The Most Liberal States = The Least Free States

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I harp and chant on the fact that liberals are all about control. Government control is the opposite of individual freedom, and that's one of the things we're steadily losing under Obama's leadership.

For those of you who have read my posts about the difference between federal and state governments and their proper roles, you also understand that the reason the states were meant by the Founders to have much more power than the federal government is that policies can be tried on a small scale before being implemented on a nationwide scale. Here's a great example of both concepts rolled into one story:

According to a new study released by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University, some of the most liberal U.S. states rank lowest when it comes to personal freedom.[...]

# The freest states in the country are New Hampshire, Colorado, and South Dakota, which together achieve a virtual tie for first place. All three states feature low taxes and government spending -- and middling levels of regulation and paternalism.

# New York is the least overall free by a considerable margin, followed by New Jersey, Rhode Island, California, and Maryland.[...]

“The problem is that the cultural values of liberal governments seem on balance to require more regulation of individual behavior than do the cultural values of conservative governments,” say the study’s authors. “While liberal states are freer than conservative states on marijuana and same-sex partnership policies, when it comes to gun owners, home schoolers, motorists, or smokers, liberal states are nanny states, while conservative states are more tolerant.”

Draw your own conclusions, then act on them.

There's my two cents.



Related Reading:
Freedom in the 50 States