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Increasing Government Power Threatens Freedom
RealClearPolitics ^ | 2/10/2010 | John Stossel

Posted on 02/12/2010 7:09:24 AM PST by Palmetto Patriot

Government is taking us a long way down the Road to Serfdom. That doesn't just mean that more of us must work for the government. It means that we are changing from independent, self-responsible people into a submissive flock. The welfare state kills the creative spirit.

F.A. Hayek, an Austrian economist living in Britain, wrote "The Road to Serfdom" in 1944 as a warning that central economic planning would extinguish freedom. The book was a hit. Reader's Digest produced a condensed version that sold 5 million copies.

Hayek meant that governments can't plan economies without planning people's lives. After all, an economy is just individuals engaging in exchanges. The scientific-sounding language of President Obama's economic planning hides the fact that people must shelve their own plans in favor of government's single plan.

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bho44; bhodoj; economicplanning; governmentcontrol; hayak; liberty; roadtoserfdom; stossel
The implications of Progressive economic policies.
1 posted on 02/12/2010 7:09:25 AM PST by Palmetto Patriot
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To: Palmetto Patriot

“Today, when a concerted effort is made to obliterate this point, it cannot be repeated too often that the Constitution
is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals —

that it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government —

that it is not a charter _for_ government power,
but a charter of the citizen’s protection _against_ the government.”

Ayn Rand


2 posted on 02/12/2010 7:11:15 AM PST by silverleaf (My Proposed Federal Budget is $29.99)
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To: Palmetto Patriot
"Man is not free unless government is limited...

As government expands, liberty contracts."

-Ronald Reagan


3 posted on 02/12/2010 7:12:55 AM PST by ConservaTexan (February 6, 1911)
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To: Palmetto Patriot

Socialism seduces us with a fraudulent bargain: that we can live at the expense of others if we would only allow them to live at our expense. Not only is socialism unable to deliver on this bargain, nobody who accepts the Ten Commandments can agree to it, for the bargain is based on violating the Commandments that forbid lies, coveting and theft.


4 posted on 02/12/2010 7:30:41 AM PST by theBuckwheat
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To: theBuckwheat
Uncle Sugar

Creating a society of subservient citizens....from cradle to grave.

Very sad, America is the land of the free and home of the brave.

Not a bunch of greenie weenies, illegal aliens, gut wrenched poor awaiting the next handout.

If we don't stand up and resist these globalist, socialist....the American experiment will come to an end.

5 posted on 02/12/2010 8:13:09 AM PST by servantboy777
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To: Palmetto Patriot
 Free Golf Carts! 

JOHN STOSSEL, FOX BUSINESS ANCHOR: This wasn't hard. The dealers advertised it. They ran ads saying there's a big tax credit on golf carts. This one costs $8,000. We'll discount it $2,000. So, you pay $6,400 bucks. Sixty-four-hundred-dollar tax credit. It's totally free.

O'REILLY: Why do you get a tax credit to buy a golf cart?

STOSSEL: Because our bloated government subsidizes everybody. This is a Charles Rangel Bill to support electric vehicles, and...

6 posted on 02/12/2010 8:26:29 AM PST by TankerKC (No government employees were harmed in the slashing of this budget.)
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