Politicians should not meddle in free market

Here is what is wrong with politicians and the way they think.

Ohio state Sen. Marc Dann, a Democrat who is running for Ohio attorney general, said Sunday he is sponsoring legislation to give the state more power to go after oil companies for price gouging.

He told a group of people in Lima, Ohio, on Sunday: "We know a couple of things for sure. One is that gas prices are way too high and that the corporate profits of the big oil companies in this country are really out of proportion to what their risk and benefit is."

Who is he to make that determination?

In a nation of free people, corporations have every right to set a price for their product that Americans are willing to pay. That, in and of itself, is not price gouging. Dann should not try to mess with the free market. If a politician is willing to restrict the free market in gasoline, why not the free market of other products? Where will it end?

Comments like he made Sunday put into question his ability to be the state's chief legal counsel and law enforcement officer.

Archives: 1 in 3 Records Wrongly Resealed

Archives: 1 in 3 Records Wrongly Resealed:

Yet another example of the environment of secrecy that is permeating our governmnent today.

According The Associated Press article linked above in the Washington Post, at least 25,315 public documents were reclassified since 1995. Of those, an audit discovered that 24 percent of them were wrongly resealed and another 12 percent were questionable.


Read more!

Cox & Forkum: Gas Fumes

Cox & Forkum: Gas Fumes


Yet another great cartoon from Cox & Forkum. This one goes well with my column for this week.

It is funny how Americans want to accuse the gas companies of price gouging, simply because gas prices are reaching new highs. But where are the same complaints about the government tax gouging? Or the high cost of other products? Or, as this cartoon indicates, the high salaries that Americans demand and earn?

In reality, gas prices, adjusted for inflation, are lower today than they were in 1980 (though we are nearing that level), according to InflationData.com. Additionally, Americans are willing to pay much more than $3 a gallon for other, more frivolous, products, such as bottled water or soda.

Yes, gas prices are elevated today (and they usually rise every summer, anyway) but that is no reason to whine and demand investigations of the gas companies. Besides, salaries, adjusted for inflation, are much higher than they were in 1980 and cars get significantly better mileage so, in reality, a smaller percentage of our income today goes toward gas than it did in 1980.

In a letter to the editor, Alex Epstein of the Ayn Rand Institute said it best:

There is no such thing as price gouging by private oil companies.

The term "price gouging" implies that oil companies and gas stations have an ability to forcibly inflict harm on us--but they do not. Any price we pay for a gallon of gasoline, we pay voluntarily, based on its value to us. If we think gasoline is too expensive, we are free to drive less, to buy more fuel-efficient cars, to use carpools or busses, or to travel by bicycle or on foot. Gas station owners cannot force us to buy gasoline; they can only offer us a trade, which we are free to accept or reject.

Since the prevailing price of gasoline is the result of trade, it reflects not the arbitrary "greed" of gas station owners, but the facts of the market: the producers' costs, competition, and what customers are willing to pay.

Oil company "greed" is not "hurting the nation" — it is making oil and gasoline available to all of us who are willing to pay market prices. We should be grateful for that.

Cox & Forkum: The Real Recycling Problem

Cox & Forkum: The Real Recycling Problem



This cartoon is an excellent commentary on the nature of environmentalism today. It has less to do with science than it does with scaremongering.

As the cartoonists, Cox & Forkum write on their blog:

Collusion? Forget the oil industry. You have to wonder about the media and environmental scare-mongers. TIME magazine's recent cover story on global warming warned ominously: "Be Worried, Be Very Worried." This week CNN reported: Experts: Global warming behind 2005 hurricanes. And conveniently, this latest round of alarmism comes just in time for the release of Al Gore's global-warming shockumentary "An Inconvenient Truth."

To read my most recent column on global warming and why there should be no concern click here.

My weekly newspaper column

BLAME FEDS FOR HIGH GAS PRICES: Speaking of gas prices, I have posted my latest column. It will be published Sunday, but readers of my blog can see it now, in advance of its publication. Enjoy and feel free to comment here on the column.

Bush vows crackdown on gas price gouging

In a Saturday Washington Times article, President Bush says he is going to crack down on gouging. I hope he turns his government goons inward because the biggest form of gouging comes in the form of gas taxes.

The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. Add that to state and local taxes and the price for a gallon of gas skyrockets. Depending where you live, the average gas consumer pays nearly 50 cents per gallon in taxes.


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Happy Easter

Happy Easter to our Orthodox friends!

Happy Birthday, Queen Elizabeth II

Today, Her Majesty Elizabeth Alexandra Mary of Windsor celebrates her eightieth birthday. That's Elizabeth II, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith. So, on this auspicious occasion, I shall wish her well and a long life.

Still, as the queen joins the growing ranks of octogenarians, it is fair to question, if not her retirement, then the future of the monarchy -- after all, can you say King Charles III?

As an American, the fate of the monarchy has little bearing on my life. Still, monarchy is inconsistent with republican government and a free society. While many might think she is merely a figurehead, she is, in reality, the head of state. And while she may have taken a low-key approach to the job during the last 54 years, there is nothing to say a future monarch would exercise such restraint.

Besides, as Thomas Paine pointed out so eloquently two centuries ago, the notion of allocating positions of state according to birth is as absurd "as that of hereditary judges, or hereditary juries; and as absurd as an hereditary mathematician, or an hereditary wise man; as absurd as an hereditary poet laureate."

So I urge our friends across the pond to consider now their plans. Queen Elizabeth should be allowed to finish her reign but her death, when it comes, should mark the end of the monarchy.

What is a libertarian?

I'm often asked what a libertarian is.

As much as I dislike Wikipedia, it's definition of libertarianism is pretty good. The first paragraph says it best:

"Libertarianism is a political ideology advocating that individuals should be free to do whatever they wish with their person or property, as long as they do not infringe on the same liberty of others. Libertarians hold as a fundamental maxim that all human interaction should be voluntary and consensual. They maintain that the initiation of physical force against another person or his property, the threat of initiating it, or the commission of fraud against any person, is a violation of that principle. Force used against others is considered by libertarians to be illegitimate except in retaliation for initiatory aggressions."

That is the simple version in a nutshell. Read the Wikipedia article for a fuller explanation.

There are many good books on the subject if one wants to learn more. The first I would recommend is: "Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz.

Feel free to comment if there are any questions.

New column

My latest column has been posted, be sure to read it. It takes a look at the Gospel of Judas and how too often the faithful subordinate reason to what they perceive as revelation. Unfortunately, our perception of things is limited and determining what is revelation and what is baloney can be difficult.

I argue that reason and discovery are legitimate forms of revelation and provide, as St. Thomas Aquinas argued, parallel paths to knowledge of God.

Be fiscally responsible at your own risk ...

For all those of you who believe the government can be trusted to be responsible with domestic spying, this story from The Providence (R.I.) Journal's Bob Kerr should give you pause.

In a nutshell, a retired couple in Providence, R.I., Walter and Deana Soehnge, decided to pay off some debt so they sent a $6,522 payment to their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard account.

"And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

"And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs.

"They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast."

The feds put a hold on that check and investigated the couple as possible terrorists for making such a large payment above their normal monthly payments.

Apparently, if you make a credit card payment that hits a certain percentage above your normal payment, Homeland Security freezes the money until they are satisfied that you are not a terrorist.

How disturbing it is in a "free" society that even a retired schoolteacher paying off debt becomes a terrorist suspect.

And if you think the intrusion on our freedom is worth it, keep in mind what Soehnge told Kerr: "If it can happen to me, it can happen to others."

Welcome to Light of Liberty, a libertarian blog

Welcome to Light of Liberty, my blog.

I am a newspaper editor and columnist for The Lima (Ohio) News, a Freedom Communications newspaper. I write from a libertarian perspective.

Hopefully, we can create a dialogue here on the issues of the day. Also, I hope to post many interesting links. Feel free to comment and engage myself and others in the debate.

Most of all, have fun and never take an opinion personally.

Yours in liberty,
Tom