Sin, Responsibility, and the Fall of Bernie Madoff

(Originally published at the Acton PowerBlog: http://blog.acton.org)

“Only if there are new human beings will there be a new world, a renewed and better world.”

When the Pope said these words at Vespers on Sunday, perhaps he had Bernie Madoff in mind.

Today, Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for defrauding his investors of nearly $65 billion over the course of 20 years. His corruption and crimes ruined the livelihoods of thousands of businesspeople, charity workers, and families that trusted his sterling reputation to protect everything that they had worked to earn.

Unfortunately, Madoff is not the only man to have betrayed his financial responsibilities to others. The last few years saw financial scandals at Enron and WorldCom shake the public’s trust in corporations. Just two weeks ago, Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford was arrested by the FBI on charges that he used a bank in Antigua to mask his $8 billion fraud, stealing from his investors.

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Filibuster In July: Big Guests, Big Topics

In July, The Weekly Filibuster is heating things up with: big names, big shows, big topics, and the greatest panel in political talk radio! Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse “The Body” Ventura and former Congressman (R-GA) and 2008 Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Bob Barr will join us. Also, Alaskan GOP Chair Randy Ruedrich will field questions on Palin’s sudden decision to resign as Governor, and a number of other special guests will join us – including the Boston Tea Party’s Todd Andrew Barnett.  And as always, we’ll tackle the big stories of the week and take your calls!

Stay tuned for more details! We’ve got a few other surprises up our sleeve.

World Powers Give The Dollar A Run For Its Money

(Originally published as a letter to the editor in the Boston Globe on June 28, 2009)

BRAZIL, RUSSIA, India, and China might have been on to something when they considered dropping the American dollar as the basis for international currencies (“The world’s new power brokers,’’ Editorial, June 21). It was the inflation of the dollar during the Bush administration that lowered interest rates far beyond what the market would have allowed, meaning that far more mortgages and other loans were issued to people who wouldn’t normally be expected to be able to pay them back.

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WSJ letter to editor: Forced Purchases of Health Care Will Crush Many

(Originally published in the Wall Street Journal on June 25, 2009)

Sen. Ron Wyden’s plan to make every uninsured American buy health insurance makes about as much sense as would forcing every poverty-stricken and starving Haitian to buy food (“Wyden’s Third Way,” The Weekend Interview, June 20). Sure, having every American insure himself would save us all money from unneeded emergency room visits, but there are bigger things in the way of universal coverage than just imposing a legal mandate.

Requiring every American to buy health insurance would make millions of families change their economic priorities in ways that would lead to unfortunate consequences. Almost everyone believes that getting health insurance for themselves and their families is a high priority, but virtually no one thinks that insurance comes before food and housing. Even if the government passes the Healthy Americans Act or some other sort of mandate, and succeeds in making everyone buy insurance, the victory will be Pyrrhic. The needs that come before insurance for the 15% of Americans will still exist, but the money they use to meet these needs won’t.

According to research done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, National Public Radio, and the Harvard School of Health, health insurance costs individuals an average of $4,800 annually. The cost for families to get insurance is even higher, at around $12,000 annually. These kinds of costs would push many people over the edge financially. How does Sen. Wyden propose that we pay for more people who will be unable to afford food, housing and education if they have to pay for health insurance? Effective health-care reform would be better accomplished by other means. Sen. Wyden’s own proposals to switch America from employer-based to individual health-insurance markets, for example, would do a great amount of good by encouraging competition and innovation without making life harder for the people having the most difficult time getting insurance.

Matt Cavedon
Cambridge, Mass.

WSJ "Letter To The Editor": Forced Purchases of Health Care Will Crush Many

(Originally published in the Wall Street Journal June 25, 2009)

Sen. Ron Wyden’s plan to make every uninsured American buy health insurance makes about as much sense as would forcing every poverty-stricken and starving Haitian to buy food (“Wyden’s Third Way,” The Weekend Interview, June 20). Sure, having every American insure himself would save us all money from unneeded emergency room visits, but there are bigger things in the way of universal coverage than just imposing a legal mandate.

Requiring every American to buy health insurance would make millions of families change their economic priorities in ways that would lead to unfortunate consequences. Almost everyone believes that getting health insurance for themselves and their families is a high priority, but virtually no one thinks that insurance comes before food and housing. Even if the government passes the Healthy Americans Act or some other sort of mandate, and succeeds in making everyone buy insurance, the victory will be Pyrrhic. The needs that come before insurance for the 15% of Americans will still exist, but the money they use to meet these needs won’t.

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Did You Miss Our Last Show?

LISTEN TO WHAT YOU MISSED

What does Gov. Sanford’s affair mean for the 2012 GOP field? Does Charlie Crist stand a chance in the Florida Senate race? Is Michael Jackson’s death “dooming” the people of Iran? What does the newest climate change legislation include? Why did a GOP Rep. call it a “pile of s**t”? Is Tony Danza really the boss?

Did You Miss Ari Ne'eman?

Did you miss our roundtable with Ari Ne’eman, President of The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, about the politics of whether disability groups should be focusing on a cure or adaptability?

CLICK HERE TO CATCH THE SHOW!

This will be Ari’s second appearance on The Weekly Filibuster. He joined us on May 31st, 2009 to discuss his work and a recent profile in Newsweek magazine.

Did you catch Mike Gravel?

CLICK TO LISTEN ON DEMAND

Listen as we talk with Former U.S. Senator (D-Alaska; 1969-1981) and 2008 Democratic and Libertarian Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel, only days after returning from promoting his National Initiative (or direct democracy) proposal in South Korea.  We spoke with Gravel about his travels,Iranian elections,  the state of the nation and the Obama presidency thus far.

This was Senator Gravel’s third appearance on The Weekly Filibuster.  We last spoke with the Senator and The Huffington Post’s Joe Lauria about their book A Political Odyssey on July 13, 2008.  The Senator first appeared on April 13, 2008 to talk about his decision to leave the Democratic Party to seek the Libertarian Party nomination for President.

Give Letterman a break

Right wing opportunists have been going crazy this week over a few jokes by the newly re-crowned king of late night, David Letterman.  For his nightly “Top Ten list” on Tuesday, Letterman focused on the Alaska Governor’s recent trip to New York City. 

Letterman controversially joked that Palin went to Bloomingdales to perfect her “slutty pilot look,” and joked that “one awkward moment [came] for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by [New York Yankees adulterer] Alex Rodriguez.”

Governor Palin and her husband Todd attacked Letterman, accusing him of making “perverted jokes” about their 14-year-old daughter Willow, who was traveling with Alaska’s first couple during their time in the Empire City.

Give me a break.

Were Letterman’s in poor taste?  Yes.
Was Letterman making off-color jokes about a minor?  No.

Let’s be clear–anyone with a brain knows that Letterman wasn’t joking about Palin’s teenage daughter, Willow.  Letterman was very clearly joking about A-Rod knocking up Palin’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Bristol–the one that actually got knocked up.

Just Say No. Well… Kind Of

Californians, facing a $21 billion budget shortfall, are now clamoring for a bailout of their own. I have very little sympathy for them. For years, with a growing economy, they irresponsibly demanded a massive expansion of government services along with a decline in the taxes that would pay for them. Citizens must, in one way or another, be brought to understand that those are competing desires. For too long, our politicians have told an all-too-ready-to-believe populace that they could have tax cuts and benefit increases. That is the conservative myth of supply-side economics. It is nothing but a license to abuse the government coffers.

In 1978, at the height of California’s conservative renaissance, the voters passed Proposition 13, an amendment to the California constitution to require any tax increases to pass with a 2/3rds vote and capped property taxes. The cap slashed property taxes by an average of over 50% according to government records. California might have been able to sustain such a blow, but the 64.8% of Californians who voted for Proposition 13 also elected a series of State Governments that cut all manner of taxes.

Mike Gravel LIVE this Sunday

Join us this Sunday at 10PM ET as we talk with Former U.S. Senator (D-Alaska; 1969-1981) and 2008 Democratic and Libertarian Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel, only days after returning from promoting his National Initiative (or direct democracy) proposal in South Korea.  We’ll talk with Gravel about his travels, the state of the nation and the Obama presidency thus far.

Senator Gravel will take your calls at (347) 205-9993.

RETURN HERE on SUNDAY AT 10PM ET to LISTEN LIVE!

This will be Senator Gravel’s third appearance on The Weekly Filibuster.  We last spoke with the Senator and The Huffington Post’s Joe Lauria about their book A Political Odyssey on July 13, 2008.  The Senator first appeared on April 13, 2008 to talk about his decision to leave the Democratic Party to seek the Libertarian Party nomination for President.

Virginia Democratic Primary Results – Deeds Wins

Creigh Deeds won the Democratic Party’s Gubernatorial Primary on Tuesday night with nearly 50% of the vote. Two weeks ago it appeared that Terry McAuliffe would win the nomination in close competition with Brian Moran. At that point, the polling looked like McAuliffe would get a huge lift from northern Virginia but relatively little support anywhere else, especially in the most rural areas. Not only that, but McAuliffe was able to raise over $7 million for his primary challenge alone.

However, that was just not how it turned out. About a week ago, McAuliffe, by some polls, fell nearly ten percent: firmly into second place. Creigh Deeds, who was a long shot behind McAuliffe and Moran just a week and a half ago, was able to make a strong showing in northern Virginia. His more moderate positions and rhetoric helped him gain way in the south and west. The result was a massive swing of undecideds to his candidacy in the final week.

Sunday, The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza joined us to preview the race.  Click here to listen.

Enough! Close Guantanamo Bay

Opponents of closing Guantanamo ask questions like: where will you put them? In the United States? In American Prisons?

Yes!!! Every year we trust those maximum security prisons to keep us safe from serial killers, the plethora of murderers, and convicted rapists. We don’t worry that they might get out. Neither do the residents of Florence, Colorado which has a maximum-security facility with a capacity for 490 prisoners. Among the hardened criminals housed there are 33 terrorists. Among those is Zacarias Moussaoui, a 9/11 conspirator, Ramzi Yousef, leader of the first WTC bombing, and the shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Fox News doesn’t have a conniption fit over their threat to the United States. Hint: it’s because there isn’t one.

The 90 – 6 vote in the Senate against allocating funds to transfer prisoners is unacceptable. It represents an abdication of moral and constitutional responsibilities by the same Senate Democrats that were elected spicifically to restore the supremacy of the rule of law.

In Guantanamo Bay, the prisoners have (or had) in many cases been denied access to legal counsel, have been held for years on end without charges or evidence presented against them, and, in several situations have been abused. While the abuse has not been on the scale of Abu Ghraib, the interrogations have included the use of rabid-like dogs, waterboarding, prolonged sleep deprivation, and other ‘enhanced’ interrogation techniques. Meanwhile, the cruelty of some prison guards outside of the interrogation room has led to such famous incidents as the defamation and flushing of a prisoners Koran.

'Granny D' joins us June 21

Be sure to join us on Sunday, June 21 at  10PM ET as we talk with 99-year-old Doris “Granny D” Haddock.  Ten years ago, Granny D gained national attention when she walked across the United States in support of campaign finance reform.  In 2004, at age 94, Haddock served as the Democratic Nominee for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire, unsuccessfully challenging Republican Senator Judd Gregg.

You won’t want to miss our special conversation with Granny D!
Sunday, June 21 at 10PM ET

Did you catch Chris Cillizza?

 CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON DEMAND

Sunday we spoke at length with Washington Post White House Reporter Chris Cillizza about Tuesday’s big Democratic Gubernatorial Primary in Virginia, President Obama’s speech in Cairo, and a new poll out this week that shows former Vice President Dick Cheney is more popular than Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

 CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON DEMAND

PLUS

We heard from Brett Powell of the Free State Project, a group of libertarian activists who want to move enough similar-minded individuals to New Hampshire a place where “the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.”

And get this–they’re looking for 20,000 participants, and they are almost half way there!

 CLICK HERE TO LISTEN ON DEMAND

National Fist Bump Day

From the website…

“On June 3rd, 2008, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle took part in what immediately became known as “the fist bump heard ’round the world.” Though it was an intensely personal and affectionate gesture of love and respect at a pivotal moment in Obama’s presidential campaign, it firmly placed the fist bump on the national stage.”