Without the rule of law, property, economic opportunity and liberty cannot be protected, so we have been taught to revere the law. One hundred and sixty years ago, the brilliant French political and economic theorist Frederic Bastiat warned us in his classic, "The Law," that the rule of law would be perverted. As he noted, the law "has acted in direct opposition to its proper end; it has destroyed its own object; it has been employed in annihilating that justice which it ought to have established, in effacing amongst Rights, that limit which was its true mission to respect; it has placed the collective force in the service of those who wish to traffic, without risk and without scruple, in the persons, the liberty, and the property of others; it has converted plunder into a right, that it may protect it, and lawful defense into a crime, that it may punish it." Read more in Political Plunder -- Again by Richard Rahn

Read The Law by Frederic Bastiat.

Danish: Introduktion til Frederic Bastiat

Dr. Rahn would like to share a new video, The Value-Added Tax: A Hidden New Tax to Finance Much Bigger Government, released by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation. The video explains why a value-added tax (VAT) would be a dangerous money machine for big government. The evidence from Europe is clear. The crippling expansion of government in Europe over the last several decades was made possible by the VAT. In fact, the evidence also shows that VATs actually lead to higher income taxes.

Please take a look and tell us what you think. And please don't hesitate to share the video since that has been the key to the success of this educational project.

Web Links:

Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6JDpw8a2Hk

Yahoo
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/6192062/16074986

Capitol Hub
http://capitolhub.com/video/9240/value-added-tax-hidden-new-tax-finance-muc h-bigger-government

Link to all CF&P videos:
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/videos.shtml

Link to Press Release:
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/press/p10-14-09/p10-14-09.shtml

Dr. Richard W. Rahn would like to share a new video of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity "The Empirical Evidence Against Big Government." The video presents real-world data and research showing that the burden of government spending is far too high – not only in the United States (where the Bush-Obama policies have increased the federal budget by more than 100 percent), but also in other nations where government budgets sometimes consume more than one-half of an economy's output.

Link to Press Release:
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/press/p09-15-09/p09-15-09.shtml

In recent years, a number of pro-free-market think tanks and taxpayer associations have been formed in France, and their effectiveness and impact clearly are increasing. These groups include Institut Economique Molinari, the Institute for Economic Studies-Europe, Institut de Formation Politique, Contribuables Associes (French Taxpayers Association), etc.

If the tax-rate increases proposed by the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress are passed into law, all upper-income Americans will be paying higher personal tax rates than the wealthy in France.

http://www.coin.dk/default.asp?aid=1624

Dr. Richard Rahn would like to share with you a new video, produced by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation, "Eight Reasons Why Big Government Hurts Economic Growth." The video lists the key reasons why excessive government spending undermines economic performance, and uses common-sense language and analysis to demonstrate the negative consequences of excessive government spending.

More at: http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/videos.shtml

The Fed is supposed to provide the United States with stable currency yet it now takes $21.60 to equal the purchasing power of $1 in 1913, the year the Fed was established. (In the 124 years prior to the founding of the Fed, there was almost no permanent change in the purchasing power of the dollar. There was some inflation during the Civil War, which was offset by a slow deflation in the 40 years after the war.)

The Fed is supposed to regulate the banking system to provide financial stability, yet far more banks have failed since the Fed was created, and events of the past year illustrate how the Fed has failed at providing financial stability. The Fed has become like a large fire department that has a fixed percentage of its employees who are arsonists, so as it gets bigger, there are always more fires. Yet the politicians call for an even bigger fire department (or Fed) rather than a smaller one that has rid itself of the arsonists. (The same can be said of most of government.) Richard Rahn

Many studies have shown there are no discernible benefits in terms of objective measures of human welfare from raising the share of government spending beyond the 25 percent to 30 percent mark, yet Britain is slated to go over the 50 percent mark and America over the 40 percent mark. The British and Americans seem to be in a suicidal race as to which country can put in the most destructive economic policies. The British are ahead at the moment. Unfortunately, there are no winners. -- Read more in Omens of a Downward Spiral by Richard Rahn.

California is the poster child for irresponsible management and, as a result, is about to run out of money. Its credit rating is so bad that the state is almost at its borrowing limit. As would be expected, members of the California congressional delegation are trying to get increased handouts from the rest of us, including guarantees of their local government bonds. If California is bailed out, other governors and mayors are going to think, "Why be prudent if the Feds will rescue me if I am irresponsible and overspend?" If that occurs, there will be no limit to the liabilities that ultimately will be dumped on the American taxpayer. Those of us who live in relatively well-managed states like Virginia will be responsible for all of those who have been less responsible -- without end. - Richard Rahn

From the Center for Freedom and Prosperity: Richard Rahn would like to share a new video Free Markets and Small Government Promote Prosperity, released by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity:

Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Gov't Is Not Stimulus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoxDyC7y7PM

In the United States, periods of rapid economic growth, such as 1983-89 and 1992-99, have been associated with a reduction in the total size of government. During the 1970s and much of the last decade, total (federal, state and local) government spending grew to a post-World War II record (36 percent), and these periods were associated with lower economic growth. In recent decades, many European countries have greatly increased government spending as a percentage of GDP, and as a result most of them experienced lower growth rates and much higher rates of unemployment than the United States. Richard Rahn in The Optimum Government

* http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan