this is an objectively funny photo.)

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-47424171315062705942008-08-01T10:28:00.002-04:002008-08-01T10:29:28.036-04:00

Read The Harare Diary, the accounts of a professional living in Zimbabwe's capital city.x-posted to Bureaucrash.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-35987822336786500632008-07-30T10:44:00.002-04:002008-07-30T10:58:38.550-04:00

South Los Angeles resident Curtis English acknowledged that fast food is loaded with calories and cholesterol. But since he's unemployed and does not have a car, it serves as a cheap, convenient staple for him.On Monday, he ate breakfast and lunch — a sausage burrito and double cheeseburger, respectively — at a McDonald's a few blocks from home for just $2.39."I don't think there's too many fast

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-61104568519452539812008-07-21T11:48:00.007-04:002008-07-21T13:36:05.466-04:00

Climate change is a touchy issue for a lot of people - and justifiably so. We're talking about the future of the planet and the worldwide economy - it's important stuff. I don't claim to have any kind of solution - I think claiming to understand or control our climate is even more conceited than thinking we can unilaterally run an economy. I submitted the following while defending a fellow

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-13140213773486944882008-07-09T23:08:00.003-04:002008-07-09T23:15:27.067-04:00

Prentice wants explanation for text message fees.I have the explanation!Not.Enough.Competition.I am in Washington, DC for the summer. My roommate has a cell phone and is able to call Hawaii for the same price that she calls home to Virginia. She has no limits on texting and is confused by the idea that I would pay roaming. She does not have any kind of special plan, and no one seems to think she

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-2049510838133485562008-07-07T12:15:00.006-04:002008-07-07T12:35:44.783-04:00

There's a common misconception that oil profits are a very, very bad thing.This is in spite of a general acceptance of the idea that corrupt governments use oil revenues to oppress their people. Nigeria is a great example.The thing is, if profits from oil went freely to private industry, they would be reinvested in an attempt to maximize wealth further. Sure, some rich people would get richer,

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-6170694634197021522008-07-01T09:30:00.003-04:002008-07-01T09:56:08.560-04:00

Shannon Kari has an interesting article in the National Post today detailing provincial governments' stubborn dismissal of any attempts to liberalize alcohol sales laws."Despite studies that indicate a private retail system would increase government revenue by eliminating the cost of operating retail outlets and does not lead to problems with alcohol consumption, there is very little political

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-78431669476809234002008-06-27T00:05:00.003-04:002008-06-27T00:06:25.496-04:00

If you haven't read the Reason article, Who Owns Your Body Parts?, then you really, really ought to. If you don't trust me, take the word of the LA Press Club, who gave it an award last weekend.

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-19374453088601317742008-06-17T11:11:00.003-04:002008-06-17T11:36:41.596-04:00

On one hand, Liberals propose a carbon tax, which will apply to gas, that would make people "pay the true cost of their effects on the environment."On the other hand, they think that we definitely need to do something about rising gas prices. We can't let oil companies (and small business owners!) gouge consumers - we need to protect them!!... from... er... the costs of their effect on the

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14217435.post-17704543300628919812008-06-11T23:37:00.006-04:002008-06-12T00:02:10.252-04:00

I've had the privilege this week to hear a number of amazing speakers talk on liberty and society. One speaker was Tom Bell, who has a really interesting theory about assumed consent and government services.The idea is that typically when we talk about "consent," we mean express consent, such as an explicit agreement or contract. Another kind of consent is "implied consent," which we infer from

Janethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02395313741003416997noreply@blogger.com1