Chris Spangle breaks down several news stories including Rand Paul endorsing Gary Johnson and Trump wants to bail out farmers to the tune of $6 billion.
Show Notes:
wearelibertarians.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/8-cssnotes.pdf
Todays News:
Rand Paul endorses Gary Johnson’s Senate bid
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is endorsing fellow libertarian former Gov. Gary Johnson in his New Mexico Senate bid.
Paul is throwing his weight behind Johnson, instead of his Republican competitor Mick Rich, the Kentucky senator announced in a news release Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. Johnson’s supporters have been pressuring Rich to drop out of the race against Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich. Tuesday is the final day for candidates to withdraw their names from the general election ballot. As fellow libertarians, Paul and Johnson share similar sentiments on limited government.
An Emerson College e-poll conducted with a small sample size of 500 registered voters showed Johnson leading Rich among Republicans. Johnson led a failed campaign for president in the 2016 election, earning him big name recognition, and previously served as New Mexico’s governor in the late 90s and early 2000s.
thehill.com/homenews/senate/404027-rand-paul-endorses-gary-johnsons-senate-bid
Kudlow: White House ‘taking a look’ at Google regulations
“Kudlow: White House ‘taking a look’ at Google regulations,” by Rebecca Morin: “[Economic adviser Larry] Kudlow was asked Tuesday during a brief exchange with reporters whether the Trump administration feels that ‘there needs to be some form of regulation for Google.’
“‘We’ll let you know. We’re taking a look at it,’ Kudlow replied as he walked back into the White House after a TV interview with Fox News. Kudlow’s remark followed a vague pledge from Trump to take steps against Google to rectify what he said is unfair treatment of conservatives by the company.”
www.politico.com/story/2018/08/28/larry-kudlow-google-regulations-conservative-outlets-798995
Special thanks to rationalreview.com/ for their work.
District judge extends claim to have repealed First Amendment
Source: Reuters
“A U.S. judge on Monday extended a ban on the online distribution of 3-D printed gun blueprints, a win for a group of mainly Democratic-led states that said such a publication would violate their right to regulate firearms and endanger their citizens. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle issued the extension of a nationwide injunction, blocking a Texas-based group from disseminating files for printing plastic weapons on the internet. Lasnik’s prior order issued on July 31 blocked the release of the blueprints hours before they were set to hit the internet. That temporary ban was set to expire on Tuesday and the new ban will remain in place until the case is resolved.” [editor’s note: The plans are out there and widely available. The import of this case boils down entirely to the claim of a bureaucrat in a black dress that he has the authority to unilaterally repeal the First Amendment – TLK] (08/27/18)
Trump regime farm bailout to provide $6 billion in initial corporate welfare
Source: CNBC
“With some U.S. farm products getting slammed by retaliatory tariffs, the Trump administration is prepared to start its emergency plan to agriculture starting right after Labor Day in a “three-pronged approach” that will initially include about $6 billion in aid. The Department of Agriculture said in its announcement that it is authorized to provide up to $12 billion in aid to the agricultural industry. On Monday, though, the department said initial aid will consist of about $4.7 billion in payments to agricultural producers of seven commodities, as well as federal government purchases of up to $1.2 billion in certain ‘commodities unfairly targeted by unjustified retaliation.’ A third part of the aid will consist of up to $200 million in spending to help develop foreign markets for agricultural products.” (08/27/18)
www.cnbc.com/2018/08/27/trump-farm-bailout-to-provide-6-billion-dollars-in-initial-relief.html
Iranian, Syrian regimes sign deal for military cooperation
Source: Reuters
“Iran and Syria signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries in Damascus, the Tasnim news agency reported on Monday. Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami traveled to Damascus on Sunday for a two-day visit, meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior military officials, Tasnim reported. Iranian forces have backed Assad in the country’s civil war.” (08/27/18)
NC: Ballot measure on “right to hunt and fish” becomes political flashpoint
Source: Fox News
“Voters in North Carolina will be asked this November whether or not the right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife should be enshrined in their state’s constitution. The ballot measure, which easily passed through the Republican-controlled state Senate in June in a 44-4 vote, has become an unexpectedly divisive issue in North Carolina. Supporters argue the amendment would protect certain hunting practices, but opponents claim it’s little more than a ploy to draw Republican voters to the polls. If it passes in November, the measure would not change state hunting regulations or modify any existing provisions in state law. But it would (particularly with the language protecting ‘the right to use traditional methods, to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife’) help ward off any legal challenges to certain hunting methods and the hunting of certain animals. The bill’s sponsors say that with North Carolina’s changing demographics and a population shift to cities like Charlotte and Raleigh, they worry anti-gun and animal rights activists could impinge on the rights of hunters and fishers.” [editor’s note: Amazing Jefferson, Madison, et al forgot this … Oh wait … they did … with that “shall not be infringed” part of the Second Amendment – SAT] (08/27/18)
Iranian regime set to make case against US regime’s sanctions in international court
Source: United Press International
“Iran on Monday will begin oral arguments in its lawsuit against the United States at the International Court of Justice in the Hague for renewing sanctions after President Donald Trump backed out of a 2015 [deal] between the two nations in May. Although the United States reimposed sanctions after accusing Iran of not abiding by the the 2015 deal, Iran’s lawsuit against the United States is based on a deal signed between the two countries 60 years earlier — 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations and Consular Rights.” [editor’s note: The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is not a deal “between two nations.” It was originally a deal between Iran and SIX other nations, and it was then codified as a UN Security Council resolution, which Trump has now power to “back out of” short of withdrawing the US from the UN itself. The US did not leave the JCPOA, it is just violating the JCPOA – TLK] (08/27/18)
www.upi.com/Iran-set-to-make-case-against-US-imposed-sanctions-in-international-court/9151535350239/
Hogg-led victim disarmament mob demands $5 million bribe from Smith & Wesson
Source: Washington Times
“Student gun control advocates and one of the survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting are finishing a 50-mile, four-day march in Massachusetts to the headquarters of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson. The group is gathering outside company headquarters Sunday in Springfield. The marchers have condemned Smith & Wesson for making the rifle used in the February mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The group wants the company to donate $5 million to gun violence research [sic].” (08/26/18)
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/26/david-hogg-gun-control-advocates-march-smith-wesso/
Who is guarding the guardians?
Source: The Hill
by Alan Dershowitz
“Our system of checks and balances is working tolerably well. The courts are reviewing executive orders, striking down some, upholding others. Congress may soon have one chamber controlled by Democrats, empowering it to conduct investigations and hearings regarding the president. The media is doing its job, despite being attacked by the president. So are the academy, religious bodies, the business world and other mechanisms that are part of our informal system of checks and balances. … The only institution of government that is not currently being checked is the prosecutorial branch. Although President Trump toyed with the idea of firing Robert Mueller, he will not do so. Nor will he fire prosecutors in the Southern District of New York who are investigating his associates. Indeed, Congress is considering legislation that would insulate prosecutors, especially independent counsels, even further. It is important for prosecutors to be independent of politics, but prosecutors are not above the law. Prosecutorial abuse has long been rampant throughout the country, as civil libertarians have been pointing out from time immemorial.” (08/27/18)
thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/403836-who-is-guarding-the-guardians
Is nationalism the friend or foe of liberty?
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
by Jeffrey A Tucker
“The nationalist is forever counterposing diverse societies with homogenous ones, as if the latter thing even exists. … Orwell writes: ‘The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.’ What’s most interesting about Orwell’s essay is that he takes a broadened view of the nationality question, to the point that it is no longer about territorial politics alone and instead touches on the psychological impact of political rule itself. … In this case, his analysis of nationalism applies not only to Nazism, not only to Communism, not only to Catholicism or any other religious or identitarian movement you can name. It could, conceivably apply, for example to libertarianism itself. No one, no movement, is immune from the virus. Reflect on that point to perhaps explain a lot that has happened to the ‘liberty movement’ over the last ten years.” (08/26/18)
www.aier.org/article/nationalism-friend-or-foe-liberty
The cycles of government and the US Constitution
Source: Coyote Blog
by Warren Meyer
“I was in a course this weekend on the rise and fall of the Roman Republic. One term that was new to me was Polybius’s theory of government called Anacyclosis (Polybius was a contemporary of the Roman Republic and actually lived during the time when the seeds of the Republic’s downfall were being planted). Others before and after Polybius had similar ideas but apparently Polybius gets a lot of the credit. There are two interesting ideas in this theory that I think will have a lot of resonance to folks today. First, he believed that governments followed a cycle from one-man rule to aristocracy to democracy and back. Second, and perhaps more interesting, he believed that each of these three forms of government had a good and bad form, and that the good form was inherently unstable and always degenerated into the bad form.” (08/27/18)
College degree “requirements” were never as real as you thought
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Derek Magill
“Google, IBM, and Apple have stopped listing college degree requirements on their job descriptions, but everyone is missing the point when they say that this is some revolutionary, bold new direction in hiring. It’s not. Companies have never had degree requirements, and you just didn’t know it. The great lie you’ve been told is that you need to buy a piece of paper to have permission to create value in the marketplace. You were told this because a lot of people have a lot at stake if you ever realized the truth. And the truth is this: outside of government-backed cartels like law, academia, and medicine, no company has ever literally required a degree. The degree is just a signaling mechanism, and if you can signal the traits it’s supposed to signal without it, you can sidestep any checkbox. Companies just want to know you can create more value than you take out in salary and don’t give a darn what paper you have so long as you can prove it some other way.” (08/27/18)
fee.org/articles/college-degree-requirements-were-never-as-real-as-you-thought/
Brett Kavanaugh, abortion, and “settled law”
Source: Reason
by Steve Chapman
“After meeting with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Susan Collins emerged to announce that he regards the Roe v. Wade decision as ‘settled law.’ This comes as an apparent relief to the Maine Republican, who favors abortion rights. But those who hope the Court will uphold Roe would be rash to assume it would be safe with Justice Kavanaugh. ‘Settled law’ sounds solid, but like ice, it’s a substance that can quickly turn to vapor. Roe is ‘settled’ in the sense that it has survived for 45 years and the Court has passed up opportunities to ditch it. But being settled doesn’t mean its survival is assured, under the Court of 2019 or 2029.” (08/27/18)
reason.com/archives/2018/08/27/brett-kavanaugh-abortion-and-settled-law
One dead McCain, 2.5 million dead Iraqis
Source: CounterPunch
by Nick Pemberton
“John McCain helped orchestrate the devastation of several countries. Millions of deaths are on his bloody hands. The world is more peaceful with him gone from it. Why didn’t the 22 Yemeni children killed the day before cause the same amount of grief as McCain’s death?” (08/27/18)
John McCain and the warrior spirit in American foreign policy
Source: Antiwar.com
by Justin Raimondo
“In his person, and his public pronouncements, McCain was the perfect representative of the nascent imperial class: born in the Panama Canal zone, the son of an Admiral, he was almost fated to become what he did indeed become — the archetypal Praetorian, the veritable embodiment of America’s post-World War II empire. A paladin of the cold war while it lasted, and a tireless advocate of post-cold war hegemonism, his favorite phrase was ‘boots on the ground,’ and he championed this as a policy option for virtually every foreign policy problem confronted by US policymakers.” (08/27/18)
John McCain and the Warrior Spirit in American Foreign Policy
More Stories:
- Warrior Cops Endanger Our Lives and Freedoms – www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/warrior-cops-endanger-our-lives-and-freedoms/
- Republicans Are Exploiting the Murder of Mollie Tibbetts – www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/opinion/immigration-trump-mollie-tibbetts.html
- Speaker Panel – Non-Interventionism: America’s Founding Foreign Policy – www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/speaker-panel-non-interventionism-americas-founding-foreign-policy/
- Today’s U.S.-Mexico Trade Deal: What Was Agreed and What Comes Next – www.cato.org/blog/what-did-us-mexico-just-agree-nafta-talks
- The Daily 202: ‘Dick Russell was a racist. But he was much more than that,’ says niece – www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/08/28/daily-202-dick-russell-was-a-racist-but-he-was-much-more-than-that-says-niece/5b84a7d91b326b3f31919dfb/?utm_term=.6600b715c020&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1
- U.N. Experts Describe Possible War Crimes in Yemen – www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23479&LangID=E
- A short investigation into Trump’s claims of ‘RIGGED’ Google results against him – www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/08/28/a-short-investigation-into-trumps-tweets-on-rigged-google-results-about-himself/
- The Iran Deal: Past, Present, and Future – www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2018-08-13/how-we-got-iran-deal
- Backgrounder: The Chinese Communist Party – www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinese-communist-party
- Backgrounder: The China-North Korea Relationship – www.cfr.org/backgrounder/china-north-korea-relationship
- Study: Hurricane Maria and its aftermath caused a spike in Puerto Rico deaths, with nearly 3,000 more than normal – www.washingtonpost.com/national/study-hurricane-maria-and-its-aftermath-caused-a-spike-in-puerto-rico-deaths-with-nearly-3000-more-than-normal/2018/08/28/57d6d2d6-aa43-11e8-b1da-ff7faa680710_story.html?utm_term=.e6963dafdb1e
