"Demilitarization... has led to catastrophe in the past"

From Eric Dondero:

Rudy Giuliani gave the Republican address over the weekend, stressing preparedness, and a tough approach to the threat of Islamic terrorism.

From TheHill:

A committed military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan has helped protect America from further terror attacks like the one experienced on Sept. 11 a decade ago, Giuliani said, and the nation should resist the urge to minimize the remaining threat to justify withdrawing from the Middle East.

"It's a re-emergence of a dangerous historical pattern that sometimes afflicts America -- a desire to demilitarize by minimizing the dangers we face and that’s led to catastrophes in the past," he said.

"American security requires a long-term military presence in the part of the world where people and organizations are plotting to kill us," he said. "We must not allow impatience to prevent our military from achieving its objective in Iraq and Afghanistan and the objective is the elimination of the threat to our nation."

He also noted that broad breakdowns in security are still possible, made evident by the failed bombing attempt of a jet landing in Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009. And poor decisions and the "irrational application of political correctness" enabled the shooting at Fort Hood.

Excerpt, from American Military History, Chapter 19 "Between the Wars":

War Department officials, especially in the early 1920's, repeatedly expressed alarm over the failure of Congress to appropriate enough money to carry out the terms of the National Defense Act. They believed that it was essential for minimum defense needs to have a Regular Army with an enlisted strength of 150,000 or (after the Air Corps Act of 1926) of 165,000. As Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur pointed out in 1933, the United States ranked seventeenth among the nations in active Army strength...

For almost two decades ground units had to get along as best they could with weapons left over from World War I. The Army was well aware that these old weapons were becoming increasingly obsolete, and that new ones were needed. For example, General MacArthur in 1933 described the Army's tanks as completely useless for employment against any modern unit on the battlefield. Although handicapped by very small appropriations for research and development, Army arsenals and laboratories worked continuously during the 1920's and 1930's to devise new items of equipment and to improve old ones... not much new equipment was forthcoming for ground units in the field until Army appropriations began to rise in 1936.

For a number of years only about one fourth of the officers and one-half of the enlisted men of the Regular Army were available for assignment to tactical units in the continental United States. Many units existed only on paper; almost all had only skeletonized strength. Instead of nine infantry divisions, there were actually three. The continued dispersion of skeletonized divisions, brigades, and regiments among a large number of posts, many of them relics of the Indian wars, was a serious hindrance to the training of Regulars, although helpful in training the civilian components... in 1932 the 24 regiments available in the United States for field service were spread among 45 posts, with a battalion or less at 34. Most of the organic transportation of these units was of World War I vintage.

Editor's comment - And the non-interventionist foreign policy of left-libertarians differs from that of Neville Chamberlain and appeasement, just how exactly?

Photos - 1938 UK PM Neville Chamberlain, US Army on horseback circa 1930s.

Put a leash on Hyper-regulators at EPA, FDA and NLRB

From Eric Dondero:

Just released by Huntsman for President. It reads like a laundry list of economic libertarian proposals; enough to make the Wall Street Journal editorialize, "Better than anything so far from the GOP Presidential field."

From the WSJ, "Huntsman's Good Economic Plan" Sept. 2:

The double tax on capital gains and dividends would be expunged as would the Alternative Minimum Tax. The corporate tax rate falls to 25% from 35%, and American businesses would be taxed on a territorial system to encourage firms to return capital parked in overseas operations.

Mr. Huntsman would repeal two of President Obama's most economically debilitating creations, ObamaCare and the Dodd-Frank financial regulation law. Mr. Huntsman has it right when he says, "Dodd-Frank perpetuates 'too big to fail' by codifying a regime that incentivizes firms to become too big to fail." He'd also repeal a Bush-era regulatory mistake, the Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules, which have added millions of dollars of costs to businesses with little positive effect.

Mr. Huntsman says he'd also bring to heel the hyper-regulators at the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration and the National Labor Relations Board, all of which are suppressing job-creation. The Huntsman energy policy promises to block impediments to producing oil in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska (see editorial above), while encouraging the safe deployment of fracking for natural gas in the states.

jon2012.com

From Eric Dondero:

Forget tax cuts, and deregulation of industry. The two leading socialist members of congress Reps. Grijalva and Ellison want more tax dollars out of the pockets of working Americans.

Their plan, (via TheHill) "Liberal House Democrats urge 'bold action' from Obama on jobs issue":

Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) — the co-chairmen of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — want the president to champion sweeping investments in the nation's crumbling infrastructure as a way to create jobs and jolt the sluggish economy.

"With 14 million Americans still looking for work, this is not the time to tinker around the edges," the lawmakers wrote to Obama Thursday. "We must take bold action, and that requires federal emergency jobs legislation."

"The country’s infrastructure needs an estimated investment of $2.2 trillion," Grijalva and Ellison wrote. "We should not delay these crucial investments, especially while millions of Americans are out of work. Rebuilding America — without creating expensive new corporate tax loopholes — will further boost our economy and create badly needed jobs.

Inter-Party Squabbles

From Eric Dondero:

Erick Erickson of Red State and frequent CNN political analyst has accused Republican Senate candidate Jamie Radtke of being drunk during a recent speech given to a conservative audience. Radtke, a Christian conservative and mother of three, is denying the charge and demanding a retraction from Erickson.

Of course, LR friend Stacy McCain is all over the story:

“Erick Erickson has created this situation, where he’s called me a drunk and a liar,” said Radtke.

Radtke’s attorney has threatened legal action against Red State, a division of Eagle Publishing, unless Erickson retracts charges that Radtke was “a drunk, rambling idiot” during a conference speech and also retracts unspecified “other false and defamatory statements” Erickson made about her.

Radtke, backed by Virginia Tea Party groups, is running against former Senator George Allen for the GOP nomination. There are rumors that Erickson might be carrying water for the Allen campaign.

Note - Ms. Radtke was a guest on a recent edition of the Andre Controversa Show hosted here at LR.

Read Stacy's full accounting at TheOtherMcCain.com

From Eric Dondero:

Do you feel the earth moving? A major landscape change in the GOP field. Mitt has consistently led Obama in Rasmussen, Gallup, and other major polls by 1 to 3% last few months. Now there's a new leader.

Rasmussen reports:

For the first time this year, Texas Governor Rick Perry leads President Obama in a national Election 2012 survey. Other Republican candidates trail the president by single digits.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows Perry picking up 44% of the vote while the president earns support from 41%.

Romney's down to a 43% to 39% spread. That's a loss of a stunning 5% for Romney. And an increase of 3 for Perry. (Loss of 2% for Obama).

That's huge. Mitt has always maintained the mantra of, "Yes, he's not that great for Tea Party, conservatives and libertarians, but he can win." Not anymore.

Machiavellian Prince wants Madame Rice as Rick Perry's VP

From Eric Dondero:

After tweeting his virtual endorsement of Rick Perry for President last week, Gene Simmons rock 'n roll star turned political Machivellian, has tweeted his support for a Perry/Condi Rice ticket (Aug. 25):

@genesimmons

Gene Simmons Wanna play a Political Game? Here's a hard ticket to beat - Gov Perry and Condoleezza Rice.

Minutes later another tweet:

@genesimmons

Gene Simmons Met her in Stockholm & she struck me as politically savvy as anyone I've met in gov'mt. She won't run for VP, but this ticket is a winner.

What Simmons refers too is the band's past support for US Troops, circa 2008, (MSNBC - "Rice enlists KISS Army Fan Club"):

The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Rice was in the Swedish capital Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out concert to play Friday.

"I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff.

From Eric Dondero:

Connecticut Independent Senator Joe Lieberman had some harsh words for the Obama administration's foreign policy last Thursday. In a speech to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the Press Club in D.C., Lieberman echoed a common criticism rendered by pro-national security websites, including LR. Via NewsMax "Lieberman: Obama's Fear of Offending Muslims Paralyzes Policy":

One of Lieberman’s biggest criticisms, according to a report in TheHill.com, was that the administration clings to the term “violent extremism” to define the threat to America, rather than identifying it as “violent Islamist extremism.”

“The administration still refuses to call our enemy in this war by its proper name: violent Islamist extremism,” said Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. “To call our enemy ‘violent extremism’ is so general and vague that it ultimately has no meaning.”

Editor's comment - Not only Obama. We here at LR happen to know a great many libertarians who similarly refuse to acknowledge the threat from Radical Islam.

From Eric Dondero:

A gentle jibe against frontrunner Rick Perry perhaps? Former Utah Governor emphasizes his job creation record in Utah, with a panel "#1 in Job Growth."

Some beautiful Utah desert scenary. Is that Huntsman on the cross-country bike? (The ad doesn't make it clear?).

"makes George Bush look like George McGovern"

From Ruth Marcus, Washington Post column, "Rick Perry by the book" Aug. 30:

Perry’s 2010 Tea Party-steeped manifesto, “Fed Up!,” makes George Bush look like George McGovern. Perry has said he wasn’t planning to run for president when he wrote the book, and it shows:

?The Texas governor floats the notion of repealing the 16th Amendment, which authorized the federal income tax. Perry describes the amendment as “the great milestone on the road to serfdom” because it “was the birth of wealth redistribution in the United States.”

? Perry laments the New Deal as “the second big step” — the 16th and 17th amendments being the first — “in the march of socialism and .?.?. the key to releasing the remaining constraints on the national government’s power to do whatever it wishes.”

?He specifically targets Social Security for “violently tossing aside any respect for our founding principles of federalism and limited government,” and asserts that “by any measure, Social Security is a failure

Whoa! These are not mainstream Republican views — at least, not any Republican mainstream post-Goldwater and pre-Tea Party. Even Ronald Reagan, who had once criticized Social Security and Medicare, was backing away from those positions by the 1980 presidential campaign.

Bachmann, Perry, Romney as good as Gold?

From Eric Dondero:

Former two-time Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes made some bold predictions in an interview with NewsMax; that Obama will definitely lose, and that a new Republican president will institute a gold standard.

I think in 2013 you’re going to see a new regime in Washington, and you’re also going to see in the next five years something that sounds astonishing today, and that is for the first time since the 1970s the dollar will be relinked to gold.

We will return to a gold standard. It will be a modernized version of it, but in essence it will be the basic principle that the dollar will remain constant with gold.

Editor's comment - Which begs the question, which GOP presidential candidate, Bachmann, Perry, Romney? So far, the gold standard hasn't been much of an issue in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Absolute Must See!! Ignored by other so-called libertarian sites!

From Eric Dondero:

In this country Americans from across the political spectrum despise the (mis-named) Westboro Baptist Church protesters who gather at funerals of fallen US soldiers to protest against Gays.

A similar trend is emerging in the Netherlands. But this time it's Muslim Youth cheering on funerals of dead Dutch men and woman, and calling for the eventual take-over of the small northwestern country.

Increasingly funerals are being attacked by aggressive youth... on a few occasions she's noticed Moroccan Youth disturbing the funerals with one goal; hurt the feelings of the relatives.

[Funeral Dir.] "They ask me is it a Muslim who died. I said No. Then they run to the car and hit it with their fists, and shout 'one dog less.'"

Editor's Note - There is zero coverage on other supposedly "libertarian" sites of this story.

From Eric Dondero:

The special election for the Anthony Weiner seat is tight. The District includes parts of Brooklyn and a slither of Long Island. Democrat registration over Republican is 5 to 1.

Republican Bob Turner is within 6 points of his Democrat opponent David Weprin according to one recent poll.

But as The Hill reports:

The district, which encompasses parts of Brooklyn and Queens, is fairly Democratic but has trended a bit Republican in recent years because of a shift in support from the growing Orthodox Jewish community towards the GOP.

Republican Turner is a staunch supporter of Israel, and has the backing of former NYC Mayor and Democrat Ed Koch.

As BusinessInsider reports (photo credit):

the chances grow that the district, previously considered safely Democratic, could go Republican in the September 13th election.

New York's 9th congressional district, which includes parts of southern Brooklyn and Queens, is is home to a large population of Jewish voters, who historically go to the polls at higher rate than other segments of the population

David Weprin, the Democratic candidate to replace Weiner, is losing Jewish support fast, as his Republican opponent tries to portray him as bad for Israel. Despite being an Orthodox Jew himself, who has visited Israel several times, Weprin has been portrayed by his Republican opponent, Bob Turner, who is not Jewish, as a shill for Obama and his anti-Israel policies.

Nordic Free Marketeers show last minute surge

by Clifford F. Thies

With elections having to be called by November, the ruling center-right coalition has called a snap or early election, for September 15. Assuming no change to the current coalition of parties the center-left coalition looks to replace the center-right, leading in the polls 53 to 47 percent. But, almost anything can happen, even in the very short time to the election, from a shift of a few points in the polls, to a realignment of the coalitions following the election.

The current ruling coalition consists of four parties: the Danish Liberal and Conservative Parties, which two parties form the government, the populist Peoples' Party, which supports the government from without, and the one Christian Democrat in the Danish parliament, who also supports the government from without.

It is supposed that the Danish Liberal Alliance might enter the center-right coalition, but how that would happen given its position on immigration and that of the People's Party is not obvious.

In any case, the party that finishes first will have the first opportunity to form a ruling coalition. Presently, the Social Democrats are ahead, but just barely, with the Liberal Party surging.

The Danish Liberal Party is headed by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, one of the architects of the so-called Nordic Model of a free, market-oriented economy, and one of today's champions of classical liberalism in the world. After serving eight years as Prime Minister of Denmark, he now serves as the 12th Secretary-General of the NATO alliance. As Prime Minister, he was succeeded by Lars Løkke Rasmussen (no close relation).

And sorry ladies. Rasmussen has been happily married to Anne-Mette for over 30 years.

Dr. Thies is a prof. of economics at Shenandoah Univ. in Virginia.

As if Mom and Dad finding some quality time alone isn't already hard enough?

From Eric Dondero:

Date night for mom and dad may become a thing of the past for many Californians if the Democrats get their way.

CBS News out of Los Angeles reports, "Calif. May Force Parents To Pay Babysitters Workers’ Comp, OT":

Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento are fast-tracking a bill that would require workers’ compensation benefits, meal breaks and paid vacation time for all “domestic employees”, including nannies, housekeepers and even babysitters.

Assembly Bill 889, authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), has already cleared the Assembly and is expected to receive overwhelming support from Senate Democrats, who control both houses of the California legislature.

The small handful of Republicans in the legislature are fighting back as best as they can.

The bill marks “an unprecedented measure of legal recourse provided no other class of workers — from agricultural laborers to garment manufacturers”, Republican State Senator Doug LaMalfa told TheUnion.com.

LaMalfa also warned the “unreasonable costs and risks contained in this bill will discourage folks from hiring housekeepers, nannies and babysitters and increase the use of institutionalized care rather than allowing children, the sick or elderly to be cared for in their homes”.

Still not clear, will such regulations apply to family members? An older sister baby sitting her siblings?

From Eric Dondero:

Constitutionalist conservative radio talk show host Marc Levin took Ron Paul to task last night on his radio show for his recent comments blaming U.S. foreign policy for Islamic hatred of America. Paul made the comments on a campaign stop in Iowa.

Levin said that even the Cato Institute, Reason, and "reasonable libertarians" shy away from any association with Paul:

He's not even a real libertarian. He's what they call a paleo-libertarian... against national defense.

Levin's show is one of the top 5 for ratings in the country.

Runs a charity but takes no government funds

From Eric Dondero:

He competed on "Survivor: Pearl Islands, All-Stars and Heroes vs. Villains." Now Rupert Bohenham is about to enter a bigger competition - Governor of his homestate of Indiana.

TV Guide quotes the survivalist Libertarian:

"I have spent my entire adult life serving my community and I see an opportunity to make a difference for Indiana," Boneham adds. "While surveying the current choices for our next Governor, I do not see anyone that has an understanding of what daily life is like for many Hoosiers nor anyone who appears to understand the harm that misguided government policies are doing to our communities. It is obvious that career politicians are not the answer because they are often the problem. I will be evaluating whether or not hardworking Hoosiers are ready for a new voice with new ideas."

Boneham's likely opponent of course, Congressman Mike Pence, a favorite of religious conservatives.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Boneham would run as a Libertarian, per papers filed with the Indiana Election Division.

And he's no flash-in-the-pan LP nomination-seeking opportunist either. From Indiana LP's Chris Spangle at LPIN.org:

Outside of Survivor, Boneham, as stated, has long been involved in his own organization, Rupert’s Kids. Rupert’s Kids is a charitable organization that teaches youth, especially those too old to be considered for many youth programs, but also too young to be considered an adult, how to be responsible for their actions and how to grow into better people on their own. Respectably, Rupert’s Kids has never taken any government funding.

This summer, though, Rupert made appearances at the Libertarian Party booth at several of Indiana’s many summer festivals, including Indy Pride.

Photo h/t DBKP

Quell Surprise!

From the VOA "Kosovar Admits Killing 2 US Airmen, Wounding 2 Others" Aug. 31:

A 21-year old man from Kosovo went on trial in Frankfurt, Germany Wednesday and confessed to killing two U.S. Air Force personnel and wounding two others earlier this year.

Arid Uka admitted his guilt and apologized on the opening day of his trial, saying he had been influenced by Islamist propaganda. He added that he could not understand how he could have acted that way.

German prosecutors charged Uka with two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder for the March 2 attack at Frankfurt airport. Uka was employed at the airport at the time of the attack. He said he came to the airport with a gun and two knives with the intention of killing Americans soldiers to prevent them from going to Afghanistan.

Editor's note/comment - A quick check of so-called "libertarian" sites such as Cato.org, LP.org, Reason, LewRockwell.com, Daily Paul, et.al. shows none of them covering this story. Ah yes, it was U.S. troops in Muslim lands that led him to the killing spree.

From Eric Dondero:

The spread is a whopping -10.6% which is .12% higher than the previous high in the spread of -9.4%. There has been a sudden and dramatic drop since Aug. 25.

President Obama Job Approval

RCP Average

Approve42.8

Disapprove53.4

Spread -10.6

Gallup has him currently at 38 approvals, 55 disapprovals, Rasmussen at 42, 57. Even the Obama-biased AP shows him at -6%, 46, 52.

No doubt this will soon start to be reflected in head-to-head match-ups against Romney and Perry.

(Editor’s Note: By Josh Featherstone, Originally posted at his blog, Featherstone on Government. The LPIN candidate selection process takes place at our annual convention in April. LPIN Leadership and Rupert’s team will be exploring this idea further in the coming weeks.) Rupert Boneham, famous for his appearances on TV’s Survivor, may be interested in an [...]

From Eric Dondero:

Meet Claver Kamau-Imani. In 2010 he founded Raging Elephants to introduce more Black Americans to conservative principles and bring a more multi-ethnic face to the GOP. He caused a bit of a stir when he had billboards put up over Texas emphasizing Martin Luther King "was a Republican."

From his bio:

Apostle Claver Kamau-Imani is considered one of the most dynamic speakers on liberty and offers a unique vision of political ideology from a Biblical perspective.

The fight against tyranny has a moral basis whether it’s on fiscal or social issues. It is this moral connection that Apostle Claver Kamau-Imani sees as the uniting force that can unite fiscal and social conservatives, including people of color.

On Saturday he brought the house down at a Tea Party event in Ohio.

From ConservativeNews.com "Tea Party Express Opens to a Crowd of Several Hundred at Ohio Stop – Patch.com":

Kamau-Imani flew in from Texas for the Avon event. He said he was not a Tea Party member, but a conservative who is “slightly left of” Libertarian.

He urged more racial diversity among conservatives.

Kamau-Imani who read passages from the Bible, elicited the greatest response from the crowd, drawing cheers.

“We're not supposed to be tolerant of moral behavior,” Kamau-Imani said to a cheering crowd. “You cannot surrender, you cannot compromise … We stand for compromise. Make a decision. Do you want to keep your republic or do you want to surrender?”

RagingElephants.org