hillsdale forum

Winter 2007

the
Volume IV, Issue II

Oh dear...
As both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama declare their
candidacy for the 2008 election, a nation is left to wonder,
who will be our leader? Full Story Page 3
2 the crawler its everthing you ever needed to know...and some things you didn’t
Super Bowl Once Again Most
Scandelous Game on Television
by Emilia Huneke-Bergquist
Just as we were all forgetting Janet
Jackson’s unfortunate slip at the 2004
Super Bowl, game number forty-one
arrived. Not to worry, the unusually
demure Prince had nothing to do with
it; this time, it was advertisers who
“malfunctioned.”
With a thirty-second spot during the
game running just over 2.6 million
dollars, it is understandable that,
according to a ComScore poll, 48
percent of viewers watch the game
solely for the commercials. Each year,
corporations work for months and pay
millions to impress consumers during
America’s most watched television
program. This year’s bowl boasted an
impressive 93 million viewers, making
it the third most watched program
in television history, just after Super
Bowl XXX and the M*A*S*H finale,
and with so many millions of viewers
living in today’s hypersensitive society,
it is no surprise that this year’s game
was not without controversy.
Less than twenty-four hours after the
first commercials had aired, several gay
rights groups, including the Gay and
Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
(GLADD), filed formal complaints
against the Masterfoods USA
cooperation for a Snickers advertisement
that aired during this year’s Super
Bowl. The commercial showed two
mechanics sharing a candy bar, almost
kissing, then “doing something manly”
to try and compensate. According to
Masterfoods, consumer feedback was
generally positive, but Neil Giuliano,
president of GLADD, released a
statement saying, “That Snickers,
Mars, and the NFL would promote and
h
GUN: $250
AMMUNITION: $50
DIAPERS: $10
forum
BEING AGE TWO, AND USING ALL THREE:
PRICELESS
endorse this kind of prejudice is simply
inexcusable.” Masterfoods quickly
pulled their commercial from the air,
releasing an apology to everyone
offended. However, they were not the
only ones to be hit with post-bowl
complaints.
General Motors’s advertisement
featuring a robot who dreams it is
pulled from the assembly line before
throwing itself from a bridge has drawn
sharp criticisms from mental health
organizations, who claim it belittles
the tragedy of suicide. Originally, GM
agreed to keep the commercial on the
air unedited, but the corporation has
now decided to edit the bridge scene
before it airs again during this year’s
Academy Awards.
Both controversies come after the
premature release of a commercial
featuring Kevin Federline—who later
apologized for angering America’s fast
food workers after his portrayal of one.
In today’s society, all of the apologies
and pulled ads are no surprise, and
the consumer and political strength of
such groups is quite notable. Yet, as the
majority of people who felt no offense,
nor prejudice, while viewing the Super
Bowl we, too, are responsible for
voicing our opinions. As the men in
the snickers commercial ripped their
hair—we laughed, as the robot fell—we
cringed, and as “K-Fed” rapped—well,
we did a little bit of both. At no point
were the commercials anti-gay, pro-
suicide, or demoralizing. They were
entertaining and creative, and should
these ridiculous complaints continue, it
is not likely we will be seeing either of
those things during next year’s Super
Bowl.
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Winter 2007
January 2007 February 2007
Steve Jobs announces Apple’s Making a noteworthy come-
plan to unveil it’s new iphone in back, the Dixie Chicks take
June. It will retail for $499 and home five Grammy awards,
is only available with service including album and song of the
from Cingular. year.
* *
Oil prices dropped to $49.90 per Sir Richard Branson, owner of
barrel early in the month before Virgin Group Ltd., announced
freezing weather nation-wide that he will award a twenty-five
million dollar prize to the first
sent prices soaring once again.
scientist(s) who devise a way
*
President Bush focuses his State to suck greenhouse gasses from
of the Union Speech on his plans the atmosphere.
for Iraq, energy reform, and
University of
*
Michigan students
immigration.
are wearing surgical masks in
* a study aimed at tracking the
Congress’ promise to work five
spread of influenza.
day weeks is interrupted early,
as lawmakers request their first Barbra Striesand * has agreed to
day of work off to attend a give the largest donations al-
college football game. lowed by law to the three demo-
cratic frontrunners of 2008.
*
Ladies and Gentlemen, your Al Gore is among *
this year’s
tax dollars at work: after los- 167 nominees for a Nobel
ing a bet to Florida Senator Bill Peace Prize for his movie An
Nelson, Ohio Senator Sherrod
Inconvient Truth
Brown did fifty-five pushups
in Nelson’s office. (And just in Accoring to the*Ku Klux Klan,
case you were trapped in a box illegal imigration is helping
during the BCS championship, drive their membership to lev-
the Florida Gators beat the Ohio els not seen since the 1960s
State Buckeyes 41-14.) *
Texas Governer Rick Perry
*
Democrats announce that the is under fire for his propsed
2008 Democratic National Con- measure that all sixth grade girls
vention will be held in Denver, recieve the new HPV vaccine.
Colorado. In other news, the *
Rocky Mountains crumble at Both the Senate and House have
thought of Howard Dean’s yell. passed a measure that increases
* the national minimum wage
Bush’s new plans for Iraq in- $2.10 over the course of two
clude a troop surge of just over years. The Senate grouped the
20,000 soldiers sent to defend bill with a series of tax-breaks
two of the nations most resiliant for small businesses and tax
areas. increases for cooperations.
 h
forum news
theHillsdale
forum -Tug of War-
Why The power struggle between Clinton and Obama may
Emilia Huneke-Bergquist just be the Republican’s ticket to 2008
Editor-in-Chief
by Kate Martin &
Julie Robison Heather SHell
Copy Editor Last month saw two groundbreaking
bids for the Democratic Presidential
Samantha COnn Nomination for 2008. Hillary Clin-
Business Editor ton and Barack Obama have emerged
as the two frontrunners in the Dem-
Mary Kate Cavazos ocratic race for the presidency. Al-
Subscription Manager though they share a party label, there
is a striking difference in their perso-
Brian Johnston nas and perspectives. As they con-
Stohn Nishino tinue to establish themselves through
G. Stolyarov II their campaigns, they polarize their
Staff Writers party and set the stage for an intense
and potentially dividing competition.
Thomas Leonard Sen. Clinton is an established figure
Kate Martin in the world of politics. She boasts un-
Anthony Mocny paralleled name recognition and over
Roger Pattison two decade’s worth of experience in
Scott Rozell the political spotlight. After serving
Heather Shell a term as first lady, she became the
Contributing Writers first presidential wife to strike out
on her own in politics, spending six
years in the Senate before announc-
ing her bid for presidential candida-
cy. In addition to name recognition,
h
Clinton’s Democratic domination is
forum
aided by her already substantial bank
account and her knack for fund-rais-
ing. Her political advantage is fur-
ther solidified by the support of one
of the greatest political maneuverers
of our time, her husband, Bill Clinton.
However, this particular familial tie is
not wholly advantageous. A portion
of her name recognition is no doubt
The Hillsdale Forum is a
tied to the highly publicized scandals
student publication distributed
four times throughout the school of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Clinton
year. celebrates a long tenure in Washing-
ton, but suffers from the inevitable
effects of muckraking and staleness
Questions?
that comes from so much time in the
Comments?
public eye. This widespread famil-
Submissions?
iarity that could dilute the potency
Contact The Hillsdale Forum: of other politicians, is combated by
an exceptionally powerful personal-
ity and a reputation for being tough
hillsdaleforum@gmail.com
and tenacious. However these traits
can often work to her disadvantage
as well. Her unwavering and reso-
lute nature serves as a divisive factor
even among her own party. People
either love Clinton or they hate her.
Sen. Clinton’s quest for candidacy
comes as no surprise, but this po-
litical powerhouse may not have the
preeminent political advantage that
her celebrity status would suggest.
Sen. Barack Obama is a much newer
face in the political scene. A total of
only two years in the Senate provides
him with a freshness and intrigue that
his more established colleagues lack,
but also raises the question of his ex-
perience and preparedness for such a
demanding and complex role as Pres-
ident of the United States. He cuts a
figure of the common man, yet his dy-
namic personality has been enough to
overshadow his rookie status and con-
vince thousands of Americans of his
political abilities. Part of his popular
appeal is due to his liberality of ideas.
He has stated his desire to obscure the
line between blue and red and to fos-
ter a new unification of the American
In the Running*
Officially
Barack Obama-D-IL
Hilary Clinton-D-NY
John Edwards-D-NC
Christopher Dodd-D-CT
Dennis Kucinich-D-OH
- Ron Paul-R-TX
Sam Brownback-R-KS
John H. Cox-R-IL
Mitt Romney-R-MA
Duncan Hunter-R-CA
- -
Steve Cubby-L-CA
Christine Smith-L-CO
George Phillies-L-MA
3
people. This brand of idealism is a
direct throwback to such presidential
greats as Abraham Lincoln and John
F. Kennedy. As he declared his can-
didacy, he declared that “the ways of
Washington have to change” in his
endeavor to “build a more hopeful
America”. Although the David verses
Goliath setup of this candidacy cam-
paign is certainly to his advantage,
it just may not be enough to over-
come his glaring lack of experience
and prestige in the political arena.
One of the hardest things for any
candidate in a primary is the neces-
sity of securing the votes needed
within the party. In addition, the
candidate needs to have the ability to
make a move towards the middle in
the hopes of swinging more hesitant
votes. It is clear from Sen. Clinton’s
stances on many of the issues that
she has already done that. Clinton
is very positive about the work the
troops are doing in Iraq, but hesi-
tates to discuss the direction of the
continued on page 9
Un-Officially
Bill Richardson-D-NM
-
Rudy Giuliani-R-NY
John McCain-R-AZ
Tom Tancredo-R-CO
Jim Gilmore-R-VA
-
Doug Stanhope-L-AZ
Robert Milnes-L-NJ
*Canidates listed as “Official” have filed
formal papers with the Federal Elec-
tion Commission, whereas “Un-official”
canidates have only formed exploratory
committies
4 debate
Paging Dr. Arh-nold
Schwarzenegger’s new California health plan has doctors wondering if this is the beginning of the end for medicine
by Anthony Mocny
In 2003, Californians made history by
recalling a governor who had raised taxes,
compromised the border’s sovereignty,
and turned off their electricity. He did
so within a relatively short amount of
time, and it soon became clear after his
reelection that a continuation of his
regime’s time in Sacramento would be
detrimental to the general welfare of the
Golden State.
A few big-name Republicans got on
board with a movement to exercise
the right of the people to petition for
a recall election. People responded
enthusiastically, collecting signature after
signature in order to throw off an unjust
government and remove Governor Gray
Davis from power and replace him with
a more capable individual in
whom the people could place
their trust.
Enter Arnold
Schwarzenegger, an Austrian-
American actor who made his
career by fighting bad guys
and blowing everything from
aliens to murderous cyborgs
to clones into oblivion on the
big screen. He announced
his candidacy on the Tonight
Show with Jay Leno, and pledged to
campaign against the special interest
groups holding the interests of the
people hostage in Sacramento.
California elected him to serve the
remainder of Gray Davis’s term and then
stand for reelection in 2006. The people
were tired of the status quo, and when an
outsider who pledged to “terminate” the
tyranny of timidity trying their patience
in the state capital showed up, giving him
a chance seemed like a good idea at the
time.
It has been four years now since the recall
revolution took place on the Left Coast,
and we are now in a place wherein we can
look retrospectively at what has happened.
Gray Davis tripled the car tax (a measure
which Arnold repealed), tried to give
driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants (a
move which Arnold stopped in its tracks),
and handled the power crisis about as well
as Jimmy Carter handled the incidents that
transpired in Iran 28 years ago.
Spending was out of control, big
government labor unions and other interest
groups had a plethora of friends in the
legislature, and the people of California
elected Arnold to bring an end to it all.
Things did not look good in those days,
and “The Governator” was supposed to
make it all better. Californians are now
in a place to genuinely question whether
or not he has done the job he was elected
to do (or whether he has even tried). Has
Schwarzenegger succeeded where Davis
failed?
If out-of-control
spending was a
voter’s reason
for ousting
Davis, one
cannot honestly
contend that
Schwarzenegger has successfully
redressed his grievances. According to
California State Senator Tom McClintock,
California “spending is growing faster
than it did under Gray Davis, the state
is now running the biggest deficit in its
history, and the only way it can pay its
bills is because of massive borrowing
carried over from 2004, contributing to a
doubling of the state’s debt burden in just
three years.”
While he has brought some of what
Senator McClintock calls “long-overdue
spending reforms,” Arnold has done no
better than Davis in curbing the growth of
the budget, and the state’s wallet has been
bleeding profusely for years with few
signs of recovery in the near future.
In addition to spending, another failure
of Davis’s was his inability to remain
popular with the electorate while offering
Californians a big-government fiasco that
compromises the integrity of America’s
southern border. Davis sought to triple car
taxes and permit illegal aliens to obtain
driver’s licenses, which is something that
is considered
valid proof of
citizenship at
the US/Mexico
border. These
attempts to
change policy
drove his poll
ratings down
like nothing else
could.
Schwarzenegger,
on the other hand,
is now seeking
to raise taxes
on doctor’s and
other medical
businesses to
provide free
healthcare to all
Californians and citizens of other countries
residing within California, although this is
a violation of state and federal law.
This socialized medical plan, which
imitates the Canadian healthcare would
be detrimental to the medical field.
America’s healthcare, although the most
expensive, is also one of the best in the
world; if one socializes healthcare, it
takes away the people’s right to choose
different healthcare options, the incentives
and the ability for medical companies to
be innovative with drugs, techniques, and
create new tools. When one caps profit,
it does not give people many incentives
to be a doctor because they would not be
reimbursed well for all their years of hard
work and effort. Socialized medicine
is limiting and is not able to meet the
growing needs of the country.
Schwarzenegger’s healthcare plan
won’t treat the problem by providing
a substantive solution. In fact, it will
most likely make the problem worse.
According to a Heritage Foundation’s
summary of the plan, “the Governor’s
proposed health plan is a mélange of
bad health policy (including subsidies to
illegal aliens), unwise tax increases, and
Winter 2007
missed opportunities.
There are indeed some promising
provisions: a state-wide pool for the
purchase of private health insurance; direct
assistance to low-income Californians
to help them buy coverage; and a proper
alignment between the state and federal tax
treatment of health savings accounts. On
the whole, however, the proposal is a great
leap forward for bigger government and
increased bureaucratic decision-making
and control.” Even with the “promising
provisions” of the Schwarzenegger
plan, it involves a greater role for the
government.
The Governator’s plan also involves
the taxation of doctors and hospitals.
Ironically, the justification for this new
tax is that it is meant to help alleviate
costs for doctors and hospitals. As the
Heritage study details, his proposed
plan will involve “additional payment to
doctor’s and hospitals serving the state’s
MediCaid program, MediCal.” However,
“providers would also face new taxes,
thus diminishing the effect of increased
government payments. Doctors and other
medical professionals would be required
to pay a 2 percent tax and hospitals a 4
percent tax to help pay for the Governor’s
proposal.” While such bureaucratic
nonsense may have been the modus
operandi of the Davis administration,
Schwarzenegger should know better.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has until 2010
to build his legacy as the man elected
in California’s historic recall, but with
proposals like these, he has not gotten
off to a good start. They didn’t elect his
left-wing opponent last fall for a reason,
the reason being that Californians believe
in fiscal responsibility and a government
which takes the taxpayer’s trust into
account when writing its checks.
While one shouldn’t throw Arnold under
the bus for a single bad proposal, he also
shouldn’t get too confident in his agenda;
Californians have removed governors who
had failed them by bloating the budget,
raising taxes, and compromising border
security by catering to illegal immigrants
and replaced him with “the Governator.”
Let’s hope the robot doesn’t malfunction.
1) McClintock, Tom. “A “Fantastic” Budget”. California State
Senate. <http://republican.sen.ca.gov/web/mcclintock/article_
detail.asp?PID=316>.
2) Moffit, Dr. Robert E.. “The Schwarzenegger Health Plan:
A Great Leap Forward for Bigger Government”. Heritage
Foundation. <http://www.heritage.org/Research/HealthCare/
StateInitiatives/wm1317.cfm>.
 h
forum spotlight 5
Let’s Begin by playing a game...

“ …above all the unity of a nation’s

spirit and will are worth far more
than the freedom of the spirit and
A will of an individual… By this we
understand only the individual’s
Can you
match these
quotes to
“ ...moral law, binding together
individual and the generations
into a tradition and a mission, sup-
pressing the instinct for a life C
their famous
speakers?
enclosed within the brief round
of pleasure in order to restore
within duty a higher life free

”
capacity to make sacrifices for

” B“
the community, for his fellow men from the limits of time and space
The -------- people must march for-
Need a Hint? ward as a trained and loyal
1.) Adolf Hitler army willing to sacrifice for

”
2.) Benito Mussolini the good of a common discipline
3.) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Answers below*

Hitler, Mussolini, and Roosevelt...Oh My!

by G. Stolyarov II
Franklin Delano Roosevelt indeed
had a vast ideological basis in common
with the fascists he ended up fighting
against during World War II. Roos-
evelt, who was the Assistant Secretary
of the Navy during Woodrow Wilson’s
administration, was obsessed with
Wilsonianism and the statist reign of
terror and brutal suppression of dissent
that occurred in the United States dur-
ing the World War I era. Thus, seeking
to establish a peacetime statist regime
similar to Wilson’s “emergency” regu-
latory state, he got what he wanted
during the New Deal and World War II.
What is most frightening about FDR’s
presidency is the degree of fanaticism
the government deliberately and ac-
tively elicited from the masses. Upon
passage of the (unconstitutional) Na-
tional Industrial Recovery Act and its
component National Recovery Ad-
ministration, a rally of millions was
orchestrated in New York, with one
bootlicking man stating that he thought
his marriage day was the high point of
his life until he heard of the National
Recovery Administration. Then about
ten thousand schoolchildren were ar-
ranged into the shape of the NRA ea-
gle. One is instantly reminded of imag-
es from the 1936 Berlin Olympics, in
which Hitler orchestrated similar dis-
plays of leader/government worship.
Roosevelt’s reference to an entire
people “marching forward as a loyal
army” invokes images of Nazi columns
stomping through the streets of Paris.
FDR was a populist demagogue, not
a genuine sympathizer with the “com-
mon man.” He realized that brain-
washing the less educated citizens—
who may not have been exposed to
the idea that initiation of force is im-
moral—was a key to gaining power of
the sort he desired. He did so through
similar propaganda schemes to those
used by other statists of his time. Hit-
ler and Stalin loved to be filmed pet-
ting little children; they were known
in the propaganda pamphlets as “Un-
cle Adolf” and “Grandfather Stalin.”
In this spirit—and in that of his at-
tention-mongering cousin, Theodore
Roosevelt—FDR stated once that a
scene with his granddaughter observed
by the press was more important po-
litically than an elaborate oratory.
I wonder what would have occurred
in the United States had FDR sur-
vived World War II; by his ideologi-
cal inclinations, I would expect his
policies to even more closely mir-
ror those of the Hitler whom FDR’s
coercively and immorally con-
scripted “loyal army” helped defeat.
Americans should not consider a
quasi-fascist President as one of their
history’s best. Rather, they should
recognize FDR’s ideas as antitheti- evelt, and C is all Mussolini.
cal to American liberty, individual- then forget! Quote A is Hitler’s, B belongs to Roos-
ism, free markets, and rationality. *Don’t worry! We would never promise you answers and
6 open f
IRAQ
It leads the news nearly every day, except for when someone really important, like Anna Nicole Smith,
isn’t a headline, it is something that will have a profound effect on our future. As young citizens, we are
the benefits and consquences of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and to that end, it is imperitive that we are a
are currently facing.
BUSH’S NEW PLAN FOR IRAQ IS SENDING 20,000 MORE TROOPS TO THE FRONT LINES, BUT The Twelve F
are we sending the wrong message? 1.)
(the steps to a better Iraq, as bro

by Brian Johnston
Several weeks ago, while watching
President Bush give his address on his
“new plan” for Iraq, I noticed something
different about him. Coupled with the
reality that the voters had recently voted
the Republicans out of the majority in both
houses of Congress, the problems we have
had in Iraq made him look dejected and
defeated. For the first time, it looked to
me like he had lost confidence in himself.
There is no question that nearly four years
after first invading Iraq, things are not going
the way they should be. Sure, there may be
new schools, businesses, water supplies,
etc. that the mainstream media is refusing
numerous terrorists and their resources.
What more can we do? Those who still
defend Bush’s Iraq policy say that we must
stay there “until the job is done.” But how
long is that going to take? It certainly is not
going to happen any time in the foreseeable
future. If we stayed in Iraq until every terrorist
is eliminated and every aspect of Iraq’s
new liberal democracy is fully functional,
it is impossible to say when we can leave.
Probably not at least for a few decades, if ever.
While much of the reason we are in Iraq is for
our own defense, we are also there in order to
establish an American-style democracy in the
Middle East. One question that is frequently
asked is whether this is possible in a region
Hand over
peace. He was one of many people in the first
part of the 20th century who believed that
sovereign Iraq
the world was moving towards perfection, *
but another “Great War” came just twenty
years later, while innumerable other wars 2.) Help estab
around the world have been going on since.
In the same manner, President Bush seems *
to think that the United States can lead a
movement to spread liberal democracy all
3.) Rebuild Iraq’
around the world. While a stable democratic
Iraq is certainly in our best interest, can
*
any nation, even one as powerful and 4.) Encourage inte
fundamentally good as the United States,
ensure this will happen? The reality is that *
there must come a point at which the Iraqis
will have to run their own government and 5.) Hold a national
bring new lead

“
to acknowledge, but even
the most loyal defenders of
Bush’s policies in Iraq have
to admit that the amount
of violence is not slowing
down at an appreciable rate,
if at all. It does not matter what
known for its perpetual violence. I do not ensure their own safety. Whether they can
truly do this on their own once we
leave is questionable, but we
If we stay in Iraq until every ter- simply have no choice. And
rorist is eliminated and every as- let us not forget that Iraq is
pect of Iraq’s new liberal de- only one country; there are
still many other dangerous
mocracy is fully functional, it is

”
regimes out there that allow
is being built over there or what impossible to say when we can leave. terrorist activity to exist
type of government they establish within its borders. Are we
if the people are not safe. prepared to make the same
This includes American soldiers. The want to say that this is impossible, but we sacrifices for the sake of all
vast majority of Americans fail to see how must consider how rarely such governments those other countries too?
Bush’s new plan, which includes sending have been successful anywhere in the world Whether it was right of us to
more troops, is going to make the situation historically. “But what is government itself but invade Iraq in the first place
any better. In fact, in doing this, we will be the greatest of all reflections on human nature? is irrelevant at this point. All
going in the wrong direction. Not only is If men were angels, no government would military strategy aside, sending
sending more Americans the wrong thing to be necessary,” James Madison remarked more troops into Iraq sends the
do, but perhaps the time has come when we in Federalist 51. The Founders frequently wrong message. After occupying
must seriously develop a plan to leave Iraq. acknowledged that what they were attempting Iraq for nearly four years, we
Now, I am not one of those who think that was unprecedented in history, and even they would be saying that we have
all war is bad and that President Bush is admitted at the time that the Constitution no intention of leaving any time
the second coming of Hitler. When we first they decided on was far from perfection. soon. The time must come, sooner
invaded Iraq, I was in 100% support of the President Bush’s foreign policy is based on rather that later, that we make the
decision. There is no question that when the idea that freedom and democracy are on Iraqis realize that a safe, stable
America is attacked, we must respond quickly an inevitable march at this time in history regime cannot survive there
and forcefully. And I do not believe that and that it is the responsibility of the United long term unless they take on
President Bush purposely lied about WMD’s States to combat those who forcefully oppose the responsibility themselves.
or anything else leading up to the war. My it. Woodrow Wilson famously said that World An even greater American
argument is that we have done basically all War I would be the “war to end all wars” commitment will make it even
we can. We overthrew a tyrannical regime and fought in order to “make the world safe more difficult for us to leave.
led by a ruthless dictator. We have overseen for democracy.” In the aftermath of the war
the development of a new type of government Wilson thought that he, as President of the
while at the same time eliminating United States, could negotiate an everlasting Cartoon courtsey o
forum
, dies. But even when it
e the ones who will reap
Staying the Course
by Scott Rozell
aware of the situation we On the Machiavelli Hill of Washington D.C.,
truth has been watered-down and distorted.
The concept of truth today is far different from
Five Step Plan
the concept that held 230 years ago. In most
of today’s cases, the formerly black and white
truths are shaded gray by relativism and political
ought to you by President Bush)
correctness. To speak in terms of absolute truth
authority to a is dangerous—and clarity is rarely achieved.
Should the media decide that truth is false,
qi government the potential of a political future and legacy
are placed in serious jeopardy. Fortunately,
* President George W. Bush believes in the
truths written by our founding fathers that man
blish security has certain unalienable rights. It is the truth
* that Saddam Hussein was oppressing the Iraqi
people and raping them of their unalienable
’s infrastructure rights. Operation Iraqi Freedom is a just war,
one worth fighting.
* The objective of Operation Iraqi Freedom
was to remove Saddam from power and give
ernational support the Iraqi people the opportunity to create a
new, diplomatic government; the United States
* is a country of opportunity, right? Removing
l election that will Saddam from power would eliminate support for
terror organizations and his access to weapons
dership to Iraq of mass destruction, or WMDs. In June of
2006, the National Ground Intelligence Center
declassified a report clarifying
that, “Since 2003, Coalition forces
have recovered approximately 500
weapon munitions which contain
degraded sarin or mustard nerve
agent.” We have recovered WMDs
from Iraq, a fact the mass media
would like to ignore, and removed
Saddam from power. Now, we are
in the midst of trying to complete
the second objective, the more
important objective. The military
action is called Operation Iraqi
Freedom, not “Operation Get
WMDs” nor “Operation Son’s
Revenge.”
Do not get me wrong, I am not
saying that Bush is infallible and
made no mistakes, he did. Our
government is slow to move, as
it should be, and can pose many
obstacles for military action, as it
should. I believe many mistakes
were made in the process from
September 11, 2001 to March
20, 2003, but where are mistakes
not made in any government or
human action? However, despite
the mistakes, the President stood
for what he knows to be absolutely
of USBCI true. That military action was the
only way to remove Saddam and give the Iraqi
people the opportunity for democracy.
Never before in history has a nation been so
blessed with the prosperity of the United States.
Our Judeo-Christian society and government
stands as a beacon of democracy, setting
an example for the world. However, this
prosperity comes with an obligation to give.
Left wing Hollywood activists, like George
Clooney, Brad Pitt, Bono, and Angelina
Jolie, claim that the United States is selfish
and the people do not give the crumbs off
their table, when in reality, the American
people give more to charity than any other
entity on Earth. Yet there is something else
these activists fail to see, the greatest gift our
country gives, opportunity. American troops in
Iraq are paying the ultimate price to give the
Iraqi people the opportunity for political and
economic freedom. Denouncing the war and
the President, left wing “philanthropists” fail to
see this. Where does this buck of blame stop, at
the man courageous to give something greater
than money, to say the war is right, justified in
the truths of our founding.
Many say that we need to bring our troops
home, that we need to remove our presence
in Iraq. I wish that could be. Unfortunately, to
secure the Iraqi people’s chances for democratic
opportunity, our troops must stay. Soldiers
today are the unsung heroes of our nation and
continue to strive securing opportunity for the
Iraqi people with honor, integrity, and pride.
The word hero is used too lightly today. Real
heroes are defenders of our freedom and truth,
those who volunteer to serve our country and
it’s ideals. Those who do not get the credit they
deserve. Hollywood glorifies tree-huggers and
rehab clinics, singing of relativism. The troops
in Iraq fight for absolutes and the foundations of
our country, yet, are not praised as they should
be and that is a shame. Should we vacate Iraq
now, all they have fought for will be lost to
Islamic radical corruption and a new dictator
will be installed.
It is not the responsibility of the United States
to cure the world’s problems or overthrow
every government that does not align with
ours. It is the right of the people to stand up
for themselves, their obligation. When the
people are being murdered by the hundreds and
thousands, when corruption and oppression
run unchecked through a government, when
a man hell-bent on the destruction of the
United States and Western culture orchestrates
a reign of terror, it is the responsibility of the
United States to take action. We must defend
our nation, we must defend our rights, and we
must fight for the absolute truths our country
was founded upon.
Winter 2007
Show Some
Support for Our
Troops!
There are dozens of organiza-
tions eager to connect the Amer-
ican people with our troops
overseas, get involved with one
of them and bring a smile to a
soldier’s face.
USO
After the tragedy of September
11th, the USO banded together
with a mission-send packages
to troops. For a $25 tax-deduc-
table donation you can spono-
sor a care package full of the
items our soldiers need most.
www.operationcarepackage.org
Any Soldier
Adopting soldiers is easy! This
site, founded by the mother
and father of a soldier serving
in Iraq helps people looking
to send care packages to sol-
diers in specific brances of the
military.
www.anysoldier.com
Adopt-A-Platoon
This organization allows pen-
pal corrospondence as well as
soldier adoption. They ask that
an adopter send a weekly let-
ter, and monthy care package.
Other means of support are also
listed on their website.
www.adoptaplatoon.org
Operation Support Our Troops
Started after a soldier com-
plained that only the anti-war
protesters were making the
nightly news, this group seeks
to show the troops overseas that
the American people have not
forgotten them.
www.operation-support-our-
troops.org
 h
forum viewpoint
AMERICA the GREATEST
by tHOMAS lEONARD
In conservative camps outside the
warm confines of Hillsdale College,
it is not uncommon to hear the
words “America is the best”, quickly
followed by garish descriptions of
military might, the American dream,
and story or two about an ancestor.
Now, at Hillsdale, we know better
than that.
We must first compare our America
with the regimes of the Fertile
Crescent, Egypt, and Alexander the
Great on relative power, and then
Biblical Israel on spiritual grounds,
before moving on to later eras. We
are a continuation of the Western
Heritage, as I found on my first day
with Dr. Stewart, and that is a lot to
look up to.
On the other hand, we have classes
such as Constitution and Political
Economy to remind us of all the
freedoms we have. Yet, in the end,
one has to wonder if their really is a
ruler to measure America’s greatness.
tug of war from Page 3
war. When pushed, she takes a stand
in the middle: open-ended support
is not the solution, so troops must
slowly pull out, allowing the Iraqis
to establish their own government.
When it comes to Education, she be-
lieves that the federal government is
deserving of a larger role. She dem-
onstrates this through her support of
programs like the Direct Loan Pro-
gram, and the introduction of the
Student Borrower’s Bill of Rights.
Both of these pieces of legislation
encourage the further entangling of
higher education and the federal gov-
ernment. Sen. Clinton continues to
endorse to the No Child Left Behind
Act, a program associated with the
backing of the Bush Administration.
Clinton has already begun her move
to the middle, as she looks beyond
the primary into the general election.
Despite Sen. Obama’s reputation
as a man willing to blur party lines,
many of his stances fall more firmly
on the left than Sen. Clinton’s. One
of Obama’s strongest footholds is his
If there is, we have to wonder if it can
plumb the depths of our collective
ego.
That is a good question, but until
its answer is found, I shall try to toss
out my version of this measurement
of American greatness. We often
hear those across “the pond” decry
our boastful decisions and our more
traditional morals. At the same time,
Middle Eastern countries (with a lot
more talk and violence than us) dare
call Americans heathens and infidels.
I would like to draw comparisons
from my experiences across the “other
pond.”
Spending this summer teaching
English in a Taiwanese vocational-
college was an experience that is
impossible to cover in such an article.
Nevertheless, I observed a certain
materialism and entrepreneurial
reminiscent of the US in the 1950’s.
The bright lights and the industrial
growth literally bursting at it’s seams
(although some manufacturing has
moved mainland) are coupled with
policy regarding Iraq. He has spoken
out, saying that the war was misman-
aged and the only people capable of
solving the problem are the Iraqis,
making American involvement un-
necessary. Last month, Sen. Obama
introduced the Iraq War De-escala-
tion Act, a bill calling for complete
removal from Iraq by March 31st,
2008. This plan represents the ide-
als of Obama’s party, and he proves
himself to be a man unafraid of the
burden his view may bring. In terms
of Education policies, Sen. Obama
shares Sen. Clinton’s view on the
importance of federal government
within America’s educational system.
While Clinton hopes to address the
issue through fairer loan agreements,
Senator Obama holds that increas-
ing the amount of money available
through Pell Grants would be one of
the best ways to help those students
seeking higher education. He also
maintains that colleges and univer-
sities have the duty to keep costs as
low as possible, in order to provide
more accessibility for the students.
a public infatuated by the latest
technologies, from pocket translators
to music videos on cab drives. Not
only was this present in the big cities,
but in the “sticks” where I was living
as well. This rural area, replete with
hog and chicken farms and small plots
of sugar cane and mangos, could rival
many of our cities for population
density.
What makes this vibrancy alarming
is that they look up to South Korea,
Hong Kong and Japan as nations
from which to gain technology and
the latest fashions. If Taiwan is
somewhere lower down on the Asian
economic rung, it is hard to imagine
the pursuit of wealth that reportedly
takes Japanese businessmen to their
suicides. Hong Kong and Singapore
respectively take places one and
two in the Heritage Foundation’s
2007Index of Economic Freedom,
while of the 157 nations included, the
United States takes fourth, Japan 18 th ,
Taiwan 26 th , and Korea 36 th .
This relatively low scoring reminds
Obama’s educational concern seems
to be more distanced from the No
Child Left Behind Act, as he chooses
to involve himself in other educa-
tional programs. Sen. Obama’s more
leftist stance may be helpful as he ze-
ros in on the primaries, but he must
be careful not to polarize many of the
critical middle-of-the-road voters.
The Democratic Party has a choice
to make and it is interesting just how
different their options are. With the
emergence of the first strong female
presidential candidate and the first
African-American presidential can-
didate in the same year, one would
think that the campaigns would be
fraught with minority and civil rights
issues, but they are surprisingly void
of any such claims at this point. By
not playing the minority card, the can-
didates are forcing their party to make
a judgment based solely on their poli-
tics and personal qualifications. The
race between Sen. Clinton and Sen.
Obama looks to lead to one of the most
exciting presidential nominations in
the history of the Democratic Party.
9
one of the stories of government
corruption and the inexplicable
inefficiencies that allowed for raw
sewage to flow in open gutters (though
I only saw it once). So, Taiwan has a
long way to go, but it seemed to me that
the average rural Taiwanese teenager
had the same amount of technology as
a white suburbanite American.
Yet at the same time, the Taiwanese
also took America as another example
of capitalist power: the only real
influence from the “West” was
American. Basketball and baseball
were THE two sports, even the World
Cup held little interest beyond the
stars seen on Pepsi commercials.
Most American cultural influence
finds its way into Taiwan, and any
county, through the big screen.
Yet somehow, we also have an
unprecedented influence on the
progress of economics and technology.
While Japan and Singapore and Hong
Kong may have money rivaling the
Qatars and Monacos of the rest of the
world, they do not have the immensity
of population and land. Russia, China
and Canada may have more land than
the US, but they do not have the
infrastructure or population that we
do. Somehow, we are able to get the
best of both worlds.
It makes sense that a country so
different, almost an invented country,
should live at the top of the world when
their Islamic neighbors overrun all the
old giants of the west. A country a
mere 230 years old with almost no
native people group left and a capital
city that was drawn from scratch like
the government itself.
In his Notes on the State of Virginia,
Thomas Jefferson questions, “…can
the liberties of a nation be thought
secure when we have removed their
only firm basis, a conviction in the
minds of the people that these liberties
are a gift of God?” It is the convictions
of our countrymen that should worry
us, not our economic status. While it
is debatable if our country beats the
world’s best, there is no doubt we will
not remain a giant forever. We can
pursue our economic championship
title that India and China threaten to
take away, and ultimately we may
lose, but it is imperative that the
quality of the individual in America is
preserved.
8 viewpoint
The Morality of Making Money
by G. Stolyarov II
All too often today, we hear condemnations of
the profit motive as destructive and uncaring.
But is it really? Or is the profit motive one
of the noble forces that impels a man to act?
To understand whether the profit motive
is desirable, we must first grasp the goals
of a life properly lived. These goals are
twofold; on the first level, survival is
the goal of sustaining one’s biological
existence and preventing one’s downward
slide toward poverty, ruination, and
death. On the second level, flourishing
is the extension of one’s control over the
external reality—the ability to harness ever
more elements in the service of one’s life.
In the process of living, every man—
provided that he acts and uses his reason—
will gain certain benefits from the external
reality. He will also incur certain expenses
in acting the way he chooses. Should the
man breaks even—that is, if his gains
are equal to his expenses—then he has
accomplished the goal of survival; he is
no worse off than he was when he started.
But neither is he better off. In order to
accomplish the goal of flourishing, his
gains must be greater than his expenses.
In other words, he needs to make a profit.
It is vitally important to understand that
making profits is the only way to flourish.
One cannot consistently extend control
over external reality if one keeps losing
assets or merely breaks even. Profits
come in many different forms; they can be
intellectual profits or gains of knowledge,
technical profits or gains of skill, material
profits or gains of property, physiological
profits or gains in health and fitness, social
profits or gains in valuable relationships,
or monetary profits or gains of money.
The value each individual assigns to
these different kinds of profits is highly
contextual; depending upon the ways in
which an individual wants to flourish.
Virtually nobody will condemn every
single kind of profit, even though many
people will deny that certain types of
profit are, in fact, profits. Oddly enough,
the type of profit that draws the greatest
condemnation is monetary profit. This
condemnation is wholly unwarranted.
Monetary profit is a kind of profit that can
be most easily harnessed to the pursuit of
the greatest variety of ends. While it might
be true to an extent that “money cannot buy
everything,” it certainly can go a long way
to help one fulfill any of one’s objectives.
Money is a universally accepted medium of
exchange; it can be traded for a wide range
of goods or services far more conveniently
than any other commodity in most situations.
Money can buy books or pay for courses
that will give a person knowledge and
skills. Money can buy training equipment
to increase one’s health and fitness. Money
can even buy gifts to friends to sustain
positive social relationships. Money can
buy leisure goods used to rejuvenate one’s
energies and improve one’s standard of
living. Furthermore, money can be invested
into valuable assets to generate additional
money. If flourishing is one’s goal, money
plays an important role in attaining it.
Profit is moral because flourishing and
improving one’s life are moral; profit by
definition cannot be destructive to one’s own
life. Yet some claim that profit is destructive
to the lives of others. This, too, cannot be.
A man can only make a profit in two
ways. He can pursue an action which
benefits himself but is irrelevant to other
people. That is, he can embark on a solitary
self-improvement program or in a direct
transformation of inanimate objects without
the participation of other people. Or he
can pursue an action in cooperation with
other people in order to achieve a mutually
beneficial objective. He can embark in a
voluntary trade with another individual or
collaborate on a project or participate in
a mutually valued friendship. In the first
case, no other person is harmed, and many
indirect benefits will flow to other people as
a result of the individual’s self-improvement
and improvement of inanimate entities. In
the second case, other people are directly
benefited; they earn a profit in return
for helping the individual make a profit.
Furthermore, pure entrepreneurial profit
on the free market is gained by observing
and eliminating arbitrage opportunities
caused by widespread errors of perception.
If errors in people’s knowledge at present
cause resources to be misallocated away
from their optimal uses, the entrepreneur
can try to find a better allocation by
distributing these resources in a different
way than had been done before. If the
entrepreneur makes a profit in doing so,
then he has put the resources to a better
use than previously; people are willing
to pay him more for the new allocation
of resources than they were willing to
pay for the prior allocation. By pursuing
and eliminating arbitrage opportunities,
entrepreneurs benefit everybody in
correcting market errors and aligning supply
with demand to optimally satisfy human
needs. The market’s profit-and-loss test is
the best way to determine what should be
produced and how it should be distributed.
In order to pursue profit, man needs to be
free to do so. He needs to depend on his
own rational judgment in deciding what is
profitable to him and in determining how
to pursue it. If somebody else restricts
him from following his best judgment or
imposes an unprofitable course of action
upon him, then the individual cannot act in
his best interests or flourish maximally. The
only political, social, and economic system
which allows individuals to flourish freely
is laissez-faire capitalism, which tolerates
no coercive restraints on voluntary, non-
coercive, individual profit-seeking activities.
Under laissez-faire capitalism, every man
has sovereignty to decide the value he will
assign to each type of profit, the ways in
which he will pursue this profit, and the
types of exchanges he will make with other
consenting individuals in order to flourish.
If compulsory economic regulations
prevent the individual from seeking his
own flourishing in his own way, this will
also damage other people; the market
errors that entrepreneurial activity might
have corrected will remain and continue to
result in misallocated resources. Numerous
mutually beneficial value-trades will be
obstructed. Most tragically, individuals
will be stunted in their self-improvement
and flourishing by restrictions on certain
activities—especially money-making. They
will instead suffer great losses through
the diversion of resources to sustain an
inefficient and harmful regulatory regime.
If human flourishing is moral—if
the improvement of individual lives is
moral—than so is the pursuit of profit.
If the pursuit of profit is moral, then men
should be free to pursue it. This reasoning
leads us to favor maximal economic
liberty under laissez-faire capitalism.
Winter 2007
Smoking or Non is
No Longer Up to You
by Roger Pattison
In the last election, the people of
Nevada voted yes on Question 5.
This new law prohibits the smok-
ing of tobacco in businesses that
cater to people under 21 as well
as those that serve food, adding
“the battle born state” them to the
list of 21 others that have banned
smoking in workplaces, restau-
rants and or bars. The measure,
does not yet ban smoking in ca-
sinos, because many fear that it
would hurt casino revenues and
Nevadan tourism, which make up
a substantial portion of Nevada’s
economy. Some may question
why this is a problem, especially
those who don’t smoke. Although
it may not affect the non-smoker
directly, one must realize the neg-
ative implications this law has on
business and our rights. It is quite
unfortunate that the people of
Nevada, along with the other 21
states, do not comprehend that
this gross intrusion on the private
sector of our society eliminates
our freedom to choose and fails
to protect our individual rights.
The effects of this outrageous
law can already be seen in small
continued on page 11
Cartoon courtesy of USBCI
10 election
Here’s to you, President Ford
by Julie Robison
President Gerald Ford was the presi-
dent the Founding Fathers had imag-
ined when they formed the govern-
ment. He was a leader in the military,
emphasized civic duty and virtue, was
an active member of the legislature,
and, while he was in office, worked
for the benefit of the
people. He was an
American first and fore-
most; he strove for na-
tional unity, especially
during the crisis of the
Vietnam War and in the
aftermath of Watergate.
Watergate and the Viet-
nam War often over-
shadow President Ford’s
term. However, his in-
fluence on the country
has been immense. Pres-
ident Ford, in addition to
his national unifying policies and pro-
cedures, established special education
with the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act and appointed John Paul
Stevens to the Supreme Court. He
had his trials as well; Ford faced two
assassination attempts within three
weeks of each other. The Ford Admin-
istration also saw the final withdrawal
of American personnel from Vietnam.
With the exceptions of history en-
thusiasts, Ford’s contribution to
America tends to become belittled
amidst a sea of Presidential greats.
It’s true that he didn’t win
the Pulitzer Prize, like Ken-
nedy’s Profiles in Courage.
Ford’s policies didn’t compare to John-
son’s Great Society when it comes to the
internal improvements of the country.
He wasn’t ‘The Great Communica-
tor ’ like Reagan, nor did he redeem
his presidency through his post-
presidency activities to the extent of
Carter in regards to his peacekeep-
ing and other humanitarian efforts.
Ford was just a man; a man who did
the best he could in the situation he
was in; he was the only man to reach
the presidency without having been
elected by the American people, a po-
sition he acknowledged but never used
as a crutch. He was a man who want-
ed to make a difference in his world.
Ford played football for the Univer-
sity of Michigan and was offered con-
tracts from the Green Bay Packers and
Detroit Lions, both of which he turned
Winter 2007
down in favor of Yale Law School. make our lives sublime/ And, depart-
After law school and passing the bar, ing, leave behind us/ Footprints on the
Ford started up his practice as an at- sand of time.” President Ford’s life
torney but, when his country called and actions should lead one to won- President Ford died on December
for arms during World War II, Ford der how they are going to be defined 26, 2006. He was the 38th President
enlisted in the Navy. There he thrived in their own life. While not everyone
of the United States. He was also the
and earned many honorary stars will go on to be recruited for profes-
longest-living president at 93 years
and medals for his service, as well sional athletics, attend law school or
as an honorable discharge in 1946. become the president of the United and 165 days, passing President Rea-
Two year later, he States, this does not mean that all can- gan by 45 days. The legacy Presi-
married his wife Bet- not make a difference in their world. dent Ford left behind will not soon
ty, with whom he had The defining characteristic of an ad- be forgotten. President George W.
four children. He be- mirable president, as well as a person, Bush remarked in President Ford’s
came active in local is the way a person responds and acts eulogy that in “President Ford, the
Republican politics, in their environment, as well as the world saw the best of America -- and
entering the public difference these actions make in oth- America found a man whose charac-
domain in 1948. Dur- ers people’s lives. This is what made ter and leadership would bring calm
ing his long involve- Ford different. He took the environ- and healing to one of the most divisive
ment in American ment around him and turned it around
moments in our nation’s history.”
politics, he held many for the better. Great actions are the
Gerald Ford upheld the Founding
prestigious positions accumulation of small achievements;
including being a it is paying attention to the details that
Fathers’s idealism with his sense of
member of the House count. For example, President Ford, patriotic duty by responding to the
of Representatives for in his first election campaign for State country when America needed him
over twenty years and was selected Mi- Representative, promised the farmers most. He gave this country an ideal
nority Leader of the Republican Party. of Michigan he would visit their farms to strive for and served as a model of
In 1973, President Richard Nixon’s and milk their cows if he won. He excellence for generations to come.
vice president Spiro Agnew resigned did win and he did milk those cows.
after being charged with tax eva-
sion. Ford was chosen
as Nixon’s new vice
president. Little did he Like what you see? Well, then let’s kill some trees!
know that a year later,
President Nixon would
also resign, handing
Ford the presidency.
Less than a month into
his presidency, Presi-
dent Ford gave Presi-
dent Nixon a full and
absolute pardon. He
also issued conditional
pardons to draft dodgers
who left the country in
order to escape service
for the Vietnam War.
A president’s term can
oft be defined by one de-
cision. President Ford
made the conscious de-
cision not to focus and
scapegoat President
Nixon’s blunder as the
cause of America’s prob-
lems but rather focused
on moving forward and
heal a hurting nation.
In Henry Wadsworth Help us spread The Hilsldale Forum around the nation! We will
Longfellow’s poem, A
Psalm of Life, he wrote send an issue to your five favorite people, but we need you
“Lives of great men
all remind us/ We can
to send us their addresses... hillsdaleforum@gmail.com.
forumh profile 11
MILTON FRIEDMAN IN MEMORIAM unemployment.” But it was supply-side econo- tions of its cause gave us the New Deal and
by Paul Craig ROberts mists who explained “stagflation” as the conse- its assaults on the Constitution, in particular
dress the public. Friedman regarded this task
as one of his functions as an economist. In his
Guest COlumnist the New Deal assault on the principle that the
quence of a wrong policy mix that pumped up book “Capitalism and Freedom,” and in his
Early in the morning of Nov. 16, 2006, at the demand with easy money, while restraining real lawmaking power of Congress cannot be del- television series, “Free to Choose,” Friedman
age of 94, Milton Friedman passed away. Fried- output with high marginal tax rates. The long egated to regulatory agencies in the execu- reminded people, who had been taught to look
man was the great economist economic expansions tive branch. Since the time of the New Deal, to the government for protection from economic
of our time, who more than of the 1980s and 1990s “laws” passed by Congress are simply autho- dislocation and exploitation, that historically
anyone saved the econom- were the results of the re- rizations for executive branch agencies to leg- government was the threat to social and politi-
ics profession from dogma. versal of the Keynesian islate by writing the regulations that interpret cal freedom. Friedman, thus, did what he could
There was Keynesian policy mix by supply- and implement the acts passed by Congress. to correct the change in the American outlook
dogma, which justified in- side economists in the It was the failure of the Federal Reserve’s toward government that resulted from the
creased government spend- Reagan administration. monetary policy in the 1930s that caused the Fed’s mistaken monetary policy in the 1930s.
ing as a full employment pol- Friedman won the No- Great Depression and the enormous growth Friedman never grew arrogant or inacces-
icy; Phillips Curve dogma, bel Prize in 1976 for his of central government power. Despite Fried- sible from his fame. He was a friend to younger
which specified trade-offs permanent income hy- man’s work, this story is still so little known scholars with inquiring minds and respected the
between inflation and em- pothesis (1957), a nec- that Lawrence Stratton and I addressed it anew efforts of others to arrive at the truth. Small of
ployment; and market fail- essary correction to the in “The Fed’s Depression and the Birth of the stature, he was a giant of intellect and character.
ure dogma, which justified Keynesian consumption New Deal” (Policy Review, No. 108, 2001).
inefficient government in- function. But his most Contrary to New Deal historians, the Great De- To find out more about Paul Craig Roberts, and
terventions and regulations. important work was pression was not a failure of the old order. It was read features by other Creators Syndicate writers
Friedman pointed out to “Monetary History of the the failure of the new order that had just begun. and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web
the Keynesians that deficit United States” (1963), Friedman was an insightful economist, and page at www.creators.com
spending would not in- co-authored with Anna his theoretical gifts did not prevent him from COPYRIGHT 2006 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
crease total demand unless Schwartz, especially the being a real-world economist who could ad-
the central bank accommo- Milton Friendman 1912-2006 section explaining the
dated the deficit by increas- collapse of the money
ing the money supply. Otherwise, the rise in the supply during the 1930s as the result of per- Smoking from Page 8 Although it is widely understood
government’s spending would be offset by the verse monetary policy by the Federal Reserve. businesses in Nevada. Own- that secondhand smoke has det-
decline in spending by the bond purchasers. Economists had come to the conclusion that ers and workers of billiards and rimental health effects, health-
In making this point, Friedman arrived at the the Great Depression in the United States was bowling allies in Carson City conscious citizens have the right
conclusion reached earlier by Michael Polanyi in caused by insufficient aggregate demand to sup- have reported a significant de- to choose whether or not to avoid
“Full Employment and Free Trade” (1945). Po- port full employment. However, economists
lanyi had taken the point to its logical conclusion had no convincing explanation for the cause of
crease in customers and the smoking friendly establishments.
and wrote that it was nonsensical for government inadequate demand. Friedman and Schwartz customers themselves express If the citizens choose not to sup-
to incur interest charges by selling bonds when showed that the Federal Reserve had reduced their discontent with the new law port an establishment that permits
the point was to increase the money supply. the supply of money by one-third and that this quite frequently. However, since smoking, then that establishment
Friedman was skeptical of Phillips Curve dramatic contraction was the cause of insuf- this bill just recently came into has to make the decision whether
trade-offs between employment and inflation. ficient demand to maintain full employment.
He addressed the issue as “more inflation, more
effect last December, it is difficult to allow smoking or to lose that
The Great Depression and mistaken explana-
for anyone to determine whether business. The freedom of choice
this is a negative short term ef- is still there as is the change de-
fect or if Nevada’s economy will sired by citizens. Therefore, the
be injured in the long run. Taking overall question is if we don’t
an example from Canadian legis- agree on an issue should we use
lation, which this bill resembles, legislation to restrict the choices
we can see that smoking bans of others or should we use our
aren’t quite the best regulations own ability to choose, without
to implement. As a result of On- the interference of government,
tario’s smoking bans that took ef- to support a business or not?
fect in June, Casino Windsor had Whether or not we support an is-
to lay off hundreds of workers sue such as state smoking bans,
and suffered a 20 percent drop we have a responsibility to com-
in revenues. Aside from the al- prehend, fully, the consequences
most painfully apparent negative of our votes and the implications
implications this bill has on the of more government control in our
economy, it is more than a regu- lives. We must not fall in the trap of
lation against business prosper- suppressing the rights of others in
ity. It is a regulation against the order to further our own agendas.
private sector’s right to choose.
Cartoon courtsey of USBCI
12 the back page
“I mean, you got the first mainstream
Winter 2007
“George Bush giving
African-American who is articulate and “You can tell a lot about a fella’s character by tax cuts is like Jim
bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. whether he picks out all of one color or just Jones giving Kool-
grabs a handful.” –Ronald Reagan explaining
I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” why he liked to have a jar of jelly beans on
Aid. It tastes good
--Presidential hopeful Joe Biden (D-DE), hand for important meetings but it’ll kill you.”
on presidential hopeful Barack Obama --Rev. Al Sharpton
“You still have to vote for us ‘cause “Helen, will you stop heckling and let me conduct a
my opponent is a slug, and they’re press conference... Well no, I’m making an argument,
and you’re, you’re pestering the teacher.” --White
going to tax you into the poor-
“We have a voice now, House Press Secretary Tony Snow, to veteran reporter
house. On the way to the poor- Helen Thomas
and we’re not using it, house, you’ll meet a terrorist on ev-
and women have so “As the hobbits are going up Mount
ery street corner. And when you try
much to lose. I mean, Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn
to run away from that terrorist, you
we could lose the right will trip over an illegal immigrant.’” somewhere else.... It’s being drawn to
to our bodies. We --Former President Bill Clinton, on Iraq and it’s not being drawn to the U.S.
could lo--if you think the Republican’s 2006 campaign You know what? I want to keep it on
that rape should be formula Iraq. I don’t want the Eye to come back
legal, then don’t vote.” “I think with a lifetime appointment to here to the United States.” --Sen. Rick
--Cameron Diaz
the Supreme Court, you can’t play, you Santorum (R-PA), comparing the Iraq
know, hide the salami, or whatever it’s war to the Lord of the Rings
called.” --Howard Dean

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