Ronald Reagan, “You’re out there on the frontier of freedom.”

Ronald Reagan said to conservatives, “You’re the troops. You’re out there on the frontier of freedom.” 

Reagan Korea

A young soldier stands guard in the cold, looking out over no-man’s-land through to the other side of the demilitarized zone and into North Korea. President Reagan is visiting the troops there that day. During the visit the young soldier turns to the president, salutes and says, “Mr. President, when you get home, tell them we’re on the frontier of freedom.”

Reagan concludes his final speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference with this brief story. He compares the gathered conservative movers and shakers to the “troops” who — like the soldier in the story — are on the forefront of defeating “totalitarianism.”

He tells the story to them, “because,” he said, “you’re the troops.” He illustrates the comparison, telling them, “You’re out there on the frontier of freedom.” He then repeats what the soldier said to him (“Mr. President, we’re on the frontier of freedom.”) And immediately afterwards adds the pithy coda to the very end of the speech, “Well, so are you.”

And so we are. Or should be. [Read more...]

Public Lands States: Promise and… Promise

by Gordon S. Jones  Mountains Valley

The recent arguments before the Supreme Court on the Voting Rights Act raised questions about whether some states are not being treated on an “equal footing” with respect to others. These arguments prompted some thought about what equal footing might mean with respect to the so-called “public lands” states.

Assuming that many of my readers (further assuming that I have “many” readers) may not be familiar with the term, let me take time out to explain: “public lands” states are states where much of the real estate is not privately owned, or even owned by the state, but by the federal government. And when I say “much,” I really mean “most.” Champion in this sweepstakes is Nevada, where about 81% of the total land area is owned by Washington. In Alaska, which is number two, north of 60% of the land mass is federally-owned. [Read more...]

Lady Thatcher taught me self-reliance

“Baroness Thatcher’s influence on my development as an entrepreneur goes far deeper than that, to my most fundamental beliefs. . . Baroness Thatcher’s lesson was clear: you get out what you put in, regardless of gender or race.”

by Sahar Hashemi

Often, we only realise the value of things when they’re gone, which is exactly what happened to me when I heard of Baroness Thatcher’s death.

The news made me suddenly aware of the huge impact she has had on my life and how, although I had never consciously acknowledged it before, I am one of Thatcher’s children and her values are deeply entrenched in my psyche. [Read more...]

Lady Thatcher restored self-reliance

“Margaret Thatcher transcended identity politics — it was her ideas not her gender that mattered”

by Cal Thomas

There is a story about Margaret Thatcher, which is probably apocryphal, but speaks volumes about the strength of Britain’s first female prime minister, who died Monday at age 87.

Following her election in 1979, the story goes that Thatcher took her all-male cabinet out to dinner. The waiter asked what she would like. “I’ll have the beef,” she said. The waiter asked, “What about the vegetables?” “They’ll have the same,” Thatcher replied. [Read more...]

Tax day reminds Americans that federal spending and taxes are too high

George Landrith, president of Frontiers of Freedom, made the following statement on tax day, April 15th:  Taxes

Will Rogers once said, “It is a good thing that we do not get as much government as we pay for.”  That may be true, but I think we all wish we were paying for a lot less government and a lot less taxes. Our federal government is at historically high levels of spending — in recent years gobbling up nearly 25% of the total economic output.

Every year, the federal government spends more money than it did the last year. Even this year with the “sequester,” federal government will spend more money this year than it did the year before. [Read more...]

Obama Energy Policy Prevents Economic Growth

by U.S. Representative Tom Cole   energy-policy

If only President Obama would take his approach to energy production and apply it to the national debt, we’d be down to 2007 levels in no time. According to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS), his administration’s policies have caused production on federal lands to plummet.

Although the president likes to claim that production of oil and natural gas has increased during his tenure, the growth driving the current energy boom has occurred entirely on non-federal lands.  On federal lands subject to government control, it’s a different story. Between 2010 and 2012, oil production on federal lands fell by more than 23 percent to levels lower than those in 2007.  [Read more...]

[Flashback Interview] The Iron Lady on Individual Self-Reliance (“There is no such thing as society.”)

“All too often the ills of this country are passed off as those of society. Similarly, when action is required, society is called upon to act. But society as such does not exist except as a concept. Society is made up of people. It is people who have duties and beliefs and resolve. It is people who get things done. She prefers to think in terms of the acts of individuals and families as the real sinews of society rather than of society as an abstract concept. Her approach to society reflects her fundamental belief in personal responsibility and choice. To leave things to ‘society’ is to run away from the real decisions, practical responsibility and effective action.”

Margaret_Thatcherby Scott L. Vanatter

Four score and seven years ago Margaret Thatcher was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire County. Today she belongs to the ages.

Of course, she always has belonged to the ages — at least since her principled leadership helped bring Britain back from the brink of a crippling socialist ruin. For good reason a Soviet journalist labeled her the Iron Lady. With Ronald Reagan she led the free world in the face of a once fearful Soviet Union.

Below are excerpts of an interview she gave as Prime Minister at No. 10 Downing Street, on September, 23, 1987. It was immediately controversial because she made the case that there was “no such thing as Society.” [Read more...]

More by and about Lady Thatcher

by Scott L. Vanatter

Please see below for few items from our website by and about Margaret Thatcher.

~

[Read more...]

The End of an Illusion: Global Warming

Gore-Hot-Air

“Global Warming:  A theory with this many holes in it would be have been thrown out long ago, if not for the fact that it conveniently serves the political function of indicting fossil fuels as a planet-destroying evil and allowing radical environmentalists to put a modern, scientific face on their primitivist crusade to shut down industrial civilization. But can’t we all just stop calling this “science” now?”

by Robert Tracinski

Many years ago, I remember thinking that it would take many years to refute the panicked claims about global warming. Unlike most political movements, which content themselves with making promises about, say, what the unemployment rate will be in two years if we pass a giant stimulus bill—claims that are proven wrong (and how!) relatively quickly—the environmentalists had successfully managed to put their claims so far off into the future that it would take decades to test them against reality.

But guess what? The decades are finally here. [Read more...]

NFL corruption highlights the need to revoke special legal treatment

Goodell NFLby George Landrith

Most people do not know that the National Football League is treated as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, nor do they realize that the NFL receives a special broadcast antitrust exemption. None of that makes sense. But on top of it all, the NFL and its commissioner, Roger Goodell, are corrupt and lawless which is one more reason not to give the NFL special tax and legal treatment.

First, the NFL is clearly a for-profit business and should be treated as such. Giving the NFL, a big business with billions in revenues every year non-profit status is absurd. Sports is a big business, not a nonprofit foundation. [Read more...]

The Cornerstone of American Liberty

by George Landrith  

The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787 — more than 225 years ago. That is long enough ago that it is easy to take for granted the rights protected by the Constitution. If given a chance to reflect, what constitutionally protected rights do Americans think are the most fundamental to our freedom? I conducted an informal poll, asking this question. The answer came almost universally—free speech and press. Both of these liberties form a part of the foundation upon which our freedom is based. But they are not the cornerstone of our freedom.

So, what is the cornerstone of the freedom that America has enjoyed for more than 225 years?  It is found in our rights to property – our economic rights. The right to own and control one’s property, the fruits of one’s labor, and one’s inventions and creations is the cornerstone of our freedom. Why, you ask? How can the right to own something be more important than free speech? The answer is simple. Without property rights, no other important right can long survive. Property rights are the rich and fertile soil in which all other rights can grow and mature. [Read more...]

Americans Are Migrating to States with Lower Taxes and Less Regulation

by John Merline   red state blue state

Americans are migrating from less-free liberal states to more-free conservative states, where they are doing better economically, according to a new study published Thursday by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

The “Freedom in the 50 States” study measured economic and personal freedom using a wide range of criteria, including tax rates, government spending and debt, regulatory burdens, and state laws covering land use, union organizing, gun control, education choice and more.

It found that the freest states tended to be conservative “red” states, while the least free were liberal “blue” states. [Read more...]

The Red-State Path to Prosperity

Blue states with high taxes are struggling to compete for businesses and workers.

by Arthur B. Laffer and Stephen Moore

You can tell a lot about prosperity in America by observing the places people are moving to and where they are packing up and moving from. New Census Bureau data on metropolitan areas indicate that the South and the Sunbelt regions continue to grow, while the Northeast and Midwest continue to shrink.

Among the 10 fastest-growing metro areas last year were Raleigh, Austin, Las Vegas, Orlando, Charlotte, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. All of these are in low-tax, business-friendly red states. Blue-state areas such as Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, Providence and Rochester were among the biggest population losers. [Read more...]

Will U.S. Senate vote to Impose State Taxation of Internet Sales

by Grover Norquist   Internet Sales Tax

Politicians have fantasies. Not Woody Allen “normal” fantasies about Swedish stewardesses.

No. Politicians fantasize about being able to raise taxes on people who cannot vote against them in future elections. Ancient Rome funded itself by looting the provinces. This worked for a while. Well, it worked for Roman citizens anyway.

Here in the good old USA politicians think they have finally found this Holy Grail, this alchemist’s secret… how to tax those who cannot defend themselves. [Read more...]

Carbon Taxes and Leprosy: The opportunity of a life time? Who are they kidding?

by George Landrith   carbon tax

It is not surprising that there are liberals in Washington proposing new stealth carbon taxes. What is surprising is that a few “conservatives” support the idea. Even more inexplicable is the fact that some have called the carbon tax a “once in a generation opportunity.”

Let me see if I’ve got this right. A huge, gargantuan tax increase — one that would make everything cost more — is a “once in a generation opportunity?”

Every single day for the last 30 years and every single day for the next 30 years, liberals will crawl over top of each other to be the first one to sign-on to a new energy tax. This is a deal that liberals will always be willing to give. [Read more...]

Fishing and Freedom

Catch Shares CoalitionCatch Shares Coalition is an initiative of Frontiers of Freedom with the goal of preserving America’s fishing resources. Over-fishing is depleting America’s available supply of fishing stocks – leading to rationing, higher prices for consumers, taxpayer bailouts of fisheries, and the heavy hand of government regulation.

Under George W. Bush, the U.S. Department of Commerce began testing the effectiveness of Catch Shares, a market-based program to manage fisheries. Catch Shares allocates a specific portion of a given fishery’s overall quota to fisherman – by individual, by ship, or by other means in lieu of telling them when or how they can fish. [Read more...]

The economy, jobs, and energy and carbon taxes

George Landrith, president of Frontiers of Freedom, issued the following statement:   GL Speaking 1

The economy is not some theoretical concept or ivory tower idea. A strong economy means that Americans have jobs and growing incomes. It means that families can provide their children with the care and opportunities that will provide for a bright future. Conversely a weak economy means fewer jobs and less opportunity. It means lower incomes and it means that families have to do without.

Too often big government slows the economy by taxing and spending too much. Those who support more and more government taxes and spending always argue that government can do something good with the money. But the problem with that argument is that families and businesses also can do a lot of good with that money if government doesn’t take it away from them. [Read more...]

Sequester Show May Not Have Jumped The Shark, But Its Format Has Changed

“The sequester debate illustrates a central contradiction of progressive economic thought. On the one hand, progressives believe the U.S. economy is so fragile that even the mere threat of cuts in government spending would be disastrous. On the other hand, they believe this same economy is so resilient that billions upon billions of dollars in regulatory costs have no effect on growth at all.”

by John Berlau

Are you watching the Sequester Show? In today’s Wall Street Journal, my friend Kim Strassel says the sequester drama has “jumped the shark,” a phrase used when a TV show loses popularity. As I have pointed out in OpenMarket before, the phrase originated with “Happy Days,” in which many a fan pinpointed the exact moment of the show’s descent to an episode in which Fonzie literally jumped over a shark with water skis.

Yet, I’m not sure “jump the shark” is the best phrase to describe what’s happened with the Sequester Show. It may not have jumped the shark, but changed formats and become even more popular — albeit to the detriment of the Obama administration. [Read more...]

The truth about the minimum wage

by Gordon Jones   Minimum Wage

In early 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the constitutionality of ObamaCare (né the Affordable Care Act of 2009). One would think that the time for such a hearing might be before passage of the act, but that is the way we do things around here, and besides, that is not the point of this column, which (as you can see from the title), is about the minimum wage.

The point derives from an exchange between Utah’s freshman (very fresh at the time, only a day or two old) Senator Mike Lee and Walter Dellinger, heavyweight lawyer, professor of constitutional law at Duke University, Assistant Solicitor General, presidential legal adviser, and then Acting Solicitor General in the Clinton Administration. In the course of the exchange, Lee wondered why, if the Interstate Commerce Clause would support a requirement for everyone to buy insurance, it wouldn’t support a requirement that every citizen buy (if not actually consume) three servings of leafy green vegetables every day. (That was in the heady days when supporters of ObamaCare still thought it was a regulation, before Chief Justice Roberts discovered that it was actually a tax.) [Read more...]

“Pay-up, or you’ll regret it!”

by George LandrithObama Mob

Dr. Thomas Sowell, the Stanford University based economist, wrote this week that when he was teaching he would ask his students to consider this: “Imagine a government agency with only two tasks: (1) building statues of Benedict Arnold and (2) providing life-saving medications to children. If this agency’s budget were cut, what would it do?” Sowell posits that the agency would naturally cut back on medications for children. He explains that is the only result that would lead to getting the budget cuts restored. And he pointedly explains why the government wouldn’t cut back on the silly statues: “If they cut back on building statues of Benedict Arnold, people might ask why they were building statues of Benedict Arnold in the first place.”

Dr. Sowell is absolutely correct! Years ago, when I served on a local school board I witnessed this almost reflexive response every year the budget was tight. The most absurd things were never offered for cuts. They always threatened to cut the things that would most outrage the public. They talked about cutting bus routes for kids that lived far away from schools. They talked about crowded classrooms. [Read more...]