From The Independent Institute
Research Fellow Anthony Gregory comments on waging just war in Avatar:
James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar is a thrill to see, and various commentators have judged the film for whatever ideological message they have found in it, but what struck me most is that the Na’vi people, in defending their land on Pandora from [...]

Why would anyone vote against this bill?
WP-The House voted Wednesday to strip health insurance companies of their exemption from federal antitrust laws, a Democratic measure that could resonate with public concerns about insurers but that has an uncertain future in the Senate.
The provision passed on a 406 to 19 vote, with most Republicans [...]

How is this smart?
EC-All our decisions regarding trade must be supervised and approved by this foreign undemocratic body – often to our detriment. This is why we can no longer do what is in our best interest and are forced to concede to their demands. Most decisions made by the WTO are unjustifiably [...]

Why not?
HP-Glenn Blackburn, 45, has been collecting unemployment ever since he got laid off in August 2008. He’s grateful for the money, but what he really wants is to put in an honest day’s work.
“It’s like a year and a half of just sitting around doing nothing,” said Blackburn. “It gets demoralizing.”
In fact, [...]

Would this bill not crack down on the illegal immigration problem that has been driving wages down and creating an underground economy with American tax payers holding the bag? This would help the economy in many ways; the money would stay in the economy instead of going overseas, increase disposable spending, decrease government welfare with [...]

From The Independent Institute
Senior Fellow Robert Higgs takes on the economic doomsayers:
We have good reasons to worry about the economy, with Washington running trillion-dollar-plus deficits and the baby-boomer entitlement bust looming ahead. But we shouldn’t let our understandable worries degenerate into doomsaying.
Some of my friends seem inclined toward such gloom and doom. It’s almost [...]

……..Beyond a sometimes emotional closing statement from the president on the need for reform., Obama also made clear he couldn’t sign on to the Republican plan for reform, wouldn’t abandon reconciliation and had no intention of scrapping his plan – capping the seven-plus-hour session with a dig at Republicans for pitching a bill that covers [...]

HUH?
MC-Cash-strapped legislators have recommended spending cuts for Missouri schools and shelters for battered women, but so far the yachting class can enjoy another season of clear sailing.
Thanks to a longstanding tax exemption, Missouri’s marina set can opt to pay a small fee in lieu of sales taxes and shave as much as [...]

Whirlpool has out sourced more jobs to Mexico! The workers make about $20 an hour in the U.S., which is about 41k a year. How can they compete with workers making 2 to 3 dollars an hour with no real legal rights?

Looks like a good idea!
WSJ-Two senators Tuesday introduced a proposal to vastly simplify the nation’s tax code by cutting the number of income tax brackets in half and flattening the corporate tax rate.
The plan put forth by Sens. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.) and Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) would lower the number of [...]

From The Independent Institute
Senior Vice President Mary L.G. Theroux combats the war prosperity myth:
I don’t listen to talk radio all that often, but appreciate all efforts from whatever quarter that get people rebelling against reckless government actions. As far as I can tell, there’s general talk radio consensus at this point that bailouts and stimulus [...]

What do you think?
TheHill-A leading Muslim advocacy group is pushing government officials to call the suicide plane crash in Texas “an act of terror,” saying that if a Muslim had been flying the plane there would be no hesitancy to call it terrorism.
On Thursday, Andrew Joseph Stack III flew a small plane into [...]

HP-Seth MacFarlane was a guest Friday on the eighth season premiere of “Real Time With Bill Maher.” MacFarlane, along with Norah O’Donnell and Eliot Spitzer, discussed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, CPAC, Tea Parties and, of course, the “Family Guy”/Palin controversy.
On Sunday, Fox ran a “Family Guy” episode that included a character with Down Syndrome [...]

And this does not include Federal liabilities like Medicare, Social Security…….
PEW-There was a $1 trillion gap at the end of fiscal year 2008 between the $2.35 trillion states had set aside to pay for employees’ retirement benefits and the $3.35 trillion price tag of those promises, according to a new report released by the Pew [...]

How can we fix this without dealing with trade policy?
MSN….Some labor experts say the basic functioning of the American economy has changed in ways that make jobs scarce — particularly for older, less-educated people like Ms. Eisen, who has only a high school diploma.
Large companies are increasingly owned by institutional investors who crave [...]