Tag: A Little Levity

Remember the question mark guy who appeared on those late-night commercials pushing all those “‘free” government programs that would allow you to get Uncle Sam to pay your tuition or for some money-making scheme? Well, he’s come up with a new “commercial” relating to the federal bailouts:

This video is quite funny:
It reminds me of the great Simpson’s number “The Garbage Man Can.”:

Hopefully Americans wake up and realize that government simply can’t and shouldn’t do everything for us.

Yesterday I had a letter in the Albuquerque Journal on our recent analysis of the conflicting New Mexico film industry studies. Then I saw this little missive from film industry hack (he’s the business agent for the local film industry union) Jon Hendry.
Hendry sure is an arrogant fellow. First he hits the Journal. Thankfully, the newspapers are not getting 25% back for every dollar they spend in New Mexico as is his industry, but if they were, you can bet the Journal would be doing just fine. Then he explains that Ernst & Young has a lot of employees (so what) and uses this as a supposed argument to discredit the Arrowhead Center. He certainly seems to have something against Arrowhead, but he never makes a specific argument, he just throws mud. And then he finally attempts to “trash” me. No links, no real arguments, just a bunch of b.s.
If Jon Hendry is the best the IATSE 480 local can do, what does that say about the sad state of union leadership in this country? If you’re going to take the time to write a several paragraph blog posting, at least give me some facts to chew on, not just a bunch of ad-hominem and disrespect for anyone who disagrees with your perspective. Mr. Hendry, if you want to engage on the issue, I encourage you to give it your best shot here on this blog.

I hesitated and delayed for weeks. I don’t fancy myself to be on the cutting edge when it comes to technology…in fact, I consider myself to be a “late adapter” when it comes to most technology. But, other free market advocates have been very persuasive in convincing me of the benefits of Twitter. So, in case you are interested in following what I (and the Rio Grande Foundation) are up to, sign up to follow me at my Twitter profile page.
If you’re not sure about whether to make the plunge or not, find out more about Twitter here.

Three liberty-loving guys are coming to Albuquerque, NM as part of their year-long quest to find liberty. I was just in Los Angeles with these guys at the Heritage Foundation’s Resource Bank and Atlas Liberty Forum. The difference is that I flew back while they are driving their motor home all over North America, meeting and talking with people in an effort to find liberty in their travels in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
You can read up on the travels of these liberty-lovers at the Motorhome Diaries website. Better still, you can come out and meet them in Albuquerque at the Independence Grill — the location of the Tax Day Tea Party — this Saturday night, May 2nd, between 7pm and 10pm. The event is free and open to the public. Jason, Pete, and Adam are great guys and it is sure to be a fun evening. If you plan to come, please let us know by emailing: info@riograndefoundation.org

As I wrote last week, analysts on both the right and left don’t completely “get” the tea party movement. And while I’ll never change my opinion that both parties are to blame for our current economic problems, given some of the reaction from the left to the tea parties, it would seem that there are some particularly out-of-touch people out there. Take Janeane Garafalo and Keith Olbermann…please.
Rather than going into their entire sorry and absurdly ignorant viewpoint discussion of the tea parties, I’ll let the New Mexico-based blogger Moralia do the job. Too bad Janeane and Keith didn’t come to Albuquerque. They’d have seen a broad-based movement with people of all races and from all walks of life taking part in a non-partisan expression of their concern over the direction in which our country is heading. If there was so much as a racist thought expressed among the crowd, it was not voiced.

A decade ago, if the board game Monopoly were created, there is no doubt that Microsoft, a company that the government deemed to be “too competitive” and successful would have been the central focus of the game’s creators.
As bad as it is for a company’s competitors to use government power to fleece one company and their customers, if “Monopoly” were created today, the theme would have been even more depressing. For a humorous look at the way the game might have looked today, check out this link. For a taste of what we’re talking about, check out the following “Chance” card.

As John Stossel points out, Ms. Kennedy fulfills the qualifications. Of course, Stossel being Stossel, his qualifications for Senator are a bit less lofty and unrealistic than those ascribed to senators by many Americans and the media.

I was downtown the other day and received a ticket on my car. I wondered what I did wrong and when I took a look at the ticket, I saw this. How many of you, dear readers, knew that parking more than 18 inches from the curb was an infraction? It would seem that our City’s meter maids are being charged with closing at least part of Albuquerque’s budget gap.
It would seem that if Albuquerque’s meter maids are going to be so aggressive it kind of limits the usefulness of efforts to get people to come downtown, right?

George W. Bush remains an enigma. Does he really believe in the free market? Does he completely misunderstand how markets work? Or, does he simply pay lip service to markets while continuing to undermine them? Regardless of his innermost feelings, there is no doubt that Bush abandoned free markets early and often in his presidency.
Unfortunately, as this recent story illustrates, Bush continues to imply that he was a free marketeer until he decided that a little (or a lot) of socialism was needed.
As Matt Welch points out over at Reason:

The real failure here is one of nerve, of imagination, of historical memory. You cannot save something by destroying it, or abandoning it, or even giving it a few stiff raps in the kneecaps. “Paternalism” is too mild a word for the mentality that produces such a sentiment, let alone the disastrous policies to back it up.

I would go even further and argue that the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill, No Child Left Behind, Sarbanes-Oxley, massive regulation, and massive spending increases under Bush should put lie to the President’s claims of adhering to free markets, but that is just a starter list. Unfortunately, he continues to besmirch and discredit free markets the more he opens his mouth.
Call me crazy, but how much worse can President Obama really be? At least he doesn’t paint himself as a free market believer.