Hostile Takeover: Resisting Centralized Government's Stranglehold on America (51 page)

17.
Lydia DePillis, “Disorganized: What happened to Obama’s massive network of grassroots activists?,”
New Republic
, Oct. 29, 2009. http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/disorganized?page=0,0.

18.
Micah Sifry, “The Obama Disconnect: What Happens When Myth Meets Reality,”
TechPresident
, Dec. 31, 2009. http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/the-obama-disconnect.

19.
Ibid.

20.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, ed., “Electing the President 2008: The Insiders’ View,” quoted in Sifry, “The Obama Disconnect,” pp. 37–38.

21.
Michael O’Brien, “Dems say Tea Party rally shows dissipating opposition to health reform,”
Hill,
Mar. 16, 2010.

22.
Matt Bai, “Does Anyone Have a Grip on the G.O.P.?,”
New York Times,
Oct. 12, 2011.

23.
“Transcript: Van Jones urges netroots to lead the way in rebuilding the American dream,”
NW Progressive,
July 1, 2011. http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2011/07/transcript-van-jones-urges-netroots-to-lead-the-way-in-rebuilding-the-american-dream.html.

24.
Ibid.

Chapter 14: The Revolution Will Be Chosen

  1.
Jordan Zakarin, “Stephen Colbert, The Next Ronald Reagan? Satirical Political Career Parallels Former President’s,”
Huffington Post
, Jan. 17, 2012. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jordan-zakarin/colbert-super-pac-south-carolina_b_1210877.html.

  2.
Sam Stein, “Obama Compares himself to Reagan, JFK . . . But not Bill Clinton,”
Huffington Post
, May. 25, 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/16/obama-compares-himself-to_n_81835.html.

  3.
Ibid.

  4.
Bernard Bailyn,
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992), p. vi.

  5.
Paul Johnson,
George Washington: The Founding Father
(New York: HarperCollins, 2005).

  6.
George Washington, “Farewell Address on His Departure from the Presidency,” Sep. 19, 1796. http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=15&page=transcript

  7.
Bernard Bailyn,
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
, p. 319.

  8.
Ibid.

I
NDEX

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use your ebook reader’s search tools.

AARP, 309–310

Ace of Spades (blogger), 74

Adams, Samuel, 73, 90, 150

AFT.
see
American Federation of Teachers

aggregate demand, 39–40, 43, 290

aggressive competition, 74–75

AIG bailout, 224

Alaska, spending on education, 237

Aldrich, Nelson, 188

Alexander, Lamar, 4, 5

Alinsky, Saul, 81, 86, 323

American exceptionalism, 338

American Federation of Teachers (AFT), 238–239

American Revolution, origins of, 16–17

Anderson, Chris, 313

Arab Spring of 2011, 76

Arizona, tax credits for education, 246

Armey, Dick, xiii, 141, 244, 344

Armstrong, Lynden, 6

Articles of Confederation, on taxation, 183

Atlas Shrugged
(Rand), 95, 96, 148, 151, 159

The Audacity of Hope
(Obama), 37

The Audacity to Win
(Plouffe), 324–325

audit, of central bank, 221–222, 227–228

auto industry, hybrid and electric vehicles, 162–163

Axelrod, David, 86

Bai, Matt, 327–328

bailouts, 67–68, 75, 84, 218, 221, 223, 226, 317

Bailyn, Bernard, 336–337

Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA), 135–137

Baldwin, Alec, 83

Ballmer, Steve, xii

bank bailouts, 221

Bank of America, 91–92, 223–224

banks, 202

see also
monetary policy; money

“Baptists and Bootleggers,” 166

Barlow, John Perry, 312, 318–319, 320

Bartofsky, Neil, 219–220

Bastiat, Frédéric, 44, 83

“Battle in Seattle” (1999), 86

Baucus, Max, 169, 170

Beard, Charles, 50

Beck, Glenn, 38, 65–66, 75, 344

Beck, Michael, 9

Bennett, Robert, 4, 5, 100, 127

Berkshire Hathaway, 177–178, 223

Bernanke, Ben, 29, 202, 211, 217, 221, 224, 228

Berwick, Donald, 263

Biden, Joe, 87, 98, 159

Bipartisanship, 106

Blitzer, Wolf, exchange with Ron Paul, 274–276

blogs, 62, 70

Boehner, John, 131

Boettke, Peter, 37

bond ratings, U.S. government bonds, 21

Bono (rock musician), 196, 197

boom and bust cycles, 215–216, 217, 326

Borelli, Tom, 166, 167

Borowski, Julie, 4, 7, 74

Boston Tea Party, 15, 90

bottom-up approach, 27, 43, 100

Bouazizi, Mohamed, 96–97

Breitbart, Andrew, 55

Bretton Woods system, 209

Bridgewater, Tim, 127

British National Health Service, 258–260

“broken window,” 161

Brooks, David, 72, 73

Browner, Carol, 168

Brown, Henry, 124

Brown, Scott, 170

Budget Act, 22–23

Buffett, Warren, income taxes, 175–179, 223

Buffett Rule, 176, 222–225

Bull Moose Party, 79

Bunning, Jim, 126

bureaucracy, healthcare and, 263–265, 267

Burton, Dan, 225

Bush, George H.W., 190

Bush, George W., 35, 105, 117, 190, 241–242

Byrd, Richard E., 186

Byrd, Robert, 48

Cain, Herman, 301

campaign donations, 171–172

Campbell, Carroll, III, 124

Campbell, Mercedes, 245

Canada, healthcare system, 260–261, 262

cap-and-trade regulation, 165–167

Cape Coral (Florida), Tea Party in the Park, 10

capital gains tax, 194

Capitalism and Freedom
(Friedman), 233, 243

Cardin, Benjamin, 63

Carney, Tim, 153, 174, 223–224

Carter, Jimmy, 110, 125, 157, 164, 241, 279

CBS Evening News,
53, 61, 70, 74

central banks, 201–202, 209, 212, 218, 221, 226

centralization, 50, 232, 276

centralized authority, in U.S. government, 22, 51, 52

centralized media, 53–56, 62, 69

centralized politics, 62

certainty, political expressions of, 31–35

change, institutional hostility to, 129

Charlotte (NC), 165

Cheney, Dick, 318

Chevrolet Volt, 163

Chicago, education in, 239

Chile, public pension system, 301–302

Churchill, Winston, on democracy, 228–229

Chu, Steven, 159

circularity problem, 206

citizen journalists, 64

Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988, 231, 249

Clancy, Dean, 374
n
20

Clarke, Stephanie, 8

CLASS (entitlement program), 266

class envy, 83

Claussen, Eileen, 166

Climategate scandal (2009), 69–70

Clinton, Bill, 120, 149, 190, 279

Clinton, Hillary, 323–324, 327

coal gasification, 167

Cochrane, John, 225

Colbert, Stephen, 335

college costs, 246–250

collusion, 106–107

Colonial Era:

erosion of individual freedoms before American Revolution, 16–17

Founding Fathers on taxation, 181–182

Tea Party, 15–16

Colorado, 130, 165

Commerce Clause (U.S. Constitution), 293, 294

Committees of Correspondence, 16

communications.
see
media

compact fluorescent bulbs, 152

competition, 74–75

Congress.
see
U.S. Congress

Congressional Health Care for Seniors Act, 309

conservative talk radio, 59

Constitution of Liberty
(Hayek), 36

Contract for the American Dream (Van Jones), 100–102

Contract from America (Tea Party), 99, 125, 127, 130, 131, 179–180

Contract with America (Republican Party), 100

Conyers, John, 4

Coolidge, Calvin, 189, 195

Cornyn, John, 118, 120, 128, 130

corporate cronyism, 168

Corzine, Jon, 304

cosmetic surgery, 269–270

Coughlin, Father, 102, 103

CQ Researcher,
71

“creative destruction,” 70

Crist, Charlie, 128

Cronkite, Walter, 53–54, 57

crony capitalism, 153

currency devaluation, 214

cyberlibertarianism, 319

cyberspace declaration, 318–319, 320

“czar”:

information czars, 57–60

use of term, 45–48

Dean, Howard, 76

“death panels,” Obamacare, 255–256

decentralization, 52, 70, 119, 332

decision making, collecting information for, 67–68

“A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace” (Barlow), 318–319

defined-contribution programs, 301

deflation, 226

Delaware, 130

demand, 39, 42

DeMint, Jim, 137, 139, 227–228

democracy, Churchill on, 228–229

Democrats, 36, 62, 76, 79, 98, 99, 107, 108, 111, 111–112, 114, 116, 127, 130, 148, 239, 245, 267, 279, 283, 327

Demsetz, Harold, 156

DeParle, Nancy-Ann, 315, 316

DePillis, Lydia, 323

de Rugy, Veronique, 195

de Soto, Hernando, 96

devaluation, 214

“direct” tax, 183

direct-to-consumer video network, 66

disintermediation politics, 312–333

District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program, 244–245

Dodd, Christopher, 318, 320, 321–322, 323

domestic oil production, 158, 164

“domestic terrorist” motif, 87

Dorgan, Byron, 170

Doyle, Mike, 87

dropout rate, 235–236

Drudge, Matt, 65

Drudge Report,
65

drug company donations, 171–172

Duke Energy, 165, 167

“duopoly,” 107

Dylan, Bob, 334

earmarks, 163, 267

Ebeling, Richard, 205–206

The Economic Consequences of the Peace
(Keynes), 212–213

economic decision making, centralized, 52

economy:

boom and bust cycles, 215–216, 217

depressions, 215

financial crisis of 2008, 201–202, 217–218

Gladstone’s rules, 17–18

education, 230–253

financial aid programs, 248

high school dropout rate, 235–236

No Child Left Behind, 242, 243

Obama on, 245

parental satisfaction with, 242

quality of American education, 233–234

“rubber rooms,” 240

spending on, 237, 242–243

student loans, 246–250

tax credits, 246

teachers’ unions, 238–239

tenure in higher education, 247

violence in schools, 235, 236

vouchers, 243–245

education reform, 239

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 189

ejection of Tea Party Debt Committee, 1–7, 24, 25

Ekirch, Arthur, 49

“elastic currency,” 211

electric cars, 162, 163

energy, regulatory barriers, 164–165

energy policy, 157–162

“enhanced revenue,” use of term, 176

entitlements, 285–311

about, 266

defined, 291–292

fixing, 310

history of, 288–289

see also
Medicaid; Medicare; Social Security

environmentalism, 164

equilibrium view, 43

Europe:

central banks, 202

national debt crises, 20–21

Occupy Wall Street events, 90

U.S. bailouts of central banks, 221, 222–223, 225

evening news shows, 61

exceptionalism, 338

“excess profits” tax, 188–189

executive power, 336

Fairness Doctrine, 58, 59, 62

Fannie Mae, 34, 155, 251, 317

fascism, 154

FCC, 57, 59–60, 60, 62

“Fear the Boom and Bust” (rap video), 38

federal budget:

annual budget plan, 23

entitlements, 287

inadequacy of, 18–19

Tea Party on, 140–144, 146

federal deficit, 19–20

Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, 308

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), 211

Federal Reserve, 201, 207, 211–212, 215, 218, 221–223, 227

Federal Reserve Reform Act (1977), 212

federal spending, historical look at, 19

Feingold, Russ, 45

“fiat currency,” 208, 209, 210

“Fight of the Century” (rap video), 38

financial aid programs, 248

financial crisis of 2008, 201–202, 217–218

financial reform, Obama on, 33–34

First Amendment rights, 17

First Continental Congress, 16

fiscal profligacy, 18

Flake, Jeff, 304

flat tax, 177, 192–194, 197

Florida:

tax credits for education, 246

Tea Party, 128

Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, 246

foreign banks, U.S. bailouts of, 222–223

Forstmann, Ted, 217–218

Frank, Barney, 34, 318

Franklin, Benjamin, 16

Freddie Mac, 34, 155, 251, 317

“free banking” system, 227

Free Competition in Currency Act of 2011, 228

freedom:

about, 27, 75, 314

as basis for moral behavior, 85

decentralized power of, 38

knowledge and, 76–77

retirement options and, 301

Sennholz on monetary reform, 229

as Tea Party strategy, 330–333

truth and, 74

freedom of the press, 55

FreedomWorks, 88, 137, 321

Friedman, Milton, 233, 241, 244, 259

Frist, Bill, 168–169

“full faith and credit,” 219

Gammon, Max, 259

Gammon’s Law, 259, 267

Gates, Bill, 250

GBTV (TV network), 65, 66

Geithner, Timothy, 219, 224, 225

Genachowski, Julius, 60

General Electric, 152–153, 155, 163, 167–168, 172–173, 191, 223

General Motors, 163

The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
(Keynes), 40

General Welfare Clause (U.S. Constitution), 293, 294

George III (King of England), 337

Georgia, tax credits for education, 246

geothermal energy, 163

Germany:

“social insurance” plan of Bismarck’s Germany, 297

Weimar Republic, 213–214

Get Out the Vote (GOTV), 114, 131, 331, 332

Gigot, Paul A., 35

Gillespie, Nick, 107

Gladstone William, 17

global warming, 70

gold, as money, 205–206

Goldberg, Jonah, 46, 73, 102

gold mark, 214

gold standard, 208, 209, 210, 215, 228

Gore, Al, 70

government:

alliance between big business and big government, 56

centralization of under Obama, 315

confiscatory power of, 15

see also
U.S. government

government-funded health care, 138

government intrusions, 86

government medicine, 248

government planning, 28–29, 31, 156

government power, 56, 156

government spending:

on healthcare, 265

Keynes on, 42–43

New Deal, 50

grassroots movements, 76, 86, 323

grassroots protesting, 86, 326–327

Gratzer, David, 262, 282

Grayson, Trey, 126

Great Depression, 215

Great Society programs, 209

Greek debt crises, 21, 145, 225, 226

green energy, Obama administration on, 31–33, 158

Greenfield, Richard, 66

“green jobs,” 31–32, 69, 78, 160, 162

Greenspan, Alan, 214

Grove City College (Pennsylvania), 230–232, 249

Hamilton, Alexander, 293

Hannity, Sean, 120

Hastert, Dennis, 169

Hatch, Orrin, 118, 136–137, 163, 280

Hayek, Friedrich:

about, 28, 29, 41, 52

on big government, 33

Hayek vs. Keynes, 38–39, 40, 42–43, 44–45

on scientism, 48–49

spontaneous order, 332

Hazlitt, Henry, 217, 226

healthcare, 149, 253–254

bureaucracy and, 263–265

in Canada, 260–261, 262

cosmetic surgery, 269–270

“death panels” under Obamacare, 255–256