It never ends.  The U.S. has had troops in South Korea for six decades.  Yet Washington is preparing to conduct a new round of military maneuvers to protect the South.

Reports the New York Times:

The United States and South Korea announced Tuesday that the first in a series of large-scale naval exercises off Japan and the Korean Peninsula would begin next week, despite objections from China.

The exercises, they said, are meant as a show of force and a “first step” in trying to deter North Korea from acts of aggression in the region, nearly four months after the sinking of a South Korean warship that the Americans and South Koreans have blamed on the North.

The question, however, is:  why isn’t South Korea responsible for deterring the North?  Seoul has twice the population and about 40 times the GDP of its northern antagonist.  With the U.S. running a budget deficit of $1.6 trillion this year, why are Americans borrowing money to defend a country that can defend itself?

It’s time to say no more.  Let South Koreans defend South Korea.  And let the American people keep their money at home and in their own wallets.

Via the UK’s Guardian:

The US military build-up in Kandahar is likely to further strengthen the hold of the Taliban over the vital southern Afghanistan city, a highly respected security organisation said today in a bleak report warning of record Taliban violence and rising civilian deaths across the country.

The report by the Afghanistan NGO Security Office, which monitors trends in violence on behalf of aid organisations, said Nato’s counter-insurgency strategy was not showing any signs of succeeding amid rising violence, the unchecked establishment of local militias and a huge increase in attacks on private development workers across the country….

Read the rest.

From USA Today:

The federal debt will represent 62% of the nation’s economy by the end of this year, the highest percentage since just after World War II, according to a long-term budget outlook released today by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office….

Read the rest.

Salon.com reports on a new documentary opening tonight in Washington, D.C. that challenges the TSA’s screening procedures. The film features a “particularly memorable” segment on our own Steve Bierfeldt. 

For years in this column I’ve been railing against the foolishness and incompetence of the Transportation Security Administration. Nearly a decade after the terror attacks of 2001, TSA guards continue to waste our time and suck up our tax dollars, ransacking carry-ons for harmless pointy objects and tubes of toothpaste, confiscating butter knives from airline pilots*, compiling secret lists and intimidating passengers into submission.

(* It happened to me, twice; I carry a set of small, airline-size silverware in my roll-aboard as part of my layover survival kit.)

Well, it turns out I’m not the lone voice in the wilderness I thought I was. Boston-based producer Fred Gevalt and his crew have put together a 94-minute documentary on TSA’s “broken promise,” as the filmmakers call it, featuring interviews with Congress members, air marshals and TSA whistle-blowers. “Please Remove Your Shoes” debuts in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, June 30, at 7 p.m. at the Landmark E Street Cinema. The screening is invitation-only, but there are some open seats. If you’re interested in attending, please contact Fred Gevalt at fgevalt@gmail.com

I’ve seen the film, and it’s almost everything it should be. The interview with Steve Bierfeldt is particularly memorable. Bierfeldt is the Ron Paul campaign worker who was detained by TSA in St. Louis because …. well, you need to watch it and see.

The TSA has continuously been developing today’s “safety procedures” to stop yesterday’s terrorists.  This documentary certainly sounds like it could be worth watching, and it’s a topic certainly worth addressing.  However, no film or article is never without its faults, and the author of the column raises some relevant points worth reading.  If you’re interested check out the documentaries website: “Please Remove Your Shoes”.

Don’t forget that this Saturday marks the national debut of Judge Napolitano’s Freedom Watch on the Fox Business Network.

The show will begin at 10 am eastern, and the guest list for the first episode includes Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Jim DeMint, Michele Bachmann, Dick Armey, and Sarah Palin.

Re-airings will follow at 8pm on Sat and 8 and 11pm on Sunday.

This has been a long time coming, so tune in to support the Judge and the liberty message!  Be sure to tell your family and friends about Freedom Watch as well.

Tim Carney, writing for the Washington Examiner, gets to the legal and philosophic heart of the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf:

Current federal law limits the liability of companies responsible for an oil spill. The guilty party has to cover the cleanup, but as far compensating those harmed by the spill — such as fishermen and property owners — the companies are on the hook only for the first $75 million.

The rest of the compensation comes from a special federal account, funded by an 8-cent tax on every barrel of oil produced in the United States or imported here. That fund currently has about $1 billion to cover the BP oil spill in the Gulf.

In response to the outcry, Democrats in the Senate are trying to raise the liability cap on oil companies to $10 billion, which is being opposed by several Republicans on the grounds that it hurts business.  Carney goes on to explain how the government is aiding business at the expense of Americans:

The federal government has no business protecting BP from paying for the harm it has done to shrimp fisherman.  The liability cap and the spill fund are subsidies for oil drilling. In a free market, oil companies would have to buy more insurance to cover the cost of a potential spill. In other words, a free market in oil drilling would mean no liability cap, no 8-cents-a-barrel tax, and no special fund whereby careful drillers pay for sloppy spillers.

When reaching out to the legislature, it’s important to keep in mind the difference between being for the free market and for politically-connected business.  The mercantilistic policies so prevailant in our country have made difficult the liberty-advocate’s position of defending the right of an individual to run a business as he or she sees fit.  We’re fortunate to have articulate leaders like Tim Carney explain the real issue where others all too easily slip.

Scott Brown’s cave-in allowed Reid to obtain his 60th vote to pass cloture earlier today. 

While this enables the bill to go forward, it by no means settles the matter.  There’s still a long way to go in this process, including the final vote in the Senate and a possible conference committee. 

Keep those calls going.

Update: Reid was able to rush the bill through final passage in the Senate by a vote of 59-39.  Republicans that crossed over were Scott Brown, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, and Chuck Grassley.

Thanks to your quick action yesterday, Senator Harry Reid’s cloture motion on the Dodd Fed Empowerment Act failed.

However, the 57-42 final tally was just short of the 60 votes needed to end debate, which means you know exactly what Harry Reid is up to today: twisting arms, cutting “deals,” and negotiating away more of what’s left of our free market system.

Another cloture vote is expected this afternoon.

Don’t let any of your senators tell you otherwise; a vote for cloture is a vote FOR the Dodd bill and to increase the Federal Reserve’s powers.

Not everyone who voted against cloture was doing so for free market reasons. Two far left senators voted against ending debate because they think the bill doesn’t give enough power to the federal government to further intrude into our economy.

This means that if we don’t keep up the pressure for real reform, this bill is only going to get worse before the final vote.

Reid was able to count on a couple Republicans, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, to cave to his demands to increase the Federal Reserve’s powers yesterday, and he could put the motion over the top with just a few more votes.

It’s critical you contact your senators right away and demand they vote against cloture and empowering the Fed.

Click here to get their contact information.

Before Congress considers granting the Fed new authority, it must find out what the Fed is doing with the powers it currently possesses.

After you demand they oppose Dodd’s Fed Empowerment Act, make sure they know you want real reform, which starts with holding a standalone, up or down vote on the thorough Fed audit contained in S. 604.

Inform your senators you will hold them accountable for any vote, including cloture, taken on the Dodd bill, and that you will be sure to let your fellow constituents know about their actions.

Harry Reid has already lost one round, but we must turn up the pressure if we are to win the next one.

Contact your senators right away!

Cloture has failed 57-42.  Thanks for making those calls!  Now it’s up to us to keep the pressure up for true reform.

Senator Harry Reid has filed for cloture to end debate on the Dodd Fed Empowerment Act, and the vote could come as soon as 2pm eastern today.

A cloture motion requires 60 votes to pass. Don’t let any of your senators tell you otherwise; a vote for cloture is a vote FOR the Dodd bill and to increase the Federal Reserve’s powers.

Reports are indicating that as many as four or five Republicans could cross over to support Dodd’s legislation.

Keep reading to get contact information for your senators.

The bill would create a new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to be housed in the Fed and would allow the government to break up almost any company based on nothing more than the government’s word that it could possibly negatively affect the economy.

As the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s John Berlau reports in an exclusive C4L Featured Article today, “A company can be in danger of default if “the assets of the financial company are, or are likely to be, less than its obligations to creditors and others; or the financial company is, or is likely to be, unable to pay its obligations [emphasis added].” The word “likely” itself is never defined, so it’s up to the Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve to make that determination.”

Contact your senators and urge them to oppose Dodd’s Fed Empowerment Act. Make sure they know you want real reform, which starts with holding a standalone, up or down vote on the thorough Fed audit contained in S. 604.

Before Congress considers granting the Fed new authority, it must find out what the Fed is doing with the powers it currently possesses.

Inform your senators you will hold them accountable for any vote, including cloture, taken on the Dodd bill, and that you will be sure to let your fellow constituents know about their actions.

Show Harry Reid and the Senate leadership that you will not stop fighting for true reform and against greater government intervention.

Contact your senators right away!