Washington State Considers Sovereignty
The state of Washington is among those with the issue of state sovereignty now on the agenda. Seven Republican State Representatives, with districts comprising much of rural Eastern Washington, have proposed House Joint Memorial 4009.
HJM 4009 claims sovereignty for the state based on the intent of the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and would demand that the federal government immediately cease and desist “all mandates that are beyond the scope of its constitutionally delegated powers.”
The Memorial quotes Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and even Alexander Hamilton in arguing for limited government and references New York v United States (1992).
The proposal does not mention secession but it is implied in the tone of the document. Secession from the more liberal metropolitan areas west of the Cascades has been widely discussed in the eastern areas of Washington and Oregon over the past several years. Secession from the federal government might find less support.
To discuss this issue further head over to the Secession Now! group on Bureaucrash Social, start a blog or comment on the discussion and blog posts dealing with state’s rights and secession. For more information on reducing the scope of the leviathan federal government be sure to read the Don’t Tread and Politics Hurt Intel overviews.
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Print This Conversation with the Libertarian Party
A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Austin Peterson of the Libertarian Party to talk about Bureaucrash. Though initially shot to help introduce Bureaucrash to those in the LP’s sphere, it was posted to Bureaucrash Social last week and I thought it’d fit well here as well, as it touches on Bureaucrash’s background, mission, and our plans moving forward.
Check it out and if you have some thoughts or questions, please share ‘em!
Thanks again for this opportunity Austin, Mark and the LP.
Email This Print This Expanding the Family Medical Leave Act Means Contracting Liberty
While the Obama Administration has been quick to push forward with The Stimulus Package, other acts on the table may decrease liberty with little attention. The Independent Women’s Forum has an excellent survey of one of these acts: The Family Medical Leave Act Expansion (FMLA).
Perhaps it is better to get it straight from the horse’s mouth. Below is a quote from the Obama/Biden website that sums up their vision for the FMLA exspansion:
“Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): The FMLA covers only certain employees of employers with 50 or more employees. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand the FMLA to cover businesses with 25 or more employees. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand the FMLA to cover more purposes as well, including allowing workers to take leave for elder care needs; allowing parents up to 24 hours of leave each year to participate in their children’s academic activities at school; allowing leave to be taken for purposes of caring for individuals who reside in their home for 6 months or more; and expanding FMLA to cover leave for employees to address domestic violence and sexual assault.”
This expansion essentially (further) increases the price of employing people. For those students of economics out there, when price increases, we see the quantity demanded of a good decrease. According to one study, in 2004 FMLA cost employers $21 Billion. That may be chump change for the government, but in the real word, that’s serious cash. Add that to the perverse incentive structure the FMLA expansion creates. I’m no business leader, but I’m certain that some are seriously considering getting below 25 employees to avoid this costly regulation.
Not only are the economic ramifications of this expansion harmful, but the fact that the expansion has happened with little notice is most alarming. The personal liberty voluntary exchange of labor services is slowly diminishing because of regulation (i.e., force).
The good news is that there is still time for you to be heard on this issue even though Congress wants to slip it in unnoticed. To chat about it with other liberty lovers, check out Bureaucrash Social.
Email This Print This Lesson (not) Learned
By J. Nick Puglia | 11 February 2009With the politicos arguing what should, and should not, be in the inevitable stimulus bill, the American people are probably scratching their heads en masse and wondering why these politicians have not learned the lessons of the Panic of 1819.
Well, that’s probably incorrect. The fact is that most Americans have never even heard of the Panic of 1819.
How can it be that what economist Murray Rothbard referred to as “America’s first great economic crisis” can be so unheard of among the American people? The answer is simple. The economic downturn that began in 1819 was short-lived as government chose not to intervene.
President Monroe, in opposition to the counsel of many of his advisers, resisted the temptation to try to artificially correct the recession. The crisis ran its course and the economy began bouncing back in about two years.
Economists of the Austrian school were the ones to predict the current economic crisis but our leaders are relying on those of the Keynesian school to learn from their mistakes and pull us out of it.
To discuss this issue further head over to the Austrian Economics or Stop the Government “Bailouts” groups on Bureaucrash Social and start a blog or comment on dozens of discussions and blog posts dealing with the stimulus package. For more information on free market solutions and how individuals would be better served if the government would just get out of the way, be sure to read the Progressives Against Progress and Enjoy Capitalism Intel overviews.
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