The Humble Libertarian original

Corporations and Libertarianism Reaganite Republican said... I don't see why the concept of the corporation would be anything libertarians would have a problem with... it's just a legal arrangement between free-thinking individuals to raise capital and dissipate risk, imo- and is as old as the hills: the Dutch East India Trading Co. started with this sort or arrangement in the 1600s. It brings the market efficiency of a floating stock price to it's capitalization, and of course we need laws to provide the corporation the same sort of rights as individuals enjoy under the US Constitution... like freedom of speech. I've always thought that America's treatment of corporations as citizens, really, is one of the things hat made our economy so vital... January 24, 2010 5:54 PM todd said... The problem with 'limited liability' is that the little guy doesn't get it as completely as a 'large' corporation. If you were to form a corporation or...

By: Murray N. Rothbard "The great mind, and the great systematizer, of scholastic economics was a paradox among paradoxes: a strict and ascetic Franciscan saint living and writing in the midst of the sophisticated capitalist world of early fifteenth century Tuscany. While St. Thomas Aquinas was the systematizer of the entire range of intellectual endeavor, his economic insights were scattered in fragments throughout his theological writings. San Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444) was the first theologian after Olivi to write an entire work systematically devoted to scholastic economics. Much of this advanced thought was contributed by San Bernardino himself, and the highly advanced subjective utility theory was cribbed word for word from the Franciscan heretic of two centuries earlier: Pierre de Jean Olivi. San Bernardino's book, written as a set of Latin sermons, was entitled On Contracts and Usury, and was composed during the years 1431–1433. The treatise began, quite logical...

Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Is this guy for real? I've got to believe he's just joking. (H.T. The Mises Institute )

The Cato Institute State of the Union Fact Check (H.T. Government Mess ) The Ludwig von Mises Institute The Address Obama Should Have Given But what if the president discovered the writings of people like Henry Hazlitt, Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, and Ayn Rand? What might such such an address have been like, and how might those in the audience have reacted? In a new piece I've written called, "The Address Obama Should Have Given - For a Change to Freedom," I imagine such a State of the Union address for a change to greater freedom, and suggest what it would have said. The Independent Institute The Audacity of Obama's State of the Union This is a decent point. Bush racked up the deficit with two off-budget wars, a bloated expansion of Medicare and tax cuts that did not correspond to any cuts in spending. And so what’s Obama propose to halt the deficit from spiraling yet more out of control? "We are prepared to freeze government spending fo...

Dude. This is one of the weirdest, creepiest things I have ever heard. Rush Limbaugh tells Obama "Let me be the father you never had," and then expresses his political disagreements with the President in the form of a heart-to-heart lecture that a father would give to his son, encouraging him to "man up," be mature, and take responsibility. Listening to it, I can't help but laugh awkwardly. Seriously: "Let me be the father you never had"? That's just a really odd thing to say. Of course Mr. Limbaugh is a brilliant marketer, and I think this is exactly the calculated effect he would hope to have. He pulled it off very well. I am interested to see the responses this will get across the media and punditry. (H.T. Government Mess )

Here is a full video of Ronald Reagan's first State of the Union Address to Congress. The man positively emanates charisma: (H.T. Right Coast Girl ) Read what Ronald Reagan called his greatest regret here .

The full text of President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address, as transcribed by the White House. (H.T. Huffington Post ) Madam Speaker, Vice President Biden, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans: Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For 220 years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They've done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they've done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle. It's tempting to look back on these moments and assume that our progress was inevitable -- that America was always destined to succeed. But when the Union was turned back at Bull Run, and the Allies first landed at Omaha Beach, victory was very much in doubt. When the market crashed on Black Tuesday, and civil rights marchers were beaten on Bloody Sunday, the future was anything but certain. The...

You can read the full text of both Barack Obama's and Bob McDonnell's speeches yesterday at the Huffington Post here and here , respectively. Below are small excerpts from each speech side by side on four different issues where there seems to be some clash of opinion. I wasn't at all happy with either speech, and will post at least Mr. Obama's (and maybe Mr. McDonnell's too) speech with my own commentary line by line sometime very soon. On the areas of disagreement highlighted below however, I tend to prefer Mr. McDonnell's words to those of Mr. Obama's: The Economy President Obama: "Now, the true engine of job creation in this country will always be America's businesses. (Applause.) But government can create the conditions necessary for businesses to expand and hire more workers." Governor McDonnell: "Good government policy should spur economic growth, and strengthen the private sector's ability to create new jobs. We must enact p...

By: Jack Hunter "The Southern Avenger" Hat tip: The American Conservative

With President Obama's first State of the Union Address tonight at 9:00 pm EST (if you have killed your TV and want to view the speech live, here is a list of places you can go on the web or your mobile phone to catch the SOTU live). Also, the Cato Institute will be live-blogging and live-tweeting the State of the Union Address. (For Twitter users, use the hashtag #SOTU .) All Rhetoric, No Substance One of the best reads I've had yet on Obama's SOTU is this from the Huffington Post: " Obama State of the Union Address Will Be More Rhetoric and No Substance For the Middle Class ": I can already hear the empty pandering to the middle class in President Obama's State of the Union speech. He will be reading one of the most well written speeches of his presidency since he and his handlers realize their reign in Washington could be on the ropes. President Obama has a documentable track record of broken campaign promises and policies that have virtually ignored th...

Campaign Finance and Libertarians This commentator thinks that the recent Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance law will be a boon to the Libertarian Party . Scott Brown a "small government" candidate? Meanwhile, a columnist at North Star National gripes at Libertarian Party candidate, Joe Kennedy of the recent Massachusetts special Senate election, in " Small government candidate wins, no thanks to Libertarian Party ." (Calling Scott Brown a "small government" candidate is a total joke , btw. It shows that this columnist either wasn't paying attention , or is confused about what small government means.) How Many American Voters Are Libertarians? This month the Cato Institute published an analysis to quantify the libertarian vote . The result? " We find that 14 percent of American voters can be classified as libertarian. Other surveys find a larger number of people who hold views that are neither consistently liberal nor conservative but are...

With President Obama's first State of the Union Address tomorrow, Americans should take a look at the real state of our republic by listening to someone whom we know is speaking from a position of principle and true understanding. Neither Obama, nor the establishment leadership, nor the mainstream media anticipated or warned us of the housing bust, the credit crunch, or the recession- so their credibility is lacking and their appraisal of the state of our union should be suspect. But Congressman Ron Paul and his economic adviser, Peter Schiff did predict all three. Let's see what their understanding of the state of the union is. As you watch, note how specific and technical Dr. Paul's speech is. Remember that when you hear the vague platitudes and impotent pandering in Obama's State of the Union Address tomorrow. (Hat tip: Young Americans for Liberty )