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Peter Schiff is running for Senate and asking for donations for today’s “money bomb.” Help him reach his $750,000 goal. He has my support and should have yours as he is one of the few principled senatorial candidates. Total as of 4:00 p.m. EST seems to be $577,599. Goal has been upped to $850k.

A law that was meant to “protect the children” seems to have had some adverse consequences. Under the guidance of the law, federal officials are now advising that all children’s books published before 1985 be considered unsafe and may even be unlawful to sell.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was passed when many were afraid of toys that were coming from China with lead paint:

Among its other provisions, CPSIA imposed tough new limits on lead in any products intended for use by children aged 12 or under, and made those limits retroactive: that is, goods manufactured before the law passed cannot be sold on the used market (even in garage sales or on eBay) if they don’t conform. The law has hit thrift stores particularly hard, since many children’s products have long included lead-containing (if harmless) components: zippers, snaps, and clasps on garments and backpacks; skateboards, bicycles, and countless other products containing metal alloy; rhinestones and beads in decorations; and so forth.

The law also hit hard in the used children’s book market. Megan McArdle over at The Atlantic explains how the ban has essentially outlawed one of her favorite past-times:

Some of my happiest memories as a child are of reading the old children’s books I found at houses and in the libraries of my school and camp. Musty smelling, filled with deco and nouveau style pictures of girls in strange costumes, they were a tangible link to the past. Not merely because some child had held that book in 1920, but because to read the popular fiction of another era is to take at least a few halting steps into its foreign mental world.

So when I see old children’s books–and by “old” I mean “pre-1960″–I often buy them. I love having the companions of my childhood to hand. I’ve always enjoyed the prospect of having more space to really take up collecting.

Apparently, I can forget about that. Congress has apparently outlawed my hobby. Nor is this merely ideological hysteria. I just checked Amazon, and while there are still some old books for sale, it looks as if there are a lot fewer than there used to be.

This is the Law of Unintended Consequences in full effect. Nice going Congress critters!

According to a recent Rasmussen telephone poll 75% of Americans are in favor of a Federal Reserve Audit. The results show that only 9% oppose the idea and 15% are not sure.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1207, which would allow the Government Accounting Agency to audit the books of the Federal Reserve. The bill now has 282 co-sponsors in House including all Republicans and 101 Democrats. The Senate version of the bill has 20 co-sponsors.

According to Rasmussen Reports:

Support for the bill has grown now that the Obama administration is proposing to give the Fed greater economic regulatory powers. The Fed which sets U.S. monetary policy was created as an independent agency to keep it free of politically-motivated interference.

Predictably, Fed Chairman Ben Bernake is opposed to the bill saying on PBS, “I don’t think the American people want Congress running monetary policy.”

Originally written for digitaljournal.com visit the link and vote for the story to improve its visibility.

On May 11 the US Post Office is raising the price of stamps by 2¢. Even in the face of increasing prices, many people will argue that the Post Office is necessary because a private organization could never perform these functions for a similar cost. The story of Lysander Spooner, however, might rekindle the debate over the necessity of a monopoly Post Office.

WHO WAS LYSANDER SPOONER?

Lysander Spooner is an obscure figure in American history. He is so forgotten, in fact, that his voluminous Collected Works has remained out of print for many years. The six-volume collection, which contains 36 works, can be found used on sites like Amazon.com for upwards of $400. This current obscurity, however, does not mean that he was an unimportant figure.

Spooner achieved many great things in his lifetime including his active campaigning against slavery and the publication of his most famous work titled The Unconstitutionality of Slavery (1846), which influenced the likes of Fredrick Douglas. One of his lesser-known ventures, however, was his creation of the American Letter Mail Company, which was a private mail delivery service that was meant to compete directly with the United States Postal Service.

Spooner was born on January 19th 1808 at a farm in Athol, Massachusetts. He studied law under John Davis, who would later serve in the House of Representatives and Senate and as Governor of Massachusetts, and Charles Allen, who would serve in the House of Representatives. Spooner, however, never attended college. Under state law, non-graduates were required to study under attorneys for five years, while graduates were only required to do so for three years. Spooner, however, saw this law as unfair and he therefore flaunted it, setting up his own practice in Worcester, Massachusetts after only three years. He also viewed the regulations as unfair discrimination against poor individuals who might not be able to afford attend school.

Spooner’s legal career turned out to be a disappointment, as his radical writings seemed to have driven customers away. He also attempted to make a living as a real estate speculator, but that venture failed as well. Spooner decided to move back to his father’s farm in 1840. His time spent as lawyer, nevertheless, was not a total waste, as it would eventually aid him in his future court battles over his private mail delivery company.

Spooner’s most well known book, The Unconstitutionality of Slavery, was published in 1846. The book was very influential at the time, inspiring such prominent individuals as Fredrick Douglas. Douglas was originally a disunionist abolitionist who believed that the United States Constitution legally recognized and enforced the oppression of slaves. He would later come to accept the pro-Constitution argument, citing Spooner’s arguments as his rationale.

From the time the book was published to 1861 Spooner actively campaigned against slavery. He provided his legal services to escaped slaves, often free of charge, while also publishing pamphlets on the concept of Jury Nullification. This theory provides that a jury may find a defendant innocent despite their violation of the letter of the law, if they believe that said law is inherently unjust. Spooner presumably believed that informing the public about this idea would allow them to find escaped slaves innocent even though they violated the law.

Previous to the publication of The Unconstitutionality of Slavery Spooner founded the American Letter Mail Company as a direct opposition to the United States Post Office. Today, many Americans believe that it is a necessity to have a government sanctioned monopoly organization, such as the Post Office, deliver the mail. They will argue that a private company could never fulfill such a daunting task as delivering the mail across the entire country without charging outlandish prices. Not only does Lysander Spooner’s saga prove this mentality wrong, it also shows that the government is just as likely over charge for the delivery of mail as a private corporation.

Read the rest of this entry »

digitaljournal.com

On the one hand, United States federal government officials have consistently denied that marijuana has any medical benefits. On the other, the government actually holds patents for the medical use of the plant.

Just check out US Patent 6630507 titled “Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants” which is assigned to The United States of America, as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services.

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