Canada’s Free Trade Agreement

A friend of mine from CATO, wrote an excellent piece on Canada’s and Peru’s potential agreement to free trade.

Today, Canada and Peru will sign a historic free-trade agreement, representing the first commercial agreement negotiated with a Latin American nation under the premiership of Conservative Stephen Harper. A similar FTA with Colombia will follow soon, and there is still talk of resurrecting negotiations for an agreement with four Central American countries. With prospect for the U.S. trade agreement with Colombia now looking dim, Canada can take the lead in the drive to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Read more… 

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Fortuño comments on Puerto Rico’s status

Resident Commissioner Fortuño had a letter published in the NY Times regarding Puerto Rico’s relationship with the US.

Re “Puerto Rico’s Moment in the Sun,” by Michael Janeway (Op-Ed, May 22):

As the nation turns its eyes to Puerto Rico before the presidential primary, the island’s relationship with the United States must be viewed through a clear lens. No one who studies this relationship can emerge untroubled.

Although the Constitution and federal law are supreme in Puerto Rico, apart from a nonvoting resident commissioner in the House, Puerto Rico has no representation in the federal government that makes and enforces its laws.

The United States citizens of Puerto Rico have served in every conflict this nation has fought since 1917, and the island has the second highest rate of military service of any state or territory. It is poignant, to say the least, that Puerto Ricans “served with such devotion even while denied a vote for the president and members of Congress who determine when, where and how they are asked to defend our freedoms.” So wrote President George H. W. Bush.

Puerto Ricans, citizens of the greatest democracy on earth, have never had the chance to vote on whether they are satisfied with the existing arrangement in the context of a fair and orderly self-determination process sponsored by Congress. A pending bipartisan bill would ask them to choose between continuing their current relationship with the United States, statehood and independence. I hope that Congress will summon the courage to pass this legislation.

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Victory! But rights are determined by standard of review

***I hope Liberty Girl doesn’t mind that I add this post while she’s away. I wish her the absolute best on her exciting adventure to Latin America and look forward to reading her posts once she returns.***

As you’ve no doubt heard, the California Supreme Court ruled today that homosexuals cannot be discriminated against with regard to marriage. Specifically, the state can no longer legally distinguish between heterosexual “marriage” and homosexual “domestic partnership.”

There are two important lessons to learn from this case.

The first is that it is possible to achieve great gains in liberty through the courts. And make no mistake about it, this is a wonderful victory for all advocates of liberty. Gay marriage has absolutely nothing to do with sex and everything to do with individuals being afforded equal protection under the law.

This is a fitting place to note Hayek’s point that the fundamental goal for libertarians is equality before the law. Today’s ruling brought precisely that.

Further, marriage is a deeply private and personal contract that really is no one’s business but those involved in the contract. Even if you personally don’t want two people to marry — due to your religious views or personal biases — their private contract is none of your business.

Some people may not want Jews to be allowed to marry, or interracial couples, or fat people, or smelly people, or gay people. Such views should not be warranted the muscle of the law, but rather, be allowed to die quiet deaths as the prevailing moral zeitgeist surrounding them continues to march forward.

The second lesson from this case is that, when it comes to your rights, the

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Liberty Girl Out of Town

Liberty Girl will be out of the country in El Salvador.

Please excuse the lack of activity on the blog.

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100th Post!!!

As a way to celebrate the 100th post at Liberty is for me, we bring you a funny rendition of a classic youtube video:

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Price Elasticity of Gasoline

Richard makes an excellent point in his comments to Liberty Girl’s post on the cigarette tax. He uses price elasticity to suggest I’m wrong to advocate on behalf of the carbon tax, as I do in the comments section.

Funny enough, The Teaching Company promotes their course on economics with this passage:

If you complete this course and devote some thought to its subject matter, you’ll be able to hold your own any time the discussion turns to economics, whether it’s at your office, in the news, or at the dinner table.

If you hear someone say, for example, “A tax on gas could be a good way of encouraging people to drive less,” you’ll be able to add, knowingly, “Perhaps, but of course, it all depends on the elasticity of demand for gasoline.”

Today in the New York Times there’s a piece on this very issue by Bryan Caplan, GMU economics professor and author of the wonderful book, The Myth of the Rational Voter.

Caplan is in Richard’s camp, advocating for the gas tax holiday. He freely admits, however, that the vast majority of economists agree with me:

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Ode to Uncle Freddie!

Guess whose birthday it is?

A few hints:

The great aim of the struggle for liberty has been equality before the law.

There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal.

If we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion.

Answer here.

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Cops say if provoked, they will beat you

You must watch this CNN video of cops beating three alleged shooters.

This is the story:

Philadelphia city officials said Wednesday the beatings of three suspects, captured on video by a television news crew, were ‘unacceptable,’ and added officers’ emotions are running high after the slaying of a sergeant last week. ‘We certainly are concerned about what we saw on the tape,’ Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

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Hillary should lose, then I have a chance

This is the greatest postcard from PostSecert.

This is my secret too.

Hillary loses, I become the first female President and then I can say during the State of the Union Address, eff this bureaucrats.

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Crude oil prices go up and so does your mail

On Monday, May 12th, the cost of mailing a normal 1 oz. letter will increase a penny – from 41 cents to 42 cents.

😦

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