Aug 07

FIRST AMENDMENT LECTURE: Every Claim of Campaign Finance Reformers is Untrue

Roger Roots, J.D., Ph.D.

Roger Roots, J.D., Ph.D.

It is perhaps the biggest myth in American politics: that the private sector is “buying” elections through campaign spending. A version of this myth goes further and contends that capitalist billionaires are using political ads to move American government toward more free-market policies.

One can find dozens of books (and hundreds of politicians) making these claims. A powerful movement to repeal parts of the First Amendment has arisen around this mythology.

In this one-hour lecture, Dr. Roots shatters these myths with raw data and Powerpoint slides.

* Have American industries become deregulated? What do the data show?

* Have the super-rich shifted the tax burden away from themselves onto the middle class and the poor? What do IRS records show?

* Did the Citizens United decision in 2010 lead to an explosion of campaign spending by business corporations? What are the facts?

* Do people really change their votes in response to campaign ads? What do studies find?

Questions will be taken afterward. Everyone is welcome.

FREE TO THE PUBLIC

Missoula Public Library

Monday, Sept. 12, 2016, 6:30 PM

A 25 question exam will be offered

Aug 07

Government pushed “Medicaid Expansion” on State Governments with False Price Claims

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When Obamacare was pushed down American’s throats in 2009, the Act allowed states to opt out of “Medicaid Expansion.”

Those state legislatures that did opt out were bullied and lied to about the costs. Within the states, loud movements of shrill government trusters arose who constantly accused any skeptical state legislator of being partisan or of voting against “Medicaid Expansion” out of pure animosity to Obama or Obamacare.

The Expansion, these government trusters said, would be a cheap way of helping poor people in the states, using cheap federal money without any additional state-government cost.

Montana’s legislature–the most Republican in the state’s history–finally gave in to the claims and passed “Medicaid Expansion.”

ALL LIES

Now we know the claims were all lies.

According to the Mercatus Center (see here):

On rare occasion, however, a prior projection proves so far off that its significance must be noted. . . . It turns out that the 2015 per-capita cost of this Medicaid expansion is a whopping 49% higher than projections made just one year before.

Enrollments in “Medicaid Expansion” are far higher than expected. And per-enrollee costs are far higher as well.

Aug 06

Our annual research trip to Glacier National Park: weekend of September 9-11

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The average date of first freeze in East Glacier, Montana falls around September 13. Around this date every year, summer melting begins to cease and snow and ice tend to start growing again in the Glacier Park area.

Last year, Lysander Spooner University launched our climate change glacier-chasing research project. We aim to photograph and record glacier size around the same dates each year (focusing on Montana’s mountain ranges).

This year, we will embark on our GNP research trip on Friday evening, September 9.

Please join us! Expect to camp in primitive fashion. Bring sleeping bag and other camping gear.

More info here.

Call 406-224-3105 (rogerroots@msn dot com).

Aug 06

Dr. Roger Roots will Lecture on the Myths of Campaign Finance Law in Missoula on September 12

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The Missoula Public Library will host a free lecture and clinic on September 12, 2016 at 6:30 pm. Speaking will be Dr. Roger Roots, J.D., Ph.D.

The title: “Every Claim Untrue: the False Narrative of Campaign Finance Reformers.” Dr. Roots will show that every material claim by people promoting campaign finance regulation is false.

Roots will provide data showing that there is no cause-and-effect relationship between election spending and outcomes, that few voters change their opinions based on campaign ads, that governments constantly promote their positions in a variety of ways and that private-sector spenders tend to be at a distinct disadvantage in politics.

Questions and answers will follow.

Aug 06

Unintended Consequences: “Natural Landscaping” May Make Future Heatwaves WORSE

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Many who live in the desert southwest have seen local and state governments promoting “natural,” or “desert” landscaping as a replacement for traditional western-style green lawns and flower gardens.

The campuses of most government universities in the southwest have replaced vast areas of green lawns with desert plants and weeds such as yucca.

Now some researchers reveal a study in which they tested temperature changes at daytime and nighttime and compared lawns with “natural desert” landscaping.

It seems that lawns provide more protection from heatwaves, and that government-promoted desert landscaping makes heatwaves worse. See here.

Aug 06

Satellite data show thick ice has grown massively in the Arctic in only a year

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Media experts continue to spread the myth that Arctic ice is rapidly melting.

An analysis of 1.5 meter-plus ice in the Arctic apparently shows that such thick (5-feet thick) ice has GROWN, not declined, since last year. See here.

Yet government agencies have been claiming these past months were the hottest on record.

Aug 06

“Environmentalist” groups appear to oppose Washington carbon tax because it wouldn’t grow government enough

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Want more proof that those promoting apocalyptic-manmade-global-warming-by-CO2 theories are simply promoting socialism?

Here is a story from the state of Washington about a true believer who found that “big green” groups weren’t supporting his carbon-tax ballot initiative.

The reason: his ballot proposal was “revenue neutral” and did not require growth in government. Environmental groups are reportedly “more afraid of tax cuts and smaller governments” than they are concerned about actual efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Aug 06

Increasingly, government “services” are security checkpoints for the police state

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Interesting essay by L. Reichard White on Lewrockwell.com. It seems that police departments are increasingly using the admissions counters at clinics and hospitals as warrant/security/background check stations.

When people enter government hospitals for “care,” they must first show ID, provide Social Security numbers and identify themselves. A front counter person punches the information into an electronic system that signals local police if the person has outstanding warrants, citations, fines or is wanted for questioning.

Police arrive at emergency rooms even before the visitor gets in to see a nurse! See here.

The same goes for airports and other government “service” areas. Avoid them.

Jul 30

Save these dates! Campaign Finance Lectures, Glacier Chasing Expeditions

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We are now in mid-summer. A few upcoming dates for LSU events:

Weekend of September 9-11, 2016: LSU’s annual glacier hunting trip to Glacier National Park!
September 12, 2016: Lecture and discussion of campaign finance reform, Missoula Public Library 6:30

Jul 30

Update on the Ship of Fools (2nd ed.): Crew Now Noticing that Government Maps are Lying about Arctic Ice

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Virtually every government (and, consequently, every major newspaper) in the world has been promoting a narrative that 2016 is the “hottest year on record.” This collusion furthers and fosters a worldwide push for more powerful, centralized, socialistic governments.

A group of global warming alarmists–having bought into the narrative–recently launched a sailing journey to “draw attention” to melting Arctic ice. They are attempting to sail around the Arctic Circle along various coasts of Russia, Greenland, and northern Canada.

(Note that these same types of journeys have been successfully completed many times in the past, even during the 1800s.)

The crew believed government maps and “radar” images which show vast melting in the Arctic.

Unfortunately, according to climate data analyst Tony Heller, the

intrepid explorers have discovered that there is ice hundreds of miles from where it is shown on the maps. And they are worried about it.

Instead of sailing through the clear waters of the Arctic they were told about, the sailors are

spending their time waiting, drinking and swearing.

See here.