The Looting of America

Throughout her history, the political discussion in America has encompassed a very wide range of issues.  In the last two or three years, however, the discussion has focused on one thing-money.  Whether its the economy, taxes, debt, spending, waste or corruption, it all comes back to money.  One of the primary reasons for this is the unheard of scale of the spending and on what that money is being spent.  Waste measured in millions was bad enough.  Now the graft, corruption, kickbacks and favors are measured in hundreds of billions or even trillions.  We have allowed government to grow so large that the accompanying corruption has become too big to ignore.

     There are two seemingly unrelated stories that illustrate not only the corruption but the reasons for it.  The first is the case of Solyndra.  The basics of this case are as follows.  Solyndra was a solar panel manufacturer hyped by the President as part of his “green energy” initiative that declared bankruptcy earlier this month.  Normally, this wouldn’t have attracted attention beyond Wall Street but in this case, there was half a billion dollars of taxpayer money involved.  Money that is now gone.  Your money.  Five hundred million dollars doesn’t sound like much when we are accustomed to a government in which only amounts over one hundred billion count as real money.  However, what if you, personally, were on the hook for it?  How long would it take you to come up with half a billion dollars?  For the vast, vast majority of us-never.  For an individual in America, a worth of half a billion dollars puts one in the rarefied atmosphere of the “super-rich”.  In most cases, we would have to confiscate the money from all the citizens of whole towns to come up with that kind of money.  Howerver, because it is spread out among all of us, it “only” amounts to about $1.65 for every man, woman and child in America.  $1.65 of your money up in smoke.  Take a dollar out of your wallet and burn it, throw the change down the sewer.  Gone.  (In case that doesn’t get your dander up, “what’s a buck sixty and change?” your personal share of the first stimulus slush fund is over $2300.  Still want to stand there with your wallet and a lighter burning hundred dollar bills?)

    

Who's in charge?



Mike Calpino

 This week we, the United States, committed ourselves to another war. We began enforcing a ‘no fly’ zone in an effort to help the rebellion, led primarily by terrorists, against a brutal dictator. And why have we decided to become engaged in this conflict? Because the United Nations said so.


Once upon a time we were a sovereign nation who would only commit blood and treasure when it was in our best interest. We adhered to a law, called the constitution, that said that only the representatives of the people, the congress, could make that commitment, and it could only be paid for if that body approved and could convince the people to buy bonds or pay taxes to support it. Not any more. Now we have a president who has no clue what to do until the United Nations, an unelected, anti-American body, tells him that it would be a good idea to put our brave men and women in harm’s way and expend billions of dollars of the Fed’s freshly printed dollars. Really? When did "we the people" choose to give up our national sovereignty and allow the United Nations determine where and how our military and tax dollars are used? I don’t remember that vote, do you?
There are two things wrong with our latest "intervention" that concern me. One is the above mentioned subservience to the United Nations. That is an organization we should have pulled out of a long time ago. In fact, it was set up in a way to put us at a disadvantage in any attempt gain support for any action we may believe is in our best interest. It is a waste of our money and everyone else’s. It is corrupt from top to bottom, it is comprised primarily of dictators and thugs and even our supposed ‘friends’ only vote with us half the time. It puts countries like Libya and Iran on the Human Rights Council and its blue helmeted soldiers often engage in the same atrocious activities they are supposed to prevent. We may complain about the stupidity and corruption in our government but the UN takes it to a whole new level. Knowing that most nations see the UN simply as a tool to bleed us of billions of dollars, humiliate us and keep us from acting in our best interests through supposed ‘international' condemnation, the last governmental body we should be taking direction from is the United Nations. I’d withdrawal from that worthless organization, pull the plug on all funding, give them six months to move out of New York and use that building for something useful, rent it out to some greedy capitalists, perhaps.

The Right to Profile

by Mike Calpino



Mike Calpino

 As we bemoan the many ills of our society today, one of the ones often mentioned is that of our general cultural decline. Morals and values that were the norm fifty or one hundred years ago are almost non-existent, taboo behaviors of past eras are now not only accepted but granted privileged status. This is important because it is common history, values and experience that provide cohesion for a people, society and culture. Today everyone recognizes how divided we are and that is due, in large part, to the disintegration of the things that have historically provided our national "glue".


We must first identify what provided that cohesion in the past. Our nation was founded on several principles, some of which were in conflict and provided a dynamic tension that forced us to engage in constant cultural debate. The men who settled Jamestown did so primarily because they were seeking fortune. The were the rugged individualists who set out for a new land for the unlimited opportunity it offered, opportunities that were non-existent in the stratified society of England. On the other hand were the "pilgrims" who settled Massachusetts. They came for religious, and by extension, intellectual, freedom. They had come to the conclusion that the church of England was not providing the best way to interact with God and they devised their own. It requires a certain mindset to swim against a well established tide and just as carving a home out of the wilderness requires courage and perseverance, so does that ability to create a whole new theology and form of worship within a dominant culture. Particularly where that culture not only has the societal norms that enforce conformity, but the legal ones as well.

On the American continent there was a dynamic cultural environment on a scale that would have been impossible in Europe. There were religious societies founded on intellectual and religious freedom of conscience that wanted to enforce conformity. There were unbridled capitalists who saw a duty to help the poor. It was the rugged individualist working within a community essential to everyone's success. All of them had the shared experience of carving out a new home in the wilderness of America.

Don't Touch My Junk

by Mike Calpino

Mike Calpino

 The controversy over new airport screening procedures has continued to grow. No doubt it will explode over the long holiday weekend, particularly is planned protests involve even a fraction of the flying public. The TSA and Homeland Security have dug in their heels and defended the new procedures as necessary to ensure our safety. If a majority of Americans begin to strenuously object or even refuse, there is the possibility of a real confrontation over these methods. Even more importantly, it is getting people to talk about government intrusion in a way they have not considered before. It is the various levels in which these procedures have struck a nerve that need to be explored.

At some airports, there are two choices given. There are the new electronic screening machines which display your naked body to some minimum wage security guard, some of whom have been getting pretty excited about their job. If you choose not to display yourself in ways only your spouse should be privy to, don’t want to be radiated in ways the government assures you are safe (we believe everything they say) or the TSA decides you need to be further investigated, then you will receive an "aggressive" patdown. This involves touching and squeezing in areas that, again, only our spouse should touch and squeeze. It is applied to the very young, the very old, the infirm, everyone.

So why does this bother us so much? After all, we don’t want another terrorist with a bomb in his shoe, underwear or anywhere else to get on an airplane, do we? Of course not. However, the way we are going about it is insulting on a variety of levels. On the surface, we know it is a waste of time and resources to treat four year olds, nuns and cancer survivors with prosthetic devices or urine bags as potential terrorists. Yet we have Janet Nepalitano refusing to answer the question as to whether or not they would use such techniques on a Muslim woman in a burka. That offends our basic sense of fairness. We also know that any terrorist who chose to do so could walk across our southern border. If we applied a fraction of the effort on our border we do in the airport, we would catch a lot more terrorists and criminals. So far the TSA has caught.....zero.

The beginning of the end.....

by Mike Calpino

Last week’s elections were historic, there is no question about that. Voters were fed up with our lurch into socialism and with the rise of the TEA party movement, questions of government spending, control and intrusion were finally being discussed openly and honestly. Many people became involved in politics for the first time, recognizing that politics affects everything in our daily lives and if we ever want to regain some control over our lives (i.e. our liberty) politics can no longer be ignored or left up to the "political class." All this represents a good trend.

TEA partiers and conservatives who pinned their hopes on Republicans are likely to be very disappointed, however. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the new TEA party/conservative Republicans represent a small minority of the total number of Republicans in office, at all levels of government. Because of this, it will be very difficult for them to resist the pressure the establishment has on "public servants". The "system" has been in place for a long time and the beneficiaries of that system are not about to let these upstarts disassemble it. Even if they have the character to resist the pressure to conform, the radical steps necessary to save us from catastrophe will never move beyond their sparse numbers and may be beyond the imaginations of most of them.

What am I talking about? Here are some necessary steps for starters. Ending the Federal Reserve and pegging the dollar to gold. Ending all entitlement programs, a particularly difficult pill to swallow for Republicans who have been demonized for phantom proposals to do so in the past. Remove all the tax and regulatory impediments to businesses so we can return manufacturing to the United States. Eliminate public sector unions and approximately eighty percent of government jobs. Bring the military home from the vast number of places it is around the world and slim it down to a size that will ensure a devastating defense, not a costly and ineffective offense, or even less unsuccessful nation building. Can you see even one of those things happening in the next two years, or even four years with a Republican president and congress? I certainly do not.

Wicomcio County Libertarian Endorsed by the Daily Times

District 2
District 2 is geographically the county's largest district, located south and west of District 1 from the West Side of Salisbury to the Nanticoke River and western end of the county. It has been represented for the past 12 years by Stevie Prettyman, who as an incumbent is facing her first opponent for the seat. A Republican, she supports low taxes, efficient use of taxpayer dollars and the county's 2 percent property tax revenue cap as long as county residents wish to keep it in place. She supports the efforts of law enforcement and is engaged in the process of writing a new Comprehensive Plan for the county; she opposes "downzoning," which was designed to preserve farmland in the county but opposed by farmers who wished to retain the right to subdivide and develop their land if they so desired.

Her opponent, Mike Calpino, is not a Democrat; he is running as a Libertarian but describes himself as a tea party candidate. He advocates minimal government intrusion into the lives of individual citizens, but recognizes the need for some functions. He is a resident of Nanticoke who is engaged in his rural community and is personally familiar with the issues that concern residents of the far western portion of the county --the Westside Community Center and the Cove Point Beach parking controversy, for example. On his website, he quotes Ayn Rand and the founding fathers when describing his political philosophy. He also has lengthy sections devoted specifically to Wicomico County issues --budget, business climate, revenue cap, school board and public sector compensation among them. It is clear he has spent a great deal of time researching, considering and coming up with specific ideas about how county government should operate, within the framework of his minimalist concept of government.

Prettyman has had 12 years on the County Council and during that time, provided adequate -- if not visionary -- representation. Calpino, while advocating some radically unorthodox proposals, would also inject some truly fresh ideas for the rest of the council to consider. Those new considerations could have a positive influence on the way our county does business, even if not adopted as presented. We urge District 2 voters to give Calpino an opportunity to test his ideas by electing him to serve on the council.

Daily Times County Council Endorsements

Great Quotes from Maryland Libertarians

"Government is instituted to secure impartial justice and to protect the citizens and their property. We allow government to assume roles beyond these, for whatever reason, at our peril. Unfortunately, we have seen the results of governments that have gone beyond these bounds at all levels. They cost too much, take too much money and liberty, foster corruption and create many more problems than they solve. It is time to put government back into it proper role. "

Mike Calpino
District Candidate for Wicomico County Council

Mike Calpino: Plan offered to motivate efficiency in government

It is popular in an election season to fill the airwaves and roadsides with platitudes and slogans, often promising to lower taxes and make government more efficient. Substantial proposals to accomplish these ends are, however, few and far between.

I believe campaigns should be about substance, so I present "The Wicomico Plan" -- the details of which can be found at http://www.electmike.webs.com/.

The core of the plan, in addition to an initial reduction in taxes, spending and regulation to encourage businesses and job creation, is to introduce an incentive for government employees to save money and reduce the size of government. Instead of each department having to spend everything in its budget for fear of having it cut, employees will be encouraged to save and managers inspired to streamline.

The vehicle for this change will be the promise of bonuses comprised of half of the money each department saves, equally distributed among all the members of that department and the other half being deposited in the rainy day fund.

This will motivate each department to work efficiently, save money, blow the whistle on thieves and eliminate unnecessary employees.

Once the fiscal year ends and the savings have been realized, the budget and attendant taxes can be reduced and the process begun again. After two or three years, we will finally have a county government that operates efficiently and effectively, and costs the taxpayers -- you and I -- a lot less.

Mike Calpino
Nanticoke
Calpino is a Libertarian candidate for Wicomico County Council, District 2. -- Editor

Making Government Irrelevant

by Mike Calpino

One of the great causes of division in America is the fact that everything, and I mean everything, has become a political issue. Any problem, any complaint, any issue that someone has is now thrown into the political sphere. Consider some of the big news on "the hill" this week. Rodger Clemens, a baseball player, is being prosecuted for lying to congress. What did he allegedly lie about? State secrets, embezzlement, fraud, treason? No. It was whether or not he ever used "performance enhancing" substances. Not to excuse his alleged lying but why was he ever before congress in the first place?! What authority does the government have to regulate A GAME!

We the people, unfortunately, have come to believe that it is right and proper to use the power of government to solve all our problems and meet all our needs. Every time one American citizen says "there ought to be a law" to fix some complaint or offense and another one says "government ought to..." to meet some need or want, our government is happy to intervene and in the process take more or our freedom and more of our money. Did you ever stop and wonder why we have all the special interest groups and lobbyists we love to complain about? It is because each one of them represents some group of citizens, small or large, that want to use the power of government for their own ends. In this game there are winners and losers and the animosity between the two increases as the stakes get higher and government becomes larger and more powerful. For every citizen that wants the government to do something, there is another citizen that must pay for it and give up some bit of freedom to accommodate this new government activity. That other citizen must now "lobby" on his own behalf, playing the game for his own protection. The government becomes no more than a legalized criminal enterprise, granting arbitrary favors and demanding payment for protection. 

Socialism is Selfish

by Mike Calpino

One of the most often repeated arguments against free market capitalism is that is makes selfish, greedy monsters out of all of us. That a system based on one’s self-interest instead of the interests of the "collective" is evil on its very face. It is almost accepted as a fact that if it wasn’t for government enforcing our charity through the social safety net, poor people would starve, old people would die penniless in the streets, the infirm would be on the street corners begging for spare change and children wouldn’t be educated while a few rich individuals would spend their time rolling around in their money like Scrooge McDuck.

In fact, history has demonstrated the exact opposite. The more the government exercises control over the economy and the people that make it up, the less freedom the people have and the poorer they are. In the 1920’s millions of people were dying of starvation in Communist Russia while America, experiencing a resurgence of freedom after the tyranny of Woodrow Wilson, was prospering like no other place on earth. Before we allowed the government to control the economy through the Federal Reserve and New Deal programs, we never had a recession that lasted more than a few years. Up until the Roosevelt era, the history of the United States was one of prosperity, innovation and upward mobility. Only in America could a bobbin changer or desk clerk amass some of the largest fortunes on earth within their lifetimes. It was these men, acting in their self-interest, attempting to satisfy the self-interest of consumers free from government direction, regulation, taxes and control that created the standard of living we enjoy, a standard of living that is still the envy of the world.

That being the case, why is socialism selfish while a system based in individual self interest is not? The reason is that a system of socialism removes all meaningful interaction and responsibility among individuals within the society. The primary relationship in an individual’s life is with the state, not his or her neighbor or even his or her family. The government takes care of our children. With pre-K and Head Start, we place them in the care of unionized government employees from the time they are three until they are eighteen. The government is now also responsible for their higher education as well. If they choose not to try to make anything of themselves, we are not responsible for them then either. The government confiscates our money through taxes to pay for the basic sustenance of those who are either too lazy to work or have made bad choices that have placed them in poverty. When our neighbor or family member gets sick, the government will now determine their care. Once our parents get old, the government takes care of their needs and medical care until they die. Then the government confiscates their remaining wealth and sticks us with the bill for burying them.

Before government stepped in, people relied on their families and neighbors for all these things. If the government is going to take care of us, what do we need family for? We have seen this play out in Europe. The socialist countries of Europe have extremely low birth rates. Why? Who needs children? They are a pain when they are young and they don’t need them when they are old so why not just remain an eternal adolescent, enjoying whatever the government lets them keep on their extended vacations and abundant weekly leisure time. Not considering the next generation, getting the goodies even at the expense of the future, living only for yourself with no regard for the needs of others is the most selfish lifestyle possible.

Pure capitalism, on the other hand, encourages us to be considerate of others. In a truly free, capitalist society where government stays completely out of the economic and social spheres, confining itself to the role of protector of rights, selfishness results is very negative consequences. If one tried to live as an ‘island’, giving no thought for the needs or wishes of others, you would quickly be reduced to living in a hovel as a hunter gatherer. Why? Because you would not be able to get a job. Employment in such a society requires that your labor meet the needs of an employer who is, in turn, trying to meet the needs of his customers. If you did not care about the needs of the employer you would not have a job very long. Compare the products of communist countries with those of free ones. Workers under communism cannot be fired for lack of efficiency or quality, in free countries they can be. Continuing, if you didn’t care about your neighbors and you fell on hard times, charity would be hard to come by. If you don’t make yourself valuable to others, they find it hard to put any value on you. Consider the value free counties place on individual life as opposed to counties based on the "collective". In a free country, any life lost is a tragedy. In a communist country, twenty million lives lost is a footnote. In a "collective", it is the group that matters and those at the top decide what is best for the group, the individual life is only worth something if it serves the needs of the collective. In a free county, every individual is valued as an individual, every individual has rights simply because they exist as a man or woman and government's only role is to ensure that each individual’s rights are respected by all the other individuals in a society. Finally, if you do not have children or choose to be a bad parent, there will be no one to take care of you when you’re old. The point of all these examples is to show that in a free, capitalist society it is in everyone's self interest to be considerate of the self interest of everyone else. In a socialist society, the opposite is true. As long as the individual maintains good relations with the state, other relationships are superfluous and have little value. This does not apply simply to economics but to our societal relationships as well.

For the last hundred years America has been turning its back on all the things that made us great, embracing the very philosophies that have not only demonstrated their utter failure everywhere they are tried but are the complete antithesis of the system we were founded upon. Today, with our government taking a greater role in controlling our lives and the economic and social systems we inhabit, the family is disintegrating, we have created a permanent and growing underclass, we have seen the devaluation of individual life at both ends, and a stifled economy and for all our efforts we have stuck our great-grandchildren with a bill even they will not be able to pay. So who’s selfish now?



Mike Calpino

Candidate for Wicomico County Council

Daily Times features Mike Calpino's run for County Council

Libertarian runs for Wicomico council seat

Mike Calpino to take on councilwoman Stevie Prettyman

By Greg Latshaw • Staff Writer • June 15, 2010 

SALISBURY -- Mike Calpino, a Nanticoke resident who says government needs a philosophical makeover, will run against Stevie Prettyman for her Wicomico County Council seat.

"We need to change the way we do government. Trying to be all things for all people is too expensive," Calpino says.

The 42-year-old has filed with the Maryland State Board of Elections as a Libertarian candidate. Calpino said the county government has grown too large under the executive form of leadership and supports keeping the revenue cap in place, switching to elected school boards and holding evening council meetings.

"If we were still spending what we were in 2006, we wouldn't be in this position," Calpino said of Wicomico's spending habits.

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