There’s a lot of fear going around about ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a plurilateral agreement under the WTO between the US, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Morocco. Some of the fears look real, some don’t. For example, even though it was negotiated in secret, the text is easily available.

Another false complaint is that it’s another SOPA, when in fact such a claim misses the point. SOPA was a bad bill, as it turned out to be a censorship bill that defied due process, but the intent was to fight the problem of free riding on copyright and trademark. Crossing international boundaries has been a cheap and easy way to cash in on another country’s copyright and trademark laws without having to abide by them. SOPA tried to fix that in a crude, rude, and ineffective way. ACTA has more options, and doesn’t have to resort to censorship, necessarily.

I’ve just read the treaty. I don’t really see a problem. Even if infringement isn’t ruining the movies and music, trademark and copyright are Constitutional concepts worthy of protection. That’s why some of the anti-SOPA leaders are promoting their own bill.

The pro-liberty position is not one of anarchy. It’s time to get reasonable protections in place. Maybe I missed something, and ACTA is a problem. But the best argument I see against ACTA is that it only includes a few countries, and not those best known for infringement (such as China, either China in fact). ACTA may yet be harmless but ineffective, as opposed to SOPA being harmful and ineffective.

Read More →

There’s a lot of fear going around about ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a plurilateral agreement under the WTO between the US, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Morocco. Some of the fears look real, some don’t. For example, even though it was negotiated in secret, the text is easily available.

Another false complaint is that it’s another SOPA, when in fact such a claim misses the point. SOPA was a bad bill, as it turned out to be a censorship bill that defied due process, but the intent was to fight the problem of free riding on copyright and trademark. Crossing international boundaries has been a cheap and easy way to cash in on another country’s copyright and trademark laws without having to abide by them. SOPA tried to fix that in a crude, rude, and ineffective way. ACTA has more options, and doesn’t have to resort to censorship, necessarily.

I’ve just read the treaty. I don’t really see a problem. Even if infringement isn’t ruining the movies and music, trademark and copyright are Constitutional concepts worthy of protection. That’s why some of the anti-SOPA leaders are promoting their own bill.

The pro-liberty position is not one of anarchy. It’s time to get reasonable protections in place. Maybe I missed something, and ACTA is a problem. But the best argument I see against ACTA is that it only includes a few countries, and not those best known for infringement (such as China, either China in fact). ACTA may yet be harmless but ineffective, as opposed to SOPA being harmful and ineffective.

Read More →

There’s a lot of fear going around about ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a plurilateral agreement under the WTO between the US, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Morocco. Some of the fears look real, some don’t. For example, even though it was negotiated in secret, the text is easily available.

Another false complaint is that it’s another SOPA, when in fact such a claim misses the point. SOPA was a bad bill, as it turned out to be a censorship bill that defied due process, but the intent was to fight the problem of free riding on copyright and trademark. Crossing international boundaries has been a cheap and easy way to cash in on another country’s copyright and trademark laws without having to abide by them. SOPA tried to fix that in a crude, rude, and ineffective way. ACTA has more options, and doesn’t have to resort to censorship, necessarily.

I’ve just read the treaty. I don’t really see a problem. Even if infringement isn’t ruining the movies and music, trademark and copyright are Constitutional concepts worthy of protection. That’s why some of the anti-SOPA leaders are promoting their own bill.

The pro-liberty position is not one of anarchy. It’s time to get reasonable protections in place. Maybe I missed something, and ACTA is a problem. But the best argument I see against ACTA is that it only includes a few countries, and not those best known for infringement (such as China, either China in fact). ACTA may yet be harmless but ineffective, as opposed to SOPA being harmful and ineffective.

Read More →

There seems to be a lot of happy talk surrounding Barack Obama’s recent trip to Capitol Hill, and his attempt to sell his stimulus bill to Republicans by adding a few ‘tax cuts.’  But bipartisan bonhomie notwithstanding, there’s no more reason to embrace Barack Obama’s stimulus plan today than there was a week ago.

It is still a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars, will do nothing to help the economy, and will blow an even bigger hole in a deficit that has risen from $162 billion to $1.2 trillion annually since Democrats took control of Congress. What Obama is selling and what he’s offering are two different things.  While the economy needs a genuine stimulus, Obama is offering to ‘spread the wealth.’  And in so doing, he’s brazenly disregarding his read-my-lips campaign pledge to offer a net spending cut at a time when everyone else is tightening their belts.

Under the proposal, as presently described, successful businesses would get no tax cuts.  Unsuccessful businesses would get taxpayer subsidies.  The government would be all in with respect to picking winners and losers in what used to be the free market.  Likewise, Obama’s “tax cuts” are actually an end run around welfare reform — giving the most money to people who pay little or no taxes, then taking that money away if they get a pay raise or a better job. Nothing proposed by Obama — not the infrastructure spending, not the aid to the states, and not the redistributive tax cuts — would help create jobs or wealth.  In fact, taxing the people of each state to give money back to their own state government isn’t just robbing Peter to pay Paul, it’s robbing Peter to pay Peter.  If states need to raise more revenue, let their governors make that case directly to their taxpayers.

The best plan we are aware of to create jobs and wealth starts with making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent.  These reductions in capital gains taxes and dividend taxes, as well as the elimination of the death tax, are far more likely to get the economy moving again than anything proposed by Barack Obama or his Congressional allies. Absent that, there is no reason for Congressional Republicans to lend support in the crafting of an ineffective and wasteful pork barrel bill. 

If the Democrats will not make the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, the GOP should not even hint at supporting the Democrats’ plan. Two Republican Senators, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, are already suggesting they can work with Barack Obama on his “tax cuts” as presented.  Just callling something a tax cut does not make it so, just as calling something a stimulus does not make it so. 

Mitch McConnell, Saxby Chambliss, and the rest of the Republican caucus could probably use some encouragement to avoid the siren song of tax cuts and stimulus before they lend their support to a bill that is neither.

There seems to be a lot of happy talk surrounding Barack Obama’s recent trip to Capitol Hill, and his attempt to sell his stimulus bill to Republicans by adding a few ‘tax cuts.’  But bipartisan bonhomie notwithstanding, there’s no more reason to embrace Barack Obama’s stimulus plan today than there was a week ago.

It is still a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars, will do nothing to help the economy, and will blow an even bigger hole in a deficit that has risen from $162 billion to $1.2 trillion annually since Democrats took control of Congress. What Obama is selling and what he’s offering are two different things.  While the economy needs a genuine stimulus, Obama is offering to ‘spread the wealth.’  And in so doing, he’s brazenly disregarding his read-my-lips campaign pledge to offer a net spending cut at a time when everyone else is tightening their belts.

Under the proposal, as presently described, successful businesses would get no tax cuts.  Unsuccessful businesses would get taxpayer subsidies.  The government would be all in with respect to picking winners and losers in what used to be the free market.  Likewise, Obama’s “tax cuts” are actually an end run around welfare reform — giving the most money to people who pay little or no taxes, then taking that money away if they get a pay raise or a better job. Nothing proposed by Obama — not the infrastructure spending, not the aid to the states, and not the redistributive tax cuts — would help create jobs or wealth.  In fact, taxing the people of each state to give money back to their own state government isn’t just robbing Peter to pay Paul, it’s robbing Peter to pay Peter.  If states need to raise more revenue, let their governors make that case directly to their taxpayers.

The best plan we are aware of to create jobs and wealth starts with making the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent.  These reductions in capital gains taxes and dividend taxes, as well as the elimination of the death tax, are far more likely to get the economy moving again than anything proposed by Barack Obama or his Congressional allies. Absent that, there is no reason for Congressional Republicans to lend support in the crafting of an ineffective and wasteful pork barrel bill. 

If the Democrats will not make the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, the GOP should not even hint at supporting the Democrats’ plan. Two Republican Senators, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, are already suggesting they can work with Barack Obama on his “tax cuts” as presented.  Just callling something a tax cut does not make it so, just as calling something a stimulus does not make it so. 

Mitch McConnell, Saxby Chambliss, and the rest of the Republican caucus could probably use some encouragement to avoid the siren song of tax cuts and stimulus before they lend their support to a bill that is neither.

https://www.saxby.org/Contribute.aspx

Greetings to my friends, family and extended family. Last week on November 4 we as conservatives and Republicans took a huge drubbing in the general and Presidential elections. Democrats now have a huge chance to reshape not only the political landscape but to affect the very way we live our lives. I am not trying to spread fear or to make people paranoid but we need to realize the gravity of the situation.

But the news is not all bad. Saxby Chambliss the Republican senator from Georgia won his senate race thereby ensuring that the Democrats do not have a filibuster proof majority in that house. Unfortunately Chambliss won less that %50 of the vote which means he faces a runoff election on December 2nd against his democratic challenger Jim Martin.

The Obama camp, seeing an opportunity to get closer to the 60 votes they need to override vetoes in the senate, are pouring money and people in to Georgia to help defeat Saxby. And he needs our help, he has to campaign again since the Democrats are going to be working very hard to change people’s minds.

So here is the proposition: we are going to drop a Money Bomb on Georgia! We are not going to give large amounts of money, we are regular people, but there are a lot of us. If each of us donates just $5 but also gets all of our friends on facebook and our email buddies to donate $5 we can truly make a difference. Our power comes not from our wallets but from our connections to friends through a common goal.

So here’s the deal, Money Bomb this Saturday. Mark it on your calendar: on Saturday November 15 donate $5 to the Saxby Chambliss campaign. Your job is twofold, first is obviously to donate $5(more if you can) on Saturday morning using this link: https://www.saxby.org/Contribute.aspx . Second and probably MORE important is to send that link to all of your friends, post it on your facebook, writ about it in your blog and write emails to all of your friends. You have two days to get the word out the key is not how much you donate but how many donators you can recruit.

We can do this, we can make a difference, our way of life literally depends on it. The liberals in the Democratic party have signaled that they are going to do whatever it takes to enact their agenda. Which includes but is not limited too:
-Return of the “fairness doctrine” to silence Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity etc
-The repealing of all abortion laws including parental consent and partial birth laws
-Return of the death tax
-Repealing of all the Bush tax cuts, including the return of the death tax

And that’s just a few. Democrats have also signaled that they will force all Democrats to toe the leftist line, including the Southern Democrats who won by running on conservative platforms. So there will be no dealing, filibusters are literally our only defense against liberal attempts to remake this great Country.

All it takes is $5 and the courage to share your enthusiasm for what you believe with the people around you. It’s not too late to make a difference, pass the word on!