Frreeeeeedoooooom in the US: State by state

[The Larch]

A report by a libertarian group I snatched from P'dox, have fun with it.

Warning: PDF, may take a while to load.
http://www.mercatus.org/uploadedFiles/Mercatus/Publications/Freedom%20in%20the%2050%20States.pdf

In case you want a spoiler, New Hampshire is first, New York is last.

[Caliga]

I want someone to find and post the state corruption index I saw a while back.  It listed Mississippi as the most corrupt state in the nation (I forget what the least was... I think it was some boring state like Iowa), but the researchers checked out D.C. on a whim and found its corruption exceeded Mississippi's by a factor of ten. 

I think it was based on a comparison of political corruption convictions per capita between the states.

[Ed Anger]

Ohio (#32 economic, #46 personal, #38 overall)
has much to improve. Adjusted government spending
is over a standard deviation higher than average.
Ohio is higher than average in every spending category
except transportation. Gun control laws are
relatively poor, though not in a class with Illinois,
New Jersey, and others. Marijuana laws are liberal
overall, but cultivation and sale sentencing could be
reformed. Most gambling is illegal. Private and home
school regulations are unreasonable, including
teacher licensure and mandatory state approval of home
school curricula. Asset forfeiture rules are appropriate.
Eminent domain reform has not gone nearly far
enough. Draconian smoking bans are in place.

Libertarians are, as a rule, totally fucking nuts.

[Valmy]

This list leads me to demand regime change in New York.

[charliebear]

Michigan shocked us when it came in first on
economic regulation. It ends up a very solid 14th on
overall freedom (#15 economic, #20 personal). On
fiscal freedom the state does not do very well; in particular,
it is a fairly centralized state, and local governments
depend heavily on state grants. However,
the state lacks a minimum wage, permits workers'
compensation self-insurance and exempts agricultural
workers from the system altogether, has very
little community rating for health insurance, is better
than average on health insurance mandates, has
deregulated natural gas and telecom, is third best in
the country for fewest licensed occupations, has a
good asset forfeiture regime, and has reformed eminent
domain extensively.
Cigarette taxes are high,
but smoking bans offer many exceptions. Sobriety
checkpoints are not authorized.

It shocked me, too.  They must not have included Detroit.

[Razgovory]

I found a "libertarian" ranking of presidents once.  Harding was top.  Lincoln the bottom.

Hmmm.  I don't think it's the same one I found but pretty similar.

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=13379

The Libertarian Presidential Rankings: Rated on Peace and Civil and Economic Liberty

Ranking the Presidents Campaign for Liberty Style

The Best Presidents (Starting with the Best):

•1.       Zachary Taylor (1849-50)

Free-Market, Noninterventionist Foreign Policy/Clayton-Bulwer Treaty that Ended "Manifest Destiny" as U.S. Policy, Opposed Henry Clay's American System, Peaceful Treatment of Indians, Did Absolutely Nothing

•2.       John Tyler (1841-45)

Noninterventionist, Vetoed Henry Clay's Agenda, Expelled from His Own Party for Fighting Big Government, Free Market Economics, Did Not Intervene in the Dorr's Rebellion in Rhode Island, Ended the Second Seminole War in the Seminoles' Favor (let them stay on their reservation, which is all they wanted) and Promoted Peaceful Treatment of the Indians in General, Treaty with China that Opened Up Free-Trade

•3.       Chester A. Arthur (1881-85)

Reformed Civil Service, Noninterventionist, Free Market Econ, Good Indian Treatment, Did Nothing

•4.       James Monroe (1817-25)

Peaceful Treatment of Indians, Free-Market, Small Government, Noninterventionist, Vetoed Corporate Welfare, Refused to Back the Monroe Doctrine with Force via a Treaty with Britain

•5.       Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-81)

Noninterventionist, Free-Market, Withdrew Troops from South, Low Taxes, Recommended Presidential Term Limits, Opposed Central Banking/Paper Money

•6.       Grove Cleveland (1885-89, 93-97)

Defeated Benjamin Harrison, Noninterventionist, Lower Tariffs, Used Veto Extensively, Small Government, Gold Standard, Reduced Federal Employees, Vetoed Corporate/Personal Welfare, Refused to Enter a Treaty with Britain to Exploit the Congo, Refused to Annex Hawaii against the Will of the People There, Opposed Nicaraguan Canal Treaty, Fought for Freedom in a time when it was not all that popular

•7.       Andrew Johnson (1865-69)

Opposed 14th Amendment (which basically gave the power to the federal government to dictate all the policies of the States), Vetoed Extensively, Fought Radical Reconstruction and South Occupation, Gave Amnesty for Confederates, Fought for the Constitution, even risking impeachment and removal

•8.       Silent Calvin Coolidge (1923-29)

Noninterventionist, Opposed the League of Nations, Lower Taxes, Vetoed Farm Subsidies/Bailouts, Paid Debt, Gave Native Americans Citizenship, Free Market, BUT: Continued Prohibition/the Federal Reserve

•9.       Millard Fillmore (1850-53)

Abolished D.C. Slave Trade, Neutrality in Europe Affairs, Refused to Intervene in Hungarian Revolution Didn't Do Much, Compromise of 1850 (California as a Free-State) BUT: Gunboat Diplomacy with Japan, the Fugitive Slave Act

•10.   Martin Van Buren (1837-41)

Free-Market, Noninterventionist, Made States Use a Gold or Silver Standard, Did Not Intervene in the Panic of 1837, Lower Tariffs, Prevented War with Canada by Resolving the Border dispute between Maine and Canada BUT: Trail of Tears (although he did not order it, he did implement it)

•11.   Thomas Jefferson (1801-09)

Ended Federalist Power, Repealed Alien + Sedition Acts (and Pardons for Violators), Non-Interventionism as Official U.S. Policy, Lower Taxes, Paid the Debt BUT: Undeclared Barbary Pirates War, Continued U.S. Bank, Started the Policy of Indian Relocation, Embargo Against Britain and France (led to essentially starvation of Americans), The LA Purchase/Taxation of the Inhabitants without Representation

•12.   George Washington (1789-97)

Noninterventionist, Two Term Precedent, BUT: Created the First Fugitive Slave Act, Created the US Bank, Protectionist Tariff, Unconstitutional Crushing of the Whiskey Rebellion (which was in opposition to his new tax to support his unconstitutional bank), Assumption of State Debt, Alexander Hamilton Appointment, The Militia Act of 1792 (created a draft system)

•13.   Warren G. Harding (1921-23)

No League of Nations, Created the Government Accounting Office (GAO), Lowered Income Tax, Pardon for Wilson's Political Prisoners/Conscientious Objectors But: Continued Prohibition and the Federal Reserve, Instituted the First Federal Drug Laws and a High Protectionist Tariff

•14.   Ulysses S. Grant (1869-77)

Stayed out of War with Spain During a Cuban Revolt, More Amnesty for Confederates, 15th Amendment Voting Rights, Free-market Economics, Vetoed a Bill to Increase the Money Supply, Put the U.S. Back on the Gold Standard, Lowered the Overall Troops in the South, Opposed Radical Reconstruction, Reduced the debt, Reduced Taxes, Fired Thousands of Government Employees, BUT: Corruption, Used Troops to Prop Up Republican Governors in the South, Fought For More Corporate Welfare, U.S. Intervention in Liberia

•15.   Andrew Jackson (1829-37)

Ended US Bank and Tariff of Abominations, Nonintervention, Free-Market, BUT: Ordered the Trail of Tears, Threatened Civil War during the Nullification Crisis, Started the Spoils System

•16.   John Quincy Adams (1825-29)

Noninterventionist, Opposed the forced relocation of the Indians BUT: Stole the Election of 1824, Started the American System/Corporate Welfare, Tariff of Abominations (Nearly Caused Southern Secession/Civil War)

•17.   Jimmy Carter (1977-81)

Reduced Spending as % of GDP, Removed Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega from the CIA payroll, Cut the Presidential Staff by a Third, Gave Unconditional Amnesty to All Vietnam War Draft Dodgers, Airline Deregulation Act, Deregulation of Trucking, Rail, and Finance Industries, Vetoed a Major Public Works Bills, Appointment of Volcker to the FED/Tight Money Policies, Cut the Defense Budget by 6 Billion, Attempted to Remove Troops From Korea, Removed Nuclear Weapons from Korea, SALT II Arms Limitation Treaty BUT: Created the Dept of Energy, Price Controls on Oil in Response to the 1979 Energy Crisis, Windfall Tax on Oil, Afghanistan Intervention (Operation Cyclone)/Funding Islamic Radicals, Iran Hostage Negotiations, Reinstituted Draft Registration

•18.   Gerald Ford (1974-77)

Executive Order Banning the Assassination of Foreign Leaders, The Noninterventionist Helsinki Accords, Vetoed Extensively, Tried to Stop Oil Price Controls, Lowered Taxes, Refused to Give a Federal Bailout to NYC, CIA Under Congressional Oversight, Temporarily Stopped Foreign Aid to Israel, Ceded the Panama Canal, No Wars, No New Taxes, And No New Federal Depts BUT: Pardoned Nixon, Funded a Rebellion in Iraq, The Mayaguez Incident, Billions of Dollars to Prop Up the South Vietnam Dictator

•19.   Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

Noninterventionist, No Wars BUT: Prolonged the Great Depression, Economic Intervention, and Welfare

•20.   Franklin Pierce (1853-57)

Expansionist/Imperialistic Policies/Ostend Manifesto (Proposed Taking Cuba By Force), Gadsden Purchase (waste of taxpayers' money, served only corporate interests), Corporate Welfare via a Transcontinental Railroad, which necessitated the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which caused bleeding Kansas



The Worst (Starting with the Worst)

•1.       Abraham Lincoln (1861-65)

Caused the Civil War, Burned the South, Started the First Draft Ever, Huge Protection Tariffs, Income Tax, Corporate Welfare, Cotton Trade Takeover, Huge Deficits, US Bank/Ended the Gold Standard with the Greenback, Censorship of the Press, Imprisonment/Deportation of Political Opponents, Deported African-Americas to Liberia

•2.       Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

World War I, The Draft, The Federal Reserve, Alcohol Prohibition, Anti-Trust Suits, Censorship of Press/Imprisonment of Political Opponents, Nicaragua/Haiti Interventions, Nationalized the Economy, Attempted the League of Nations

•3.       Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45)

War with Japan (easily avoided if we did not have troops all over the Pacific already), The Draft, Japanese Internment Camps, Marijuana Prohibition, Lengthened Great Depression by at least 10 years, Income Tax Increased to 94%, The New Deal, Created a Permanent Interventionist Foreign Policy Via the U.N. Banned the Private Ownership of Gold in Order to Destroy the Dollar/Gold Standard, Liberal Court Appointees, Served Four Terms Until His Death as if he was a king

•4.       George W. Bush (2001-2009)

Undeclared Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Lying about the Reasons for War, Doubled Regulatory Spending/Sarbanes Oxley/14,000 New Pages in Regulations, Violated States' Rights through Medical Marijuana Raids, PATRIOT Act/Illegal Wiretapping, Huge Deficit Spending, Inflation, Torture, Medicaid D, Stimulus Packages/Bailouts, Tariffs on Steel and Lumber, Corruption/Halliburtan, Nationalized the Banks

•5.       Harry S. Truman (1945-53)

Unnecessarily Nuked 2 Cities and the Lied to Americans Claiming They Were Military Targets, The Undeclared Korean War, 90% Income Tax, Created the CIA, Price Controls, Started the American Empire via the UN/NATO, The Draft, Created the State of Israel, Welfare/Fair Deal, Inflation

•6.       Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69)

The Undeclared Vietnam War/Lying about the Gulf of Tonkin, The Draft, The War on Poverty, Medicare and Medicaid/The Great Society, Civil Rights Acts/Violation of Private Property, Deficit Spending

•7.       William McKinley (1897-1901)

Spanish-American War, The Blatantly Imperialistic Philippine War, Imprisoned Political Opponents, Huge Tariffs, Intervened in the Boxer Rebellion, Expansionist/Imperialistic Policies like Annexing Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Philippians, and Guam, America's Asian Empire, which ultimately led to Pearl Harbor and WWII

•8.       Richard Nixon (1969-74)

The Undeclared Vietnam War, The Draft, Wage/Price Control, Created the DEA and Started the Drug War, Created the EPA, Instituted the National 55 Speed Limit, Supported the Pakistani Government during the Genocide against the Indians/Threatened India with Nuclear Weapons leading to Nuclear Armament on Both Sides, Officially Ended the Gold Standard!

•9.       William Taft (1909-13)

The Income Tax and Direct Election of Senators Amendments, Anti-Trust Suits, Foreign Aid, Price Fixing, Nicaragua Interventions

•10.   Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09)

High Tariffs, Revived Lincoln's Greenback in Order to Expand the Money Supply, Essentially Created the FDA, Anti-Trust Suits, The Attempted Square Deal, An Imperialist, Enhance Executive Power, Continued America's Empire, Private Welfare, Occupation of Panama, Price Fixing of Railroad Rates, Military Response to Coal Strike, Inheritance Tax, Expanded the Navy/Sent them to Japan (led to Japanese belief in a strong military/imperialism: WWII)

•11.   George H.W. Bush (1989-93)

Raised Taxes, Undeclared Gulf War, Invaded Panama, Troops in Saudi Arabia (9/11), Deficit Spending

•12.   James Buchanan (1857-1861)

Ridiculous Position on Secession, Huge Tariff, Utah War, Endorsed the Fraud Kansas Constitution, Deficit Spending, Attempted to Reinforce Fort Sumter, Did not Withdraw Troops from the South (Led to Civil War)

•13.   Ronald Reagan (1981-89)

Escalated the Drug War, Iran-Contra, Huge Deficit Spending, Undeclared Interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Angola, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Libya, Grenada, Columbia, But Made People Believe in Free-Markets Again, The Biggest Tax Cut Ever, Less Regulations

•14.   John F. Kennedy (1961-63)

Bay of Pigs, First NonWar/Recession Deficit, Sent troops to Vietnam, Cuban Missile Crisis (almost caused Nuclear War), Iraq Coup (Helped the Rise of Saddam Hussein), Created the Peace Corps, Planned and Pushed for All of the Great Society Programs

•15.   Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-61)

Income Tax at 90%, CIA Intervention in Cuba, CIA Iran Coup/Installation of the Shah, Guatemalan Coup of the Democratically Elected Leader, Created the Dept of Health, Education, and Welfare, Lebanon and Congo Interventions,  Deported 80,000 Mexican Workers, Formed SEATO, Assistance to Vietnam, Liberal Court Appointees

•16.   Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

Iraq Sanctions/Iraq 'Regime Change' Policy/Troops in Saudi Arabia (9/11), Kosovo/Somalia Undeclared Wars, Gun Control, Waco TX Raid, Janet Reno/Capital Punishment for Drug Dealers, But: Balanced Budget, Reduced Government Spending as Percentage of GDP

•17.   James K. Polk (1845-49)

Mexican War, the First Imperialistic War in American History, Lied About the Causes of It to Congress, BUT: generally very free market

•18.   Benjamin Harrison (1889-93)

Sherman Antitrust Act, Instituted a Huge Protectionist Tariff, First Billion Dollar Congress, Imperialist, Federal Funding of Colleges, Sugar Growers Subsidy

•19.   James Madison (1809-17)

Started the War of 1812, Invaded Spanish Florida, Rechartered the U.S. Bank, Embargo Against France and Britain, Raised Tariffs, Created a Large Standing Army, More Debt

•20.   John Adams (1797-1801)

Did Nothing Good: The Quasi War with France, Raised taxes, Naturalization, Alien, Alien and Enemies, and Sedition Acts, Appointment of John Marshall, Judiciary Act of 1801, U.S. Bank

[Valmy]

It doesn't surprise me that people who are stuck in the 19th century would love 19th century presidents the most.

I find it surprising the Libertarians suggest we end one of Texas' most beloved practices: having every single significant legal position be elected from the Supreme Court to the Public Prosecutor and on down.  Having political hacks as DAs and prosecutors and easily corruptible judges is one of our most beloved institutions.

[Savonarola]

Michigan shocked us when it came in first on
economic regulation. It ends up a very solid 14th on
overall freedom (#15 economic, #20 personal). On
fiscal freedom the state does not do very well; in particular,
it is a fairly centralized state, and local governments
depend heavily on state grants. However,
the state lacks a minimum wage, permits workers'
compensation self-insurance and exempts agricultural
workers from the system altogether, has very
little community rating for health insurance, is better
than average on health insurance mandates, has
deregulated natural gas and telecom, is third best in
the country for fewest licensed occupations, has a
good asset forfeiture regime, and has reformed eminent
domain extensively.
Cigarette taxes are high,
but smoking bans offer many exceptions. Sobriety
checkpoints are not authorized.

It shocked me, too.  They must not have included Detroit.

With the recent massive cuts in the state law enforcement budget we'll soon the freest state of all.   

[Valmy]

Opposed Henry Clay's American System

Ok what sort of insane freak would actually find opposition to the American System a positive?

[saskganesh]

It shocked me, too.  They must not have included Detroit.

freedom is free. so is unemployment and crumbling infrastructure. 

[Savonarola]

Opposed Henry Clay's American System

Ok what sort of insane freak would actually find opposition to the American System a positive?

The same sort who find direct election of senators a negative (and blame Taft for it.)

[Valmy]

The same sort who find direct election of senators a negative (and blame Taft for it.)

Oh and this just in: the founder of the State of Israel was Harry Truman.

[DisturbedPervert]

The Worst (Starting with the Worst)

•1.       Abraham Lincoln (1861-65)

[Savonarola]

It shocked me, too.  They must not have included Detroit.

freedom is free. so is unemployment and crumbling infrastructure. 

We're like Hobbes's vision of the state of nature:

Whatsoever therefore is consequent to a time of war, where every man is enemy to every man, the same consequent to the time wherein men live without other security than what their own strength and their own invention shall furnish them withal. In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

[alfred russel]

Lincoln ended slavery and they voted him the worst?