Advocates of Liberty | Grassroots Activism on Iowa Campuses

I've spent a bit of time traveling and wondering if there is a place that is better for freedom than the US. I've always heard that europe is a mixed barrel of freedom, some very pro freedom ideas and some very totalitarian ideas all together to make the soup that is europe. For example, almost all countries do not allow grocery stores to be open all night (or even late night) but portugal has completely decriminilzed drugs. So here are some random notes about the freedom (and lack there of) in the european countries I visited.

Lets start with Italy. Almost everyone I meet wants to visit Italy due to the immense amount of history and tourist hot spots across the country. When I arrived in Italy, I really wanted to use the internet so I went a local cafe. I had to give a legal id in order to use internet there, which in theory doesn't sound so terrible. I may be speculating but I believe the id is recorded  to keep track of webpages people roam on. In case I searched, weapons, terrorism, bombs, the authorities may have come after me. Hopefully where I am now, they wont be tracking this, but who knows, even in the US, Obama doesn't seem above tracking people illegaly....Read the rest...

From a Campaign for Liberty email:

"Congressman David Loebsack of Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District has joined Congressmen Latham, Boswell and King as a co-sponsor of HR 1207 The Federal Reserve Transparency Act. We have confirmed with Congressman Ron Paul’s office that as of right now there were 212 co-sponsors of this vital legislation. This information is direct and is ahead of the Thomas.gov website. Without the hard work of all Campaign for Liberty members this accomplishment would likely not have been possible. A special thanks to those of you live in the 2nd Congressional District, all of your hard work with petitions, writing letters, calling and personally visiting the congressman’s office has finally paid off."

YEEEAH!!!

"NOW…Please contact Bruce Braley the ONLY Iowa Congressman who has not yet sponsored this vital legislation. URGE him to Join his 4 Iowa colleagues and co-sponsor the nonpartisan legislation HR1207. IT IS TIME TO PUT PREASURE ON AND FINISH IOWA FOR HR 1207 – CALL NOW, I called the DC office and asked why Bruce was the only Iowa Rep who hasn’t co-sponsored HR 1207 and told them that we need transparency – they were unaware that all other congressmen have signed on to HR 1207.

ACT NOW! - THE IRON IS HOT
Bruce Braley, Iowa’s 1St Congressional District
Waterloo Office 319.287.3233
Davenport Office 563.323.5988
Dubuque Office 563.577.7789
Washington DC Office 202.225.2911"

More of Roman's blogging at LostRepublic.us.
 ...Read the rest...

On Wednesday, June 3^rd a courageous lady by the name of Lisa Kragnes got the answer she has been waiting for since 2004. A resident of Des Moines, IA , Lisa received a energy bill in the mail with a additional tax (they call it a franchise fee) of 3 %. This fee had never been voted on by residents of Polk County, nor had it ever been approved by any state law. The city council just felt like they needed more of the peoples money and after the state did away with the 5 % sales tax on propane, natural gas and electricity in 2001, they decided it was a good time to again rob the citizens rather than give up their drug of choice, illegally gotten money. Initially it started out at 1%, which, seemed like no big deal until in 2004 when they decided to increase the tax to 6 percent.

 ...Read the rest...

Just when I thought Iowa Congressman Steve King couldn't be beat when it comes to idiotic rhetoric, another Iowa Republican takes to a whole other level.  Bill Salier, who was last seen losing a 2002 senate primary, has been raising a stink about the response of the Iowa GOP's response to the gay marriage ruling.  He's now calling out Steve King for not being conservative enough (!!!!!!!!) on the issue of gay marriage.  From the Iowa Independent:

“When the governor stands up and says ‘I will not enforce this order.’ 
When the statehouse stands up and says this [law] is still on the
books, and county recorders will abide by the law that is still on the
books. That is the end game,” Salier said Wednesday on Steve Deace’s WHO-AM radio program.
“So what if the court comes up and says ‘Uh uh.’ That’s all they can
do. They don’t have any authority in this matter. They don’t have the
guns, they don’t have the money. The statehouse and the governor
control the law. We control them.”

 New envoy to U.S.: Soon Jews won't want to live in Israel...Read the rest...

Over at Hawkonomics, a Iowa economics professor agrees with me (woohoo!) that the City Council is idiotic (my term, not his) in its quest to cure Iowa City of its alcohol "problem". 

So thinking about this policy from a Prin. of Microeconomics perspective, what would be the effects in the Iowa City downtown bar market? First the city ordinance will limit (but not completely limit) new bars from entering the market. Given an expected increase in the demand for bars in downtown Iowa City, the first effect we can expect from this is that the price of beer sold at bars will increase, and there should be a decrease in quantity demanded in downtown bars. If the demand of consumer in downtown bars is price inelastic (I suspect it is highly price inelastic), this will also increase bar owners revenues and increase bar owners profits.

For the record, Mike O'Donnell and Matt Hayek voted no. Thank them for their vote, and remember this come the fall.

Hawkonomics: Iowa City Bar Restrictions...Read the rest...

**** I hope everyone had as much fun in Austrian Economics this semester as I did****...Read the rest...

It's getting better all the time
I used to get mad at my school
The teachers who taught me weren't cool
Holding me down, turning me round
Filling me up with your rules.
I've got to admit it's getting better
It's a little better all the time

Getting Better
-The Beatles

(Via Reason's blog) People wonder why I can remain optimistic about the future of liberty and this country.  It's because real change happens in excruciating small increments, and you have to remember that, and be open enough to look around and see it happening.  The polls are showing that more and more people are coming around to a libertarian mindset, even if they don't know it.  You can get caught up in the battles lost in the short term, but when looking at the big picture, it's a little better all the time. 

'Fiat Empire' is a great concise film explaing the nature of the Federal Reserve banking system. The director includes three experts, including Dr. Paul, which discuss the role of the U.S. Constitution when it comes to the broad powers exercised by the Federal Reserve chairman.

This is a great film and is worth repeat viewings.