Free Republic

THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGINS OF FREEDOM IN THESE UNITED STATES What was the driving force that created American freedom? It would be wrong to suppose the incremental steps occurred without the kind of Jeffersonian vision that George W. Bush subscribes to today. GWB didn't invent the philosophical architecture of American freedom and in many ways neither did Thomas Jefferson. John Locke among others articulated it first and arguably, best. What is significant however is that Americans have applied the philosophy of liberty with revolutionary zeal. For their effort, they demonstratively changed the world for the better. Progressive moves towards greater...

In the wake of President Bush's vetoing human experimentation, aka "stem cell research" the Left has unleashed tons of its usual tired verbal flatulence into the air about Christianity being anti-science. Somewhere along the way the Orwellian Left has managed, with much undeserved success, to propagandize that having ethics when dealing with science is somehow "giving in to superstition." This most dangerous lie reminds me of a certain scientist who Liberals would probably love. He did many experiments in the same vein as those who wish to do the embryonic stem cell research. He never let a silly thing like...

Oh, yes, it was legitimate to remove the Indians for they didn’t use money, Locke’s benchmark for a commonweal united by a social contract. Nor did American Indians maximize production, which sinfully wasted what God had provided human kind. The point is not Locke’s quaint coin trick and Calvinist apologia for Indian-removal—that would have happened without his imprimatur—but rather the more historically interesting point that he ballasted parliamentary liberalism by assuming imperial control of exploitable resources of conquered overseas societies. Since Locke, Western societies have promised their discontented non-owning classes more and have looked covetously at their imperial holdings and...

The views of important thinkers become distilled into folk beliefs that shape our societies. John Locke and Karl Marx are two thinkers whose enormous influence can be described using this model.             "the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute" -- Maureen Dowd, the New York TimesMaureen Dowd's statement is Marxist. No, she did not advocate revolution by the proletariat. She did not say that we ought to have a Communist state. But her famous remark that someone in a particular class of victims has "absolute" moral authority is derived from "folk Marxism," as will...

Firm takes heat for cons’ crimes Settled suits cost top-tier legal entity $30 million, with more pending By Janet Elliott Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau (10-21-01) Locke Liddell and Sapp is one of Texas’ premier law firms, having represented some of the state’s top corporations and individuals, including George W. Bush when he was governor and general partner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. But it is two other former clients, convicted swindlers Russell Erxleben and Brian Stearns, who have brought unwanted attention to the 426-lawyer firm with offices in Houston and several other cities. In the past two years, Locke...

Texas Monthly November 2001 What happens when a top law firm gets two crooks for clients? At Locke, Liddell, and Sapp, the result was a $30 million settlement for angry investors. by John Spong LOCKE PURNELL ATTORNEY JANE MATHESON'S NOTE ON THE BACK OF A TRADE AGREEMENT her firm was editing for client Russell Erxleben in February 1998 got right to the point: "Tell the truth." Erxleben, an All-American punter and place kicker for the University of Texas Longhorns in the seventies, had enlisted the 110-year-old, blue-chip Dallas law firm to keep his company, Austin Forex Investments (AFI), from running...

In response to a congressional inquiry, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) provided a list of documents detailing the record of political donations by SCOTUS nominee Harriet Miers from 1980 to the present. (It should be noted that the list provided includes two donations recorded by the FEC that do not in fact belong to Ms. Miers). The document provided by the FEC can be linked from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) web site http://johnshadegg.house.gov/RSC/ Page 7 of the document provides Miers' contributions for the 1999-2000 election cycle. On 28 Apr 2000, Miers donated $1,000 to the Bush-Cheney 2000 Compliance Committee,...

Departing Governor Gary Locke says his proposed 2005-07 $26.2 billion budget has been scrubbed clean and only important state priorities are funded. This contention is crucial since his budget calls for a $2.9 billion spending increase over the 2003-05 budget (including a proposed $161 million 2005 supplemental budget) and is built on the assumption of a $598 million tax increase. With inflation for the next biennium forecasted at under four percent, Locke's 12.5 percent spending increase is more than three times the forecasted rate of inflation. Even without a tax increase, forecasted revenue for 2005-07 is actually up by nearly...

Out-going Governor Gary Locke is proposing a $598 million tax increase to fund his $26.2 billion 2005-07 budget request. Locke's budget represents a $2.9 billion spending increase over the current budget, including a requested $161 million 2005 supplemental budget. This is a 12.5 percent increase in spending. Forecasted revenue for the next budget is expected to increase by 1.5 billion (6.7 percent), while the implicit price deflator inflation index is expected to be up 3.7 percent. This means Locke hopes to increase state spending by more than three times the rate of inflation and $1.4 billion higher than forecasted revenue...

OLYMPIA, WA: Lame-duck Gov. Gary Locke on Thursday proposed raising taxes on soft drinks, beer, wine, hard liquor and doctors to avoid cuts to social services and education. Locke said he would gladly pay a nickel more for a can of his favorite beverage, Pepsi, to keep Washington from sliding into a state of "haves and have-nots," where students can't get into college and low-wage workers don't have health insurance. "I simply cannot recommend these kinds of cuts," Locke said in presenting a two-year, $27.7 billion spending proposal. "We have to keep investing in education, and we can't tur* our...

OLYMPIA—What a difference a year makes! In a June 26, 2003, press release announcing the signing of a no-new taxes budget, Governor Gary Locke had this to say: "While other states are resorting to creative accounting, tax increases and other short-term solutions, we're making the hard choices that the public expects from its leaders. This will serve us well next year when we will continue to face budget challenges." Today, Governor Locke abandoned this fiscal prudence and is now advocating a $598 million tax increase to fund his $2.9 billion spending increase. This spending increase is more than three times...

Twelve years ago, when the four policemen implicated in the beating of Rodney King were acquitted, a riot erupted in Los Angeles, a riot that eventually took the lives of 54 people and caused more than $1 billion in damage. In the midst of all this, an obviously anguished King asked his now-famous question, "Why can't we all just get along?" Disturbed by the increasing political and social tensions of American society, the more moderate among us are echoing King's question, wondering why it is that we can't somehow figure out how to get along better, how to end some...

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Gary Locke and legislative Democrats proposed Wednesday that Washington adopt California's vehicle-emission standards, the toughest in the world. Locke, a two-term Democrat who leaves office in January, also announced a freeze on state government purchase of four-wheel-drive sports utility vehicles. The state motor pool will begin shifting to hybrid vehicles. The proposal to adopt California's auto standards, effective the 2009 model year, is the centerpiece of the lame-duck governor's package of bills to combat global warming.

A year ago, Gary Locke used an approach he called ``priorities of government'' to maintain key state services while filling a $2.6 billion hole. Now, in one of his last acts as governor, he seems willing to return to the days of expanding programs and raising taxes. It's a bad idea that should be rejected. Dino Rossi already has turned thumbs down on the idea. His opponent, Christine Gregoire, also has questioned new taxes, saying during the campaign that the state still is recovering from a recession. The incoming Legislature should reject it, too. The state's current budget is about...

OLYMPIA -- Lame-duck Gov. Gary Locke may not be limping off into the sunset. If the slugfest between Republican Dino Rossi and Democrat Christine Gregoire doesn't produce a new governor by the scheduled Jan. 12 inauguration, Locke may have to stick around. That is because of a provision of the state constitution that says the governor's term of office is four years "and until his successor is elected and qualified." That provision has never had a practical impact. But now the state is in uncharted territory with a governor's race that is headed into an unprecedented third count. Rossi was...

OLYMPIA,WA - Preparing his final budget, outgoing Gov. Gary Locke said Tuesday he may propose higher taxes before leaving office next month. At a press conference that he called to "alert" the public about the consequences of eliminating a $1.6 billion shortfall by spending reductions, Locke cautiously answered questions about whether he favors raising revenues to soften the cuts. "We're looking at all of these options, just as we have before," he said. "We're going to have to look at a variety of sources, and no decisions have been made." Two years ago, Locke opposed raising taxes and set a...

OLYMPIA,WA—At his budget press conference today, Governor Gary Locke hinted that a tax increase would be necessary to close the state's projected $1.8 billion budget "deficit." Locke's openness to a tax increase is a stark departure from his previous commitment to budgeting within the renowned Priorities of Government (POG) budget reform. Claiming that it would be difficult to fund all the activities that the people expect from government under Washington's projected 2005-07 $1.5 billion revenue increase, Locke stated that tax increases could not be ruled out to close the gap with the desired $3.3 billion spending increase over the current...

Now that Washington's state spending limit (I-601) and November revenue forecast have been adopted, the budget picture is coming into focus for 2005-07. The good news is that with inflation up only 3.7 percent for 2005-07, the forecasted revenue is projected to increase by 6.7 percent—an increase of more than $1.5 billion over expected revenue for the current biennium (2003-05). It is worth remembering that in 2003 Governor Gary Locke presented just one budget based on his Priorities of Government (POG) budget review. Unfortunately, unlike in 2003, Locke may now be presenting two budgets for the next governor to inherit....

In his new book, Intellectual Morons, Daniel Flynn exposes the dangers of blindly following intellectual elites who support and promote idiotic ideas and theories. Chris Banescu, who recently wrote the review of the book, interviewed Flynn about the origins of the material and the impact its revelations will have on our culture. Chris Banescu: What inspired you to write this book? Daniel Flynn: My goal in writing Intellectual Morons is to get more people to think with their brain rather than their ideology. By exposing ideologically-inspired hoaxes and frauds, the book not only rebuts falsehood but helps immunize readers against...

OLYMPIA,WA – The Evergreen Freedom Foundation filed an ethics complaint against Governor Gary Locke last Friday for his role in soliciting contributions from businesses with state contracts for July's National Governors Association (NGA) meeting in Seattle. The Ethics Board previously warned Governor Locke in a February 2003 staff analysis not to directly solicit contributions from business and to entirely avoid any soliciting of companies with state contracts. As reported by the News Tribune (Tacoma), Governor Locke ignored the Ethics Board's warning. Eighteen companies, holding 155 state contracts worth about $206 million, contributed at least $720,000 to the NGA meeting. Since...

OLYMPIA—Despite state law prohibiting public employees from striking, the Washington Federation of State Employees (the state's largest public employee union) is threatening to strike if Governor Locke does not agree to contract demands. The 2005-07 budget will be the first drafted since lawmakers approved collective bargaining for state employees in 2002. However, the 2002 law did not alter RCW 41.56.120 which reads in full: Right to strike not granted. Nothing contained in this chapter shall permit or grant any [emphasis added] public employee the right to strike or refuse to perform his official duties. RCW 41.56.120 provides public employees the...

OLYMPIA – The Evergreen Freedom Foundation (EFF) received a phone call today from the International Trade Administration (ITA) division of the U.S. Department of Commerce asking for details concerning Governor Locke's 7E7 Boeing contract. This follows on the heels of President Bush's comments at a Seattle Boeing event last Friday, in which the President addressed Boeing's complaints about the subsidies rival Airbus receives: "We think these subsidies are unfair and that [U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick] should pursue all options to end these subsidies, including bringing a WTO [World Trade Organization] case if need be." Airbus has indicated that if...

Tolerance: The Enlightenment Vs Multi-Culturalism. By Robert Wolf Tolerance, as exemplified by the Enlightenment ‘philosophes’, incorporated the belief that each individual should be free to pursue his own interests. In the words of Locke, “The commonwealth seems to me to be a society of men constituted only for the procuring, preserving, and advancing their own civil interests. Civil interests I call life, liberty, health, and indolency of body (recreation); and the possession of outward things, such as money, lands, houses, furniture, and the like.1 Unlike Hobbes’ Leviathan’, Locke regards this contract as revocable, a government that depends upon the consent...

<p>Washington -- Democrats, underscoring the national stakes in California's recall election, are sending their most popular figures to the state in an effort to rally the party's base behind Gov. Gray Davis.</p> <p>Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to campaign this weekend with Davis, followed next week by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, one of the party's candidates for president. Discussions are under way with a long lineup of Democratic luminaries including former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, several current governors including Washington's Gary Locke, Democratic consultants James Carville and Donna Brazile, and the rest of the Democratic presidential field.</p>

<p>OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) Gov. Gary Locke, chairman of America's Democratic governors, announced Monday that he won't seek a third term next year.</p> <p>Locke, 53, the country's first Chinese-American governor and the Democrats' choice to answer President Bush's State of the Union Address last January, saying he reached the decision ''after much thought and careful deliberations with my family.''</p>

(Source, Charles F. Adams, ed., The Works of John Adams [1851] Vol. 6, p. 3-4)There have been three periods in the history of England, in which the principles of government have been anxiously studied, and very valuable productions published, which, at this day, if they are not wholly forgotten in their native country, are perhaps more frequently read abroad than at home.The first of these periods was that of the Reformation, as early as the writings of Machiavel himself, who is called the great restorer of the true politics.  The "Shorte Treatise of Politick Power, and of the True Obedience...

In solving his revenue crunch, Washington Gov. Gary Locke focuses on results, not costs. Table of Contents At a time when the states face a collective revenue shortfall of $80 billion -- the worst fiscal crisis since World War II, according to the National Governors Association -- Washington Gov. Gary Locke has achieved the improbable. In addressing his state's $2 billion budget gap, he has managed to garner widespread confidence in his budgetary leadership among voters and political counterparts alike. That public confidence has been a byproduct of an effort by Locke to invert the standard way of budgeting, in...

Liberals were doomed from the start. Weeks before state lawmakers even arrived in the capital in January, Gov. Gary Locke proposed a state budget that virtually wiped out any political viability of raising taxes to fill a historic $2.7 billion deficit. In the place of Democrat-endorsed tax increases, the Legislature eventually slashed voter-approved education spending and cut health care and other programs for the poor. State workers lost ground in compensation again. In fact, labor unions were arguably the biggest losers this year. Republicans largely drove the agenda through most of the 136-day double-overtime session, from the two-year, $23 billion...

7. And that all men may be restrained from invading others' rights, and from doing hurt to one another, and the law of Nature be observed, which willeth the peace and preservation of all mankind, the execution of the law of Nature is in that state put into every man's hands, whereby every one has a right to punish the transgressors of that law to such a degree as may hinder its violation. For the law of Nature would, as all other laws that concern men in this world, be in vain if there were nobody that in the state...

From the January 2001 issue of Chronicles: Distrusting John Lockeby Paul Gottfried John Locke has been interpreted in various ways that appeal to conservatives—e.g., as a Christian, albeit a materialist and anti-Trinitarian, or as a qualified defender of private property—but there is a general drift to his thought that should offend traditionalists.  His view of human beings as thinking matter without the capacity for innate ideas, his unmistakable faith in sexual egalitarianism, and his constructivist theory of civil society are all fundamentally anti-conservative.  The point is not whether any of these positions is theoretically defensible but whether conservatives (or historically...

Republican Senator Bill Finkbeiner; Raising Taxes and Eroding Property Rights "Governor’s Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel BIOS's". "(As of September 9, 2002)" http://sustainableseattle.org/sustpanel/bios.doc Senator Bill Finkbeiner, Washington State Senate, (R) 45th Legislative District Representative Fred Jarrett, Washington State House of Representatives (R) 41st Legislative District, et al A New Path Forward. Action Plan for a Sustainable Washington: Achieving Long- term Economic, Social, and Environmental Vitality"; was Submitted to Governor Gary Locke on February, 2003 by the "Governor’s Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel." Governor Gary Locke issued Executive Order 02-03, Sustainable Practices By State Agencies and legislation is under consideration to pave the...

RNC RESEARCH GOV. GARY LOCKE SOUGHT WAIVERS TO FREEZE MEDICAID ENROLLMENT IN WASHINGTON STATE Gov. Locke Pushed To Roll Back Medicaid Coverage, Hurting Children And The Poor GOV. LOCKE’S MEDICAID FREEZE In November 2001, Locke Submitted A Request To The Federal Government For Waivers That Would Allow Him To Freeze Medicaid Enrollment And Impose Costs On Low-Income Individuals Needing Health Care Coverage Under Medicaid. “[Washington] state is seeking federal permission to impose patient co-payments and premiums and for the first time to consider capping enrollment in some low-income health-care programs. State officials say they need more flexibility to control Medicaid...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Searching for a strong response to President Bush's State of the Union address, Democrats made a curious choice. They turned to Washington Gov. Gary Locke, an obscure, two-term executive at a political low point, whose state is grappling with one of the nation's highest budget deficits ($2.5 billion) and rates of unemployment (6.8 percent).</p>

RNC Research DEMOCRATS PICK GARY LOCKE? Democrats Choose A Governor Who Continues To Struggle With “That Leadership Thing” To Deliver Their State Of The Union Response ________________________________________________________________________ “It Seems Wherever Gov. Gary Locke Turns These Days, There It Is - That Leadership Thing.” (Ralph Thomas, “His Leadership At Issue, Locke Insists He ‘Gets Things Done,’” The Seattle Times, November 1, 2000) DEMOCRATS AGREE THAT LOCKE’S LEADERSHIP IS LACKING Democrats Agree: Locke’s Lack Of Leadership Is “Dismaying.” “Ex-[Washington State] Democratic Chairwoman Karen Marchioro . . . reflected: ‘Something is going to have to give in this state. The drift and lack...

OLYMPIA - A man arrested on a firearms charge might have been plotting to assassinate Governor Locke. James D. Brailey, Jr., 43, was arrested Wednesday when federal agents and state troopers raided his home near Olympia. Federal court documents in Tacoma say an informant told authorities in March of 2001 that Brailey planned to kill the governor. The documents also give the following account of the informant to federal agents: They say Brailey, Jr. was a member of the Jural Society -- a group that does not believe in state or federal government. Instead, they believe in a "people's government"...

OLYMPIA — Gov. Gary Locke will deliver the national Democratic Party's response to President Bush's State of the Union address, according to Democrats here and in Washington, D.C. The assignment will give Locke a high profile as Democrats struggle to find a message to compete with Republicans, who right now control national politics. It also gives Locke the opportunity to burnish his Democratic credentials. Because of a state budget proposal that suspends three popular citizen initiatives and makes cuts in education, social service and health programs, Locke finds himself more popular among Republican lawmakers than his own party's legislators. Washington...

Wednesday, September 04, 2002 Capricious Disregard Guest | Jim Rudd explores where law ends and tyranny begins ------------- Taking a cue from Pastor Chuck Baldwin's commentary, Americans Must Start Thinking Outside The Box, I'm going to walk through an example of "thinking outside the box." My experience in working with different Christian ministries has shown me that most people do not understand anymore how to think creatively using "objective certainty" as their fixed reference point. I have noticed when we practice these principles with a mindset always focused on the very specific objective that abortion is murder, we never lose...

Sullivan County Commission chooses Mike Locke to replace Westmoreland in state House By GARREN SHIPLEY BLOUNTVILLE - The 102nd Tennessee General Assembly is almost officially history, but it has a new member today. The Sullivan County Commission appointed Mike Locke, the late Rep. Keith Westmoreland's longtime friend and campaign treasurer, to represent Westmoreland's 2nd state House District. "It's an honor," Locke said. "It's something the (Westmoreland) family wanted me to do." Many people in the 2nd District have called and asked him to put his name in the hat to succeed the late representative in the next session, Locke said,...

RELIGION, CONSERVATISM, AND LIBERATIONISM Is conservatism necessarily grounded in religious faith? The answer depends, of course, on what is meant by both conservatism and religion. My charge is to make my answer personal, but I hope not too personal. I woul dnot want to say that conservatives must be Catholics, much less think and believes as I do in every respect. So I am going to define conservatism for this occasion in an expansive way. And I am going to limit myself to sayig that much of Christian psychology and portions of Christian faith must be true for me to...

Locke, Hume, & Rousseau - Classic Liberalism (not modern) revisited. ACTION The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. - John Locke, The True End of Civil Government, 1690. Two causes combine to produce every free action: the one moral, namely, the will, which determines the act: the other physical, namely, the strength which executes it. When I walk towards an objective, I must in the first place, have made up my mind to reach it: in the second, my feet must be capable of carrying me thither. A paralytic may wish to run, an active man...