The Humble Libertarian original

The appropriations fight over federal relief funds for Hurricane Harvey is a big show of support and compassion, but it's really just another wealth transfer to the government that doesn't do anything to solve the problem at all . If Congress really cared about solving problems, they would pay out as much as they need to from the federal flood insurance program for Harvey, raise the program's budgets, whatever they need to do to fulfill promises they've made.... And in the same bill they would start to phase out the federal flood insurance program and make people pay actual market rates to private insurance companies for flood insurance by a certain target date. Then people will have to consider the real costs of building in a flood plain by a coast. Read the rest of my article , Which was graciously published at Everything Voluntary

As tensions between the U.S. and North Korea rise, Donald Trump could show some real and effective leadership by consulting with some of his home city’s finest and most talented police officers: the NYPD Crisis Negotiations Team. By employing their professional negotiation techniques, used to neutralize volatile situations with hostage takers, people trying to commit suicide, and other people who pose an immediate danger to themselves and others, Donald Trump could go down in history as a brilliant negotiator and a good president that made the world a safer place to live... Please read the rest of my article which has been graciously published at The Jack News . And someone tweet this at the POTUS. Let's see if we can't save the world from a nuclear war with some New York know-how.

A study of FBI crime statistics released last month has found that marijuana legalization is decreasing violent homicides related to the illegal drug trade in U.S. border states. In this article I talk some about the study and link to an article I wrote in 2010 in which I predicted this would be the outcome of legalizing marijuana by thinking about the problem of drug related violent crime economically. When we think economically about tough social problems, it can reveal truths that are counter to intuition.

A shooter — identified as 66-year-old James T. Hodgkins — armed with a rifle shot as many as 50 bullets into a crowd of U.S. Congress members and their staff on a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia Wednesday morning. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and four others were shot and wounded in the attack as the Republican congressional baseball team held its early-morning practice. Two of the five wounded include Capitol Police officers and one of them was the gunman himself, who was shot by police, said Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown. Sen. Rand Paul told CNN a massacre could have occurred if police and Scalise’s security team were not there. A Partisan Motivated Shooting Before the shooting, someone asked Rep. DeSantis “if it was Republicans or Democrats out there” on the field. “Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) described a “very strange” encounter with a man shortly before House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot during a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, ...

Last week, Congress avoided a government shutdown by agreeing to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded for another week. Then over the weekend, US lawmakers agreed to a deal that will extend funding through September while Congress and the White House continue to negotiate longer-term fiscal policy priorities. The US House passed the budget deal Wednesday. But amidst Washington’s annual kabuki theater dance around fiscal policy and possible government shutdowns, a little provision was tucked away in the budget bill that addressed medical marijuana in the now 29 states where it’s legal, with West Virginia the most recent to legalize just last month... Read the rest at The Independent Voter Network .

By: Wes Messamore Our hats are off to the Bartholomew Brothers! Talk about rebels. Last year, these gentleman hung a giant banner up on the side of a highway proclaiming in large, bold letters: “TAXES = THEFT.” Not only that, they did it wearing V for Vendetta-style Guy Fawkes masks ( which we are still giving away if anyone is interested )! Then the cops showed up... Read the rest of my article at The Silver Underground . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

By: Wes Messamore The traditional partisan debate over whether to raise or cut taxes– especially for high-income earners– ignores an independent solution that should at least be tolerable to both sides: make the high-income earners– especially corporations– pay their taxes in the first place... Read the rest of my article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

By: Wes Messamore Is that politician or pundit making valid economic arguments, or just distracting you with flashy, partisan talking points to gain ground for their candidacy or “team?” Here are a few things that every Independent voter and thinker should look out for: Read the rest of my article at the Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

By: Wes Messamore In political discourse, especially heated partisan political discourse, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis are often used as a point of comparison for one’s enemies across the aisle, and while both “sides” in America do it, both sides also never fail to call the other one out for making an unfair, petty, hyperbolic attack for partisan reasons. The use of the Hitler or Nazi comparison is so common that in 1990, U.S. attorney and author Mike Godwin coined an adage that has become well known on Internet discussion forums as Godwin’s Law: “As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” But there’s a real difference between the partisan sniping that you’ve read before and what you’re about to read next. This is not an article about how Barack Obama is just like Hitler, and neither is it an article about how George W. Bush was just like Hitler. You won’t be reading about Democrats or Republicans ushering in a Fourth...

By: Wes Messamore What do you do when one of the very few economic analysts to predict the financial crisis would strike in ’07 or ’08 says another, even more catastrophic economic collapse will hit the United States economy in 2013 or 2014? Read my entire article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Rina Goldberg passed away in December of 2010 at just 15 years old, a victim of Mitochondrial Disease, a genetic disorder that prevents the body’s cells from producing enough energy for the body to function. But even though Rina is no longer with us, her vision, passion, love for life, and creativity live on. While she struggled against a terminal disease, Rina turned to film as a creative outlet for her energy and passion, writing a script for a movie called “The Magic Bracelet,” whose main character also has Mitochondrial Disease. Read the rest of my article at The Silver Underground . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Yesterday, the closely watched “Obamacare” proceedings at the Supreme Court focused on the issue that most commentators are calling central to the debate over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act: mandates. The campaign of Republican presidential candidate and 2012 frontrunner, Mitt Romney, probably hates that mandates are the key topic of discussion in this week’s news cycle, and will be for the rest of the Republican Primary until the Supreme Court hands down a decision on what pundits are calling “The Case of the Century.” Or maybe not... Read the rest of my article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Is it merely a coincidence that every time the government steps in to make something more affordable and more readily available, that very thing becomes more and more expensive over time (and usually diminishes in quality too)? It’s a story we’ve seen repeated again and again, especially throughout recent American history. For decades now, the federal government has been in the business of attempting to regulate, subsidize, and decrease the prices of things like housing, higher education, and energy, but their prices have only gone steadily upward following Washington’s involvement, and their quality has arguably declined. Why? Read the rest of my article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Pictured Above: Official prescription tablet for medicinal alcohol, 1933. Credit: The Rose Melnick Medical Museum I put a lot of time into this article last night. It's rich in facts and source material and cites reliable sources, law enforcement, and medical authorities. This is an idea whose time has come. Please help me push it past the tipping point by sharing information and educating voters about marijuana. Read my entire article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

A note: I wrote this article last night and woke up this morning to see it's already been liked on Facebook nearly 600 times! People are sharing this around in the "libertysphere" and I would love to enlist your help in spreading it even more so the story breaks out of our community and catches everyone's eye. American voters need to know about Justin Amash. They need to know having a congressman like him is possible if they have standards and make character their most important standard for a politician, not party or personality. Meet Justin Amash (R-MI), the coolest congressman that you’ve never heard of. He doesn’t grab headlines the way Michele Bachmann, Nancy Pelosi, Ron Paul or some of the other more notorious members of Congress do, but in his short time as a U.S. congressman, Amash has done a lot of things that– agree with his positions or not– most Americans would probably agree are just plain cool... Read the rest of this article at The Independent Voter...

The venerated ancient Christian bishop, Saint Patrick, was actually a bit of a rebel by my reckoning and I’ve always enjoyed celebrating on his holiday. This weekend, I spent Saint Patrick’s Day on a friend’s ranch shooting AK-47s and other firearms while wearing my Silver Circle End the Fed shirt . (Sorry, Pasha– I hope I don’t get us on a DHS watch list!) But most years I like to celebrate by staying in and watching The Boondock Saints with a few beers (green dye optional) and a few good friends. If you missed watching it leading up to St. Patrick’s Day this year, or have never even seen the film, you should pick a night this week and make it happen. You won’t regret it. Read the rest of my article at The Silver Underground . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

This week the Federal Reserve Bank, apparently looking for a little abuse, officially joined millions of users on the popular social media website, Twitter. Yes, that’s right: you can now follow Ben Bernanke and company on Twitter. The Fed’s new official Twitter handle is @FederalReserve. What on earth would the world’s most powerful central bank tweet about? The comedic possibilities are rich! I’m envisioning a drunken Bernanke reaching for his Blackberry one night and tweeting: Read the rest of my article at The Silver Underground . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Central Banking??? This IS AMERICA!!!! These 10 awesome examples of dollar art– art performed on actual U.S. Federal Reserve notes with ink (or in the last two examples, laser cut etchings by a tattoo artist on a stack of one dollar bills)– appealed to our aesthetic, our love for animation and illustration, and our penchant for not taking the Federal Reserve’s money too seriously. The artists that did this are real rebels (and I’m pretty sure they’re breaking the law by defacing these, but at least they’re doing it more creatively than Ben Bernanke, and by making them unfit for circulation, at least they’re increasing the value of the dollar so who’s really defacing the currency? …huh, I just blew my own mind): See all ten in my newest post at The Silver Underground . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Talk about guts! I’ll be keeping my eye out to see if Jonathan Corbett ends up on the no-fly list sometime soon. The American engineer and blogger (his blog is TSA Out of Our Pants! ) released a video on YouTube last week entitled “ How To Get Anything Through TSA Nude Body Scanners .” In it, he exposes a critical flaw in the TSA’s $1 billion fleet of controversial “nude body scanners” as they are called by their critics (note that I’ll be calling them “nude body scanners” throughout the rest of this post). Read the rest of my article at The Silver Underground . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page

Earlier this month, Eric Holder essentially crowned Barack Obama King, granting him the power to kill his subjects in secret without due process. His legal reasoning was not only specious-- the entire debate centered on the 5th Amendment due process clause misses another part of the Constitution that explicitly deals with citizens who wage war against the United States... Read all about it in my latest article at The Independent Voter Network . Wes Messamore , Editor in Chief, T H L Articles | Author's Page