Category Archives: Libertarianism

JoAnna Champlain claimed victory as Cherokee County treasurer in Tuesdays primary election, receiving an unofficial 57.84 percent of the votes in 29 precincts.

Champlain defeated Noel Hunter, who received 42.16 percent of the vote. Champlain and Hunter, both Democrats, didnt have a Republican opponent to challenge them in the November general election.

I would like to thank everyone in Cherokee County who supported and voted for me, Champlain said. I am very excited to begin this new journey as treasurer, and serve all of the residents of Cherokee County to the best of my ability. I look forward to the next four years with great anticipation, knowing I will continue to learn and grow, making our office the best it can be.

Hunter said she accepts the results as is, but wished the outcome was different. She addressed Champlain and wished her the best as she takes on her new position.

Current Treasurer Patsy Stafford declined to seek reelection.

Bobby Cub Whitewater, Democrat, will face off against Republican Mitch Sterling in November for the District 1 commissioner seat. Whitewater received 58.16 percent of the votes, while Randy Jones took 41.84 percent.

Jones thanked his supporters and all who helped during his campaign.

it was amazing, and I congratulate Bobby Whitewater on his win in this primary. I wish him well in November in the general election, said Jones.

Current Commissioner Doug Hubbard didnt run again.

In statewide and federal races, between 97 and 99 percent of precincts had reported as of 11 p.m.

Among Cherokee County voters, Republican Congressman Markwayne Mullin obtained 62.64 percent of the vote for U.S. Senate. However, he faces a runoff against former Speaker of the House T.W. Shannon. The winner will meet up in the November general election with Democrat Kendra Horn, a former member of Congress, along with Ray Woods, an independent, and Libertarian Robert Murphy. Competing against him in the Republican primary on Tuesday were: T.W. Shannon, Alex Gray, Nathan Dahm, Luke Holland, Adam Holley, Jessica Jean Garrison, Laura Moreno, Michael Coibion, Scott Pruitt, Paul Royse, John F. Tompkins, and Randy J. Grellner.

Both in Cherokee County and statewide, voters chose to keep Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford, with 67.80 percent. He turned back challengers Jackson Lahmeyer, 26.42 percent, and Joan Farr, 5.78 percent, as of 10 p.m., Tuesday. Democrat Madison Horn won 36.92 percent of the vote against Jason Bollinger, 16.82 percent; Arya Azma, 7.02 percent; Brandon Wade, 12.29 percent; Dennis L. Baker, 13.88 percent; and Jo Glenn, 13.06 percent. Libertarian Kenneth D. Blevins and Michael L. Delaney, an independent, also will be on the November ballot.

Cherokee County resident Republican Wes Nofire scored 6.32 percent of the votes on his home turf for the congressional seat vacated by Mullin in District 2, but that wasn't enough to advance him to the primary runoff. Avery Frix and Josh Brecheen will meet up in that election on Aug. 23, having tallied 14.74 to 13.75 percent respectively.

Cherokee County resident Clint Johnson got 1.46 percent of votes in that race. He thanked his supporters for their trust and confidence they instilled in him.

There are a lot of good people in this race, and I wish them the best of luck. We will keep them to their campaign promises, said Johnson.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Republican, defeated Mark Sherwood, Joel Kintsel, and Moira McCabe with 68.58 percent of the votes. Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister will challenge Stitt and Ervin Stone Yen, an independent, and Libertarian Natalie Bruno during the general election, as she received 64.16 percent of the votes against Connie Johnson, 35.84 percent.

Republican Todd Russ, 48.50 percent, and Clark Jolley, 33.87 percent, will meet in the runoff for state treasurer after defeating David B. Hooten, 17.62 percent. Gregory J. Sadler, Libertarian, and Democrat Charles De Coune will go head-to-head in Novembers election with either Jolley or Russ. Current Treasurer Randy McDaniel didnt seek reelection.

Current Attorney General John M. OConnor got 49.12 percent of the vote, apparently indicating he was ousted by fellow Republican Gentner F. Drummond, with 50.88 percent.

John Cox, April Grace, Ryan Walters, and William E. Crozier, all Republicans, sought the seat of superintendent of public instruction, with incumbent Hofmeister switching parties and running for governor. Cox, who is Peggs School superintendent, was able to get 24.15 percent of the votes. However, Walters took 41.46 percent, and the two are projected for a runoff. Grace got 30.63 percent, and Crozier, 3.76 percent. The runoff winner will be joined by Democrat Jena Nelson in the general election.

District 18 Sen. Kim David, Republican, snagged the most votes for corporation commissioner, 41.08 percent. She was joined by Justin Hornback, 20.35 percent; Harold D. Spradling, 12.59 percent; and Todd Thomsen, 25.99 percent. Democrat Margaret Warigia Bowman, and Don Underwood, independent, will challenge David in November.

Republican Cindy Byrd will remain seated as State Auditor and Inspector after beating Steven W. McQuillen, 29 percent.

Originally posted here:
CHAMPLAIN IS TREASURER: Whitewater to face Sterling in November; Brecheen, Frix head for D2 Congress runoff - Tahlequah Daily Press

State Auditor and InspectorCindy Byrd weathereddark money-fueled opposition in winningreelection Tuesday, beating a challenger who was backed by the founders of a virtual charter school she accused in an audit of stealing millions in tax dollars.

"I've had such a groundswell of support across the state once everyone realized what was going on with this election," said Byrd, who beat Steven McQuillen with more than double thevote total.

With no other candidate on the general election ballot, Byrd essentially won reelection to another four-year term.

In 2020, Byrd drew attention after releasinga scathing audit of Epic Charter School, which her office accused of numerous questionable expenses.

Ben Harris and David Chaney, the founders of Epic who were arrested this month onembezzlement charges,donated $744,500to Prosperity AllianceInc.from January 2020 to March 2021, which supported Byrd's opponent with mailers.

Primary election results: Kevin Stitt, Joy Hofmeister to face off in Oklahoma governor's race come November

Byrd said the arrests backed up her audit's claims, and her election victory showed voters had faith in her office.

"Its been very disheartening that there were some who did not believe the audit report that the state auditors office put out," Byrd said Tuesday evening. "But last week was more evidence that the state auditors office is putting out the information taxpayers need to know to be informed in order to know where their money is going."

Several other statewide primary races are headed for a runoff, including the commissioner of labor, where incumbent Leslie Osborn received 48% of the vote, just shy of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. State Rep. Sean Roberts, who received 38%, will face Osborn in an Aug.23 election. The winner will face Democratic Jack Henderson and Libertarian Will Daugherty in November.

The Republican primary for state treasurer is also headed for a runoff to compete for the open seat, where current state treasurer Randy McDaniel decided not to seek reelection.

State Rep. Todd Russ received 49% of the voteand Oklahoma Tax Commission Chairman Clark Jolley received 34%.

David Hooten, who recently resigned as Oklahoma County clerk amid sexual harassment allegations, received 18%, missing the runoff.

The winner between Russ and Jolley will face Libertarian Gregory Sadler and Democrat Charles de Coune.

The four-candidate Republican primary for an openseat on the corporation commission is also headed for a runoff, as state Sen. Kim David, who received 41% of the vote, will face former state Rep. Todd Thomsen, who received 26%.

Excerpt from:
State Auditor Cindy Byrd wins reelection; other state offices head to runoff - Oklahoman.com

Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell at the Baptist Fundamentalism 84 conference. (AP/Ira Schwartz)

I know my personal experience about this topic is not unique. It cant be.

There were a few others concerned about the long-term fate of secular society in wake of the 1980s fusion of Reagan, Republicans, and evangelical religion the theocratic philosophy now in power on the U.S. Supreme Court. In my case, I was routinely dismissed by friends as overreacting or down right paranoid. Others were probably told the same thing across America. Thats why I am sharing my personal experience from evangelical-creationist ground zero: my home state of Texas!

Now I am not going to pretend I had it all figured out in the mid-1980s. But, given many conversations with conservatives and creationists, it became apparentover timethat the fusion was a toxic mix and trouble was coming. That trouble exploded in 2016 with another theological-political fusion: Trump, MAGA, GOP, and evangelical religion.

In 1984, I was a grad student at the University of Texas at Austin. George Orwells masterpiece 1984 was being widely read. Of course, most thought the USSR was the real 1984, not Team USA. When Apple launched the Macintosh in 1984, few, if any, saw the Orwellian danger of personal computers. I sure didnt.

Lots of cool New Wave bands were passing through Austin, playing at dives like the Continental Club, Liberty Lunch, and various other clubs. New wave fashions were the rage for some. Yep, I had a pair of parachute pants, which I wore a few times to concerts. But, I was much more likely to wear pointy-toed boots with Levis 501s button fly only! Still do.

All the while, the winds of fascism and theocracy were beginning to blow over the big Texas horizons. I saw the theocracy sooner than I saw the fascism.

My loose network of friends included a random mix of liberals, libertarians, quasi-conservatives, artsy fashionistas, philosophy theorists, and an odd assortment of alienated cigarette smokers, espresso junkies, and margarita lovers. In 1984, you could drink at 18 in Texas and smoke inside cafes and coffeehouses. The legendary Les Amis (the cafe featured in Richard Linklaters Slacker) was particularly smoky, but you could always get good coffee and good conversations.

The same was true for Captain Quackenbushs Intergalactic Espresso Cafe, located a few blocks away. Real intellectual conversations were had because most everyone was reading philosophy, history, and literary books with their coffee and Euro cigarettes.

In 1984, Ronald Reagan swept to a landslide second term in a grand fusion of movie star glitz, fervent evangelicalism, quasi-libertarian economics, and sheer patriotic frenzy fueled by conservative Cold War propaganda. Reagans famous TV ad said it was now Morning in America. Astrology was regularly consulted in the White House. And flags, flags, flags!

On election night in 1984, I recall protestors running through campus buildings holding signs proclaiming they were Young Anarchists for Mondale. LOL. Crazy, but no less true!

Walter Mondale and the Democratic platform were far removed from anything anarchist. Mondale and the Young Anarchists never had a chance against Reagan and the conservative frat boys (like the Bushes). Thats because Reagan and Bush were going to save the soul of America! After all, God and old money were on their side.

Ronald Reagan and Jerry Falwell (head of the so-called Moral Majority) led the fusion of the Republican Party with fundamentalists and evangelicals, the faithful who did not believe in evolution and other science concepts. Instead, they believed the universe was 6,000 years old, the Bible trumped the Constitution (or the Constitution was based on the Bible, which is absolutely not true), a clump of cells had more rights than the womans body that contained the cells, guns would prevent (secular) government tyranny, and America was chosen by God to be the promised land that would prevail over the evil commies in the Cold War.

In a foreshadowing of the subsequent decades, President Reagan said the following during a speech at a 1984 campaign rally in Austin:

And finally, last night I asked the House to pass the equal-access bill. It would permit religious student groups the same freedom that other student groups now have to meet in public high schools in their vacant rooms during off-hours. I believe the God who blessed this land of ours never deserved to be expelled from our schools in the first place.

The Equal Access Act of 1984 was passed and became law. Of course, as Orwell would have predicted, the goal was never about mere equal access. The long-term goal was breaking down the wall between church and state, bit by bit, across the decades. That is exactly the intent of the Moral Majority, faith-based government initiatives, the anti-abortion movement, and Justice Samuel Alitos recent Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Its a theocracy in America.

Sound too alarmist? What about the Supreme Courts recent ruling in Carson v. Makin, in which they ruled that if the government funds any private schools, then it must fund private religious schools the very schools that most likely teach creationism, anti-science, anti-abortion, and discrimination against LGBTQIA+ communities and people of color, including those crossing the southern border. This ruling is a total violation of the First Amendments wall between church and state. Equal Access is achieving its long-term goal: imposing a theocracy in America.

In the days after Reagan was reelected in 1984, my liberal and libertarian friends said almost the exact same thing: Reagan was about big business, deregulation, free markets, and unfettered capitalism. Of course, the liberals feared Reagan, while the libertarians cheered Reagan.

For my liberal friends, Reagans economics were the big concern, almost the only concern, which is in keeping with the Marxist and socialist influence in their worldview. Libertarian fans of Ayn Rand were sometimes atheist, but they were far more focused on defeating communism and spreading capitalism far and wide in the name of individualism and rational self-interest.

I get the fear of Big Brother or big government, but I was more concerned about what happens when Big Brother is a creationist and theocrat. Every time I suggested that we should be more concerned about religious political power, almost all of my friends said I was overreacting and being paranoid. They said something to this effect:

Cmon Vacker, dont overreact. Youre sounding paranoid! Just because youre an atheist and existentialist, it doesnt mean religion is going to take over. Religious freedom is in the First Amendment.

Ive heard some variation of those lines dozens of times across the decades. Every time I raised the problem of growing theological political power, I was repeatedly told by libertarians, liberals, and coffeehouse philosophers it was capitalism and big corporations that were the big issue, good or bad.

By the year 1984, I had read 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and other dystopian literature (or seen the film versions). From 1984, I could see that the American fusion of religion, propaganda, and political power was a totalitarian mix, especially because of the control of sexuality (which Orwell warned us about with the Anti-Sex League in 1984).

Fahrenheit 451 showed how book burning could reappear in a society dumbed down by television and entertainment. Thats ever more true today. Brave New World showed how people could be seduced and programmed to accept the dominant ideologies, precisely as they think they are free individualists seizing the future or returning us to the past! (Today, thats the cults of Elon Musk or MAGA.)

The University of Texas set aside a free speech area on campus near the Student Union Building, home to the student government offices, a large cafeteria, movie theater, and the legendary Cactus Caf, where famed Austin musicians were known to drop in. In the free speech area, dozens upon dozens of student groups handed out brochures, pamphlets, and Xerox copies of their beliefs and manifestos.

I recall the Young Conservatives group selling Margaret Thatcher posters. For real! When Prince Charles toured the campus in 1986, the frats and sororities turned out in huge crowds, always yearning to be royality, to be among the elite rulers.

Lively (and largely civil) conservations could be heard and had almost any school day. Not meme wars, but actual dialogue. In my many conversations with conservative and evangelical students, it was clear to me that the end result of their beliefs would be, ultimately and necessarily, a theocracy in America. Though many would deny it, a theocracy was always the inevitable end goal, with a paradoxical mix of state-supported capitalism.

The conservative and evangelical activists conflated religious freedom, protected under the First Amendment, with the idea that all America must be ruled under a religion, specifically the religion of the Bible. They ignored the first right in the First Amendment the right to not believe in any religion and not have the government impose any religion.

Additionally, the evangelicals would never seriously consider any evidence, any facts, or any logic that challenged their faith in sacred texts or the existence of God. Nothing. Nada, Nope. Doublethink!

The Bible was the final word. The one thing they all believed with absolute conviction: God exists and is on their side, the Bible is truth, and they want to Make America Moral Again! That means we must go backwards a few decades or, more likely, a few centuries.

By 1986, Hollywood gave us Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer in Top Gun that mind-meld of GQ machismo, jet fighter-fetishism, and Team USA war propaganda. Its no wonder the Soviet Union soon collapsed. The Kremlin and commies knew they had no chance against Maverick, Viper, and Ice. Not a chance!

In the wake of the Cold War, super conservative George W. Bush was elected governor of Texas in 1994 and President of the United States in 2000. My friends (now including profs) said the same thing: Bush is all about corporations and capitalism. Cmon Vacker, didnt you see Bushs Brain (2004 documentary)? Bush is the puppet for Karl Rove and greedy capitalists, the puppet for Dick Cheney and the Pentagon. The Bible has little to do with his policies. Again, I was overreacting. Yet, the very same Bush appointed John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The same Bush that approved of torture regimes in the Terror War.

Nothing much changed in the 2000s2020s. Is it right to be concerned about privacy, exploitation, free speech, human rights, the environment, and so on? Yes, of course! Concerned about a theocracy. Nah, thats too far.

Even though the American theocracy will smash the wall between church and state, deny basic human rights to disfavored groups (women, people of color, and LBTQIA+ communities), and destroy the environment in the name of economic growth and a biblically ordained dominion over the Earth. Just wait until the current Supreme Court guts environmental protections. Its coming, sooner or later.

Of course, President Trump appointed three more high priests of medievalism and here we are. Its 2022 and America is fast becoming a fascist theocracy. Theres no denying it. Its unfolding right before our eyes.

Its obvious patriarchal and biblical domination are being forced upon women all across America. The evangelical fanatics and Supreme Court medievalists are telling women they have no right to control their bodies, no reproductive rights, and no rights to determine their healthcare. If women have no autonomy for their bodies, then they have no real rights at all. Alitos opinion represents a full-on assault on the universal human rights possessed by all women.

Thats why the Courts goal is not about morality or saving fetuses. The real goal is to inflict pain, cruelty, and domination upon women and anyone else not favored by the theocrats. Misogynous and morally bankrupt fanatics are hurtling women and society backward by centuries in a merger of church and state.

Ultimately, the theocrats on the Supreme Court are attacking the Establishment Clause, the principle atop the First Amendment which says Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting the Establishment of Religion Alito and crew are destroying the wall between church and state.

There is no end in sight, as the fanatics are coming after all reproductive rights and contraception. And theyll come after numerous other rights and freedoms held by the people and groups they do not like. There is no end, there is no bottom.

After all, what are all those AR-15s are for? To prevent tyranny? Or to impose tyranny? Are we supposed to believe the Proud Boys, Patriot Front, and Oath Keepers are going to be peaceful and do nothing? If they get in power, theyll be aiming their AR-15s at Americans who are not down with fascism and theocracy.

Unless defeated, somehow, this theocracy will be like all the others from the past. A complete horror show. A real life Handmaids Tale, a real life Idiocracy, and real life Planet of the Apes.

But, yeah, I and others were overreacting and paranoid in 1984.

_____________

High taxes forced the closure of Les Amis Cafe. The building was bulldozed to make way for a Starbucks. Liberty Lunch closed in 1999 to make way for downtown hipster development. The Continental Club still rocks (as a copy of itself). Keep Austin Weird no longer applies.

I wonder what became of the Young Anarchists for Mondale.

Excerpt from:
In the 1980s, My Friends In Texas Said I Was 'Overreacting' - Medium

Reports of cryptocurrencys death have been exaggerated. For those whove followed bitcoin since the beginning, the fall from $64,000 to $20,000 is simply another of bitcoins many deaths (one website has tracked 455 obituaries). Those who bought at the top are asking why bitcoin is only $20,000. This question would have been unfathomable a few years ago. We should ask the opposite question: Why is this internet-created money, started by an unknown programmer on an obscure web forum, trading so high?

With millions of dollars in speculation in nonfungible tokens, initial coin offerings and obvious get-rich-quick schemes, its easy to forget that bitcoin wasnt created by people looking to get rich. It was designed by a pseudonymous programmer known as Satoshi Nakamoto, who wanted a money not controlled by government-run central banks. Like gold, the bitcoin network is outside the control of any political entity. There is a predictable rate of money creation, and the number of bitcoins in existence will never exceed 21 million.

See original here:
Dont Believe the Obits for Bitcoin - The Wall Street Journal

TOPEKA Republican gubernatorial candidate Arlyn Briggs recorded a campaign commercial outlining his vision of conservative government in Kansas only to find out a prominent Christian radio network had no intention of airing the advertisement.

He said an employee at Bott Radio Network in Overland Park explained the campaign spot couldnt be used on the network after learning of Briggs arrest on a charge of criminal threat against a law enforcement officer. The arrest in Allen County was a misunderstanding that ought to be resolved in his favor, Briggs said, but the radio networks rebuff was a setback in his primary campaign against GOP frontrunner Derek Schmidt, who is the states attorney general.

Im a strong Christian, Briggs said. My job is to be a strong reflection of Jesus Christ.

Briggs, 64, of rural Kincaid, said the legal trouble stemmed from allowing a man being sought by law enforcement for an alleged stalking offense to stay with him in early June. Briggs noticed a sheriffs department vehicle driving slowly past his home, so he called the department to remind authorities of the castle doctrine, the stand-your-ground right of individuals in Kansas to take reasonable action, including deadly force, in defense of a home.

He warned law enforcement officers not to try anything, he said, and pointedly added I may shoot you. He said he wouldnt have actually fired on deputies, and nothing happened. But officers later served an Anderson County warrant on him for criminal threat. He was released June 15 from Allen County Jail.

If successful in the Aug. 2 primary against Schmidt, Briggs would likely face Democratic frontrunner Gov. Laura Kelly as well as independent candidate Dennis Pyle and Libertarian Seth Cordell in November. If victorious in the general election, Briggs said he would donate his state government salary to charity.

I feel the primary is where the contest is this year. Kelly is so liberal, Briggs said. I say vote for the person. Not what they said, but what they do.

Briggs said he was disappointed with Schmidt as a political leader, and asserted the attorney general was too focused on getting on U.S. Sen. Jerry Morans good list in anticipation of eventually running for Morans seat in the U.S. Senate. Briggs said hed challenged Schmidt to five debates, but hadnt received a response.

I think theres growing concern among conservatives across the United States and Kansas with whats happening with government and our leaders, Briggs said.

On social media last year, Briggs was critical of state legislators who he claimed talked about the value of local government control and then passed bills stripping local elected officials of influence. He said they all should be taught a lesson by being voted out of office.

Briggs ran for the Kansas House in 2012 and 2020, but lost both contests. He was soundly defeated in the most recent campaign, falling to state Rep. Trevor Jacobs, with Jacobs securing 83% of the vote in a GOP primary.

He said he lived in Johnson County for about 30 years. He worked for a Kansas City bank and at Hallmark and has been employed as a trucker and farmer. He performed mission work in more than a dozen countries, he said.

Briggs lieutenant governor running mate is Abilene resident Lance Berland, who Briggs said recently performed community service in Colorado to deal with his own legal challenges.

On social media, Berland said we the people were engaged in a fight against Republican and Democrat warmongers, the most bloated, wasteful bureaucracy in human history and corrupt crony capitalists. He claimed businessman George Soros, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett were involved in demise of U.S. freedom.

We have been played, and Americans killed, by our own government and the ultra-wealthy non-citizens who dominate our nation from Davos, Geneva, and Brussels, he said. These people have perpetuated and delivered the world only racism, eugenics, war, toxicity, disease and unnecessary deaths by the hundreds of millions. These people serve only themselves and the devil.

He also expressed disappointment Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden were convinced by the global health mafia to recommend Americans be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Read the original:
Kansas GOP governor candidate arrested on felony charge plunges ahead with campaign - Kansas Reflector

Greg Gutfeld took on all-comers during a discussion on drug legalization during Thursdays edition of The Five.

The co-hosts discussed the impact of Oregons decriminalization of small amounts of almost all drugs. Oregon sought to make treatment available to drug users instead of jail cells. However, very few users have availed themselves of help and fatal overdoses have increased.

This is what happens when drugs are illegal, Gutfeld stated, noting that street drugs often contain the substance in uncertain amounts, as well as adulterants.

All of these poisonings are street concoctions, he said. We always just say, Oh, its opiates. But its actually a toxic poison, its street fentanyl. This is not prescription stuff. So if you loosened the restrictions on prescription [drugs], you will save lives.

He concluded, Thats all I have to say!

Jesse Watters wasnt convinced.

I am not buying this libertarian mumbo-jumbo, he said.

What? Its called facts, Gutfeld protested.

This is a perfect example of libertarianism gone wrong, Watters continued. Greg has been singing the song ever since I came on The Five. Legalize drugs, legalize drugs, decriminalize it. They did it. Oregon listened to Gutfeld. Now, look at Oregon. Everyones dead. Thats what happens when you listen to Greg. You die.

Gutfeld replied, What Im saying is, if somebodys actually using a safe drug, this doesnt happen.

Is heroin a safe drug? asked Jeanine Pirro.

People actually take heroin, yes, he replied. Do you know that fentanyl is actually a drug that is prescribed? Are you aware of that?

Did you know that youre wrong? said Watters.

You will never win this debate, Gutfeld shot back.

If you do what Greg says, you dont get the crap from China, Dana Perino chimed in.

Thats my point, he responded.

Watch above via Fox News.

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com

Continue reading here:
Watters and Gutfeld Throw Down on Drug Legalization

There appears to be some old-fashioned union busting going on here in Illinois. Some people I employ tell me theyve received mail thats intended to convince themor, more accurately, to trick theminto not paying dues to their labor unions.

I use a motorized wheelchair, so I employ a crew of people to assist me in my home doing everyday stuff like getting out of bed and getting dressed. Their wages are paid through a state program.

Theres no way that these raises would have happened if personal assistants had no collective bargaining power.

I call them my pit crew, but officially they are my personal assistants, whom the government recognizes as part of the SEIU Healthcare union.

The front page of the mailing my workers received, in big, bold letters, reads: It can be hard to make ends meet. Why should SEIU take your hard-earned money?

It goes on to claim that the union spends very little money representing its members, and instead spends it on lobbying and frivolities such as hotel rooms and catering.

It then suggests that you can opt out of SEIU and keep more of YOUR money in YOUR pocket.

Page two is designed to make opting out easy breezy. Its a letter addressed to SEIU Healthcare (in both English and Spanish) that begins: Effective immediately, I resign my membership from the Union . . .

If this reeks of libertarian propaganda, youve got a good nose: The mailer is put out by the Illinois Policy Institute, a libertarian think tank that calls itself the strongest voice for taxpayers in the state.

It seems that the goal of this campaign is to financially drain SEIU, leaving workerslike theones in my crewwith no union representation at all.

That idea scares the hell out of me because, when Republican billionaire Bruce Rauner was Illinois governor from 2015 to 2019, the wages of personal assistants remained stagnant at $13 an hour. Rauner was a cold, nasty, libertarian type with great hostility toward unions. SEIUs negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement for personal assistants went nowhere with his administration.

Since then, my workers wages have gone up steadily. They currently make $16.50 an hour and will reach $17.50 an hour by this time next year. These increases are part of the collective bargaining agreement that SEIU reached with the current governor, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, who beat Rauner in the 2018 election. Pritzker is also a billionaire, but at least hes pretty progressive, as far as Democrats go.

I promise you theres no way that these raises would have happened if personal assistants had no collective bargaining power. Obviously, the higher wages make my life smoother because the higher the wages, the easier it is to find people suitable for the job.

If Rauner were still governor, personal assistants would probably still be making $13 an hour. And maybe their union would have been busted by now, and they wouldnt have to pay a few bucks a month in dues. But theyd have a helluva lot less money.

See the rest here:
Smart Ass Cripple: Libertarian Union-Busting Tactics Target Illinois Health Care Workers - Progressive.org

The Biden administration wants to make the tobacco industry cut back the amount of nicotine in cigarettes sold in the U.S. to non-addictive levels.

Why it matters: The bid to essentially take the buzz out of smoking cigarettes would be unprecedented in the long-running public health fight to curb tobacco use, which the FDA says leads to more than 480,000 deaths a year.

Driving the news: The FDA can't actually just ban cigarettes, but can create "product standards" that make them less attractive, experts say. So on Tuesday, the agency proposed a rule to establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and other certain finished tobacco products. It is unclear if they would do it at once or gradually.

What they're saying: "This would be really historic," Dorothy Hatsukami, a professor at the University of Minnesota who researches tobacco policy, told the Wall Street Journal. She's among a number of researchers who study tobacco regulatory science much of it funded by the FDA and examined the positive impact of low-nicotine cigarettes on consumer behavior and health, per WSJ.

The other side: Critics say the policy move would make little sense.

Between the lines: One thing backers and critics agree on is the reduction in nicotine could cause confusion among smokers who think cigarettes will become safer.

The big picture: The FDA first weighed setting a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes in 2018, elevating tobacco regulation to a level not seen since the George H.W. Bush and Clinton administrations.

See the rest here:
Biden administration wants to take the buzz out of cigarettes - Axios

"The Economics of the Parables" (Regnery) is the most recent book by Fr. Robert Sirico, co-founder of the Acton Institute. (Images: Regnery and Acton Institute)

Fr. Robert Sirico is President Emeritus of the Acton Institute and the retired pastor emeritus of Sacred Heart Parish in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the author of numerous essays and several books, including Defending the Free Market: The Moral Case for a Free Economy, A Moral Basis for Liberty, and The Entrepreneurial Vocation.

His most recent book is The Economics of the Parables (2022), published by Regnery.

Fr. Sirico recently spoke with CWR about economics, liberty, libertarianism, Catholic social teaching, the parables of Christ, and current challenges facing the Church.

CWR: Fr. Sirico, your economic worldview, and that of the Acton Institute, has been described as libertarian. Is that accurate?

Fr. Robert Sirico: There has long been a problem with political labels; the word libertarian is one such example. I have avoided the libertarian label because it is often confused with libertine or associated with the idea that whatever is free is good, and that is certainly not something I hold to. I rather prefer Lord Actons insight that liberty is the political end of man. The problem arises when people think that liberty is mans telos or lifes goal. Of course, Truth is mans telos as so clearly and repeatedly taught by St. John Paul II, who deepened my own approach to economic and political matters.

Liberty is only an option, a potential. Of itself, liberty has no content. It is merely the context in which virtue or vice can be perused.

Milton Friedman once told me that he feared Christianitys insistence on truth claims would result in another Inquisition. I countered that the truth of which we speak is not coercive but something to be proposed, not imposed, which, of course, I stole from Vatican II. At least we agreed that liberty is necessary for society, but not sufficient.

CWR: What is libertarianism?

Fr. Sirico: I supposed it can be boiled down to the non-aggressive principle, which prohibits the initiation of force. Again, thats fine, as far as it goes, but we need something far more robust. We want something more than a free society; we want a good society as well.

CWR: Much of Catholic social teaching condemns socialism and doctrinaire Marxism. However, most of Catholic social teaching condemns various elements of capitalism and economic liberalism. How can one be a good capitalist and a good Catholic?

Fr. Sirico: Capitalism is another of those tricky words that requires clarification. What the Church condemns is a capitalist ideology. Again, informed by St. John Paul, I prefer to speak of the entrepreneur, the empresario who creatively employs his economic initiative in developing resources for human betterment, guided by an ethical orientation under the rule of law. In this way, entrepreneurial activity actually serves the common good.

I once heard (I cant recall from whom) Catholic Social Teaching summed up as condemning the roots of Marxism but only some of the branches of Capitalism.

CWR: Pope Francis famously condemned trickle down economics in Evangelii Gaudium(EG). What do you think of that?

Fr. Sirico: I wonder what the pope would say about a form of economics that percolates up rather than trickles down? I would like to see the pope think about the implications of his statement in EG that, Business is a vocation, and a noble vocation, provided that those engaged in it see themselves challenged by a greater meaning in life; this will enable them truly to serve the common good by striving to increase the goods of this world and to make them more accessible to all.

This describes the free market economy about which I am speaking. Free competition in a market, without the kind of mercantilist favoritism the Holy Father would be familiar with from his native Argentina, actually disables larger companies from preventing individuals and smaller businesses to offer alternatives. This economic freedom has the added advantage of increasing the knowledge of the real costs of production, through free pricing.

Politically dominated economies are really less informed than freer ones because they hinder the information that those outside the favored class possess. This increase in knowledge enables businesses to be better servants.

CWR: There is a school of conservative Catholics known as post-liberal. What are your thoughts on the idea that Enlightenment liberalism is dead?

Fr. Sirico: The rise of the various kinds of post liberal, integralist, or nationalist tendencies has been a deep concern to me. It is not as though such experiments have not be tried, with disastrous results, in the past. The critique of Enlightenment liberalism is perhaps a little too unnuanced in that it fails to see the fact that there was a variety of Enlightenment liberalisms in contention. The reverence for the human form, reason, the scientific method, and human rights was not the invention of secularist humanists. All this came from Christianity, and I would contend that the best of the Enlightenment, including free markets, comes out of thinkers like the sixteenth-century Scholastics of Salamanca.

CWR: Michael Novak played a crucial role in your formation. However, the thought of Novak and other neoconservative Catholics seems to have declined in popularity since the Obama presidency and the Pope Francis era. What will historys verdict be on the Catholic neoconservatives?

Fr. Sirico: I came to know Michael Novak after reading his book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, where for the first time I discovered a Catholic theologian conversant with the kinds of economists who drew me into an understanding of the free economy and prepared the way to the recovery of my Catholic roots.

Initially, we began a correspondence and when I began my seminary formation in Washington, DC, we became friends. Thanks to that friendship, I quite literally had a front row seat to the burgeoning neoconservative movement of those years in the early to mid-1980s. The Novaks would host a regular series of dinners parties in their home, which I attended (and even cooked for at times) to which the leading lights of the neoconservative movement came: Clare Booth Luce, Charles Krauthammer Irving and Bea Kristol (Gertrude Himmelfarb), Jack Kemp, Robert Bork, and many others.

Progressive thinkers came, as well as poets, artists and musicians. It was anything other than an ideologically closed conversation, often with internal debates among allies. I recall Clare Luce taking on Jack Kemp, Irving Kristol, and Bill Bennett (then Education Secretary under President Regan) all at once in a debate over the proper understanding of virtue. I wrote a bit about this in a previous book, Defending the Free Market .

Mind you, I never considered myself to be a neocon and disagreed at times with any number of them on what I saw as too robust a trust in military intervention or the welfare state. But I am indebted to that experience, which augmented my seminary training, where I was engaging with the likes of Avery Dulles, SJ, Charles Curran, and John Tracy Ellis (the dean of American Catholic history) at the time.

All of this taught me that intellectual movements come and go and sometimes return. The competition in articulating ideas serves to refine our understanding of the truth of things (whether economically or intellectually). In very different language, Newman describes this process theologically in his work on the development of doctrine. I think history will judge the neocon contribution of that period to have been valuable in helping to bring a great intellectual depth to conservative ideas more generally.

As to the specific Catholic contribution, it did more to advance the intellectual credibility of Catholicism in the latter 20th century than any other movement that comes to mind. From its influence flowed vocations to the priesthood and religious life, an army of well-formed lay people who came to occupy important positions in business, government, and academe. If the popular focus has been deflected for the moment, I am confident in the resilience in some of its key ideas, and that its contributions will be retrieved and developed in coming generations. I certainly see nothing like this in the present circle across the Tiber.

CWR: The Republican party could once count on a coalition of conservative Catholics, Evangelicals, and Jews who were united on a host of social and economic issues. However, the rise of Donald Trump appeared to demonstrate that a new conservative coalition will drive the Republican Party in the twenty-first century. Has social conservatism been eclipsed?

Fr. Sirico: I might see this a little differently. I dont recall a complete unanimity of the various elements of those social and economic issues, but that people were more willing to work with others with whom they may have disagreed. I never had a sense that I would be excluded from the Novak Salon because I was not supportive of the drug war, for example. We would debate it (mind you, debate, not pronounce talking points), and work on whatever other priority was at hand that we agreed upon.

What strikes me in the current era is that it is very centered on personality, and this can be both politically fragile and culturally dangerous. Today it is not just the left that engages in cancel-culture.

If we are talking in an American context, there is the additional problem within the Catholic Church in that the factors that would promote such a cohesive conservative coalition are weakened by a timid episcopal leadership, who themselves are weakened by the confusion and lack of substance coming out of Rome.

Some of this could be corrected by the emergence of the new technologies, but I am afraid there is so much anger and grand standing and downright intolerance to engage in deeply conflictual yet civil discourse, that until this resolves itself, we are in for an unpleasant period.

What is sorely needed is people willing to speak past the barricades once again. Only in this way can ideas be refined and put to useful purposes.

CWR: Millennials and members of Generation Z have a strongly negative view of capitalism and are attracted to various forms of socialism. Are the glory days of capitalism behind us?

Fr. Sirico: Of course, it was Reagan who said that Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. The threats to freedom come from both the right and the left who are much more similar that many people realize. I suspect that the negative view of capitalism, as you call it, is largely uninformed and esthetic. Ask most of the Gen Xers what they mean by capitalism (or socialism, for that matter) and you will find they havent exactly been reading Hayek or Piketty. In fact, I doubt may are reading very much at all, other than tweets and headlines.

So, the solution to ignorance is information, but information that people consume. This means we need to look to story, parables if you will. Thats one of the reasons I wrote about the Parables Jesus employs a mode of teaching that is accessible to multiple layers of culture, age, and intellectual levels. Their durability is demonstrable in that we are still talking about them.

Then there is the esthetic critique. If what people think capitalism is the Wolf of Wall Street or the Kardashians, then I am with them. This is why a balanced and effective communication of the Church teaching is so practically and morally necessary: We have to demonstrate that the work ethic and private property is indispensable to generosity and self-giving. That there is a harmony of interests, not always a conflict.

But we have to show that, not just give people the data. People are rarely compelled by data, but they are moved by wisdom. Catholic apologists need to cultivate ways to employ humor, music, drama and parables into making the case for Christ.

CWR: Catholic media outletsespecially in Americaseem increasingly split between a left-leaning or Left Cath coalition and an aggressive form of traditionalism. Is there a way to heal this divide?

Fr. Sirico: This is very true. We need reliable sources of communication that understand that just because everything seems to be going insane around us, we dont need (and we dare not), get caught up in that insanity. There is a difference between being assertive and confident and being belligerent, even as there is a difference between being weak and being temperate.

The healing of the divide can be promoted by good and successful models. And I would like to say here, and not to pander, that I think The Catholic World Report is so critical in this regard as a model of professional balance with clear fidelity to the mission of the Church. I would like to think that the Acton Institute is another example of this, both within and outside the Catholic community. For a long-time we have tried to instill in our writers and staff what we describe as the right tone and timing.

That means to enter a conversation with the right language and tone that does not push people up against the wall, but gives them time to consider a different perspective. And then there is the question of prudence as to when something needs to be communicated. As a kid from Brooklyn mother used to say whats on my lung is on my tongue. So, given that influence, I dont always succeed in this, but I try.

If it is any indication that there is a hunger for this kind of approach, the Acton Institute has had its most successful year last year, in the face of COVID. I think people are looking for safe havens.

CWR: What would you say to Catholics who are often confused and even fatigued by the state of the Church?

Fr. Sirico: I would say that I am one of them. Here is what I try to do for my own well-being, spiritually, and emotionally.

I find real comfort is in reading the history of the Church. I fell in love with Newman many years ago and he sustains me in many ways, both in the beauty of his prose, which I find soothing, and the perspective he offers from his vast knowledge of the Church throughout the ages. As unbelievable as it may seem, our dear Mother the Church is not at her lowest ebb in this moment. There have been much darker times in her past from which she managed to emerge stronger and more glorious.

Another opportunity in gaining perspective is meditative prayer. Somehow, I find my troubles dissolve when I bring them to the Tabernacle.

Friendships likewise remind us that we are not alone and it is always comforting to know from like-mind comrades that we are not crazy, or at least not alone in the craziness.

And how could I not add service to others? As a priest I have many (perhaps too many) opportunities to help others, often just by listening. Personally, I find it greatly rewarding to accompany others in their pain and in their joys.

If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Read more:
Economics, politics, and the parables of Christ: An interview with Fr. Robert Sirico - Catholic World Report

In this week's Reason Roundtable, editors Matt Welch, Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Nick Gillespie discuss President Joe Biden's bungled policy statements and abysmal approval ratings.

1:35: Biden botches inflation, gas prices, taxes, and bicycling.

29:21: Weekly Listener Question: Even though most, if not all of you, are resigned to the fate that we'll never see a Libertarian president elected, those of you who do vote typically still vote for the Libertarian candidate, from what I gather. So, my naively hypothetical question is: Were a Libertarian ever elected president, what realistic things would you like to see on their "First 100 Days" agenda? The online libertarian crowd, of course, loves to post routinely about Abolish the Fed, Defund the CIA, Disband the ATF, and much more. Still, in reality, not all libertarian wishes can be granted with the power of a pen and a phone. Rightly so, mind you. Even a well-intentioned liberty-minded dictator is still a dictator, but there are things presidents can do that would be incremental steps toward a society with more freedom. The first thing that comes to mind for me is using executive pardon capabilities for Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, but the list certainly doesn't stop there. So, I'm very interested to hear your Libertarian presidential wish list ranging from complete anarchy as KMW would have it to Nick's likely entirely drug-related list to Peter's statist apologist desires and cocktail party requirements, and even whatever baseball mandates and classic rock reforms Matt would request.

40:35: Polarization in the wake of the upcoming Supreme Court decision on abortion.

46:17: Media recommendations for the week

This week's links:

"A Wonky Evisceration of Biden's Bad Deficit Math," by Veronique De Rugy

"Blame High Gas Prices on Red Tape," by J.D. Tuccille

"Fixing Our Economic Woes Is as Easy as Looking to the Past," by Bruce Yandle

"Political Violence Escalates in a Fracturing U.S.," by J.D. Tuccille

"Kamala Harris Is a Cop Who Wants To Be President," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Remarks by President Biden at the 29th AFL-CIO Quadrennial Constitutional Convention," by Joe Biden

Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.

Today's sponsors:

Audio production by Ian Keyser

Assistant production by Hunt Beaty

Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve

See more here:
Biden Falls Off the Metaphorical Bike - Reason