Explore Freedom

On the Limits of Government, Part 1

by Scott McPherson July 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 Where reason cannot instruct, custom may be permitted to guide; and every nation seems to consult the dictates of prudence, by a faithful attachment to those rites and opinions which have received the sanction of ages. — Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire A pillar of American constitutional ... [click for more]

The Cult of Executive Power

by George Leef July 1, 2008

The Cult of the Presidency: America’s Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power by Gene Healy (Cato Institute, 2008); 356 pages. Just in time for the 2008 presidential campaign comes the book we need to get Americans to think sensibly about the office that the candidates are so furiously seeking. [click for more]

The War No One Mentions

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2008

With all the campaign talk about the various wars in which America is involved — the war on Iraq, the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on illiteracy, the war on terrorism, and the war on Afghanistan — there is one war that goes unacknowledged and unspoken about ... [click for more]

Why the Peaceful Majority of Muslims Are Not Irrelevant

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2008

A few years ago, FrontPageMag.com columnist Paul Marek wrote an article titled “Why the Peaceful Majority Is Irrelevant.” His thesis was that even if the majority of Muslims abhor violence, it doesn’t matter because “the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.... The hard quantifiable fact is, that the ‘peaceful majority’ is the ‘silent majority’ and ... [click for more]

Federal Attitude Policy

by James Bovard June 1, 2008

The Transportation Security Administration has created more gantlets at American airports than most travelers realize. It has continually changed the rules for flying since it first deployed its 40,000+ army of screeners across the land. Americans are at much greater risk of being arrested or fined in the airport for not kowtowing to federal agents. ... [click for more]

The Bricker Amendment: A Battle against the Imperial Presidency

by Gregory Bresiger June 1, 2008

Executive agreements shall not be made in lieu of treaties.... The President shall publish all executive agreements except that those which in his judgment require secrecy shall be submitted to the appropriate committees of Congress in lieu of publication. — Part of one of the proposed Bricker amendments The powers not delegated to the United States ... [click for more]

Socialism and Medicine, Part 2

by William L. Anderson June 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 In 1965, the U.S. economy was unquestionably the most productive and vibrant in the world. Doctors and hospital administrators were enjoying high revenues, and at that time health insurers generally did not worry about such things as “cost containment.” Life in the medical field was a ... [click for more]

The Folly of Interventionism

by George Leef June 1, 2008

Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire by Doug Bandow (Xulon Press, 2006); 383 pages, $19.99. George Washington unfortunately sided with the big-government federalists when it came to domestic policy, but his famous Farewell Address contained some sage advice for America when it came to foreign policy — not to get ... [click for more]

The Demise of Conscience, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Americans who have supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq, including U.S. soldiers who have killed people in Iraq, might say, “Look, I thought there were going to be WMDs, just like the president did. We all just made an honest mistake.” There are major problems, however, with that position, at ... [click for more]

Would-Be Rulers without Clothes

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2008

In a presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama in Texas, Sen. Hillary Clinton scoffed at the idea that buying medical insurance should be voluntary. “It would be as though Social Security were voluntary Medicare, one of the great accomplishments of President Johnson, was voluntary.... We would not have a social compact with Social ... [click for more]

Ellsberg’s Lessons for Our Time

by James Bovard May 1, 2008

Daniel Ellsberg is the kind of American who should receive a Medal of Freedom. Except that the Medals of Freedom are distributed by presidents who routinely give them to “useful idiots” and apologists for their wars and power grabs. It should be renamed the Medal for Enabling or Applauding Official Crimes in the Name of Freedom. Ellsberg knowingly risked spending ... [click for more]

The Root of All Evil, Part 2

by Gregory Bresiger May 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to ... [click for more]