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The Mercatus Center at George Mason University has published an update and a revision of a 2007 study entitled “Freedom in the 50 States: An Index of Personal and Economic Freedom”. The report analyzed three primary “freedom variables” for each state, determining the overall burden that local and state policies place on individual residents. So how did California stack up? Frankly, not so good. In fact, California was only underperformed by New Jersey and New York. The authors, William Ruger a

Although the latest piece from the Associated Press attempts to throw at least a bone of coverage to Independent voters with the 2012 election coming up, it is riddled with superficial analysis and even unfairly ignores a number of critical factors. "In the first presidential election since the Tea Party's emergence, Republican candidates are drifting rightward on a range of issues, even though more centrist stands might play well in the 2012 general election," the lede states. The AP goes on

Among the greatest concerns Tea Party leaders have voiced is the possibility that their movement could be co-opted by "the establishment" in Washington.  Among the strongest criticisms of the Tea Party movement is that it already has been. To fully grasp what is really happening in the Tea Party, we have to begin by recognizing that there is no single, monolithic "Tea Party," but many disparate politicians, media personalities, and groups of activists in cities and states throughout the country

Today in Iowa, twelve-term Congressman and 2008 presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX) will be announcing the creation of a presidential exploratory committee for the Republican Party's nomination in 2012. Last year, Rasmussen reported that in a hypothetical 2012 match up of Ron Paul against President Barack Obama, the two were in a statistical tie, making the kindly, Republican Congressman with a libertarian streak a truly viable candidate. The timing is no accident. Paul and any other Republi

"The revolution is alive and well." That's what The Politico reporter Andy Barr wrote this Tuesday in his article summarizing the extraordinary fundraising feat Congressman Ron Paul's supporters pulled off the day before, raising $730,000 online in just 24 hours for Paul's Liberty PAC. The single day fundraising effort- called a "money bomb" by the Internet activists who pioneered it- echoed the days of Ron Paul's presidential bid, during which followers raised a staggering $4.3 million in one d

Perhaps the most damning evidence of a false economic recovery is the sustained rise in food stamp usage across the country. Unemployment numbers can be groomed and refined, the Consumer Price Index can be manipulated, but there's no sugar coating the fact that a record 42 million Americans used food stamps in August, this according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The number represents a 17 percent rise from the same period last year. It gets worse. A Gallup survey has revealed that a st

Despite the fact that not a single vote has been counted, the media and political analysts have already conceded a landslide victory to the Republicans in the November election.  The reality of 2010 is that Congressional Democrats will move from dominance to either parity or minority status depending on the outcome of the elections. For much of the past two years, Dems have held a veto-proof majority.  But, they rarely exhibited the kind of lock-step discipline it takes to act decisively.  On t

Both Farmers' Almanacs (yes, there are two of them) are predicting a La Nina this winter, while the NOAA Climate Prediction Center says we’ll have an El Nino. This leads them to have differing weather predictions, with the two Almanacs saying winter will be much colder in the middle of the country and a little milder on the coasts. NOAA says it’ll be a generally milder winter most everywhere. A La Nina is a cooling of the water in the tropical Pacific, which generally leads to a warmer US South

Republicans and Democrats are beginning to exit the two-party system in significant numbers.  According to USA today, there has been a veritable explosion of voters registering as unaffiliated since 2008, and the trend looks to intensify in 2010 and beyond.  Here are some of the more eye-opening statistics of the review, covering the period between 2008 and the present: 9% increase in independent voters in Colorado 11% increase in independent voters in Florida 13% increase in independent vote

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s quest to convince the federal government to put-up-or-shut-up by paying California an additional $6.9 billion he says the state needs to carry out Washington D.C. imposed mandates is just one high-profile example of states increasingly asserting their rights. The battle over when states rights trump federal government edicts is as old as the constitution, waxing and waning in favor of each camp for nearly 225 years.  But recently, an increasing number of states are