  Steve ho ho ho dammit Consultant join:2001-03-10 Yorba Linda, CA
| reply to Karl Bode Re: Yeah, but what do you expect from a bunch of libertardians?
said by Karl Bode :Eh, while you're painting an accurate picture of the Libertarian philosophy (albeit a little rosy), most of these think tanks simply use the Libertarian platform as a framework for the real agenda, which is to weaken government oversight, eliminate regulation, and increase revenue. Pretty much at any cost... Oh, I believe that any honorable principle can be used as a cloak for an self-interested position, and I don't know enough about Heartland to comment, but I do know that the Reason Foundation has had a fully principled and consistent position for years. They're not a front for anybody.
Steve -- Stephen J. Friedl Unix Wizard Microsoft Security MVP Tustin, California USA my web site |
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  garagerock Premium join:2002-06-14 Louisville, KY
| quote: "As the new century begins, dominant assumptions about government, popular culture, and many social and business institutions are in transition. Some of these shifts reinforce traditional American ideas about liberty and limited government. But the backlash against free markets and increased choices is gaining ground in many quarters
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from: »www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?ti···undation
If there is such a backlash against "free markets and increased choices", then what is their beef with municipal broadband?
1. It is another choice and competitor in the oh-so idealized "Free Market" 2. If the "free market" can't handle another competitor that either serves consumers better and/or where others will not, why is that bad for anyone?
The bottom line is that if the citizenry asks their municipal government (through a voter referendum) to provide municipal broadband, the idea that corporations can quash that request is an affront to the citizens liberty, the very thing this "thinktank" is supposedly protecting. |
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  Steve ho ho ho dammit Consultant join:2001-03-10 Yorba Linda, CA | There's a difference between having a view that you don't agree with, and claiming that view has been bought and paid for. Pick one. |
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 bmn ? ? ? Premium,ExMod 2003-06 join:2001-03-15 hiatus
·Packet8
·Cox HSI
| said by Steve :There's a difference between having a view that you don't agree with, and claiming that view has been bought and paid for. Pick one. Yeah, however, the grant or donation or contribution or bribe or gift of money, whatever it was, from ATT certainly can give the appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest. Whether or not it exists doesn't matter. The fact is that they took it and then released a "report" that falls right in line with ATT's agenda. This, frankly, hurts the credibility of their "findings." -- Prove it... |
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 nasadude
join:2001-10-05 Rockville, MD
·Comcast
| reply to Steve said by Steve :... I do know that the Reason Foundation has had a fully principled and consistent position for years. They're not a front for anybody. Steve being consistent doesn't mean they are being straightforward and being principled doesn't mean they are right. Let them clearly and conspicuously state who they are working for (or where their funding comes from) and I don't care what philosophy or position they espouse.
Just don't pretend your position is for the common good when it only benefits your paymaster and it's widely known that paymaster has an agenda completely different from the common good. |
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