Only We Can Prevent the Loss of Freedom in America!

Title links to Human Events article...

Freer Is Better

by  John Stossel 

10/13/2010

The 2010 Index of Economic Freedom lowers the ranking of the United States to eighth out of 179 nations -- behind Canada!

A year ago, it ranked sixth, ahead of Canada.
   
Don't say it's Barack Obama's fault. Half the data used in the index is from George W. Bush's final six months in office. This is a bipartisan problem.

   
For the past 16 years, the index has ranked the world's countries on the basis of their economic freedom -- or lack thereof. Ten criteria are used: freedoms related to business, trade, fiscal matters, monetary matters, investment, finance, labor, government spending, property rights and freedom from corruption.
   
The top 10 countries are: Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Denmark and Chile.
    

Seven Principles of Compassionate Conservatism, Part 2 - Basic

The second principle of compassionate conservatism is much-needed in America today. The idea of "basic" is a bit like a police officer's use of minimum necessary force. If we don't agree to maintain minimum necessary government, we end up with a bureaucratic monster. Government is getting too big and a majority of Americans seem to be finally getting it.

Marvin Olasky puts it like this:

Compassionate conservatives choose the most basic means of bringing help to those who need it. The goal is to look within the family first; if the family cannot help, maybe an individual or group within the neighborhood can; if not, then organizations outside the neighborhood but within the community should be called on. If it is necessary to turn to government, compassionate conservatives typically look first to municipal, then to county, then to state, and only then to federal offices. At each governmental level, the basics should be in order before proceeding to the more complicated stages. For example, a group that protects teenage ex-hookers from camps should have adequate police protection. Good Samaritan laws should be enacted so that a person who helps a mugging victim does not have to fear a lawsuit. When such basic protection is in place and counterproductive regulations have been replaced, the next goal is improved information flow concerning an organization and to facilitate contributions. And it is time to bring in questions of direct grants, tax credits, and so forth, always looking to the most basic level of government that connect efficiently on a particular problem.

We're witnessing the opposite of this with the Obama administration today. President Obama is making good on many of the "I will provide" promises that he uttered during the 2008 presidential election campaign. And the Democratic House and Senate have been willing partners in rolling out trillions of dollars for national programs.

Republicans have done it to, in the not so distant past. It's not about party affiliation for me, it's about the conservative ideal of limiting spending and government power. That said, it is a badge of honor for the Republicans to be called more recently "the party of no." We need to roll back spending and government overreach, and on November 2 that means casting a vote for each common sense conservative on the ballot.

In central Wisconsin, that means Duffy for congress, Johnson for senate, Walker for governor, Eno for state assembly, and Galloway for state senate. I've met each of these candidates, and I believe they all stand with the ideal I've mentioned here. I believe they're our best chance to bring government back under control.