August 19 --Cost of Government Day

This is the day on which the average American has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government at the federal, state, and local levels...

In other words, in 2010 the cost of government consumes 63.41 percent of national income.

Read more here.

HT John Goodman's Health Policy Blog.

WANTED: a liberty-based interpretation of Islam

We need more people who think like Dr. Mohammad Zuhdi Jassar, founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. He is for individual rights, the US Constitution, separation of mosque and state, and universal liberty.

Speaking at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2010, Dr. Jassar discusses how Islam needs to evolve into modernity, and embrace and integrate the principles of freedom and individual rights.

"[This] is about the liberation of the soul from the shackles of theocracy and fascism."

HT commenter "Trevor" at The Rational Capitalist.

Jefferson on the "redistribution" of wealth

I am not a fan of the term "redistribution" of wealth because it implies that wealth is initially "distributed," thus easing the way towards justifying a re-distribution. In fact, all wealth must first be produced through the combination of human thought and labor. Even natural resources must be identified and collected into a useful form. If a man owns himself, then he surely owns his labor and the fruits of his labor. These facts are the root of man's inalienable right to property.

"To take from one because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father's has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association -- the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it."
-- Thomas Jefferson(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President Source: Note in Tracy's "Political Economy," 1816

HT Liberty Quotes.

Individuals with Ideas vs. the Collectivism of Race

When Americans can focus on ideas instead of ethnicity, on individuals instead of race --we will have taken a giant step forward in the advancement of civilization. Racism is just one more form of collectivism --all of which subordinate the value of unique individual human beings to the needs, the desires or the identity of the group.

I am grateful to the individuals who stood at the podium in the following clip. It takes courage, integrity, and trust in one's own mind to risk viewing the world out of step with the mainstream.

Somebody Better Tell Andy Griffith

Preface: Rep. Dave Camp, ranking Republican of the House Ways and Means Committee, has compiled this list of when different aspects of the recently passed health care legislation will go into effect. The main effect of the new health reform law is to cut Medicare benefits in order to extend coverage to the uninsured.

Read this analysis by FactCheck.org and this list of Medicare cuts which will go into effect under the new health care control law, and then ask yourself how the White House can justify the claims it makes in the Mayberry ad, let alone its use of tax payer money to fund this propaganda.

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