Hill.TV host called out on antilibertarian screed

Saagar Enjeti defends calls for conservatives to ditch libertarianism | TheHill:

December 30, 2019 - "Hill.TV host Saagar Enjeti hit back at billionaire Clifford Asness on Monday after the hedge fund manager criticized his calls for conservatives to ditch libertarianism. 'Clifford Asness’s corrupt and indignant hypocrisy is exactly the corporatism that I was calling out in that monologue, which triggered him,' Enjeti said....

"Over the weekend, Asness, who has since deleted his Twitter account, pushed back against Enjeti's critique of libertarianism, saying 'there is nothing libertarian about crony capitalism,' before adding that 'libertarians have called it out first and loudest'.... '[B]raying populists of the right now think they’re edgy and smart by decrying them,' Asness, who identifies as a libertarian, tweeted in a thread in response to Enjeti.

"These remarks were in response to an October monologue in which Enjeti said that conservatives have to 'ditch the libertarian streak and challenge concentrated power in the corporate form that we find it today.'

"Enjeti also doubled down on his criticism of libertarianism on Monday. 'Libertarianism in practice is a selective, corporate welfare ideology pushed by the financial industry and big business in Washington,' he said.

"Asness is one of the most prominent fund managers in the world. He has a personal net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes, and the firm that he co-founded, AQR Capital Management, oversees an estimated $200 billion in assets."

https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/476293-saagar-enjeti-doubles-down-on-calls-for-conservatives-to-ditch-libertarianism
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Maxime Bernier a 'reasonable libertarian'

Breakfast with the Tories: Maxime Bernier, the smooth libertarian - CBC News | Opinion - Neil Macdonald:

January 13, 2017 -"Maxime Bernier ... mostly turns the discussion to ... his ideas.  ​

"He's libertarian, to the extent that it's possible to be a libertarian and seek high office in a country that was built on protectionism and entitlement and government being the answer to everything.

"He advocates the end of quotas and supply management for dairy, poultry and eggs. Oh, and maple syrup. Most Canadian politicians — let alone MPs representing rural Canada like Bernier — prefer to leave such topics undiscussed.

"He wants to abolish interprovincial trade barriers. Stopping companies from growing into other Canadian jurisdictions, or stopping workers from travelling between provinces, he characterizes as 'foolish,' 'doubly foolish' and 'ridiculous.'

"Bernier wants an end to what he calls 'corporate welfare,' his term for governments using tax money to pick winners, such as Bombardier and General Motors, and letting losers struggle with market forces.

"He wants to deregulate telecommunications in a country with some of the most expensive cell phone bills on earth. Let other companies come in and compete, he says.

"Ditto for airports and airlines. To Bernier, more competition is always the answer.

"Health care? He rather refreshingly pronounces the Canadian system, with its rationing and waiting lists and regional inequalities, 'abysmal.' Bernier wants to pull the federal government out of health care entirely and transfer tax points to the provinces, which are solely responsible for delivering health care in any event.

"That, he says, would be the end of endless bickering and financial demands from the provinces. He concedes the plan would disadvantage poorer provinces with smaller tax bases, but says that's what equalization is for.

"Bernier avoids the term 'two-tier,' but that's what he's proposing. He wants private delivery, but stresses his support for keeping universal health insurance: 'I'm a libertarian, but I'm reasonable.'

"He would cut taxes. Deeply. Oh, and balance the budget in two years."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/breakfast-with-bernier-1.3931417
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Where Charles Koch & Bernie Sanders agree

Charles Koch: This is the one issue where Bernie Sanders is right - The Washington Post:

February 18, 2016 - "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) often sounds like he’s running as much against me as he is the other candidates.... I see benefits in searching for common ground and greater civility during this overly negative campaign season. That’s why, in spite of the fact that he often misrepresents where I stand on issues, the senator should know that we do agree on at least one....

"The senator is upset with a political and economic system that is often rigged to help the privileged few at the expense of everyone else, particularly the least advantaged. He believes that we have a two-tiered society that increasingly dooms millions of our fellow citizens to lives of poverty and hopelessness. He thinks many corporations seek and benefit from corporate welfare while ordinary citizens are denied opportunities and a level playing field.

"I agree with him.

"Democrats and Republicans have too often favored policies and regulations that pick winners and losers. This helps perpetuate a cycle of control, dependency, cronyism and poverty in the United States.... Large portions of the business community have actively pushed for these policies.

"Consider the regulations, handouts, mandates, subsidies and other forms of largesse our elected officials dole out to the wealthy and well-connected. The tax code alone contains $1.5 trillion in exemptions and special-interest carve-outs. Anti-competitive regulations cost businesses an additional $1.9 trillion every year. Perversely, this regulatory burden falls hardest on small companies, innovators and the poor, while benefitting many large companies like ours. This unfairly benefits established firms and penalizes new entrants, contributing to a two-tiered society.

"Whenever we allow government to pick winners and losers, we impede progress and move further away from a society of mutual benefit. This pits individuals and groups against each other and corrupts the business community, which inevitably becomes less focused on creating value for customers. That’s why Koch Industries opposes all forms of corporate welfare — even those that benefit us. (The government’s ethanol mandate is a good example. We oppose that mandate, even though we are the fifth-largest ethanol producer in the United States)....

"I applaud the senator for giving a voice to many Americans struggling to get ahead in a system too often stacked in favor of the haves, but I disagree with his desire to expand the federal government’s control over people’s lives. This is what built so many barriers to opportunity in the first place.

"Consider America’s War on Poverty. Since its launch under President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, we have spent roughly $22 trillion, yet our poverty rate remains at 14.8 percent. Instead of preventing, curing and relieving the causes and symptoms of poverty (the goals of the program when it began), too many communities have been torn apart and remain in peril while even more tax dollars pour into this broken system.

"It is results, not intentions, that matter. History has proven that a bigger, more controlling, more complex and costlier federal government leaves the disadvantaged less likely to improve their lives....

"When it comes to electing our next president, we should reward those candidates, Democrat or Republican, most committed to the principles of a free society. Those principles start with the right to live your life as you see fit as long as you don’t infringe on the ability of others to do the same. They include equality before the law, free speech and free markets and treating people with dignity, respect and tolerance. In a society governed by such principles, people succeed by helping others improve their lives."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-koch-this-is-the-one-issue-where-bernie-sanders-is-right/2016/02/18/cdd2c228-d5c1-11e5-be55-2cc3c1e4b76b_story.html
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Koch urges business to oppose corporate welfare

Charles Koch Urges Conservatives to Skip ‘Corporate Welfare’ - Philip Elliot, Time:

August 1, 2015 - "Conservative billionaire Charles Koch told his ultra-rich friends that they face a 'life and death' decision whether to keep lobbying for tax breaks and government subsidies.

"'Business leaders (must) recognize that their behavior is suicide, that it is suicide long term. To survive, long-term, they have to start opposing, rather than promoting, corporate welfare,' Koch told about 450 allies at an Orange County, Calif., summit that began Saturday....

"'Obviously, this prescription will not be an easy pill for many business people to swallow. Because short term, taking the principled path is going to cost some companies some profits, as it will for Koch Industries,' the 79-year-old Koch said. 'But long term, it will allow business people to continue to own and run their businesses, which none of us will be able to do, in my view, in the future otherwise.'

"He pointed to big banks that took 'virtually free money from the Fed' and bailouts in exchange for regulations. 'Now, the chickens are coming home to roost,' Koch said. 'The Fed is taking control of these banks. The Fed now decides what businesses they can be in and how they run those businesses.' Koch said 'regulators, auditors, controllers' are implanted at the banks to keep tabs. The banks, Koch argued, end up making political donations to avoid too much oversight.

"Koch warned that other businesses would be next if their leaders continue taking government subsidies. 'This means stopping the subsidies, mandates and special privileges for business that enriches the haves at the expense of the have-nots,' Koch said.

"It’s that class distinction that Koch has made the focus of seminars at the luxurious resort. 'In my view, we’re heading toward a two-tiered society, a society that is destroying opportunities for the disadvantaged and creating welfare for the rich,' Koch said. 'Misguided policies are creating a permanent underclass, crippling our economy and corrupting the business community — present company excepted, of course. But what this is doing, then, is turning more and more Americans against what they mistakenly believe is free enterprise.'

"With his brother David, Koch is among the most powerful players in Republican politics by virtue of their wealth.... Koch’s opinions shape opinions among rank-and-file conservatives and congressional leaders alike. In fact, five White House hopefuls planned to cycle through the three-day summit in Dana Point, Calif. At least 14 members of Congress or Governors were on-hand, as well....

The Koch-backed network plans to spend $889 million ahead of the 2016 elections... Some of it, advisers say, will be spent pushing against what Koch sees as unjustifiable corporate welfare."

Read more: http://time.com/3981312/charles-koch-corporate-welfare/

Herbert Spencer's view of charity

"Charity Is in Its Nature Essentially Civilizing": In Defense of Herbert Spencer | Cato @ Liberty - Trevor Burrus:

April 17, 2015 - "Spencer writes with the peculiar verve of a 19th-century British intellectual, coming from the same milieu as anthropologists who would blithely discuss the 'savage and uncivilized mongoloid and negroid races.' Similarly, Spencer would insouciantly attack the lazy, shiftless, and incompetent.

"Post-modern relativism makes us balk at these absolute terms. In modern politics we tend to think more about the conditions into which people are born rather than their personal responsibility. Discussions of the 'deserving poor' and 'undeserving poor' are now largely uncouth.

"But to Spencer, as to most 19th-century political and social theorists, the distinction mattered. Like many modern libertarians and conservatives, Spencer was very concerned that profligate and indiscriminate assistance for the poor would incentivize bad behavior. Although many on the left loathe the idea that welfare can create bad behavior, most people understand that concern. To anyone who’s ever had to cut off ne’er-do-well friends or family from further charity in order to help them out, those concerns make sense.

"Viewing society as something like an organism, Spencer thought broadly about how laws and policies could either encourage or discourage certain behaviors. As a Lamarckian – someone who believes acquired traits are heritable – he was concerned that those bad behaviors would be transmitted down through the generations. His end goal was an affluent society based on voluntary interaction in which sympathy for fellow men thrived. If the government did too much to encourage certain types of harmful behavior, then Spencer feared that, in the long run, the pain and suffering would be greater.

"What types of harmful behavior? Spencer was surely against the cronyistic businessman who prefers to use government to extract from taxpayers rather than building an honest business that adds to the sum total of wealth in society. In a system that cultivated such people, the doctrine of 'survival of the fittest' would mean that 'the fittest' were cronies rather than honest businessmen. Under his view of social evolution, the cumulative effect of such crony-supporting policies would be a society in which innovative entrepreneurs are replaced by cronies who lack creativity and pluck and do business with an army of lobbyists. Laws that perpetuate such cronyism would be 'acts of parliament to save silly people,' to use a Spencer quote cited by Millhiser.

"Similarly, Spencer would also oppose the person who resides on the dole without working, the kind of person the British press, in particular, loves to highlight. Spencer believed, not irrationally, that facilitating such behavior will only breed more of it. Most importantly, in the long run there will be great suffering in societies that massively facilitate such behavior, whether it is cronyism or welfare dependency.

"Does this mean that Spencer wrote seemingly hard-hearted things like 'widows and orphans should be left to struggle for life and death?' Yes. To Spencer, the laws that categorically try to prevent such suffering would only result in long-term suffering. For those who refuse to help themselves, and for those who persist in patterns of bad, self-destructive behavior, it is true that he thought many should be allowed to die. Again, however, this belief is not as radical as it sounds. Both law and charity can only do so much, and human beneficence can only be stretched so far for those who are unwilling to change their behavior. Ask a social worker how much patience he has for the clients who don’t even seem to be trying, whether they are heroin users or morbidly obese diabetic smokers. 'I can only do so much,' the social worker would probably say. But for those willing to change their behavior, or at least to try, Spencer had great sympathy.

"He also believed that laws that try to solve suffering merely reorganize the goods of society without solving the underlying problem, namely, the conditions that produce and exacerbate poverty. As he wrote, 'If it gives enough to some who else would not have enough, it must inevitably reduce certain others to the condition of not having enough. And thus, to the extent that a poor-law mitigates distress in one place, it unavoidably produces distress in another.'"

Read more: http://www.cato.org/blog/charity-its-nature-essentially-civilizing-defense-herbert-spencer
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Common Core and corporate welfare

Common Core Is Crony Capitalism for Computer Companies - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Robby Soave:

July 14, 2014 - "In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Bill Gates insisted that his support for the Common Core education standards was purely philosophical — he was offended by the notion that anyone would suspect him of pushing a policy that helps his own bottom line. He has no reason to peddle Common Core, he said, except that he cares deeply about the state of education in the U.S. and sincerely thinks expensive new curriculum standards and rigorous standardized testing will improve U.S. schools....

"But wait a minute — doesn't Gates work for a pretty big computer company, or something? Oh, and doesn't the testing component of Common Core require schools to upgrade their computer software? Who wants to bet that Core-aligned standardized testing requires Windows 8?

"It does! As The Post's Valerie Strauss points out, a Windows web page actually recommends that schools hurry up and buy the latest Windows software in order to enjoy a smoother transition to tech-heavy standardized testing required by Common Core....

"As Strauss writes, this fact does not make Gates a liar. It seems likely he does indeed think that imposing a set of uniform standards on the states will improve students' educational outcomes. But it should underscore that massive, expensive public policy changes — even well-intentioned ones — carry ramifications for rent-seekers. (Indeed, many states only agreed to the standards because the Obama administration promised them federal grant money in exchange.)

"I have already noted that Common Core looks like corporate welfare for textbook giants, since Pearson — the largest textbook company in the world — won a non-competitive government contract to design tests for half the states. It may also be crony capitalism for computer companies."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2014/07/14/common-core-is-crony-capitalism-for-comp
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Big business targeting GOP libertarians

Big Business Vs. Libertarians in the GOP - The Daily Beast - David Boaz:

June 12, 2014 - "Around the country, ... big business is devoting a surprising amount of effort to trying to defeat the small number of libertarian-minded members of Congress and state legislatures.
Why, for instance, did big companies spend so much money to defeat a Republican Georgia legislator last month? Apparently Rep. Charles Gregory was just too libertarian for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the companies like Coca Cola, Delta Airlines, Georgia Power, and AT&T, who suddenly set up the “Georgia Coalition for Job Growth” to oppose him and other tea party legislators.....

"In Kentucky, business leaders lobbied hard though unsuccessfully to persuade Steve Stevens, head of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, to run against Rep. Thomas Massie....

"A Washington business consultant has moved to northern California to challenge anti-earmarks Rep. Tom McClintock, because he 'thinks representatives should deliver for folks back home,' in the words of a local reporter. 


"
And that’s just it. It isn’t gay marriage or foreign policy that seems to annoy big and politically connected businesses. They just object that libertarian legislators don’t play the game, don’t bring home the bacon, and actually take seriously the limited government ideas that most Republicans only pay lip service to." 


Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/12/big-business-vs-libertarians-in-the-gop.html
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Kill The Export-Import Bank - Time

House Conservatives Are Right: Kill The Export-Import Bank | TIME -Michael Grunwald:

July 2, 2014 - "The self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives who run the Republican Party did not object to the bloated agribusiness subsidies in this year’s $956 billion farm bill. They’ve fought for weapons systems the Pentagon doesn’t want and water projects the country doesn’t need. They’ve helped repeal sensible flood insurance reforms designed to slash subsidies for waterfront property. And now they expect us to cheer their efforts to kill the obscure Export-Import Bank, which doesn’t even cost taxpayers money?

"Sure, why not? The Republicans may be hypocrites, but they’re right to take aim at the Ex-Im Bank.

"The Ex-Im is, as Senator Barack Obama said during his presidential campaign, 'little more than a fund for corporate welfare.' It provides cheap credit to foreign borrowers, often cash-flush behemoths like Brazil’s state-owned oil company or the emirate of Dubai, so they can buy products from U.S. exporters, often cash-flush behemoths like Boeing, Bechtel, Caterpillar or General Electric. It’s dearly beloved by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, but it’s often earned its reputation for crony capitalism. William Jefferson, the congressman memorably caught with cash in his freezer, got his dirty money in exchange for introducing corporate executives to Ex-Im officials, and the Justice Department is now investigating potential corruption inside the bank....

"Opposing the Ex-Im doesn’t mean agreeing with the Tea Party notion that government shouldn’t try to do anything — just that it should stop trying to do this."

Read more: http://time.com/2951443/export-import-bank-house-conservatives/
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Georgia LP nominee offers different approach as governor

Georgia Libertarian nominee offers a different approach as governor | Online Athens - Walter C. Jones, Morris News Service:

June 14, 2014 - "Andrew Hunt is as experienced in working wonders with small things as anyone.

"He earned 50 patents and two decades ago founded a 20-person nano-technology company that provides films, powders and other products for manufacturers. This newspaper page is 100,000 nanometers thick, and he’s accustomed to producing films only 10 nanometers thick. So, he may feel right at home in a campaign for governor that appears just as small.

"He’s up against the sitting governor, Republican Nathan Deal, who has already raised more than $8 million ...  and Jason Carter, the grandson of a U.S. president who’s already garnered more than $1 million.... Hunt hopes to raise $300,000, which would be more than 10 times what the last Libertarian raised....

"Hunt has some innovative proposals. He wants to save money on prisons by no longer locking up people convicted of “victimless crimes” like possession of marijuana. He would also effectively do away with the Department of Economic Development because he feels it’s wrong to give more attention, tax breaks, employee training or other benefits to any one company over another.

"Instead, to boost job creation he proposes having the state reimburse all employers for the employment taxes they pay because of federal laws, such as social security and unemployment insurance.... He stops short at picking up their penalty for not providing health insurance even though he acknowledges the Supreme Court ruled it was a tax."

Read more: http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-06-14/georgia-libertarian-nominee-offers-different-approach-governor

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Rhode Island shouldn't pay bankrupt firm's loan, says state LP

Don't repay 38 Studios loan, says Rhode Island Libertarian Party | Polygon - Samit Sarkar:

May 27, 2014 - "The Libertarian Party of Rhode Island doesn't believe the state is obligated to repay the loan that it gave to bankrupt game developer 38 Studios; instead, Rhode Island should refuse to pay, the organization said yesterday.

"'So-called 'moral obligation' bonds are neither moral, nor a legitimate financial obligation,' said Mike Rollins, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Rhode Island, in a statement yesterday. 'All such bonds deliberately bypass the official procedures for voter approval of government expenditures'....

"38 Studios received a $75 million loan from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. in 2010. When the studio declared bankruptcy in mid-2012, it left Rhode Island taxpayers on the hook for the state-backed loan, to the tune of about $89 million. The state sued 38 Studios, along with a number of associated individuals and entities, in November 2012 for fraud, negligence and civil conspiracy....

"'What they are is a major fraud upon the voters,' said state Libertarian Party chair Rollins, speaking of moral obligation bonds. 'Rhode Island can strike a major national blow against such deliberate fraud by totally refusing to ever pay for it!'"

Read more: http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/27/5754700/dont-repay-38-studios-loan-says-rhode-island-libertarian-party
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Tea Party promotes a New Fair Deal

To reinvigorate Republican Party, tea party takes page from Occupy - CSMonitor.com - David Grant, Christian Science Monitor:

April 15, 2013 - "If Republicans are going to bounce back in 2014, the tea party thinks it has the answer: the New Fair Deal.

"A dozen House lawmakers and Sen. Mike Lee (R) of Utah – backed by swarms of activists affiliated with the group FreedomWorks – are offering up a package of about a dozen proposals on Monday that are the tea party’s contribution to how the party should go forward.

"The thing that’s been missing is a reform agenda that excites people and gets them in the streets, that they believe can happen,' says Dean Clancy, vice president for public policy at FreedomWorks and a chief organizer of the New Fair Deal package. 'What can we do to help the guys that we helped get elected in 2010 actually restore credibility for this movement'....

"The New Fair Deal consists of 10 bills, which will include:
           * Cuts to a wide array of subsidies, with alternative energy companies, sugar growers, and high-speed rail all to get the ax.
           * A conservative alternative to Obamacare.
           * A 'flat tax' system.
           * A private savings option for Social Security.
           * Tax reform to broaden the tax base."

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2013/0415/To-reinvigorate-Republican-Party-tea-party-takes-page-from-Occupy
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