Current Articles

What I'm All About

2011-12-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

I am Calen Fretts. People tell me I must be mad to run for Congress in the First District as a Libertarian. They say the Republican Party armor is far too thick to make a dent.

I don’t like attitudes like that. They make people who deserve better settle for less.

You see, I’m a blessed man. I have a home, a business, a wonderful fiancée, and I live in the greatest country in the world - a country that flourished by protecting individual rights, free markets, and limited government. I want my neighbors and future family to prosper. I can’t stay silent when I see the best parts of America withering away.

It is withering. A lot of that comes from Congress doing things it shouldn’t.

Take the debt ceiling, for example. Just this past August it was raised again by $2 trillion. Numbers have gotten so big, it’s tough to completely understand them, but $2 trillion means about $7000 in new debt, forced by the government, at interest, forever, on every man, woman and child in the country . Mind you, the federal government has spent $15 trillion already, and is set to spend a lot more.

Another example is Congresspersons giving up their powers to a “Supercommittee” so that they don’t have to make tough decisions. It is dead wrong for a member of Congress to give up his power to such a group. He may as well not be in Congress at all.

There is more. Most of my neighbors detest the thought that government is everyone’s nanny. The resistance to Obamacare, with its obvious costs and personal restrictions, instantly comes to mind. But the Republican Party doesn’t want to repeal Obamacare, they want to “repeal and replace” it with their own version that will also have costs and personal restrictions.

Add the Patriot Act to the list. Enacted without time to be read, it was sold to a frightened public as the way to keep us safe. It led to secret lists, government permission to travel, abusive searches on airlines, warrantless searches of Americans, zero financial privacy, and soon will lead to checkpoints in train stations, bus stations, and even open roads. This is America, the land of the free? What good is it for a country to gain the whole world, yet forfeit its own soul?

Even the rule of law is now in question. Congress has actually exempted itself from insider trading laws, meaning acts that we lowly citizens would go to jail for make them rich. The government uses fake accounting methods. Large financial companies, supposedly regulated by the government, repeatedly violate the law (some even get bailouts), and no one goes to jail.

Don’t take my word for it. Read the news yourself. These things are already happening, and happening by the hand of those in Congress.

In a land founded on individual rights, our government- at all levels- taxes us, limits us, regulates us, commands us, and threatens our way of life, more than ever. These assaults on liberty are branded as keeping us safe, or investing in the future, or the lesser of two evils, or being fair, or even compassion for our fellow citizens. No one can feel secure in their property, papers, or personal effects anymore. The abuses are everywhere, and are being enabled by Republicans and Democrats alike.

I may be young, but I know when I am being taken advantage of, and I don’t like it.

Congress is the key. I am about standing firm on no new debt. I am about political competition. I am about fighting the nanny state and all its ills. I am about maintaining our liberty instead of trading it for the illusion of security. I am for free, not managed, markets. Most of all, I am for the rule of law. We are not a country of truth and justice for some.

The proper role of government is to defend the country, impose justice on those who use force or fraud on others, and act within the limits of our Constitution. It is not to own businesses, or grant favors.
It won’t be fixed by hiring the same leaders again either.

This is what I am about.

Hope On The War Front

2011-12-02T07:01:00.000-08:00

The people of the panhandle should be justly proud of their important role in defending our nation. All five of our armed services have missions in this area, and serving in the military is an esteemed part of thousands of local family histories.

I am not a soldier, but I can understand such pride. From my brother, who currently serves in the Army, to my grandfathers who served in the last century, I am honored to come from a long line of servicemen to the country; in fact, going all the way back to the Revolution. I deeply respect the sense of duty and commitment to the principles of our Constitution that are found in our military.

But things in the military are not as they used to be in our great Republic.

In 1776, our forefathers were fighting an imperial British occupation force in their own back yards. In 2011, our friends and loved ones are asked to fight a faceless enemy as an occupation force in foreign lands.

Why is that? America was attacked by terrorists on 9/11. The military mission was to bring to justice those who perpetrated this crime.

Osama bin Laden and his cronies are now dead. Enemy organizations have been shattered. Yet our military remains abroad, now engaged for over a decade.

The United States military now accounts for almost half of total world military spending, and is deployed in more than 150 countries around the world. During many missions, the U.S. cedes its military sovereignty to international organizations such as the UN and NATO, putting its troops under foreign commanders and foreign flags.

In an example of collateral damage, the war on terror became a pretext to expand government control, violate individual rights, and erode the Constitution at home. Since 2002 there are precedents for the assassination of U.S. citizens abroad without trial, a blatant violation of the Fifth Amendment. There are plans for virtually all travelers in our country to be routinely searched. The rule of law continues to be battered by a President who neither sought the Constitutionally-mandated approval of Congress to engage in war on Libya, nor complied with the War Powers Act passed by Congress. To cap it off, this week, the Senate is debating the National Defense Authorization Act (S.1867/H.1540) - a bill that will let the government use the military, as Congressman Justin Amash stated, to "indefinitely detain American citizens on American soil, without charge or trial, at the discretion of the President." The House has already passed this bill.

Broad powers might not seem so bad when the custodian is someone you trust, and in the name of safety, but what happens if and when someone unchecked by conscience, the rule of law, and the Constitution takes office?

But take heart, because we are not there yet. We can still bring the troops home to reunite with their spouses, children, and families, by forcing Congress to uphold its Constitutional accountability for the wars. Our troops can rest and recuperate, in case the U.S. faced a legitimate threat, while spending their money here at home and spurring the domestic economy. We can cut the spending overseas and foreign aid by hundreds of billions of dollars per year. We can defend our own borders from illegal immigrants and Mexican drug cartel terrorists. All it takes is your voice.

America's Founding Fathers envisioned a revolutionary ideology for the New World; one where the nation would refrain from offensive and interventionist wars, one where force would only be justified in defense against imminent attacks. Sadly, the U.S. today could not be further to the opposite side of the spectrum. Now fighting multiple wars in the Middle East with no real end in sight, the cost of incessant war is being unnecessarily paid every day with American lives and American dollars - blood and treasure.

How many veterans fought for more debt, less freedoms, and endless war?

This is not the nation America's Founding Fathers envisioned. It is time to restore the U.S. military to its rightful place as the defender of sovereignty and beacon of liberty worldwide.

Calen Fretts is a candidate for Congress in the First District of Florida

Legalized Corruption

2011-11-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

It has recently come to the attention of the American public that their Congressmen have pulled a fast one on them by excluding themselves from insider trading laws.

There is one recent bill to stop this odorous exemption from the law, but until the recent “60 Minutes” piece, it had only one other Congressman co-sponsoring it, and that co-sponsor was not Jeff Miller.

The idea that members of Congress can make money doing something that you or I would go to jail for is outrageous. Congressional supporters of the exemption say they are covers by ethics rules that would prevent insider trading.

Tell that to those who have gone to prison. Wouldn’t it be nice if they had an “ethics rule” that did not include prison instead of the legal code.

Don’t kid yourself. Congress is taking advantage of their position.

This matter goes to the heart of how Congress does business, and the only remedy is to vote out those who think they can live by a separate law than the rest of us.

Look up Libertarian Candidate Calen Fretts. The rule of law is for everybody.

We are not a land of truth and justice for some.

Ten Years On

2011-09-30T05:10:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago 19 murderers using box cutters cold-bloodedly killed thousands of Americans.

Some events are scars on the memory. I can only imagine that 911 is for recent generations what Pearl Harbor and the JFK assassination were for previous ones. I can still remember the exact position I was standing in my living room when news of the event came over the television set.

To say this changed America is almost trite. If Americans were ever complacent about the dangers that lurk out in the world, it certainly stopped that day. It was one of those moments when as a people we looked into the abyss, and, true to form, the abyss looked back.

For many Americans, the Twin towers attacks filled them with a terrible resolve; a just desire to punish those responsible and to make sure it never happened again.

But this is where our leaders failed us.

America is more than a place, or a thing. It is an idea. It is the idea of individual liberty. It is the idea of equal justice for all, of innocent until proven guilty, of the rule of law, of a free market, of the supremacy of the Constitution. Kill the idea, and you kill the country.

The murderers on board those planes killed themselves to a purpose. In our reaction to their treachery they saw a path to America’s defeat. By banking on our leaders acting out of rage contrary to the ideas we hold so dear, they could see us eventually destroying ourselves.

How then have our leaders acted?

Instead of treating the hunt for Osama Bin laden as a criminal affair, it became a tool for replacing the Afghan leadership with ones of our own choosing. What could have been a short, punitive search for a fugitive became a long, meandering, painful, expensive and bloody exercise in nation building.

In the pursuit of preventing a recurrence of 911 all Americans have lost their protections to illegal search and seizure. Government permission is required to travel, and consent to search is assumed simply because you travel. American citizens are being searched without warrants on ships, trains, planes, and buses. Government agents perform physical acts that would be considered crimes in any other context, and should be.

Our government routinely performs searches of mail, electronic communications, and even the private homes of citizens without warrants. For many years, those who witnessed such searches and spoke of them could be put in jail simply for saying so. Government has given special immunity to companies for assisting the government violate wiretapping laws.

Those arrested for acts of terrorism have a completely separate legal system to determine their guilt or innocence. Even if found innocent, our Presidents, with the consent of the Congress and the courts, are holding some in prison indefinitely anyway.

Since George W. Bush’s day, the executive has maintained it has the prerogative to kill American citizens overseas if the government suspects they are engaged in terrorist activities, and it has actually done so. There is no judge, jury or public evidence involved.

Our government has openly admitted that it engaged in torture of apprehended criminals for information. Our former Vice President quite openly admits that he favors a form of torture for which we executed Japanese Officers.

Financial privacy does not exist anymore. Government has unlimited access to nearly anyone’s private finances. Many banks routinely report transactions of $2500 or more to the government as a suspicious activity.

We are currently fighting three undeclared hot wars, and at least two cold ones. Our President refuses to comply with the War Powers Act, and the Congress refuses to object. Every day the wars continue to consume more men, money and materiel slowly driving us into bankruptcy.

Herein lies the failure of our leaders. The Twin Towers were never really about 19 crazed murderers. They were always about us, and how we deal with what they did.

On this solemn day, ten years on, when we remember the dead, let’s think of the kind of legacy those who died would have wanted for America.

Would they have been happy that liberty became another casualty?

Pete Blome is a retired military officer and Chair of the Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County.

The New Ms Jean Weber

2011-07-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, June 18th 2011, Ms. Jean Weber took her ailing mother to the airport so she could go see relations in Michigan.

Her mother was elderly, frail, and battling illness. She had to wear special undergarments because her age and infirmities made self control difficult. Travel is hard for her. She could not walk far enough to make it through an airport scanner. But she was determined to see her family in Michigan. With the help of her daughter, Jean, she would get through it somehow. For her part, Jean felt a daughter’s love and wanted her mom to get on her way in as little discomfort as possible.

Jean knew about airport security, but she didn’t worry. After all, this is Okaloosa; this is home.

Out of earshot, she watched as her mother was frisked by the TSA. She saw how rudely and hard the strangers placed their hands. It worried Jean because she knew how easily her mother bruised.

But something else was wrong. Her mother was shuffled out of view to a separate room. After some time a TSA agent came out and unceremoniously gave Jean an edict. In order to get on a plane her mother would have to remove her diaper for inspection.

Jean couldn’t believe it.

Jean’s Mom wasn’t offended. She was tired. She came from that generation that saw true hard times, and accepted official imposition in stride; maybe too much in stride. Seeing her family in Michigan is what mattered.

But to Jean, a heartfelt departure had turned kafkaesque. She had to physically assist her mom. Just getting to a restroom was a chore, and once there she had to help mom intimately disrobe for the TSA bureaucrats.

The inspectors told her she had a choice, but Jean knew she really didn’t. If you don’t comply, you don’t fly. There is no crime, judge or jury involved. There is no discussion of compensation for monetary loss or the fourth amendment. The TSA even claims, in court, the privilege to strip search anyone.

The emotion was too much. Jean came out of the bathroom crying. In the ridiculous shuffle of bags, tickets, wheelchair, jackets and removed undergarments, she misplaced the pass that allowed her to accompany her mom in the TSA “secure areas.” Ever helpful, a TSA agent told Jean she displayed “unusual behavior” by crying and not having a pass. Jean was subjected to an even more rigorous physical inspection as a result.

By now this process had taken a long time, and the aircraft departure was very near. Jean’s mom was still far from the gangway, and there was little time. Jean was still being questioned and frisked, so she asked that her mom be escorted to the plane.

As she watched her mom depart flanked by the TSA, she thought to herself that one of the last memories she would hold between them was this demeaning inspection.

Jean says her friends would laugh at the thought that she was complaining against the TSA. She is a private person, and minds her own business. She doesn’t get involved in “political” topics.

This event changed her. She has a new view of what it means to be an American.

Ms Jean said when she was a kid she used to watch the show “Davy Crockett.” She remembered a quote from that show, “Make sure you are right. Then go ahead.”

Ms Jean has filed a local complaint with the TSA over this incident, and she plans to file a national one as well.

Personally, I am not reassured by a complaint form.

Our government has forced us to argue for things that should be self evident, such as the fourth amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, the concept of innocent until proven guilty, and the rule of law for everyone including government officials. To me, it is as if leaders in government have lost their senses.

The Sheriff of Okaloosa County should enforce the laws of Florida, especially those relating to battery and lewd and lascivious molestation, and arrest the TSA agents responsible for the acts perpetrated against Ms Jean’s mom.

Only then will this madness end.

Destin Shows America's Problem

2011-07-06T05:55:00.000-07:00

On June 20th I went to the Destin City Council Meeting to help my friend and colleague, Sky Monteith, to create a less expensive police contract than that offered by Sheriff Larry Ashley of Okaloosa County.

What I came away with was a picture, in miniature, of why our country is in as bad a situation as it is.

The matter had nothing to do with the police. The issue was trash. That evening there was to be a vote by the Destin City Council to give Waste Management (WM) Corporation an exclusive five year contract. The City of Destin would act as bill collector and put trash payments on the tax bill. It exchange for this “improvement,” the move was expected to save money for citizens.

But the room full of Destin residents realized that not only was the ability to choose trash services being lost, but a person could now lose their home in a tax certificate sale for trash payments in arrears.

Citizen after citizen stood up and objected to this collusion between government and a private corporation. One businessman pointed out how he must now pay advance trash fees for the whole year. Others talked about how there weren’t enough exemptions for undeveloped properties. Some thought that condo owners would not as liable for trash fees as home owners because their associations took care of the trash bill. One asked if the City would be the point of contact to solve trash problems now (it will be).

There were advocates. Councilmember Larry Hines said thousands are not paying their garbage bills now, or are freeloading off of others. It was the “efficient” thing to do. The audience asked, quite rightfully, why should the City Council collect fees for a private corporation?

“What is clear is we’ve done a bad job communicating about this issue,” Councilmember Jim Bagby said, but he threw his support for the contract anyway. It would save money, and besides, the matter had been under consideration for more than a year.

Council members Larry Williges and Dewey Destin objected. To their credit, both thought it wasn’t the role of government to determine peoples trash handlers for them. Councilmember Destin suggested that there would be no way to renegotiate service terms once the contract was signed. Councilman Williges showed that the proposed government intervention would only save about a dollar and change per household per month.

As the swapping of views and explanations between Council Members continued, it was far from clear that the Council itself agreed on what the details of the proposed ordinance were.

Just as in our USA at large, when the time came to vote, the voices for small government did not win.

Instead of free market competition, trash collection in Destin is now mandated and centrally controlled by the government.

If service is poor, you will have to call a government bureaucrat instead of the trash man.

Waste Management gained a virtual monopoly with the help of government.

Concerned citizens advocating the free market were voted down by government.

The government created a system of special privileges based on whether a person is a homeowner, a condo owner, a senior citizen, or an owner of undeveloped property.

The government became the bill collector for a private corporation.

At a stroke government made citizens liable for unpaid taxes instead of unpaid trash bills.

A year’s worth of bureaucratic inertia worked against reconsidering the measure.

And, in the end, the Council was not even in complete agreement among themselves as to the ordinances’ details.

It is for reasons like these that I think it is not the purpose of government to own businesses, or to grant favors, but to protect individual rights.

I am also sure in the next five years Waste Management will seek a rate increase and get it.

The savings will be ephemeral, the loss of choice and economic opportunity will be real, and this government intervention will only lead to more intervention. Just watch.

It is the dysfunctional America we live in today.

Okaloosa Schools And Fundamental Liberties

2011-02-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

by Karl Denninger market-ticker.org

[Pjb - Mr. Denninger's passionate case for school reform highlights the arbitrary nature of the state monopoly known as our education system, and the apparent contradiction that free people are taught in the autocratic state institutions known as public schools. Removing the barriers to real competition among schools, both economic and legal, would go a long way to preventing the arbitrary use of power that state schools across the country have become accustomed to, as well as make them better teachers.]

I was called at approximately noon today to inform me that my daughter had sat at a table with other students, rather than at the table for her class. Her purpose in doing so, which she informed me she intended to do last evening, was to peaceably assemble with another student of her acquaintance during her lunch break. For this act of peaceable assembly she had been told to go to lunch detention at the front of the room, and she had politely refused. For this refusal she was sent to the office. These facts have all been admitted to and are without dispute.

A call was made to me in an apparent attempt to enlist me in applying some sort of sanction for her conduct. You may consider this letter my pointed and vociferous refusal, and a direct challenge to this School policy.

In reaching my conclusion I asked what purpose of the alleged rule had that she violated, that is, how her decision to peaceably assemble with another student of her acquaintance during non-instructional time while consuming her lunch in any way harmed the educational mission or execution within the school day. I was told that in the past some students had behaved in an unruly manner, including leaving trays and other debris after departing the lunch room at some point during previous school years.

However, it was explicitly admitted that she had not committed any such offense. Under questioning the administration admitted that she properly disposed of her tray and other debris, there was no student displaced from a seat at the table to which he would have otherwise been entitled and there was no misbehavior such as a raucous conversation. The alleged rule which she had intentionally broken, that of demanding that she refrain from said peaceable conversation with a person of her choosing, under obvious logical analysis, is nothing more than both prior restraint and collective punishment for an offense that has not in fact taken place. The sanction applied also implicates a fundamental human right of peaceable assembly.

Certainly any school has a right to sanction students who are unable to behave in a cordial and peaceable manner during lunch or any other time while on school grounds. It is unquestionable that the educational mission of a school requires that conversation between students be refrained from during instructional periods when attention should be paid to the material being presented. But no such argument can be made of disruption of the educational environment by a student simply choosing to have a quiet conversation with a friend while consuming lunch in the cafeteria.

Further, I was told that she had a right to attempt changing this policy through a representative process in the Student Council. Upon further questioning, however, this assertion proved to be false. Not only does the Student Council have no binding power of any sort this matter had been previously put to them in past years, they had passed open seating at lunch as a resolution, and the Administration then unilaterally revoked the decision of the Council instead of applying sanction to any wrong-doers. This was a mistake on the part of the administration as my willingness to cooperate always instantly evaporates if an attempt is made to deceive for the purpose of enlisting my agreement.

Collective punishment and deprivation of a student’s right to peaceable and quiet assembly with their classmates during non-instructional periods of the day is a poor and unwarranted excuse for the apparent rank arrogance and incompetence displayed by school staff who are unable or unwilling to do their job in policing the lunchroom and sanctioning those students who engage in inappropriate behavior on an individual basis.

Nobody who is aware of recent world events can miss the fact that we currently have an entire nation that is on its feet over exactly this right – that of peaceable assembly. The Egyptian body politic has risen and refused to cede the streets. I cannot help but draw the parallel between Ruckel Middle School’s refusal to recognize this fundamental human right and those protesting in Egypt, and find it particularly ironic that a civil rights complaint given to the governor was found discarded in the trash outside Port Said.

The right to peaceful assembly and conversation is a fundamental human right and the peaceful exercise thereof is being displayed right now, literally “in your face”, on television each and every night.

It is outrageous that our so-called “public schools”, which claim in their handbooks to be “a partnership between student, parent and school”, would fail to recognize, support and protect such fundamental human rights simply for the convenience of their incompetent staff. It is beyond ridiculous that Ruckel Middle School would choose, when challenged on these facts, to apply collective punishment rather than yield to the clear logic that is being demonstrated each and every day on international television.

Our schools should be teaching and respecting fundamental liberties, not wantonly abrogating them and threatening dissenters. Each student should be able to recite the three fundamental human rights: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of (but not entitlement to) Happiness. The right of free speech and peaceable assembly, contained in the First Amendment, is formal recognition of a portion of that right of Liberty. All rights may be infringed upon only where doing so reasonably prevents another’s rights from being harmed.

This is fundamental to our government and nation’s history and our schools, collectively and individually, have an affirmative obligation under both ethics and law to not only teach this but live it.

I have made clear to my daughter through her years at Ruckel and prior to that at Bluewater Elementary that all respect is earned. There is in fact nobody, not even myself as her father, who is owed respect. My first and foremost task in raising her from infancy to adulthood is for her to transition from someone dependent on another, in this case myself, to an independent adult who is able to think for herself, recognize what human rights are, and stand for them on her own two feet. Part of this educational process is informing her of the fundamental human rights declared but not granted in The Declaration of Independence, that rights are not bestowed by a nanny government or authority figure but rather are unalienable, and that with those rights come responsibilities.

In this case she is responsible for conducting herself in a cordial fashion while on school property and adhering to reasonably defensible rules that have a sensible and sound connection to the conduct of the school’s educational mission. The US Supreme Court supports this position. The Court has ruled that students do not cede their Constitutional Rights in the general sense at the door of a publicly-funded school. Only those constraints that can be linked to a colorable impairment of the educational mission and environment of the school, when they impugn fundamental liberties, are permissible. In Tinker .v. Des Moines (1969) the United States Supreme Court held that peaceable speech, in this case two students peaceably wearing armbands protesting the Vietnam War, could not be lawfully removed from school for their refusal to comply with a demand from administration officials to remove the armbands.

This is exactly the issue before Okaloosa County and Ruckel Middle School.

I am fully in support of a reasonable student dress code, restrictions on the use of electronic devices during instructional hours and any other conduct that could otherwise have a rationally-argued negative impact on the educational mission at Ruckel. She is fully-aware of my support of these objectives and constraints.

At the same time she is expected to both challenge authority when it is unjustly displayed in an abusive or repressive form and is, as I have explained to your administration in the past, within her rights to refuse to respect those who deliberately and intentionally engage in such conduct. She has never been and is not now or in the future under any obligation, either by the rules of my household or under well-settled law of The United States, required to cede to any authority that fails to comport with the above.

Civil disobedience has both a long and colorful history throughout the world and comes with the risk of sanction, which she was fully aware of at the time of the incident. Her conduct was not furtive in any way; there was no attempt to conceal the act and her intent was to lead to a reasonable discussion and resolution. The actions by your staff probably shouldn’t surprise me, given the nature of collective and prospective punishment that was first devised and implemented.

Ruckel and all other schools should be aware, however, that sanctions imposed by putative authority figures are subject to review through several paths. First, of course, is public exposure and protest. You might consider my publication of this letter as part of that. Perhaps this is a trivial matter in most students’ and their parents’ minds, or perhaps not. The decision as to whether other students and their parents wish to protest and what form that protest might take is, of course, up to them. Second, sanctions that appear to be improperly applied or impugn a fundamental liberty with justification can and may lead to legal review. I, as with all citizens, reserve the right to initiate that lawful and proper process should I deem it appropriate.

After careful consideration I cannot support the claimed need for a seat assignment in the Ruckel cafeteria as a means of prospective and collective punishment without any offense of the peace having first taken place. These students are not in primary school; all are of ages 12-14 and can certainly comport themselves with reasonable decorum and make it to their next class. Those who are unable to do so should be individually punished for their transgressions. In short, this restriction is unconscionable and must be dropped. If school staff is incompetent to supervise the students they must be publicly identified, fired and replaced.

Our school employees work for us as parents, not the other way around. They run a school, not a prison. Our children and school students have rights; they are not pawns on a chessboard or notches on a broomstick. We as the source of school funds have every right to demand accountability for every dollar of our tax money that is spent and the policies implemented. When apparent idiocy rears its head you can expect me to hold the schools to account, as I have in the past and both will in the present and future.

A version of this letter was sent directly to the administration. If you agree, the Principal is Ms. Goolsby and her fax number is (850) 833-3291. The Superintendent for Okaloosa County Schools, Alexis Tibbetts, has a fax at 850-833-3436.

Proceed with caution: Destin to weigh costs, benefits of traffic light cameras

2010-12-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

December 25, 2010 7:12 PMMatt Algarin
Florida Freedom Newspapers
DESTIN — After pushing hard a month ago for the city to consider installing cameras at traffic signals, Councilman Larry Hines may be rethinking his request after last week’s City Council meeting.
“In my heart I think that I favor this, but I think we need more information,” Hines said.
The council voted 6-1 to collect data from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office on the number of accidents and traffic violations in Destin before deciding on the cameras.
The city’s staff recently met with representatives from American Traffic Solutions and B&W Sensors, both vendors of traffic infraction detection systems, to gather information and present the council with the pros and cons of the systems.
Public Services Director Steven Schmidt told council members that installation costs for a system that would comply with Florida Department of Transportation requirements would range from $75,000 to $110,000 per directional installation. The city also would have to enter into a five-year lease agreement with the vendor at a cost of $4,500 to $4,700 a month.
So, for every east-west traffic signal the city wanted to place a camera, the minimum cost would be $9,000 a month, in addition to the installation costs for each direction.
Councilman Larry Williges said it would take quite a few infractions to break even.
“The city would have to have 60-plus violators just to make back the $4,500 … for the $4,700 you need 62-plus violators to break even,” he said. “This could cost us quite a bit of money for the five-year period, close to $281,000 for the lease agreement.”
Of the $158 fine collected, the city would receive $75, with the remaining funds sent to the state Department of Revenue. The city also would be responsible for hiring or training someone to administer the program, verify the infractions and issue notices of violation to motorists.
“You don’t have to do it with the sheriff’s department or the county,” Schmidt said.
City Manager Greg Kisela said there are two main issues: red light detection and speed detection provisions in state law.
“The courts are continuing to refine these enforcement issues,” he said of the legal battle over the validity and enforcement of traffic cameras. “The courts have just not supported a haphazard application of the law.”
Councilman Jim Bagby, who cast the lone “no” vote, said the cameras could cause more problems than they solve.
“I wouldn’t say that we are ready for this,” he said. “The cost is prohibitive and I don’t think we need them.”
Pete Blome, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County, said his branch of nearly 290 members is aligned with the Libertarian Party of Florida in its opposition to traffic signal cameras.
He said later that the Libertarians would protest their installation. “Absolutely. As best we can.”
“The whole purpose of a red light camera system is not safety,” Blome said. “That could be just as well served by making yellow lights longer. The purpose of a red light system is to make money for the people who have those systems and to try and get fines into a county or a town that is trying to increase its revenue because they are too unwilling to make the hard decisions about cutting their budgets. They want to squeeze the little guy to get the funds.”Kisela said that generating revenue is not necessarily the plan.
“The providers of this equipment predicted it would generate revenue, but we are a little reluctant to commit to that,” he said.
City officials will wait for the traffic data from the Sheriff’s Office.
“I’d rather see the results from the statistics,” Councilman Tom Weidenhamer said. “I want to see whether or not we have a problem.”

A Former POW's Open Letter to Congress

2010-03-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

Phillip Butler January 05, 2009

Here is the Oath of Office I took on July 1, 1957:
I, Phillip Neal Butler, having been appointed a Midshipman in the United States Navy, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.
Upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1961, I repeated this oath to be commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. I served 20 years as an active duty commissioned officer. During that time I became a Naval Aviator, flew combat in Vietnam, was downed over North Vietnam on April 20, 1965 and became a prisoner of war. I was repatriated on February 12, 1973, having served 2,855 days and nights as a POW – just short of 8 years. The Vietnamese were not signatory to any international treaties on treatment of prisoners. They pronounced us "criminals" and freely used torture, harassment, malnutrition, isolation, lack of medical care and other degradations during our captivity. I was tortured dozens of times during my captivity. But I often thought of our Constitution and the higher purpose we served – a purpose that helped me resist beyond what I thought I’d ever be capable of. Ironically, we POWs often reminded each other that our country would never stoop to torture and the low level of treatment we were experiencing at the hands of our captors.
This Oath of Office, the same one sworn to by all officers, government officials, presidential cabinet members, senators and representatives of our nation, has had a powerful affect on me. It has given me an overarching purpose in life: to serve the greatest and most influential legal document ever written. The only different oath is specified for the President of the United States in Constitutional Article II, Section 1 (8.) It mandates that he or she will "…preserve, protect and defend the Constitution…"
So what in the world has happened during the past 8 years of the Bush administration? The only defensible answer is that he and his subordinates have trampled our precious Constitution and the Rule of Law into the ground while our elected members of Congress have stood idly and complicitly by. Our highest elected officials have utterly failed with their greatest responsibility.
During these years we have seen gross attempts to institutionalize torture. Our Constitution, Article VI, (2) commonly known as the "Supremacy" clause clearly states that treaties made shall become "the supreme law of the land," thus elevating them to the level of Constitutional law.
The Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, ratified in 1949 states in Article 17 that "No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind." This and numerous other ratified treaties clearly stipulate that "prisoners" is an inclusive term that is not limited to any nation’s uniformed combatants.
Other gross Bush administration crimes of general and Constitutional law (in addition to authorizing torture) include: 1) the use of "signing statements" to illegally refrain from complying with laws. 2) authorization of the illegal suspension of Habeas Corpus 3) authorization of wire tapping and other intrusive methods to illegally spy on American citizens. 4) unilateral declaration and pre-emptive conduct of war in violation of U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8 (11)
These violations of our Constitution and rule of law have resulted in reducing our nation to the level of international pariah. Our beacon of liberty and justice no longer shines throughout the world. We no longer set the example for other nations to follow. We no longer stand on a firm foundation. We have lost our national, moral gyro.
I despair when I think of the personal sacrifices made by so many in U.S. wars and conflicts since 1776. If our forefathers were here to see they would surely be angry and disappointed. And I think they would issue a clarion call for redress and setting an example for the world, by punishing those who are guilty. The only way our nation can right itself is for Congress to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes.
I therefore call on the elected representatives in the Senate and House of Representatives to bring appropriate charges against President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Legal Council William J. Haynes, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former Legal Council David Addington and potentially other high officials and uniformed officers. There is no other option. Citizens of the United States and of the world are watching. Do your duty. Support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Reprinted from his website
(PJB Note: Phil Butler is the head of the Veterans for Peace organization of Monterrey California. They recently allied with the Libertarians for Peace of California in opposing the Afghan and Iraqi wars).

An Outsider's View

2010-03-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

I am a Libertarian. I have been voting over 50 years. I am also a recovering Republican, but in my 12 Step Program, I have been unable to proceed beyond Step 8: Making a list of all persons I have harmed by my votes for Republicans (and several Democrats). We have been ruled, not governed, for too long by only two parties, and today even our grandchildrens financial futures are now in doubt. We all get what we deserve when voting or not voting in national elections. The same is true for the Republicans in the 4th District House race on Tuesday.
It would be great if we could vote for candidates A or B or C for their positions on limited state government and personal liberty. We could focus on the long term effects to our state of issues they support. But we don’t, so we vote for sound bites that pass for policy positions, personalities and political connections, all because we want our party to win, not our citizens.
We are in this situation, because we rewarded a man whom we believed had done well in local politics. We promoted him to Tallahassee where he worked hard to bring our share of budget dollars back to us. He was rewarded by his fellow career politicians with the Speakers position, the fatal, last brush with the flame of absolute power. We ask ourselves, How the h__l could this happen!? Well, a majority of those voting each election day rewarded his efforts . . . several times. So, did we get what we deserved?
Fast forward and Republicans can reward the prior electoral successes and political experiences of Craig Barker, Bill Garvie, or Jerry Melvin with promotion to Tallahassee.
Or they can promote a new face, Matt Gaetz, a lawyer-activist who is well-connected. He also is being credited with saving half of the F-35 mission at Eglin, without being critiqued as too late to save the entire mission. Whether his thinking is independent of his dads as he claims, well, that is part of the Republican crapshoot, isnt it?
Finally, they can reward a businessman and budget-activist, Kabe Woods, who founded the Okaloosa Citizens Alliance to bring greater accountability for our tax dollars to our County and local governments. Only outsiders, not experienced elected representatives within the system, seem to be able to do that.
Will it be possible for Republican voters to stop rewarding career politicians and look seriously at new faces on Tuesday? An elected representative brings a tool kit of skills from their education and experiences to their position. Political careerists bring connections. Lawyers bring legal tactics. Business people bring analysis and concern for effective results.
Will Republicans go to the polls, to continue political careers, start a new political career, or bring sense to how our taxes are spent by the state? It is a big responsibility, and only Republicans can do it Tuesday.
Lee Jackson

A Fine Kettle Of Federal Fish

2010-02-18T12:37:00.001-08:00

On Feb. 9, members of the Fort Walton Beach Tea Party had an opportunity to listen firsthand to the plight of charter fisherman Capt. George Eller and how federal and state regulation threatens to ruin a large segment of what remains of Destin’s charter fishing fleet.

We responded as typical good citizens. Various proposals to fix the problem ranged from calling our federal and state representatives and urging them to support corrective legislation, to writing letters, to having face-to-face meetings with the chief Washington bureaucrat who caused this mess by issuing edicts with the power of law, a Dr. Roy Crabtree.

As useful as these steps may appear to be, they miss the point.

Limited government has become a thing of the past in our land of the free and home of the brave. Fishermen who supposedly have the right to own property, contract freely and enjoy the protection of the 10th Amendment, in fact, do not.

By bureaucratic decree supported by federal legislation and a Supreme Court ruling (Wickard v. Felburn, 1942, where the Supreme Court decided the federal government has a constitutional right to regulate how much wheat a Kansas farmer grows even on his own property for his own use), the federal government overrules the state of Florida in fishing matters. In turn, Florida overrules its own fishermen in the pursuit of their livelihood, forcing them to get permits and thereby placing limits on the wealth they can accumulate.

Neither the feds nor the state go out and sweat for fish; neither do they take on the financial risk of running a fishing company. But they are in a position to dictate how a fishing company must operate and share the catch.

Worse still, the feds and the state of Florida are controlled by legislators who have no direct stake in the success or failure of the fishing industry. To them, a fishing fleet is just one more source of tax revenue to be exchanged for any other.

It should not be this way. Limited government does not mean a government that decides not to interfere. It means a government that cannot interfere.

Individuals must succeed or fail on their own circumstances. The purpose of government is not to own businesses or grant favors but to protect individual rights.

There is a false enlightenment in America that thinks government control is necessary to prevent depletion of the environment or to ensure a steady market when individuals would ruin what they have.

As Capt. Eller made abundantly clear, fishermen have a vested interest in what they do, and they did selfregulate — either through moral persuasion, or by association contracts, or even by the power of the marketplace.

If depletion takes place, fewer fish means higher prices. Higher prices mean fewer fish are bought and sold, restricting the size of the fleet.

How is this different from what the government is doing now? The government is artificially restricting the amount of buying and selling of fish, resulting in higher prices and a reduction of the fleet.

Government regulation doesn’t ensure anything except a bigger government, and all it does is transfer the ability of Destin’s fishermen to run their own lives over to a government bureaucracy that must be bowed and scraped to.

The Tea Party must get more to the root of what ails us.

Peter J. Blome is a retired military officer and chairman of the Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County. He is also a member of the nonpartisan Fort Walton Beach Tea Party.

The Government Will Fix It

2009-09-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

First published 7 August 2008

America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, is also the land of government intervention.

This is especially true regarding the economy.

Many of us are actually in favor of it. The popular thinking is that working within the constraints of the Constitution would be too great a price for the USA to pay. If we followed established law and enforced contracts the pain would simply be too great. It is easier to just sacrifice a few nameless, faceless people, and our principles, in the name of stability, smoothly functioning markets, and control.

I mean, what is not to like about Politicians creating a solution that business could not? If you do not like what the free markets brings, change it to suit your immediate needs. Government programs will make sure you and everybody else gets a piece of the action. Intervention is good because it keeps people in their jobs and keeps the money flowing.

No one notices the price you have to pay.

Living with injustice is one.

The trillion dollar bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is injustice of the most immediate and palpable type. When times were good, non-investors did not get a check, but now that times are bad everyone gets to pay. Worse still, the costs are so big, the value of the dollar may collapse. That will increase the cost of everything based in dollars forever. You think milk is expensive now, just wait.

Another example is the recently passed housing rescue bill which rewards those who bought more house than they could pay for. It actually reduces the mortgage for some people. What you do not hear is what happens to those people who live by their mortgage contracts, are responsible, and live within their means. They foot the bill for everybody else.

When the Federal Reserve arranged the JP Morgan buyout of Bear Stearns bank last March, they did it using funds the Fed created at the cost of greater inflation for the whole country. Since those who run large banks are a relatively small fraternity (our current Treasury Secretary came from Goldman Sachs), it also stands to reason that JP Morgan personnel are a big part of the rank and file of those who run the Federal Reserve.

Lets see, JP Morgan people deciding if the Fed should create money out of thin air to help out JP Morgan. Suspicious?

The Security and Exchange Commission recently excluded 19 commercial banks from trading rules that every other business still had to endure, such as short stock sales. It does not hurt you unless you were bank number 20 on the list and the stock owned by your poor old grandma drops 50%.

Examples of intervention like this are happening everyday. Several government bureaucracies such as the Exchange Stabilization Bank, the President’s Financial Working Group (executive order 12631) and the Federal Reserve itself are allowed by law to secretly intervene in the market. These secret interventions affect companies, and people like you, in real dollars, everyday. What you think will go up, might go down. What you think might have value, might instead prove to be worthless.

Even though they are part of your government and directly affect your pocketbook, you cannot know what they do. Your role is to just pay taxes and support them.

Living with injustice like this takes away opportunity, and opportunity is the heart of freedom. Because the government has decided to favor some businesses over others, the unfavored businesses waiting in the wings with good balance sheets will never get a chance to grow and make money for their investors. The old business will still be there. The old business will be protected with the weight of law.

In other words, your dreams will take a back seat to someone else not because you work less, but because they were bigger and will stay that way no matter what you do. They have government on their side.

In our land of rugged individualism, government influence has become the most important , and counterproductive, commodity there is.

American business is now not so much about building a better mousetrap than being the king rat who has access to government. This will lead to more graft as more government bureaucrats realize the control they have. Government protected businesses will use their advantage to hurt their unprotected competition every way they can.

Oh, by the way, you and I pay more forever.

What is not to like?

Peter J. Blome

4 July 1821

2009-07-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

An address by John Quincy Adams 4 July 1821

Presumably responding to a comment from Britain as to "What has America done for Mankind?"

"And now, friends and countrymen, if the wise and learned philosophers of the elder world [Britain], the first observers of nutation and aberration, the discoverers of maddening ether and invisible planets, the inventors of Congreve rockets and Shrapnel shells, should find their hearts disposed to enquire what has America done for the benefit of mankind? Let our answer be this:

America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights of human nature, and the only lawful foundations of government.

America, in the assembly of nations, since her admission among them, has invariably, though often fruitlessly, held forth to them the hand of honest friendship, of equal freedom, of generous reciprocity.

She has uniformly spoken among them, though often to heedless and often to disdainful ears, the language of equal liberty, of equal justice, and of equal rights.

She has, in the lapse of nearly half a century, without a single exception, respected the independence of other nations while asserting and maintaining her own.

She has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when conflict has been for principles to which she clings, as to the last vital drop that visits the heart.

She has seen that probably for centuries to come, all the contests of that Aceldama the European world, will be contests of inveterate power, and emerging right.

Wherever the standard of freedom and Independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy.

She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.

She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.

She will commend the general cause by the countenance of her voice, and the benignant sympathy of her example.

She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force....She might become the dictatress of the world. She would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit....

[America's] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind. She has a spear and a shield: but the motto upon her shield is, Freedom, Independence, Peace...
This has been her Declaration: this has been, as far as her necessary intercourse with the rest of mankind would permit, her practice.

John Quincy Adams served as U. S. Secretary of State, he delivered this speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on July 4, 1821, in celebration of American Independence Day.

Real Political Competition

2009-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

Real Political Competition

Americans like to compete. It validates what works, and gradually eliminates that which doesn’t.

Libertarians believe in competition. The greatest amount of happiness and prosperity come from people being able to compete in a free market where their individual rights are preserved by a government that is limited in its power. This leads to lasting benefits for both individuals and society.

Most people would agree. But for the last 150 years, from Okaloosa County all the way to the Congress, our leaders can come from only the Republican or Democrat Parties. In a group of four Americans you will find five different opinions, but somehow come election time we all just fall in line behind two major parties. As ridiculous as it seems, every solution, every possibility, every good, comes from either column R or column D, and no where else.

That, of course, is not by accident. Supposed competitors, the major parties are more like an old married couple that through hard experience know what to argue about, and what not to. Over time, by the skillful use of laws they created and the timely bribing of voters with their own money, these parties have suppressed political competition to their mutual advantage. They made people more dependent on government than ever before, increased the power of government over them and reduced individual opportunities in life. When election time comes people become afraid to vote for something different because it would remove the benefits the government gives them.

You pay a huge cost for this cozy political arrangement. Whether it is under the Republican President Reagan, or the Democrat President Clinton, or even in our own county, government has grown like a weed. Your taxes are higher, there are more bureaucrats who can tell you what to do with your property under penalty of law, the wars on poverty, drugs and terror regularly consume trillions of American’s wealth, and each of us ends up carrying a share of Federal government debt to the tune of $600,000. Government promises of Social security and Medicare will be worth nothing, either because the government will not pay or the money will be made worthless by inflation. Today your financial activities are monitored, your travel restricted, and even putting up a sign on your own property saying you like candidate such-and-such without telling the government could land you in jail for a year (FS 106.071). The FBI has conducted more than 200,000 warrantless searches on Americans citizens and the Inspector General of the Justice Department says 724,000 Americans are on the government’s terrorism watch list which is growing by 20,000 a month. There is no area of life where the government cannot monitor, regulate, or intervene. As said in the movie “The Patriot” we have replaced one tyrant 3000 miles away with 3000 tyrants one mile away. And all the while the Republicans and Democrats talk about change while supporting greater government power as they always have.

Libertarians know America can do better. In our hearts, Americans cherish Libertarian values. No one thinks about their future and says “Oh, I look forward to the day for the day the government confiscates my land, gives me what they see fit for it, tells me how to use it, gives me financial support, gives me permission to travel, searches where they like, tells me how I can speak on political matters, monitors my finances, taxes my income, and tells me what I can do with my body” but that is where we are. Every solution, every good, every possibility does not come from government, but from individuals who put the time, sweat, caring and personal risk into a project to make it better. Libertarians are about making it possible to do for yourself, and allow others to do for themselves as much as possible.

Instead of debating how big a tax increase should be, the debate should be about eliminating government spending. Instead of creating bureaucracies that seem to think of themselves first, there should be serious thought about eliminating them. Instead of meekly accepting that government can do anything, lawmakers must be limited in what they can do. Let people decide matters for themselves as long as they do not use force or fraud on each other. The end result is less costs and more options; in a word, freedom.

Only a Libertarian can say that, and that is real political competition.

Peter J. Blome - Summer 2008

Bringing Back Ethics Won't Cure Okaloosa's Ills

2009-05-21T09:08:00.000-07:00

Our political system for electing those who govern us is based on a belief that strong political parties, our freedom of political speech, and an inquiring press will provide us with enough information to cast an intelligent vote. The conflict and friction of the system makes campaigns unattractive to many and often bring out our baser natures. Money has become the dominant factor.

In theory, this process places the best candidates in positions of leadership. But the alleged two-party system with the press as referee is a fraud!

Nationally, we know nothing about our chief executive. We vote for or against candidates based on a single issue, based on their seniority, because they are members of our party, or to be on the "winning side" Locally, we have a sheriff who has pleaded guilty in connection with a kickback scheme a state legislator who's been indicted on a felony charge of official misconduct. There is a call for returning ethics to local politics, an allegation that perhaps unethical individuals were elected many years ago and we have re-elected them several times since.

This situation is an indictment of our newspapers and at least half of those who voted each cycle. I find such a call for more ethics to be politics as usual and unproductive for Okaloosa County.

It is time for those who vote only for the two major party candidates to stop holding their noses while voting against personal principles. A politician's promise of benefits at the cost of other taxpayers is too great a price for our votes.

No more politics as usual! It’s time for us to follow our values and principles. Our voting habits have produced professional politicians who go straight into government from school, are elected, and never hold a real job nor run a business.

The results are life time political careers without fear of losing re-election; one-party counties like Okaloosa and cities like Chicago; a sense of political entitlement; billions of dollars for pork-barrel projects directed to supporters; millions in bonuses with inadequate review; and corruption. Indictments for the misuse of tax dollars are a natural outcome.

What is the central issue in these indictments? These are not unethical people who have been elected to office as suggested by a recent writer ("Bring back ethics," April 22). These are examples of elected officials being in office too long! These are examples of too many voters expecting their elected officials to "do things" for them in exchange for their vote and support.

We are not upset by the bonuses and the money for the hangar in Destin, but that these favors were given to those with more pull than we. The insult is we pay for these special favors with our tax dollars.

As long as we accept as normal that our government is the source of all benefits, our taxes will continue to increase, the money available for elected officials to buy our votes will be enormous, and its misuse will continue.

Voters must eliminate the notion that their elected official "doing something" for them is a positive when voting for a candidate. The voting decision must be framed this way: Will this candidate do what is constitutionally correct and which does not take rights or freedoms from other citizens to give me a benefit I do not earn?

The tough work of citizenship demands we replace politics as usual, not call for ethics reform one more time. We must evaluate our real political values, e.g. by taking the "World’s Smallest Political Quiz" at The Advocates for Small Government. Do we truly believe in personal and economic freedom or do we want more restrictions on our lives?

Then we must evaluate where candidates stand on personal freedoms. Look more closely at those who are truly closest to us and evaluate their positions in greater detail. Our vote will determine whether our personal freedoms are protected.

Finally don't just "Spout Off" now and then. Stay engaged after each election cycle! Attend city and county business and budget meetings. Have a detailed knowledge of the parts of government that interest you most.

Our form of government may not be the best in this world, but it is far better than any other. It is worthy of more than just our vote. It deserves our continuous attention.

Lee Jackson, Chairman
Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County

Niceville Tea Party speech given in front of City Hall

2009-04-15T09:16:00.000-07:00

Fellow citizens, it is my privilege to be here with you at this great Tea Party gathering and talk with you about a government gone off track.

I would like to thank Ms. Brenda Leach for this opportunity.

You good people know that something is seriously wrong. "Bailout" has become the most used word in our language. Intuition tells us taxes will be going up and prices at the store will be going higher. Six months ago our government spoke about the budget in terms of billions and now we speak trillions. What is happening here is the crime of the bailout.

In the past seven months $12.8 trillion dollars has been printed, loaned and squeezed out of our financial system to save certain industries because they are, quote, "too big to fail." This is equal to the gross domestic product of the nation. In only seven months! A lot more is coming.

The too big to fail companies are the biggest banks, investment houses, insurance companies, car makers and mortgage buyers in the country. They are in trouble because of their horrendously poor judgment in how to invest money. Now our government has become partners with them using your labor to pay for their mistakes.

It is against the American way of life to say something or someone is too big to fail. If you or I were this incompetent we would fail, no questions asked. Instead, the government is throwing money at the problem like it is going out of style, and letting you and me pay the consequences.

Incredibly, some banks this quarter are area actually showing profits after having hundreds of billions of our debt dollars given to them.

They say without you taking on this debt that our financial system will fall apart. They say without you taking on this debt, a recovery will not be possible. They say free market capitalism has failed in America. Americans are in debt up to our eyeballs, and they say to fix our problems, we need to go into further into debt in amounts that humans cannot fathom.

All I can say is, they are wrong.

I ask you, how can a government that never saw this calamity coming possibly know how to fix it?

Our country has borrowed and spent too much, and saved and produced too little. Inefficient businesses need to go bankrupt, and for new companies that use money properly to spring up in their place.

Government regulation and taxation needs to be vastly reduced so someone with ambition and ideas can enter the market, supply what people need, and make a profit.

For decades our government has been tinkering with the economy. Banks have government guarantees that no other industry in history have ever had. Housebuilders get tax incentives. Homeowners get tax incentives. Insurance is regulated with the dedication of a soviet commissar. Other businesses get incentives and subsidies and special privileges. The list is endless.

America has become clogged with the heart attack producing plaque known as government intervention. If there were no government intervention, the economy would recover quickly from a short, sharp recession from which we would come out stronger. Instead, our government creates zombie banks, and now runs the world's biggest insurance and mortgage companies. The government has no business owning business. It is nationalization, something we laughed at our socialist foes from a generation ago.

The government is running up debts that will impoverish you, your children and your grandchildren. Every man, woman and child in the USA has $40,000 in additional debt they did not have seven months ago. This is not what made America great. This is what destroyed the socialist nations that were our enemies.

Our leaders have been seduced by the idea the government needs to run the economy. Our central bank, the Federal Reserve, a private bank that works with our Treasury, creates inflation. That is their purpose. Inflation makes paying off loans easier for bankers and borrowers, but quietly steals from those who save, produce, earn a wage, or are on fixed incomes. In other words, people like you.

And where does Congress fit into this picture? They created about 2 trillion of the debt we have been speaking about, but 11 trillion was created by our Treasury Secretaries and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. These men are unelected and virtually unaccountable for their actions by the very laws that Congress wrote. It is theft from you on a monumental scale, but invisible to most people.

Just a month ago when Congress demanded to know where 2 trillion of this Federal Reserve created money went, Fed Chairman Bernanke told them he wouldn’t tell them, and Congress does not have the collective power to make him!

By means of a bailout, Americans are now 80% owners of the great insurance company AIG. Other private insurance firms must now quake in their shoes. There is no justice when a government directly competes with a private firm. A private firm cannot change the laws and create unlimited money at will, as the government can. Any businessman knows it is impossible to compete under such circumstances.

This is not a failure of capitalism. Government intervention brought on this crisis. More intervention because capitalism has supposedly failed will make it worse.

30 years ago it was the Congress that passed legislation under the Carter administration to force lenders to make risky loans to low income families. This started the bailout process. (Fairness in lending act)

It was the government that guaranteed the massive loans of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac causing them to push other private non-government backed mortgage buyers out of business. No one checked out the quality of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds because they were guaranteed by the government.

Against all free market principles our Central Bank, The Federal Reserve, kept interest too low for too long. This lead to the NASDAQ bubble and now the real-estate crash.

It was Congress that made laws giving special tax exemptions to people owning houses that encouraged a frenzy of buying and selling.

And lastly, it was the government watchdog, the Security and Exchange Commission, that turned a blind eye to bond rating agencies getting in bed with banks to rate worthless bonds as AAA investments and then sell them to you and me.

I am proud to say I am a Libertarian. Libertarians have always been against the malignant influence of government in the economy.

If government were not propping up, regulating, and guaranteeing so many companies, Americans would use their due diligence to see which companies had substance and which were shadow. Now we see where not using our due diligence has lead; illusions of wealth, and you and I getting stuck with the biggest tab in the history of mankind.

As I end my address, I ask you all to think about the following:

Government does not produce a single job. It takes resources from those who have it, takes a cut for itself, and then directs what’s left into places the free market would not.

You cannot spend your way out of debt.

You cannot print money as a way to prosperity.

There has been too much borrowing and spending in America and not enough saving and producing.

And the government bailouts privatize profits, and socialize losses.

The greatest amount of happiness and prosperity come from people being able to compete in a free market where their individual rights are preserved by a government that is limited in its power. This leads to lasting benefits for both individuals and society. I think many of you know this is true.

What our country is doing is the opposite of this.

Keep shouting. Left Jeff Miller know. Let Senators Martinez and Nelson know. Stop the bailouts. Stop government intervention. If you want, tell them that Libertarians know what is going on. Let the economy recover, and everyone will get back to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness more quickly.

Thank you.

Open Letter to Jeff Miller

2008-09-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

The Honorable Jeff Miller
348 S.W. Miracle Strip Parkway
Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32548

Dear Sir,

I am sure you are aware that the American economy is in trouble.

It has become sick from decades of government intervention. It is ill from the misguided idea that the government can make an economy run better than those who own, work and invest in it.

This mistake is about to be done again. You will be asked to use government funds to buy $700 Billion in bad investments made by Wall Street financiers. You will be asked to make the American people buy financial paper that is essentially worthless. Along with other related debts recently assumed by the government, you will be asked to force a total of $18,900 in debt on each and every man, woman and child in America, at interest, forever, for something they had nothing to do with. You will be asked to use the threat of imprisonment to enforce this debt.

I am going to ask you, at the very least, to do nothing about this bill. My very best hope is that you will take the lead to roll back government subsidies and privileges across the board. Government intervention brought us to this point, and more government intervention will only make the problem worse. Our dysfunctional economy is the result of at least a century of special favors given to those who have influence in Washington and the use of an unsound money system. It is time that this stop.

The role of government is not to own companies, nor to grant favors, but to protect individual rights.

Our government owning companies makes a mockery of the Constitution and its rights and protections. Government makes the laws and over time will favor itself. Government has access to the Federal Reserve Bank's money printing presses, and hence unlimited funds. Government uses these powers every time to the disadvantage of every citizen that competes with them. It is inherently unjust. America deserves better from its representatives.

Since March of this year American citizens have endured the privately owned but government supported Federal Reserve Bank acting illegally and forcing the purchase of a private bank (Bear Stearns) by another private bank ( JP Morgan) using the Federal reserve's unique privilege to print money to fund the deal. Even ex Fed Chairman Paul Volker euphemistically called this "stretching the legal envelope."

This summer the American people received a $160 Billion in a "stimulus package" from the Congress. This apparently "free" package was funded by the private Federal Reserve Bank printing it and loaning it to the Government at interest.

In the past six months the Federal Reserve Bank has announced $200 Billion in privileged money sales to banks to pump more cash into circulation. It may save banks that have made bad decisions, but it also fuels inflation. Retirement accounts, pensions, fixed investments, and future payments from Social Security and Medicare will all become worth less as a result.

As you well know, a few weeks ago the United States became as socialist as any cold war adversary by nationalizing the mortgage industry to the cost of $5 Trillion dollars. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac became the massive liabilities they are because they had an implied government backing to their bonds. They used that to undercut competition and grow far larger than they should have in a truly free market. Both backing their bonds and nationalizing these companies was a betrayal of American concepts of liberty and property.

This past week witnessed a complete disregard for any pretense of legality when the Federal Reserve and the Treasury forced a private insurance company, AIG, to sell an 80% controlling interest in their company to the Treasury of the United States for $85 billion in instantly created dollars. It seems the government can take whatever it wants now, and pay for it with money created in the blink of an eye. What if a majority in Congress decides it wants what you have, Congressman?

A moral hazard has now sprung up where every company in trouble seeks a bailout. There is now talk of insuring all money market accounts to the tune of $50 billion, and bailing out GM and Ford motor companies for $25 billion each.

Over the years economic control has been centered in Washington, and now the debts accumulated can fatally flaw the US dollar. The resulting inflation will destroy the average American. It will reduce our ability to compete in the world economically and politically. It threatens to destroy the fabric of our society.

Make no mistake. Our government is changing for the worse its relationship with the American people, and the role of the market, contracts, private property and the Constitution in our daily lives.

Don't kill that which made us great as a nation: individual rights, free markets and limited government.

Sincerely,

Peter J. Blome, Secretary
The Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County

Okaloosa's Missing Ingredient

2008-07-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Emerald Coast Association of Realtors recently sponsored a "Meet the Candidates" forum at the Fort Walton City Hall. The public had an opportunity to watch, listen, and even ask a question or two of the county electoral candidates.

The forum was a great idea, and one of the few ways candidates and concerned citizens can get together, but in the end it made me think about how off target were the issues that the candidates were speaking about.

The great issue overhanging Okaloosa County is that the economy in the USA is about to change for the worse. Overspending, overprinting money, government intervention in the market, and the inflation thus created will tax both our pocketbooks and our characters. The Federal Government tendency toward authoritarianism will increase.

Congress, for example, just granted unlimited check writing power to the Secretary of the Treasury to essentially nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a $5 trillion dollar mortgage industry.

A billion used to be a lot. Now we talk in trillions.

Like many socialist governments in the past, the current US policy of government intervention in the free market, restriction of individual rights, and limitless government power is producing bigger and bigger problems. These problems are being felt right here on the Emerald Coast. Even though it is the wrong answer, the problems created by government will probably be fixed by a bipartisan agreement to increase government power. This will lead to a cycle of ever bigger problems.

It is for this reason that it is hard to watch such dedicated and well meaning people as these candidates talk about what they will do in office.

Of the two Congressional candidates, the Republican had to beg forgiveness for not showing up because he was busy passing the Fannie and Freddie legislation in Washington D.C. The Democrat candidate said business, in general, is fueled by greed and because of this the government needs to take the lead and develop alternate fuel industries. I'll bet without all the rules, regulations, subsidies, tax credits, incentives and discriminatory business legislation passed over the last 100 years, private industry would have produced a viable alternative fuel industry by now.

The candidates for State representative didn't talk about a reduced role for government either, but rather cordially agreed that they were both for God and country and that they should do something about controlling insurance rates. Government should no more be in the business of setting insurance rates than they should be in determining what you eat for lunch.

The public defenders didn’t talk about ensuring defendants rights, but rather they talked about how their budget was cut 10% and how they would make the best of that. Eventually, the ill effects of Federal warrantless wiretaps, warrantless home searches, and monitoring citizens will work their way to Okaloosa County. Will they stand against these erosions of our Republic?

To their credit, the candidates for Sheriff did talk about faithfully applying due process, limiting costs, and apprehending illegal immigrants, but in the process of doing so one candidate talked about how the government can legally do a background check on a citizen by simply starting a conversation. We are not yet at the point of producing our papers at the order of the state, but we are getting close.

The candidates for County Commission also didn't seem interested in limits to government. They talked about stimulating markets by somehow bringing in jobs, building reservoirs, and having an effective road development plan. I did not hear one of them mention lowering taxes for everyone, the sure fire way of creating more jobs. A Democratic candidate was quite refreshing in his honesty when he said (paraphrased) "I’m a Democrat. We believe government should be in everything." The candidates also talked about a special tax for people who live on or near beaches. It seems to me nothing would kill property values faster than taxing it more.

What, then, are they missing? A libertarian mindset. A commitment to individual rights, free markets and limited government that alone can produce lasting prosperity and the opportunity for individual happiness. It used to be the foundation for just about everything we did in the USA, but now politics is always about more government power.

And that ain’t what the USA is supposed to be about.

Peter J. Blome

(Peter J. Blome is a retired military officer and Secretary of the Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County. He can be contacted at blomep@cox.net)

The Mid Bay Bridge takes its toll

2008-04-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

If you work in Destin and live north of the bay, you probably use the Mid Bay Bridge. The bridge costs you $3 a day, or $15 a week, or $780 a year.

That is a significant sum of money, and about half of all people who use the bridge have the Sunpass system implying they have regular business on the Emerald Coast. Just imagine if the bridge tolls were reduced to 50 cents or so, mainly to maintain and operate the bridge. People would keep in their pocket a yearly amount equal to the individual Federal tax rebate.

So why doesn’t that happen?

Tolls are about government priorities, and, like most government bureaucracies, the Mid Bay Bridge Authority (MBBA) is focused on expansion. They expanded the toll plaza, they want to expand the access road from SR20 to the bridge, and periodically the idea of a second span gets floated in the press. Growth is so American and seems to be what matters to the MBBA, not necessarily the most bridge for the least cost.

Bridge use has gone down the last two years, and future traffic will probably be less. So is this focus on growth wise? Times are hard in the USA, and they are going to get harder. Growth plans that expect an increase in automobile traffic like we’ve seen in the USA for the last 50 years fly in the face of permanently higher fuel prices and a weaker economy. There is a real chance of having the tolls support more road than we need.

But reducing debt and passing on the savings to the public is guaranteed to be the most bridge for the least cost. A review of how bridge money has been used shows that paying off debt has not been a priority. As of 2007, the MBBA accumulated $155 million in current bond debts. In the previous 14 years of operation they paid off $10 million in bonds plus $15 million loaned to it by the Okaloosa County Commissioners. They have also made $117 million in interest payments.

At the same time, the MBBA collected $413 million in total revenue, and are now sitting on $93 million in cash and investments.

Considering the bridge cost only $67 million to build in the first place, and recently had a $6.5 million toll booth expansion, the MBBA seems to be accumulating a nice nest egg at your expense.

Paying off debt and reducing tolls is in the County's best interest. Besides the obvious benefit of everyone paying less, there would probably be a boost to local business as people have more money to spend on stuff they like instead of an extra tax to get to work. Visitors here would have extra money to spend on businesses that line the route. An additional benefit would be less funding in general for the government bureaucracy that, as any Libertarian knows, would hinder other unnecessary growth.

The residents of Okaloosa County are far from powerless in this matter. The MBBA must submit its operating budget every year to the Board of County Commissioners for approval. Paraphrasing the amendments to the Florida statutes (FS 86-465 and FS 88-542), the County Commissioners may increase or reduce the total amount requested under the provisions of the bridge budget as the County Commission deems advisable. Let your commissioner know that lower tolls are better than expansions that will take decades to pay for.

After all, the only thing worse than having to pay a high toll is for your kids to pay a higher one for underused roads.

Peter J. Blome

(Peter J. Blome is a retired military officer and Secretary of the Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County. He can be contacted at blomep@cox.net)

Individuals, Not Government, Keep U.S. Strong

2008-02-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

America is strong not because of its military or economy, but because of its way of life.

Our way of life is founded on the individual. What has made this country powerful is the protection of individual rights. Without it, there would be no general creation of wealth, fewer fruits from individual initiative, and neither safety nor satisfaction in daily life. The Bill of Rights, private property, ability to freely contract and limits to government power are as much about keeping our country strong as they are letting people pursue their own brand of happiness.

But I cannot help seeing changes in the nature of our government that threaten this wonderful way of life we enjoy.

Consider a short sample of how we live today.

Our President has been opening the mail, tapping phones and emails, collecting business information and even getting library book records using National Security Letters, all done without any court warrants. The victims of these searches have been warned that if they say anything to anyone that they have been searched, they are liable to imprisonment. National security Letters have been used hundreds of thousands of times.

All international travel by US citizens must be approved by the Department of Homeland Security before a carrier can let you on board. All travelers to the USA must also be pre-approved and fingerprinted upon entry.

The domestic train system, AMTRACK, recently started a program of random searches of passengers, both their person and their baggage.

Every private financial transaction of every American citizen greater than $5000 must be reported to the Department of Homeland Security. Many banks have voluntarily reduced the reporting amount to $2500.

Since 1990 all Presidents have issued more than a thousand amendments to law in the form of "signing statements: in which they say which part of the law they will follow and which part they will not. Congress and the Supreme Court make no challenge.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia said he considered it wrong for the judiciary to outlaw torture of non US citizens outside areas of the USA. In the case of Kelo vs New London Connecticut the court gave approval to a local government to confiscate the land of homeowners so the government could sell it to a private business and collect more taxes.

The Military Tribunals Acts of 2006 created two systems of American justice; one that has the protection of the Bill of Rights, and the other reserved for people charged as "illegal combatants." Illegal combatants can be executed on hearsay evidence or evidence gained from torture. They may never get to choose their own lawyer, cross examine their accuser, or be allowed to see the evidence itself if it is too sensitive. Even if a defendant is found innocent under this unjust system, the ex-defendant may be held in prison indefinitely anyway.

Our government openly admits it conducted rendition flights of prisoners from the USA to locations where we have maintained secret prisons and torture is used.

American citizens have been held without charges for months, and in one case for years, in direct violation of the concept of habeus corpus. Former Attorney General Gonzales actually said to the Senate that the Constitution does not guarantee habeus corpus.

Our nation is currently fighting its fourth undeclared war. Officially, the war has claimed at least 6000 American lives and cost at least one trillion dollars.

The expense has been funded by borrowing from overseas and printing money. That is leading to inflation. Already pennies and nickels are worth more for their metal content than their face value. It has even become a felony to leave this country with more than a handful of either coin in your pocket or to melt them down.

It is taken for granted that taxation should be used to force social policy. It is taken for granted that government can favor one business or person over another.

Finally, in the face of one of the worst economic downturn in decades, most candidates continue to bribe voters with their own money by talking about expanding federal health care, and bailing banks and homeowners out of their mortgages.

All of this has not made the USA, or the individual citizen, stronger. It has merely led to greater dependency on government and infringed liberties. In the misguided pursuit of quick fixes our leaders are turning us into the very thing we used to despise.

It is foolish to continue down this path. The way to stop it is by a commitment to maintain individual rights.

Peter J. Blome

(Peter J. Blome is a retired military officer and Secretary of the Libertarian Party of Okaloosa County. He can be reached at blomep@cox.net)