Conservatism---a Magnificent Philosophy

Today a quote from Mark Levin. This is one to keep handy, perhaps to memorize.

Conservatism is not a narrow philosophy......it is the philosophy of the Founding Fathers. It is the philosophy of liberty, opportunity, private property, national security.

It is a philosophy that promotes the liberation of the individual, that nurtures competition, and that embraces all people regardless of who they are, or where they have been.

It is a philosophy that rejects the authoritarianism of the few, of the politician, of the bureaucrat; and promotes limited, stable and predictable government authority.

It is a philosophy that rejects the bankrupting of future generations to pay for the benefits of the current generation.

It is a philosophy that expects its citizens to abide by a just and righteous and predictable law and demands the same from aliens who cross our borders illegally.

It is a philosophy which emphasizes the family and faith, over government.

Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny. It's the only one. It's based on thousands of years of human experience. There is nothing narrow about the conservative philosophy. It's a liberating philosophy.

It is a magnificent philosophy.

It is a philosophy for the ages, for all times.

---Mark Levin on the radio
April 28th, 2009

Photo courtesy of Ivy Dawned.

Conservatives need to be able to express what they believe in. I bet Levin's description of the Conservative philosophy rings true with a great many Americans who are worried about the culture of unaffordable lollipops the current administration is hell-bent on creating.

How to listen to more from Mark Levin:
Download full podcasts of the The Mark Levin Show show via iTunes.
Listen on local radio.
Listen on XM on 166.
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So Many Friedmans (And Krugmans), So Little Time

If you are like me, you will probably have quite a long reading list, perhaps over at Goodreads.com, and you are not sure what to read first. Here is a little quiz which might help you. Multiple guess!



Which Friedman said it? Tom or Milton?

• We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.
• If you don`t visit the bad neighborhoods, the bad neighborhoods are going to visit you.

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Who said it? Milton Friedman or Paul Krugman?

• “But the vitriol also reflects the fact that many of the people at the Republican National Convention, for all their flag-waving, hate America. They want a controlled, monolithic society; they fear and loathe our nation's freedom, diversity and complexity.
• A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.

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Who said it? Milton Friedman or Paul Krugman?

• “The fundamental fact of American politics - and I've sharpened my view on this since last year and the hardcover edition of the book - is that we've got an alliance between the religious right and the accumulators of great wealth. Those are the people who are running things.”
• “What kind of society isn't structured on greed? The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm; capitalism is that kind of a system”

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Which Friedman said it? Tom or Milton?

• I basically did all the library research for this book on Google, and it not only saved me enormous amounts of time but actually gave me a much richer offering of research
• The most important ways in which I think the Internet will affect the big issue is that it will make it more difficult for government to collect taxes.

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Which Friedman said it? Tom or Milton?

• The hidden hand of the market will never work without a hidden fist.
• Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.

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Which Friedman said it? Tom or Milton?

• The historical debate is over. The answer is free-market capitalism. (Okay, so can we start acting on that now, please?)
  
• Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

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Who said it? Milton Friedman or Paul Krugman?

• “Those tax cuts, rather than the spending binge, are the primary cause of the (federal) deficit.” (Wow, did a nobel prize winning economist SERIOUSLY say that?)
  
• “The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.” (Now you're talking!)

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So who should you read? The author who prefers FREEDOM? Or those more interested in creating TYRANNY? The answer of course, is ALL OF THE ABOVE. How else are you going to know what is going on in this crazy world?

Listen Up, Obama

Who said these wise words? Were these sentiments more likely uttered by Abraham Lincoln, or by his would-be protege, Barack Obama?

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."

I think we all know the answer. Obama is not thinking in Lincolnian terms. But he most certainly SHOULD. Obama will get it right if he changes direction and takes to heart the words of our sixteenth president. Abraham Lincoln knew better than to destroy the initiative and independence of the people of this great country, by instituting an array of massive big government programs full of unaffordable lollipops designed to do for them what they could and should do for themselves.

Telling it like it is

Quotations from the week:

I can't think of any ongoing enterprise in the history of mankind that is well managed by a government.
------Larry Kudlow, CNBC

We're going to be in this recession a lot longer than we thought, because as soon as we start emerging, high taxes are going to put us right back down.
--------Maria Bartiromo, CNBC

Big government is back and the Democrats are asking you to pay for it.
--------John Boehner, House Republican Leader

Socialism: it works! by WINDYDESIGN
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People are getting angry about the big spending and have started to assemble in cities across the country.
Some talking points from the New American Tea Party.

1. This is a non-partisan event — in fact, it’s critical of both parties — large-scale government interventions into the free market were kicked off under Bush, and Obama’s doing no better.

2. The American taxpayer is better at spending his money than the government. If you ask your average taxpayer if he wanted to spend millions of dollars on golf course renovations, you could be sure he’d say no.

3. Small business owners are the backbone of the economy, not large failing corporations. Amping up regulations only hurts these businesses.

4. It is our *optimism* that guides our frustration. We believe so strongly in the ingenuity and hard work of the American people, that we feel big government measures will only get in the way of their success.