Liberty Pile - Libertarian News

All the Libertarian news you can use for the week of April 3rd, 2009!

Here come the financial market "reforms!"

The FDIC is now going to limit credit card interest to "protect consumers." Of course, this just means the poor will have less borrowing options. Banks are less likely to lend to risky people if they cannot compensate. As usual, when the Government is involved, the stated outcomes generally correspond to the opposite outcome.

From the face-palm department comes a story from Massachusetts involving porn and people over the age of 60. They want to ban it! Apparently, the elderly are incapable of making these kinds of decisions for themselves and need mommy Government to protect them. This, coming from a state that recently legalized small amounts of marijuana. In the paradox of Government, the truth is always stranger than fiction.

North Korea is about to send a multistage rocket over Japan and the bigwigs of other countries don't seem too thrilled about the prospect. Only rich & powerful countries are suppose to have long-range nuclear weapons! Not evil dictator states. Obama has warned the U.S. "will take appropriate steps to let North Korea know that it can't threaten the safety and security of other countries with impunity." So, lets see if I can size-up the situation. Just about every NATO country has agreed to threaten North Korea in some way and then they get pissed off when North Korea exerts their military power? Remind me what happens when you knock down a bee hive?

Some officials from Russia and China are calling for a new IMF-backed reserve currency and dumping the U.S. Dollar. I think this is more fluff than serious talk, as both Governments hold massive Treasuries. If things get really bad, I don't find it hard to imagine these treasuries flooding the market though. But, can you imagine an international IMF currency? There would be no escape from the financial disaster these bureaucrats could wield.

Anyone remember the East German Trabants? These were cars produced in the Communist side of Germany and would take years for delivery after ordering. They were prone to failure, had plastic bodies and smoky two-stroke engines. This is the future I see for American car companies as the Obama Administration continues to treat them like a second-rate bureaucracy. This week, the administration announced the feds would now back new car warranties to "ease confidence" and ousted GM CEO Rick Wagoner.

This past week, Burt Blumert passed away. He was mostly known as a coin dealer and hard-money advocate. He was also instrumental in the creation of antiwar.com. He was eulogized by Ron Paul in Congress.

Lastly, I'll mention Jason Talley and Pete Eyre (of Bureaucrash.com) have purchased a motor-home and will be taking the message of liberty to people from coast-to-coast. You can keep up-to-date with their adventures at Motor home Diaries. I look forward to the many projects coming from them!

Yours in Liberty