Hardcore Capitalist's Perspective - 11/19/2010

• TSA Creator Turns Against TSA
  Congressman John Mica, co-creator of the TSA, regrets his own creation, saying it has gone out of control and strayed entirely from what it was originally intended to be. Hopefully if even the TSA's daddy says its time to retire the program, there is hope for Congress to act in abolishing the organization and returning security procedures entirely to the private companies concerned.
• Coburn Defends Rand Paul Against McCain
  Senator-elect Rand Paul, whose belief that the war budget needs to be on the table for cuts recently took a tongue-lashing from John McCain, has found support in Sen. Tom Coburn, who stated: "Nothing is sacrosanct, it can't be." Coburn and Paul have it right. Bigger Pentagon budgets do not = a better national defense, any more than throwing more money at the Education Department = a better education system.
• Senate Committee Wants AG to Have Website Kill Switch
  A bill to give the Attorney General the power to "shut down" websites that appear to promote copyright infringement (even if they do not actually engage in any illegal activities) has sailed through committee. Very saddening to see some of the names that voted in favor of this blatant contradiction of the First Amendment. The AG is given a huge power whose justification is almost entirely subjective. Whether the promotion of copyright infringement is "central" to a website is about as objective as "porn" being "you'll know it when you see it."
• Perry Wants War in Mexico
  Texas Gov. Rick Perry thinks we should deploy US troops into Mexico to fight the Drug War. This would, of course, be a good idea if we were intent upon bankrupting our country, worsening the drug problem, stretching an overstretched military even thinner, and creating a destabilized narcostate on our Southern border. A better solution would be to legalize marijuana and make it a boring, old, taxed and regulated product like alcohol or tobacco. Instead, a move like this would drive up drug prices and make the trade even more lucrative.
• Taxpayers in Deep Water on GM Bailout
  Looks like all that taxpayer money the government dumped into Government Motors--excuse me, "General Motors"--hasn't exactly turned out to be the most worthwhile "investment." Of course, even if GM had paid back all the money, taxpayers would still be in just as deep of water, since GM would be paying it back to the government (which would just spend the repaid money on other things, as they have done with the repaid Wall Street Bailout money), not to the taxpayers.
• Michelle the Salad Bar Crusader
  The bankrupt government is adding 5,000 salad bars to schools. Nevermind the fact that salads have been shown to be potentially just as salty, fattening, and calorie-rich as some fast food. The most cost-effective way the government could fight childhood obesity would be to revoke the legislation requiring kids to go to an institution where they are forced to sit on their butts for half the day.

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Published at RightOSphere.com.