Shut Up about Iran by Sheldon Richman June 19, 2009 Here’s some advice for Barack Obama, John McCain, and any other U.S. politician who feels the urge to issue a declaration about the election in Iran: Shut up. True, Obama has said he does not wish to interfere in the Iranian election. Others, such John “Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran” McCain, ...
The Pentagon’s Favorite Demon by Carlton Meyer June 18, 2009 In 1991, as pressure was mounting in the U.S. Congress to cut the Cold War-era military budget, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs General Colin Powell said: “I’m running out of demons. I’m running out of villains. I’m down to Castro and Kim Il Sung.” North ...
Obama’s Empire by Sheldon Richman May 12, 2009 Why isn’t the honeymoon over yet? That all peace advocates still haven’t broken with Barack Obama is ominous, indeed. Do they really hate war, empire, and colonialism? Or did they just hate George W. Bush and Dick Cheney? Obama has been in power more than 100 days, which is time enough to judge ...
Government Is the Systemic Risk by Sheldon Richman April 28, 2009 The Obama administration and congressional leaders assure us that the government can protect us from the “systemic risk” posed by big banks, insurance companies, and hedge funds. But who will protect us from the government? In light of all we’ve learned about the national government’s conduct in both domestic and ...
End the Cuban Embargo! by Sheldon Richman April 23, 2009 Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro have nothing to talk about. While they do their diplomatic dance, the Cuban people are suffering because of the American trade embargo. It should end forthwith. The idea that trade between Americans and Cubans must await an American president’s say-so is an insult ...
Clueless Obama by Sheldon Richman April 17, 2009 If President Obama doesn’t understand why the economy tanked, he surely won’t know what recovery requires. And if he doesn’t know that, he’s surely part of the problem, not the solution. In his speech on the economy at Georgetown University this week, Obama again showed that he hasn’t a clue what ...
Taxation with Misrepresentation by Sheldon Richman April 10, 2009 It’s tax season. Consider what that means. It’s the time of year when you must account for yourself to the government. You must report every dime you earned last year, and if you believe any of it should be beyond the state’s grasp, you’d better have the proof. If the government ...
A Safer, Freer, and Wealthier America (video) by Bruce Fein April 9, 2009 On April 6, 2009, Bruce Fein gave the following speech at the “The Economic Liberty Lecture Series.” The speech can viewed below in its entirety.
China: Don’t Buy Government Bonds! by Sheldon Richman March 23, 2009 An urgent message to the people of China: Don’t lend the U.S. government another dime. If you do, you will be hurting not only yourselves but also the American people. Invest in real productive ventures here or elsewhere. But — please — don’t buy any more government debt. That may sound unpatriotic, but I can’t think ...
The Madoff Scandal Exposes Government Failure by Sheldon Richman March 1, 2009 A rule we can rely on to be unfailingly applied is this: No matter how much the government controls the economic system, any problem will be blamed on whatever small zone of freedom that remains. This of course is evidence of a rigged game. The government can’t possibly monitor and regulate absolutely every transaction that ...
President Obama, What about Tomorrow? by Sheldon Richman February 20, 2009 The Obama administration’s $275 billion bailout for mortgage lenders and troubled borrowers once again shows that “tomorrow-be-damned” thinking still rules the White House. President Obama has clearly dumped the Clinton administration’s theme song, “Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow.” (Not that Clinton or his successor took the lyric to heart.) Under the plan, the federal government will ...
Real Change on Cuba by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 2009 A good place for Barack Obama to begin his program of change would be U.S. policy on Cuba. The change would move America toward three important principles on which our country was founded: economic liberty, civil liberty, and a limited-government republic. Economic liberty First, the Obama administration should lift the U.S. government’s 40-year-old embargo against Cuba. Not only has the embargo ...