The 'free market' is a myth. It is a Corporation specific market, manipulated in favor of the highest bidder.

In the regulation of chemicals, America sacrifices common sense and consumer safety on the alter of the free market.

if you haven't listened to the diane rehm show you need to

mccain's foreign policy adviser kory schake, was on this morning and diane bent that dizzy bimbo over

she was stuttering and blathering under the direct and concise questioning of diane rehm

i was driving to work and laughing and cheering so hard i had to calm down and drive

Past few nights I've been listening to the radio adventures of the Lone Ranger with Brace Beemer and John Todd as the masked man and Indian.

As Tonto would say, "Mmm...that is good, kemosobee."

In the regulation of chemicals, America sacrifices common sense and consumer safety on the alter of the free market.

An email from my brother differentiates between "free market" and "fair market."

But first his rant against the concept of "free market" ..

The idea that "free markets" exist in the absence of governmental regulation is just plain nuts, not to mention historically and intellectually inaccurate.

The basis of markets is property rights (if you don't own exclusive rights to something, you can hardly sell it in a market). Property rights are not a fact of nature, but rather a social institution that developed out of over-exploitation of commons. There are lots of ways to solve over-exploitation of commons, but one way it to assign property rights. But, enforcing property rights is costly. Until the social losses of NOT having property rights exceeded the costs of having them, no one had ever even invented the idea. But, once over-exploitation became a social problem, people got together and basically said, "if we divide this up, give each person exclusive use of some of the land, give him the right to kick others off (and agree that collectively we will help him), let him sell it to someone else if think they can do a better job managing it, etc, then we'll all be better off." And, property rights were born, but they REQUIRE society/government to enforce them. So, at the very core of "free markets" is governmental intervention.

And he goes on to argue that "fair markets" ARE regulated by government.

One of the roles of our government, stated in the US Constitution, is to "regulate commerce" .. our government is not doing its job if it doesn't regulate commerce for the common good.

As always, thanks for the linkage, Mike!

rain @ 8:

I really don't care what sexual preferrances other people have - gays and straights alike - just don't bring it to my front door.

I kind of agree with you. I have never understood the gay mindset. I know it's important for everyone to be treated fairly and with respect and I fully support gay marriage and for that matter equal rights and protections for everyone. But I personally find homosexuality to be in poor taste. I went to a gay parade and found it repulsive in it's almost pornographic sexuality.

If straight people were acting like that I would have been just as repulsed.

I hope this doesn't sound intolerant, but why does who you fuck make you a demographic??

Do McCain and his wife Cindy have an open marriage agreement?

As I made the rounds in Washington, several people mentioned the story. A theme developed. None would go on the record, but more than one suggested that fidelity in the McCain marriage was not a priority for either partner. I was told that reporters know a lot more than they let on, but they are reticent about bringing it up.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-stark/the-coming-storm-or-why-m_b_107...

DC @ 13:

Do McCain and his wife Cindy have an open marriage agreement?

As I made the rounds in Washington, several people mentioned the story. A theme developed. None would go on the record, but more than one suggested that fidelity in the McCain marriage was not a priority for either partner. I was told that reporters know a lot more than they let on, but they are reticent about bringing it up.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-stark/the-coming-storm-or-why-m_b_107148.html

Regarding the reporters, it's an interesting question. If there were rumours surrounding BO's fidelity, I bet they would be digging night and day for some bit of evidence.

Its funny how everyone acknowledges that there is no free-market in this country- yet for some reason the free-market continues to take the blame for everything. This country is a highly regulated managed market and that's what has led to corporatism.

The idea of a "fair market" is ludicrous. Who is it being fair to when government decides to intervene in the market? Its always one side's interest over another. That kind of idea is why there was anti-trust legislation that aimed to stop Microsoft from giving away a free product(internet explorer). I didn't hear any consumers complaining that we needed protection from that.

Proponents of the idea that you do not need a monopoly of defense(gov't, police) to enforce property rights are all over the place- and they are worth reading.

GOP convention button asks, ‘If Obama is president…will we still call it the White House?’

A booth at this weekend’s Texas Republican convention sold buttons asking, “If Obama Is President…Will We Still Call It The White House?”:

Theguy @ 17:

Its funny how everyone acknowledges that there is no free-market in this country- yet for some reason the free-market continues to take the blame for everything. This country is a highly regulated managed market and that's what has led to corporatism.

The idea of a "fair market" is ludicrous. Who is it being fair to when government decides to intervene in the market? Its always one side's interest over another. That kind of idea is why there was anti-trust legislation that aimed to stop Microsoft from giving away a free product(internet explorer). I didn't hear any consumers complaining that we needed protection from that.

Proponents of the idea that you do not need a monopoly of defense(gov't, police) to enforce property rights are all over the place- and they are worth reading.

if this was 1985 you might get some to bite, but too many people have seen to effects of "free" market policies--privatization, deregulation, union-busting, out-sourcing, corporatism, etc. this is the legacy of those that advocated "free" markets. never mind that the entire concept of a "free" market is completely absurd.

the market fundamentalist ideology/neoliberalism/reaganomics is a complete bust, it has failed, we are worse off b/c of it. income disparity, inequality and rampant poverty are its legacy.

Mike thanks for putting up that Last Left Turn Before Hooterville post!! I've been trying to remember that quote they have at the beganning of it for a few years now but was too lazy to search for it. It was on a wall at the barracks I was in at Ft. Benning back in '82. I may not have remembered the exact words or who spoke them but I always remembered the sentiment!

“The soldier above all other people prays for peace, for they must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”

General Douglas MacArthur

Theguy @ 17:

Its funny how everyone acknowledges that there is no free-market in this country- yet for some reason the free-market continues to take the blame for everything. This country is a highly regulated managed market and that's what has led to corporatism.

The idea of a "fair market" is ludicrous. Who is it being fair to when government decides to intervene in the market? Its always one side's interest over another. That kind of idea is why there was anti-trust legislation that aimed to stop Microsoft from giving away a free product(internet explorer). I didn't hear any consumers complaining that we needed protection from that.

Proponents of the idea that you do not need a monopoly of defense(gov't, police) to enforce property rights are all over the place- and they are worth reading.

The state must have a monopoly on violence - that's fundamental.

But the police & military should be here to protect people first, property rights should be somewhere down the list after the environment and a few other things, but WE THE PEOPLE come first.

Got it?

That's kind of fundamental too.