Bush didn't see fit to visit OC Register

Cathy Taylor, the Register's Commentary & Opinion editor, knew about ex-pres. GW Bush's planned visit to celebrity preacher Rick Warren's Saddleback Church well in advance and tried very hard to get the president, who does seem more relaxed now that he's out of office, to drop by the Register for an editorial board meeting. The former prez just wasn't interested. I do suspect that he is in no mood to visit any newspaper editorial board since most are Democrat-dominated (unlike the Register). But it would be nice to suspect that this blog post of mine documenting one of his many lies, which I think was the only thing appearing on the Opinion pages prior to his visit, might have come to the notice of some of his advance men.

Real spending cut suggestions

I have to admit, this is one of the reasons I'm glad to be back to the work and still proud (there were some moments when so many were bewitched by the election) to be working for the Register. Amid all the brave talk about cutting spending -- most of which will disappear after most of the newbies have had a chance to settle in and realize what a sweet deal being in Congress is and how much fun it is to spend other peoples' money -- we've heard almost no specifics about what should be cut. This Register editorial has specifics, including several, like ending the drug war and cutting back on "defense" spending, that are intellectual slam-dunks but will get almost no traction in the political world. Nonetheless it's helpful, I think, to raise flags that won't be saluted for a while. The topic of cutting spending by the fedgov is almost always accompanied by talk of pain and sacrifice. To be sure, some spending cuts will cut off some parasites from sweet subsidies or nice salaries, but it's important to make the point that lower spending will not be painful to most Americans and in fact is likely to make our lives better. Who else emphasizes that?

Reason magazine in its November issue also has some excellent (and more detailed than can be done in a single editorial) suggestions for spending cuts. Unlike conservatives, libertarians are not afraid -- indeed are eager -- to be specific about what kind of government spending can be cut or eliminated to the benefit of most Americans.

Register at the Democratic convention

I just finished commenting for the Register's opinion blog, Orange Punch, on Michelle Obama's speech -- I thought she was OK but could have closed the deal better -- and I would like to recommend it. My colleague Mark Landsbaum is in Denver with credentials and all that, and will be blogging as often as he can get to a computer. I'm watching things from the office, and Steve Greenhut kicks in comments too.

Register rates the candidates

The Register does not endorse candidates, as is explained at some length in the introduction. But we do pay attention to candidates and hold them up against a libertarian worldview. As you might suppose, few get much of a seal of approval, except for Ron Paul. But I thought the measuring the candidates feature Sunday, to which all three of us editorial writers contributed, was pretty good, in that it offered readers a fairly good glimpse at the presidential candidates, outlined some of their most important views (which sometimes weren't all that easy to find amid all the campaign verbiage), and explained succinctly but civilly where we agreed and disagreed with them. Commen6ts welcome, on the Register site or here.

R.C. Hoiles's principles

Since R.C. Hoiles, founder of Freedom Newspapers, which grew into Freedom Communications, which still owns the Register, was born in November, we like to do a little bit of celebrating and explaining his legacy each November. Here's a piece he wrote sometime in the 1960s, apparently in response to requests from other publishers in the chain for an explanmation of what the company stood for.

Bottom line? No individual or group has the right to use force or coerceion on any other individual or group. Everything else flows from that basic axiom.