cozcommunio

George Weigel in a recent column ask the question ” What’s right about the West, about this unique civilizational enterprise formed by the fruitful interaction of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome - biblical religion, rationality, and the idea of a law-governed polity?”

The short answer is Openness, Freedom, Knowledge, Generosity, Beauty, and Humor.

The full article is brief check it out:

http://www.archden.org/dcr/news.php?e=461&s=3&a=9710

The facebook message was: Freedom-loving individuals would gather in the Jefferson Memorial just before midnight, April 13, and spend ten minutes bopping, swaying and moonwalking to honor the birthday of the author of the Declaration of Independence. The Jefferson Memorial is open 24 hours and the facebook birthday group of about 20 planned on wearing ipod headsets so as not to disturb other visitors. After four minutes of quiet dancing the U.S. Park Police told the group to leave. When one dancer questioned why, she was arrested and handcuffed. Here are links to American Spectator article and youtube video:

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13056

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujrSAJ1b6Go

Now that there is a lot of talk about the country going in to a recession we have two presidential candidates,Clinton and Obama, that want to increase taxes and move toward increased protectionism. They want to pull out of NAFTA or rewrite NAFTA. Hillary is calling for a pause in free trade.

These are ideas right out of Herbert Hoover’s play book for turning a reccession in to a depression. Hoover signed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in 1930 which raised the taxes (tariff) on over 20,000 items. This tariff set off a wave of protectionist retaliation that undid the globalization of the 1920’s. In 1932 Hoover undid the Calvin Coolidge-Andrew Mellon tax cuts, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 63% from 25%. Higher taxes and protectionism take freedom away from the people and lead to disastrous economy. Free trade and free market are the answers to our economic problems not more money and control going to the political class in Washington.

Big Labor is planning to spend in the area of a billion this election year: AFL-CIO, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, National Education Association, Service Employees International Union and others.  The unions want to win the trifecta, the White House,the House of Representatives and a filibuster proof Senate.   Kim Strassel at Wall Street Journal has a very enlighting article on this today.  Here are the highlights:

How bad does Big Labor want this? Consider what it will get if that money pays off. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama have already pledged a rewrite of Nafta and an end to more trade deals. Both promise to throw government money at new union-only jobs, to boost unemployment insurance, to penalize companies that hire overseas, and to take a run at “universal” health care.

To this, unions will add passage of “card check,” which would outlaw secret ballots in union organizing elections. Alongside will be legislation to make union officials the exclusive bargaining agents of most police, fire and rescue personnel. Then there’s the biggie – so big that most officials don’t talk about it publicly. Tucked into the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act is a provision called 14(b), which allows for “right to work” states. Big Labor last took a run at deleting this section, and forcing more unionization, in the Johnson administration. With a filibuster-proof Senate, they’d have a far better shot.

Unions want a Department of Labor that will sit on corruption cases, water down financial disclosure rules, and turn a blind eye to the use of pension funds to influence boardroom decisions. The National Labor Relations Board has three vacancies, which Senate Democrats will refuse to fill this year. Big Labor’s own slate would include people favorable to proposals to allow “mini-unions” within corporate workplaces, or to rework job definitions to bring more positions under the union umbrella.

Here is the link to full article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120726663082588243.html?mod=djemEditorialPage