Boston Tea Party update

In the latest BTP update, Jim Davidson writes,

The national committee is discussing the organisation of a newsletter for the party now on our national committee discussion list at Yahoogroups. See our social networking page for link. Angela Keaton, Tom Knapp, Chris Bennett, Darryl Perry, Jim Davidson, and others are expected to speak at our 30 May gathering, dinner, and dance party in Kansas City, Missouri.

The rest of the update:

11 February 2009 Our party grows larger. So far 964 people have joined the party on this site. Our largest Facebook group has 1,034 members. We would like you to encourage your friends and family to join our party.

On this day in 1790, the Religious Society of Friends petitioned Congress to abolish slavery. In an unrelated move, also on this day in 1794, the USA Senate was in session open to the public, the kind of openness and transparency in government that would later be televised by C-SPAN, and become unpopular with vice presidents. In 1812, gerrymandering of political districts took place for the first time. Not to be outdone for political wickedness, this day in 1861, the US House unanimously resolved not to interfere with slavery in any state. In 1902, universal suffragists were assaulted by police in Belgium. The first ever gold record was presented to Glenn Miller in 1941. In 1964 the Beatles held their first ever concert in the USA on this day, and in 1990 Nelson Mandela was freed from prison. In 2006 on this very day, Harry Whittington disguised himself as a very large quail and was shot in the face by a presumably very drunk Dick.

The Boston Tea Party is holding a special election to replace our party secretary. Outgoing secretary Michelle Luetge has served very well and done excellent work keeping the party on track. Everyone involved in the several national committees on which she’s served thanks her for her fine service.

Todd Andrew Barnett makes his case to be elected BTP Secretary. As of this writing, the vote stands at 6 votes for Barnett, 7 for None of the Above.

And at http://bostontea.us/node/591, Jim Davidson writes:

Freedom Oriented Stimuli

Here are a few things the government could do, right away, with little or no cost to the taxpayer, to stimulate the economy.

1. Eliminate all drug laws regarding the growing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, and distributing of marijuana, cocaine, hash, heroin, meth-amphetamine, lysergic acid diethylamide, and other drugs. Doing so would necessitate abandoning laws which have been on the books since 1909 and treaty obligations since the 1920s. There would be immediate and enormous savings to the taxpayer from abolishing the Drug Enforcement Agency. There would be an immediate boom in small business investment in various types of drug operations from farming to distribution. An enormous amount of underground and black market economic activity would become legal.

2. Free the prisoners. The USA incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, yet it has a smaller population than several other countries which somehow manage not only to imprison a far smaller percentage of their population, but actually fewer total people, as well. Prisoners cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of dollars a year in education, health care, food, housing, and guarding. At the same time, prisoners cannot earn much income, if any, and are not free to spend on things they choose, except through corruption in the prisons. Freeing just the non-violent prisoners whose crimes are “mala prohibitum” such as drug violations, gun violations, prostitution, gambling, or paperwork failures (taxes, securities, etc.) would put many productive people back to work. It might also allow for some prisons to close, saving governments much money.

3. Eliminate agencies such as the FAA, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Federal Communications Commission, and repeal related acts such as the Federal Communications act of 1930. Doing so would free up enormous area for innovation. Many regulations hamper the development of alternative transportation systems such as the Moller air car – decades without an approved license; alternative energy sources; alternatives to high cost foods. An unregulated agriculture would be far more competitive, reducing costs to consumers, improving exports, and competing with imports. The same is true of radio frequency communications. There would be savings in the elimination of these agencies.

4. Continue to eliminate agencies by dissolving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, or its successors. Again, enormous innovation would be free to proceed in the area of weapons design, innovation that has been stifled by government limitations on who can make guns. Taxes on alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives should be set to zero to further stimulate the economy, development of new products and new competitors, and the exploration of the space frontier.

These are just four simple ideas for things that a government serious about free market solutions to the current economic crisis could pursue. All of them would greatly enhance individual liberty while at the same time reducing the size and scope of government.

Posted to IPR by Paulie