Red Clay Citizen

The 4th of July: The Reason for the Season

Don't forget why we eat hotdogs and watch fireworks.

...and ask yourself, would the revolutionaries of yesterday like what they saw in our state and federal governments if they could see them today?
-Max Borders

Supreme Court Strikes Down DC Gun Ban

A victory for individual rights.
-Max Borders

Facist is to Nazi as Progressive is to Socialist

Randall O'Toole is dropping truth bombs on so-called progressives:

It is time for the progressive philosophy to join this list of politically unacceptable beliefs. At the moment, many people view “progressive” in a positive way that is not in keeping with its history or the beliefs of many of its current practitioners.

As the Antiplanner noted yesterday, it is ironic that the cities that have promoted policies that make housing unaffordable and push low-income people out like to call themselves progressive. This is only ironic because progressives love to pretend they care about minorities and low-income people. History, however, shows otherwise...

More generally, what do progressives believe today? One progressive recently noted that progressives think that:

1. “Health care is a basic human right.” In other words, they believe it is okay to confiscate your income to pay for someone else’s healthcare. If healthcare, then why not someone else’s housing, food, and other needs? As a matter of fact, progressives believe it is okay to confiscate your income to pay for those things too.

2. “Human rights ought always to trump property rights.” What human rights are we talking about? Freedom of speech, religion, the press, and other rights in the Bill of Rights do not in any way conflict with property rights (which are also in the Bill of Rights). Only such “new” rights as health care.

3. “Think that as a society we have a collective obligation to provide everyone who is willing and able to work with a job that pays a living wage and offers dignity.” Does that mean that the government should make work — digging holes and filling them up — just to give people a job? What if digging holes is not “dignified” enough for them?

4. “Think that regulating big corporations isn’t enough, and that such corporations, if they are allowed to exist at all, must either serve the common good or be put into public receivership.” But whoever gets to define the “common good” effectively becomes dictator.

5. “Think it’s wrong to allow individuals to accumulate wealth without limits, and that the highest incomes should be capped well before they begin to threaten community and democracy.” Just how does Bill Gates or Warren Buffet threaten community and democracy?

The list goes on. Someone else might be able to distinguish between “progressivism” and “socialism,” but I can’t.

I can't either. Nor can they.
-Max Borders

Collectivism v. Individualism

The never-ending struggle between the collectivists and the individualists is becoming more clearly articulated these days, as evinced by this, this and this.

I think Boaz sums things up nicely:

The real issue is that Messrs. Obama and McCain are telling us Americans that our normal lives are not good enough, that pursuing our own happiness is "self-indulgence," that building a business is "chasing after our money culture," that working to provide a better life for our families is a "narrow concern."

They're wrong. Every human life counts. Your life counts. You have a right to live it as you choose, to follow your bliss. You have a right to seek satisfaction in accomplishment. And if you chase after the almighty dollar, you just might find that you are led, as if by an invisible hand, to do things that improve the lives of others.
-Max Borders

Pro-life and Family Legislation

Here is a rundown of the pro-life and family legislation introduced during the 2007-2008 session:

ABORTION/REPRODUCTIVE ISSUES

H 1782 Ultrasound Before An Abortion
H 419 State Health Plan/No Abortion Coverage
H 1552 WRTK-Woman's Right to Know
S 481 Notarized Consent for Minor's Abortion
H 420 Abortion-Parental Consent Notarized
S 480 No Abortion Coverage/State Health Plan
H 155 Conscience Protection/Health Care Providers
S 897 Choose Life Special Registration Plate
H 1774 Born Alive Infant Protection Act
S 968 Born Alive Infant Protection Act

FETAL HOMICIDE
H 263 Unborn Victims of Violence
S 295 Fetal Murder

SEXUAL/EMOTIONAL EDUCATION
H 879 Modify School Health Education Program
S 664 Social-Emotional Curriculum in Public Schools

MARRIAGE
H 493 Defense of Marriage
S 1608 Defense of Marriage
S 13 Defense of Marriage

HOMOSEXUALITY
H 1366 School Violence Prevention Act

VACCINES
S 1018 Vaccine Requirements/School Entry
S 710 Immunization Changes-AB

See, also, our recap from last session.

And, if we missed anything, please let us know.