Prince$$ America

On the rare Saturday night she doesn’t have an assignation, The Free Agent has a new steady date, CNBC’s financial boot camp show, “Prince$$”.  Host “’Till Debt Do Us Part”’s Gail Vaz-Oxlade—a realist after The Free Agent’s own heart—tackles one young attractive Canadienne, deeply in debt and deeply entitled, per week.  She is prodded over the course of an hour (two months’ filming) onto a course of financial independence.

Might I suggest that like the princesses, Congress answer the Craigslist ad to audition?

As Vaz-Oxlade explains in a promo for the show, the first order of business in reforming a princess is to call her on the carpet for her moral turpitude.  “People don’t like being told they’re deficit in their character,” she says, but until that happens, the princess is not ready to mend her ways.  Aiming right to the heart of any princess or super-committee, Vaz-Oxlade then cuts up the credit cards.  The princesses have grown up in an age where they were never called upon to limit their spending to their income, indeed, may have seemed not to be doing their patriotic duty if they weren’t consuming enough.  In lean times, credit enables the shoe closet to be restocked, the high speed rail to be laid, etc., and in boom times, well, what goes better with hair extensions than a matching SUV?

After assigning her subject the instructive task of creating a budget founded on income and needs, not wants, Vaz-Oxlade’s hawk-eye then turns to those who enable the princess—her family, friends, strangers, and who knows but sovereign nations?—who offer her credit.  All must agree that for the princess’s own good, the free ride must end.  To test their resolve, the enablers may be challenged to a group excursion to the mall, where they must resist any urge to treat the princess to a visit to the make-up counter, a college education or a prescription drug plan.  But her moral reformation does not end there, in order to earn a potential $5,000 toward her debt repayment, the princess must repay those who have been open-handed with her.  Perhaps Nancy Pelosi and Eric Cantor could get make a day of it and clean out China’s garage.  They could use the space since their auto ownership has increased fifty percent in the past three years.

At the end of the sixty minute morality tale, the princesses have generally done what governments from the US congress to bankrupt Jefferson County, Alabama, have not been able to do—adjust their lifestyles to the simple reality most of us take as given.  She has recognized not only her moral turpitude, but a complete dependence on others that would make Elizabeth Cady Stanton roll over in her grave.  Furthermore, after a Vaz-Oxlade roughing-up, she is left not only with a plan to repay her debt, but a plan to achieve a goal of her choice that was a mere pipe dream before she got her budget under control.  Yes, California, if you mend your ways and save a little each paycheck, you could afford that railroad someday.  But The Free Agent somehow doubts you’ll wait until then.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

Election day is tomorrow

Election day is tomorrow and we have more and more evidence that our message of  “stop wasting money “ is resonating with the voters.  Warren Redlich  polled 7% in a recent Rochester Business Journal poll.  Though you can never count on polls it is reason for optimism. Our opponents have noticed and they are running scared.  So much so that they have gone negative with a number of incredible lies and misrepresentations.  This is exactly why we need new faces, new ideas  and an end to the dirty-business as usual in Albany. Despite the desperate actions of our opponents our campaign is staying focused on a positive message of fiscal responsibility, honesty and plain old common sense.

We have every reason to be optimistic that we will achieve our short-run goal of 50,000 votes and automatic ballot status. However, WE MUST NOT BE COMPLACENT.   We have been surprised and disappointed so many times in the past.  Every one of us needs to double down and do everything we can to seize this opportunity.  We will have no one else to blame if we let this historic opportunity slip away. Every one of us can help make history in the next 36 hours.

Here are some things you can do right now:

• Email your friends and explain why it’s critical to their future that Warren Redlich gets at least 50,000 votes and automatic ballot status for the Libertarian Party.
• Send your friends Warren’s campaign videos. There are links below.
• Sign up for Warren’s Facebook group
• Call talk shows and tell them you support Warren Redlich’s campaign because we need new choices and an end to business as usual in Albany.

Here is what you can do tomorrow:

• Vote for Warren Redlich and all the Libertarians on Row H
• Print out some of  Warren’s flyers  and hand them out at the polls. Be sure to cooperate with the polling place officials and stay the legal distance (100 feet) from the poll entrance.

50,000 people will make history tomorrow. Will you be one of them?

Message from Tom Vendittelli: Libertarian Candidate for Congress from New York 13th Congressional District

This November, the theme seems to be “throw the bums out.” Americans are angry, and with good reason. Most people don’t agree with trillion-dollar bailouts for multi-national banks, endlessly expanding wars, and the alarming rate we are losing our liberties at home. Though many recent badly made policy decisions can be rightfully be blamed on Democrats, Republicans are far from innocent in the current, frightening state of affairs.

President Bush, along with a Republican Congress, did much to increase the size of government, add to the national debt, and erode our civil liberties. President Obama promised to reverse the tide, yet he and the Democratic Congress have picked up right where Bush and the Republicans left off. Now Republicans are positioning themselves as the party of strictly limited Constitutional government. Not so.  The Republicans are the ones that gave us the PATRIOT act, two trillion-dollar wars, a half-trillion dollar expansion of government health care, and the 2008 banker bailout.

Indeed, both establishment parties have a strong record of disregarding the rules and laws established by our founders and embodied in our Constitution. If one carefully traces the course of political events, especially of the last 10 years, it is obvious that among both Democratic and Republican parties, there exists a state of open contempt towards the Constitution and rule of law.

This campaign is about one thing more than any other. The American people need the option to stand up and say “No” to the events that seem inevitable to befall this country. No question, the Democrats have done much damage to our Republic since taking control of Congress and the Presidency. Democrats betrayed those who voted them into power by disregarding nearly all of their campaign promises in pursuit of an agenda that strongly benefits banks, large corporations, the insurance industry, unions, and government workers, all at the expense of the American people. They deserve to be voted out of out office, no question. However, do not be fooled by this strategic Republican about-face. If one believes the rhetoric, one is to believe that Republicans have suddenly learned the virtues of a Constitutionally limited government, and are poised to restore us to the principles of Thomas Jefferson’s America. Again, not so.

If one examines the Republican voting record when they controlled Congress, it is obvious that they will abandon all of their campaign promises at the precise moment they are voted in, the same as the Democrats did. The growth of government will continue unabated, and our Constitution and civil liberties will be further eroded. Everything in the Republican voting record indicates that they care little about the Constitution and limited government, favoring instead unlimited powers for what can only be deemed an “elitist ruling class.” Unlimited government power, unfortunately, has broad bi-partisan support.

This campaign is about standing up and saying “No!” to the entrenched special interests on both sides of the aisle, and “Yes!”, to the Constitution. This campaign is about offering to thousands of my fellow citizens in the 13th Congressional district, the choice of a candidate who really believes in the Constitution and strictly limited government.If the message of Constitutionally limited government, sound money, and a sensible foreign policy is ever to reach the ears of those who pull the strings in Washington, it starts at home by rejecting the status quo. I am doing my part by being that choice for liberty. It is up to my fellow citizens to do their part by sending a loud and clear message on November 2nd, by pulling the lever for Libertarians, the real liberty candidates.

Tom Vedittelli for Congress Website

Don’t Waste Your Vote

What’s going to be different on November 3?

It’s anybody’s guess.  But if you believe the polls most likely Andrew Cuomo will be the next Governor. Depending on the poll he is burying Paladino by a margin of between 15 to  24 %.   That means taxes are going up.  State spending is not going down. Sheldon Silver will still be running New York.  New York will remain among the highest taxed states with the worst environment for business and with  the most dysfunctional State government.

You could still vote for Paladino hoping he will somehow pull it out.  Then you will have  a Governor who supports eminent domain, gives money to Hillary Clinton, who thinks the First and Fourteenth Amendments are only for the majority and who won’t be able to gets his tax cuts past Sheldon Silver.  Given a choice between Cuomo and Paladino I’ll take the hemlock.

Fortunately that isn’t the choice facing voters this November.  There seven candidates on the ballot.  There are several single issue candidates with no national presence or history.  Votes for those candidates could send an important message if you happen to feel for example, rent control or legalizing pot is the most important issue.

But you can also vote for candidates from parties with a major national presence and decades of history,  well developed principles and reasonably well understood positions on the whole range of issues facing New Yorkers and all Americans.

Of course I am talking about the Libertarian Party and the Green Party.  Let’s say you are pro-war, anti-free speech, anti-private property and pro-corporate welfare.   Then you could choose either Cuomo or Paladino.  You would probably make the choice between the two based on social issues such as marriage equality – oops  sorry neither is a real supporter of marriage equality.  What about ending the drug-war – whoops that would be two thumbs down.  Are either of these guys really going to change anything?  If you really believe in personal freedom, those of you on the left usually call it civil liberties - Andrew and Carl aren’t really good options.

Or you could wake up on November 3rd knowing that there would be two choices on the ballot for the next four years that represented real personal freedom and civil liberties but between the two offer a real choice on economic issues.  That means you removed the biggest obstacle for candidates with new and different ideas and fresh perspectives on how to solve the problems caused by the failed Democrat and Republican ideas.  That means the Democrats and Republicans will actually have to answer questions about why taxes are so high, why business is so bad, why the government decides who can get married and what you can eat and smoke.

But that won’t happen if voters make their choice out of fear and short term thinking.  It will only happen if at least 50,000 New Yorkers (for each party) vote their hopes to leave behind a New York  buried in corruption and owned by the welfare/warfare state  and instead  look forward to a future where New Yorkers can make informed decisions from among a real variety of ideas and choices.