Two Paths Diverged.

With which of these statements do you agree?

• The prevalence of gun-related violent crime requires that we remove the possession of handguns and "assault weapons" from 2nd Amendment protections.
• There should be limits imposed by government on the amount of money that an individual can make per year.
• Freedom of speech should not include "hate speech", that is, speech that is considered offensive or hurtful to others.
• There should be no display or expression of religious belief allowed on public property or using public facilities whatsoever.
• The risk in allowing decisions about medical care and retirement to be made by individuals is too great to be left unsupervised by government authorities.
• The federal government should encourage the use of alternate and renewable fuels by high taxes on fossil fuels.
• Welfare or unemployment benefits should be provided to people for an unlimited period of time.
• Conditions of race, religion, sexual orientation, or economic circumstance should be considerations in prison sentencing guidelines.
• State governments cannot be trusted to provide for the welfare of their citizens.
• The use of tobacco products should be prohibited on all public property, both indoors and out-of-doors.
• Private property rights should restricted in order to prevent environmental degradation.
• Private property rights should be restricted to prevent the inordinate accumulation of wealth by an individual or group.
• Elections for public office should consider circumstances of "traditionally underrepresented" groups of people.
• I would give up my rights to private property for a guaranteed "living wage", housing, health care, and retirement pension.
• I would give up my right to vote for a guaranteed income, housing, health care, and retirement pension.

Lest We Forget.

The conflict in Iraq continues.

One Lousy Fly Fishing Year for the Huron River.

The chart says it all.

But We Meant So Well...

The Washington Post chronicles the waste of hundreds of millions of dollars in the Department of Housing and Urban Development on public housing projects that are either ficticious or going nowhere. This is a perfect example of the brain-dead spending that has been going on year in and year out by the Federal government, apparently with no accountability.

Essential Reading:

Victor Davis Hansen on how our view of entitlement is going to change...quickly.

The Wall Street Journal chronicles our slide to insolvency.

Mark Steyn considers the post-American planet.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Noonan: He is a Loser.

Now it becomes clear why experience is important: the President has gamed the debt ceiling crisis into a very serious risk of a downgrade of US debt instruments. The lofty speeches won't save us now.

Just Because It Is So Beautiful.

Politically-Induced Alcoholism.

Steven Ratnner has penned an excellent critique on the ethanol racket in the United States. He states clearly what many pols know but dare not speak: the US program to promote ethanol production for transporation fuels drives food prices up, is comparable in the energy to produce it than in what it displaces in petroleum, has led to a bizarre and contradictory arrangement of alcohol and petroleum imports and exports, and is a green pig-in-a-poke. But ethanolism does mean big federal subsidies to the agribusiness interests of the corn belt, including Iowa, an early presidential political milestone.

Postscript: a new AEI report on ethanolism can be found here.