03 March 2009

Think, people!

When will America realize that left-of-center government is bad?

According to a February 2009 study by the Mercatus Center, states that voted for the Democratic candidate in the A.D. 2004 U.S. Presidential election tend to have lower rates of overall freedom. In the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, the 28 states won by B. Hussein Obama included 20 of the 28 states with the lowest overall freedom ratings, including every state ranked 35th or lower. Ironically, B. Hussein Obama won both New Hampshire and Colorado - the two states ranked highest in overall freedom. Aside from those two, he carried only one other state in the top ten. An average of the rankings of the states carried by B. Hussein Obama results in the number 31.32. Averaging the rankings of the states won by John McCain results in the number 18.09, indicating that, on average, states with higher rates of overall freedom tended to vote for John McCain.

To dramatically oversimplify the results: free people vote for Republicans and subjected people vote for Democrats. The question is, "why would Americans elect people who consistently take away their freedom?" Unless the answer is "They're a bunch of idiots," I have no idea.

State debt levels also lead one to question the wisdom of voting for Democrats. In the A.D. 2008 U.S. Presidential election, B. Hussein Obama won 18 of the 28 states that, in 2002, had the highest public debt (per capita). That included 8 of the top 10 and 15 of the top 20 states with the highest public debt. Twenty-five of the states carried by Obama were in the top 40, while three were in the bottom ten. Again, a logical individual would question the wisdom of empowering a party that consistently builds public debt. Again, our conclusion must be that Americans aren't logical.

Finally, one can look at cost of living rankings and conclude that Democrats promote a high cost of living. Of the 28 states won by B. Hussein Obama, he carried 10 of the top 11 and 25 of the top 29 states with the highest costs of living. Obama carried none of the twelve states with the lowest costs of living.

People, get your head out of your ass and stop voting for those who would bring us down.


Note: I understand that the information in post has been presented in an unscientific way. However, I believe that my conclusions are valid. I understand that opponents of my conclusions might argue that I have made some ideological leaps in drawing them, but I firmly believe that any "leaps" I have made would stand up to academic scrutiny.

"I want to be a part of it - New York, New York!"

"New York is by far the least free state in the Union (#50 economic, #48 personal). One of us lives in New York and can attest to the fact that few New Yorkers would be surprised by such a finding. Sadly, equally few New Yorkers seem to believe that anything can be done about the situation. New York has the highest taxes in the country. Property, selective sales, individual income, and corporate income taxes are particularly high. Spending on social services and “other” is well above national norms. Only Massachusetts has more government debt as a percentage of the economy. Government employment is higher than average. On personal freedoms, gun laws are extremely restrictive, but marijuana laws are better than average (while tobacco laws are extremely strict). Motorists are highly regulated, but several kinds of gambling are allowed statewide (not casinos, except on reservations). Home school regulations are burdensome, but asset forfeiture has been reformed. Along with Vermont, New York has the strictest health insurance community rating regulations. Mandated coverages are also very high. Eminent domain is totally unreformed. Perversely, the state strictly limits what grassroots PACs may give to candidates and parties, but not what corporations and unions may give."

Source: http://www.mercatus.org/uploadedFiles/Mercatus/Publications/Freedom%20in%20the%2050%20States.pdf

If you're an American (or find America fascinating), this study is really interesting reading.