prole Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 More free to be limited to choose between a number of bad choices NOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 And Washington mooved up to 40th! Woot! "Analysis Washington was among the states that improved the most in overall freedom and consequently moved up five spots in the rankings. Unfortunately for denizens of that state, it had—and still has—a long way to go. Washington is still among the 10 least-free states. Indeed, it only barely cracks the top half of states in personal freedom. Spending is a bit higher than average, but taxes are slightly lower—a recipe for gov- ernment debt, which Washington has in abundance. Government employment is also too high. Land-use planning is fairly centralized. Eminent-domain legislation has been enacted but reforms need to go further. Labor and health-insurance laws are poor. Washington has the highest minimum wage in the country. It also has adjusted community rating and has enacted a host of new health-insurance coverage mandates. The state liability system is a bit above average. For a liberal state, gun laws remain quite reasonable. Alcohol is tightly controlled, with taxes on spirits the highest in the country by far (effectively $22.33 per gallon!). However, beer and wine taxes are considerably lower than average. Cigarette taxes are high overall and the highest in the West; smoking bans are extensive. Marijuana laws are a bit better than average, with a relatively humane (but still too high, at five years) maximum prison term for single offenses. Making high-level possession and low-level cultivation misdemeanors and low-level possession a civil offense would help further. Motorist freedoms are constrained and now include a ban on handheld cell phones. However, Washington does not authorize sobriety checkpoints. Gambling is restricted. Educational regulation is absurdly tight, with private schools needing state approval and under certain conditions, teacher licensing, and homeschoolers needing to meet teacher qualifications, annual standardized testing, and extensive recordkeeping rules, along with other requirements. Washington’s asset-forfeiture laws are among the worst in the country and require reform. However, the state performs quite well on victimless-crime arrests and drug-law enforcement. Policy Recommendations Reduce spending consistent with the state’s relatively decent tax-burden levels, starting with reducing government employment and spending on natural resources (mostly at the state government level) and sewerage (at the local government level), which is particularly far above national norms. Enact further-reaching eminent-domain reform. Reduce centralized land-use planning by repealing or amending the Growth Management Act and Shoreline Management Act." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Welcome to Planet Mercatus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Just imagine private schools have to be certified and teachers have to be licensed! why can't any bibble thumper claim to be a teacher? Pretty soon they'll require schooling for all kids through k12. The infamy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 "Motorist freedoms" LOLZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 "state’s relatively decent tax-burden levels" Washington has among the most regressive tax scheme in the nation, which is likely why they think it's "decent". Wingnuts are so much for "freedom", they want to require a supermajority to raise new revenue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Spending is a bit higher than average, but taxes are slightly lower—a recipe for government debt Texas has among the lowest taxes and the lowest spending on public services in the nation, yet Texas has a huge budget shortfall (despite wingnuts cooking the books). Texas is of course in the top 1/3 in freedumb ranking. You can tell where this is going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 South Dakotopia. Leave your reproductive rights at the border but hey, no stop signs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 South Dakotopia. Leave your reproductive rights at the border but hey, no stop signs! WOOPS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 South Dakotopia. Leave your reproductive rights at the border but hey, no stop signs! WOOPS! This is why South Dakotopia scored low in the motorist freedom category, probably why it's not #1 in Freedumb. There's always next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 The good news is that these states ranking high in Freedumb will provide the kind of Darwinian social conditions necessary to maintain America's all-volunteer military. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Don't forget cheap labor to bag groceries. More freedumb on the march: GOP set to roll back child labor laws Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Don't forget cheap labor to bag groceries. More freedumb on the march: GOP set to roll back child labor laws “When the new administration came in, we asked our members what could be changed to help their businesses. And they said child labor laws,” says Michelle Kussow. “We are ecstatic.” I bet she smells like salt and vinegar potato chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I bet she smells like salt and vinegar potato chips. You dirty little man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I bet she smells like salt and vinegar potato chips. still call them "booty flavor chips" in honor a long-dead homey who coined the phrase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Washington State's minimum wage is the highest in the nation = $8.67!! STOP TREADING ON ME!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 "Labor and health-insurance laws are poor." THAT'S ALL I NEED TO KNOW!! THANKS MERCATUS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I bet she smells like salt and vinegar potato chips. still call them "booty flavor chips" in honor a long-dead homey who coined the phrase I always thought they were douche flavored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 come on people, give a chance to stooges for the Koch brothers and Murdock. it's not like you don't need to read their propaganda to understand its Orwellian character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 No texting and driving?! THE OPPRESSORS' JACKBOOTS ARE UPON US!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prole Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Teacher licensing and homeschoolers needing to meet teacher qualifications?! WO IST DEINE PAPIEREN!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 The rank stupidity of arguments pushed by laissez faire zealots points to the demographics they appeal to. FREEDUMB for all or death! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_b Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 (edited) FREEDUMB AND death: The return of back-alley abortions 10 States Where Abortion Is Virtually Illegal for Some Women 5 of these states are in the top 1/4 of the freedumb ranking, 4 more in the top half, with only one in the bottom half (Louisiana at 35). Edited June 15, 2011 by j_b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 FREEDUMB or death: The return of back-alley abortions 10 States Where Abortion Is Virtually Illegal for Some Women 5 of these states are in the top 1/4 of the freedumb ranking, 4 more in the top half, with only one in the bottom half (Louisiana at 35). You should do a road tour where you visit all these states and tell them how "dumb" they are. Love how progressives claim to care about the common man, but evince such blatant disregard for him in reality, condemning whole swaths of the country as "dumb" and obviously beneath them. If only you could have the State educate these people and put them in their place while ensuring they have a job and a "living" wage. Kind of like taking care of your pets, I suppose, eh j_bot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephH Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 None of us are free anymore Bill. Freedom died with George Bush and Martin Luther King, the Kennedys, and Lynrd Skynyrd....... Steve and I actually agree here - it's an illusion / delusion. Our diet alone means we have no freedom and our dependence on sanitary, transportation and communication technologies pretty much puts the nail in the coffin. I somehow can't shake this image of an iPhone-toting, anti-guberment militia attempting a flashmob assembly with their weapons at a local McDonalds in order to plan an assault on U.S. government 'forces'. Sshhhh! It's a secret... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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