User:Freejoelp

Immigration: Let's Get real

By Joe Michaels

A main reason, and this is pure speculation on my part, for our current illegal immigrant mess may be that our military and law enforcement personnel are spread so thin worldwide in a vain attempt to stamp out terrorism. Billions of dollars worth of resources are being sent to Iraq and elsewhere, while border patrols are underfunded and understaffed. (Is it any wonder why the Minutemen felt like they had to take matters into their own hands?) However, there are solutions, and here's what I propose:

• All illegal immigrants with histories of violent criminal activity should be deported immediately. The US

has a right and an obligation to keep out potential menaces to our social fabric. Period.

• All persons who are here illegally but who are otherwise law-abiding may apply for resident alien status

(green card)via the normal process; no special status would be granted.

An absolute solution? No. A giant step in the right direction? Yes. And in this world, a giant step is often all we can hope for.

--Freejoelp 13:18, 21 Oct 2006 (EDT) Joe Michaels

Labor and Management : their relationship in a free society

by Joe Michaels

Libertarians are not anti-labor. At least this libertarian isn't. I work on a loading dock to pay my bills, in addition to being a part-time writer. I'm non-union, by the way. Labor unions are voluntary associations of individuals, and as such, have a place in a free society. Workers have the right to bargain collectively with their employers over working conditions; business owners have the right to refuse their demands. Private sector workers have the right to strike; business has the right to fire the striking workers. If the employees and owners of private businesses spar over a greater share of their company's wealth, that is a private matter, and certainly not cause for any government intervention one way or another unless the dispute threatens public safety (and I don't see how it would.)

Really, it's none of our business.

Vote against the Two-Headed Monster

by Joe Michaels

The Republicans in Congress went to Washington to give us a smaller, less intrusive government and lower taxes. They have done neither. On theirs and President Bush's watch, we got the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act,billions of dollars poured into Iraq with little or no oversight, record budget deficits, toothless tax cuts ( I remember getting a $300 check five years ago, and not one cent more. $300 in five years; sorry kids, but that's not gonna get the job done.) and reckless arrogance. The party of Lincoln and Susan B. Anthony stands disgraced today.

As do the Democrats. They have ceased to stand for anything except pure politics. The party is merely a vehicle for furthering the ambitions of the likes of Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton. Neither person is anything but a pragmatic politician, and Washington is full of them. That is precisely the problem. The Demopublicans feud, while our money disappears down the rathole as we watch helplessly.

Does the Republican Congress need to go? Sure. We need more Libertarians, and a few sensible Democrats, in Congress. We need to get the two-headed monster in Washington off our backs, and rediscover liberty.

An Endorsement

By Joe Michaels

To all the registered voters in Texas's 22nd District: vote for Bob Smither, Libertarian for Congress on Nov 7. Want a vote against the war in Iraq AND a vote for gun rights? He's your guy. Want to chew away at the Two-Headed Monster? Vote for Smither. I'm Joe Michaels and I approved this message.

Goverment and Family Values

by Joe Michaels

For most of my life, I've listened to conservative politicians from Ronald Reagan to the two Bushes talk about "strengthening the family." Wonderful. Let's replace liberal social engineering with conservative social engineering. Here's my note to all politicians: LEAVE US ALONE, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!!

Most parents know what works, and they should be given a freer hand in regulating their child's behavior. Your house, your rules. I'm single, no kids, never been married, so far be it for ME to tell parents what to do. Government solutions like school prayer, and abstinence-only education only infringe on the rights of responsible parents, while doing little to curb the abuses of irresponsible parents. What's more, federal definitions of morality (and marriage) are meaningless. Values come from the people, from the bottom up, not from the top down.

Mangling it in Massachusetts

by Joe Michaels

As a Massachusetts resident, I'm following the Governor's race closely. The Democratic candidate, Deval Patrick, is running a dignified campaign, but his old-school liberalism is dead. Nobody here wants to pay a cent more in taxes, businesses are leaving the state, the welfare state has long ago reached the point of diminshing returns. Patrick would be a status quo governor, at best.

His opponent, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, is totally inept. Aside from running the most negative campaign in memory, she has yet to make a compelling case as to why anyone should vote for her, as opposed to against Patrick. One of her campaign promises (see her 50 point plan online) is to ban cell phone use by teenage drivers.

Now.........

Cell phone use by other drivers can be annoying, and on rare occasions, downright dangerous, but is this really a matter that needs to be dealt with through legislation? Let parents deal with their teenage sons and daughters. That's the libertarian solution. Healey would also be a status quo governor at best.

Sad state of affairs.

NEXT: My election night diary.

[[Image:2006 Election Night Diary

By Joe Michaels]]

           Hey, it’s the most significant midterm election day in recent memory, or so the mainstream media keeps telling us, so I figured I’d keep a diary for all you libertarians and others out there in blogland. Here’s what transpired:

          8:00  EST : We’re coming to you LIVE from my living room in Worcester, Massachusetts!!

Deval Patrick has been named the projected winner of the governor’s race here, ending 16 years of Republican rule. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss….

          8:05  EST  The big  Allen-Webb race in Virginia is too close to call. 

          8:09  EST    Republicans seem to be holding their own so far in the nationwide   congressional races. The mainstream media is wrong again! No word on the Libertarian candidates.  Actually, those early returns are misleading because (a) the polls just closed on the East Coast, so only like 1% of the votes are in, and (b) every House seat is up for grabs, so even if the Dems capture the House, the GOP will end up winning about 200 races, so there.

          8:16  EST   According to CNN,  Florida Gov Jeb Bush is more popular than his brother, the President.  Well, duh!  Florida doesn’t have a standing army, so Jeb can’t send anybody to war. Plus, I vacation in Florida often. They have sand, blue skies, sun, the ocean, palm trees……what’s not to like?

         8:22      Delahunt  has a 72-28 lead in his Massachusetts House district.

         8:23      Ellsworth (D) beats Hostetler (R)  by a projected 62-38 margin in Indiana’s 8th district.. The first pickup by the Dems. They need 14 more to take the House. Ellsworth is, according to CNN, a social conservative, a plus in rural Indiana. Not great news for the national Dems in my opinion. He’ll probably vote with the GOP on social issues. Let’s see how Pelosi handles him. 

        8:31       Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah………………

        8:33      Harold Ford, Jr, is getting creamed in  Tennessee  56-43 in the Senate race.  

Big blow to the Dems if this holds. Oh well, two statists running against each other….I hope they BOTH lose.

        8:40      Allen  50   Webb  49  in Virginia.   Hoo  boy!

        8:41     CNN:    blah, blah, blah, blah……

        8:46     William Bennett, on CNN, talks about a conservative/evangelical trend among Democratic voters for Webb in Virginia, and a rejection of “Kerry-ism” ( an unfair label since John Kerry never stood for anything in 2004). Whatever.  Just stop taking my tax dollars, please.  Pray to whatever God you choose. Just leave me alone.

        8:56     Libertarian Bea Jones wins the Hardeeville, SC City council seat!  Woo Hoo!
        Meanwhile, Mike DeWine  (R) is going down in the Ohio  US Senate race. Things are
        pretty glum at DeWine headquarters in Columbus. Just wait until Michigan beats Ohio State
        in football. They don’t even know what pain is yet.

        9:01  Rick Santorum goes down in PA!   Democrat Bob Casey, Jr wins.  I’m glad; Santorum
         I can do without.  Too statist for me.  Casey is no prize, but this is a small step in the   libertarian direction.  

       9:09   Lots of close races………more later.

       9:14    Joe Lieberman lost the US Senate Dem primary in Connecticut to Ned Lamont, reentered the race later as an Independent, and is now the projected winner over  Lamont in the general election by  about a  9 percent margin. Has this ever happened?

      9:20    The Dems just picked up a Senate seat in  Maryland!  Wait, here’s Nancy Pelosi!!

      9:21     blah,blah,blah,blah,blah, blah, get out the vote, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah……….Nancy Pelosi, ladies and gentlemen!

      9:23    Dems pick up another House seat,  Ann Northrup’s, this time in Kentucky. Let’s go online for a new Libertarian update…  

      9:28     Libertarian Sara Chambers wins the election for Juneau, Alaska assembly! Today, Juneau, tomorrow the world!  Meanwhile, Republican Lincoln Chafee, US Senator from Rhode Island, loses to the Dem challenger. Three Senate seats picked up by the Dems. I feel bad that a principled Republican like Chafee was lumped together with the others in his party. I hate politics sometimes.  Meanwhile, the Dems pick up another House seat in Indiana.

      9:37  Libertarian Charles Norwood wins election to the Rapides Island Water Board in Louisiana. Feel the excitement!  

      9:40  Libertarian Mary  O’ Connor, with 1 percent reporting, has 36% of the vote in the Hennepin County (Minn) Commissioner’s race, District 1.   Very good.

      9:46    tired………very  tired…..pundits babbling…..can’t  focus…..must….type……

      9:53   a blogging  event!   Wow, CNN, you are SO today. 

      9:55    Arizona  just made English  its official language. The ballot question passed.

      9:57    So far, not one Dem incumbent has lost.   It’s 1994 in reverse.

      10:03   Wow, Candy Crowley has a big head!   Just thought I’d share that.
                 Don’t ask me why.

      10:05   JC Watts is a  class act. Agree with him or not, he seems like a genuine guy.
    
       
      10:08   Bill Bennett urges us to forget about Rick Santorum’s random comments about gays ,etc, and consider the “totality of the man’s actions.”   OK.  I’ll do that, and I’ll say this:  F****king good riddance to bad rubbish.  He sucked up to K street lobbyists and voted for the war. Bye, bye, Rick.  Not that I have an opinion.

     10:13     Allen-Webb    still a dogfight!!  

     10:18    Libertarian Robert Rosenthal wins election as a Durham, NC  Soil and Water District supervisor. Congrats! Hey, a 100 mile journey begins with a single step, or something like that. But seriously, Libertarians will be more effective at the local level anyway. I’m psyched!

     10:23   Two Libertarians just won county offices in Tennesee.  The ball is rolling.

     10:26    Dems need 11 more seats to take the House.

     10:33   Ted  Kennedy  is re-elected. Ho hum.  John Kerry is making a speech.  BOOOring!!!

     10:40   Dems pick up two more House seats.   Curt Weldon goes down for the Republicans in Pennsylvania. This is big.  By this time of the night in 1994, though, the GOP had already taken control of Congress, so this is hardly a mandate for the Dems. Not at this time.

     10:48   Heath Shuler wins another House seat for the Democrats. The 7th pickup in the House.    Another social conservative, though.  Pelosi’s job just got harder.

     10:54   According to CNN, the Dems just took Mark Foley’s seat in Florida.  That’s  eight.  

     10:55     Make that nine. Don Sherwood ® lost in Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania is repudiating the Republicans; being  a GOP candidate in Penn tonight is like being a Red Sox fan in the Bronx.

     10:57     Hillary is re-elected.  Of  course.

     10:59     Ahh-nold looks like he’ll win in Cali. Dianne Feinstein  back again.

     11:00     Nancy Johnson, Republican, loses in Connecticut.  That’s 10 seats picked up by Dems in the House.  Let’s check on the Libertarians again.

     11:04    And the winner of the Carrabus County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor’s race in NC is: Libertarian  Jeff Goforth!

11:07 Dems just picked up 4 House seats. They are one seat shy.

     11:08  The Dems  just took over the House!  Nancy Pelosi will be the new Speaker of the House!  The first woman to hold the Speakership.  Where this will lead I don’t know. More social freedom (good), more taxes (bad)?   One day at a time.  Good luck and best wishes to you, Nancy Pelosi. May you exercise you new power judiciously.

   11:15   The Senate is still up for grabs. And no matter what, we will have a divided government in Washington. My prediction: status quo for at least two more years. Slim majorities for the Dems. The veto threat by Bush. And all the more cause to get the Libertarian message out. Now more than ever. Stand up for liberty!!

More to come……on the Allen-Webb race later.

My Web Page

by Joe Michaels

I just launched a web site this week. It's a blog known as Captain's Blog. It will contain articles on music, books, culture, sports, politics from an irreverent, mostly libertarian viewpoint. Just log on to cblog.jhmfreemanblog.com. If you want to send submissions, send to jhm1966@msn.com.