JoshK Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 I was reading their website. While most of their thinking is simplistic and unrealistic, I like their views on some other things: freedom of speech, sexual rights, and the war on drugs. I wish one of the major parties (well, it would be the Ds, never the Rs) would realize what a failure the "war on drugs" is... some of the shit is just plain funny: "the repeal of anti-racketeering statutes such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which punish peaceful behavior -- including insider trading in securities, sale of sexually explicit material, and nonviolent anti-abortion protests -- by freezing and/or seizing assets of the accused or convicted; and" Yeah, insider trading shouldn't be illegal at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Off_White Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 I think Libertarians are interesting because the defy the common wisdom of a scale that runs from Liberal to Conservative that everyone fits on somewhere. They're all over the map, and as such are a genuinely different party, not at all a fringe offshoot of either of the major parties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Fisher Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 RICO doesn't make insider trading illegal, Section 16 of the 34 Act does. RICO was intended to go after assets of the mob. Due to overbroad drafting it in fact has been used as a bludgeon for prosecuters and plaintiffs lawyers in a bunch of areas it was not intended to be used (see insider trading, anti-abortion groups, etc.). Their point is that RICO should be reformed. Though I do challenge you to explain how you are (or anyone else is) harmed by insider trading. "Simplistic and unrealistic" pretty much describes the platforms of the Ds and the Rs too. It's just a bunch of hullabaloo to rile up the true believers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EWolfe Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 I am guessing the idea behind the repeal of RICO is to free up the clogged prisons from non-violent offenders. Put 'em back on Wall Street , and behind the camera, right? I must presume that other non-violent crimes are also being considered for repeal ( I didn't go to the website), and not just the racketeers. I am all for drug possession charges being commuted to community service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Fisher Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Maybe I didn't explain that very well. RICO doesn't make stuff illegal. RICO provides for enhanced civil penalties and asset forfeiture for stuff that's already illegal if you do it in a "conspiracy." The argument for its repeal is that is applied abusively and arbitrarily and primarilly in cases for which it was never intended to be used. I don't beleive it has anything to jail time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratboy Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Don't confuse the Libertarian party with a libertarian philosophy. I consider myself a libertarian because I believe an individual's freedoms and rights are one of the basic parts of the foundation of this country, and that as long as I am not infringing on someone else's rights in exercising my freedoms, the government should keep its nose out of it. That puts me at odds with both political parties for the most part. I also put myself as pretty moderate, considering I am more conservative than most liberals I know, and more liberal than most conservatives I know, but your mileage may vary. I don't know much about the Libertarian Party because I'm not a big fan of political parties in general, and third parties are pretty ineffectual in today's political climate, other than as spoliers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Though I do challenge you to explain how you are (or anyone else is) harmed by insider trading. You're kidding me, right? It's pretty easy. I buy 100 shares of company X. CEO of company X knows they are fucked. He begins selling off but publicly says that there is no problem and confidence is high. Once he is mostly divested, the news breaks. CEO gets out fine, me and other shareholders are fucked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 yeah hmmmm ... kinda casts doubt on the validity of the "free market" huh? where's mtngoat when you need a good libertarian to kick around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Hey Josh, I'm curious if there are any issues out there where you agree with the republican stance. Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 libertarian, you mean? or did you mean repub? the repubs hardly defend insider trading last time I checked, but who knows...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klenke Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 I meant republican. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunglehead Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 I meant republican. FUCK I read the sig line! I'm such an IDIOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Lemme think...you'd have to post some link to a repub party platform link because I am sure there is something in there I agree with...here are the major ones I can think of: taxation: I don't believe in giving the rich a break and shoving a stick up the ass of the middle and lower classes. gay marriage: quit worrying about impinging on gay rights, you homophobic assholes abortion: it's the woman's choice, not some stody 70 year old repbulican's campaign finance: I believe in big changes here. Most of them (mcacin notably) dont since big business contributes heavily and it's always been easier for the Rs to raise money than the Ds gun control: this has been discussed enough environment: I choose to believe 95% of the scientific community over the republican propoganda machine. I believe we also need to lead global climate change not claim we'll change when the 3rd world does. foreign policy: i believe alienating our allies is idiotic church n' state: i think the constituion is pretty clearly on this. no school prayer, no faith based crap, thank you death penalty: no state sponsered killing in a civilized society, thank you. corporate/political coziness: this has more to do with our corrput administration, not a republican party platform. I'm sure there are more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Ahh...I did think of a thing I agree with...China policy. I say fuck being nice to them. Get hardcore on them and make it clear that they need to straighten their act out. Our north korea policy is screwed tho. Clinton made some decent progress and shrub threw it out the window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_harpell Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Ahh...I did think of a thing I agree with...China policy. I say fuck being nice to them. Get hardcore on them and make it clear that they need to straighten their act out. Our north korea policy is screwed tho. Clinton made some decent progress and shrub threw it out the window. That is one dragon I don't wanna see woken. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 China or north korea? IMHO, china is going to be a *much* bigger problem for us going forward. Ahh...there is another thing I agree with, though it's certainly not something all democrats are against...military buildup. We need to maintain the most powerful military in the world by a BBIIIGG margin. China has manpower, and we need to make it clear that should they start shit we will quickly do our part to fix the world's population problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_harpell Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 China is known as the sleeping Dragon. we need to make it clear that should they start shit we will quickly do our part to fix the world's population problem. Hot Damn Boy! You are a Good Ol' Boy aren't ya!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracked Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 Josh, I'm appalled. That's not a very Liberal thing to do! You need to be NICER, not MEANER. Tsk, tsk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 11, 2004 Author Share Posted June 11, 2004 Damn right, I'm even a closet mud-bogger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjd Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 You're kidding me, right? It's pretty easy. I buy 100 shares of company X. CEO of company X knows they are fucked. He begins selling off but publicly says that there is no problem and confidence is high. The CEO selling his stock does not in itself do anything to harm you. Proponents of making insider trading legal believe, as do I, that requiring immediate disclosure of trading by insiders would be adequate. If you know that insiders are selling massive positions while simultaneously touting the company's prospects, one can question whether they are truthful. It could be argued that by watching insider trading, you get a better signal about the company's prospects than you do currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 12, 2004 Author Share Posted June 12, 2004 Selling of large blocks of stock will cause it's value to go down. This is pretty simple shit really... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gslater Posted June 12, 2004 Share Posted June 12, 2004 China or north korea? IMHO, china is going to be a *much* bigger problem for us going forward. Seems to be the consensus of the U.S. intel community as well. I was recently representing my company at a job fair, and got to talking about old times and people with some guys from the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency). They were pretty frank in stating that the agencies are all hyper-aggressively looking for Chinese speakers. I made some crack about Korean, and they were kind of like "we're not even worried about that..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshK Posted June 12, 2004 Author Share Posted June 12, 2004 The north koreans are dirt poor and frankly don't employee too many intelligent folks as far as I can tell. The chinese, on the other hand, are growing rapidly, have great power dreams and will do whatever it takes to get there. It's obvious they aren't going to grow, get big, and become a peaceful democracy at this point so I am all for eliminating the problem before it starts. I wonder if we have the knowledge of the extent of their nuclear facilities. I'm not so sure a premptive strike to destroy all of their non-conventional capabilities wouldn't be bad idea. Of course, that kind of goes against my thoughts on not isolating the international community Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat_Teddy Posted June 12, 2004 Share Posted June 12, 2004 The north koreans are dirt poor and frankly don't employee too many intelligent folks as far as I can tell. The chinese, on the other hand, are growing rapidly, have great power dreams and will do whatever it takes to get there. It's obvious they aren't going to grow, get big, and become a peaceful democracy at this point so I am all for eliminating the problem before it starts. I wonder if we have the knowledge of the extent of their nuclear facilities. I'm not so sure a premptive strike to destroy all of their non-conventional capabilities wouldn't be bad idea. Of course, that kind of goes against my thoughts on not isolating the international community Yeah, sphincter boy, all North Koreans are stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_harpell Posted June 12, 2004 Share Posted June 12, 2004 10% of the kids in my university are Chineese... citizens. They are soo far ahead of us it isn't even funny. Thing is though. These kids are the top 10% of 1%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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