by Sheldon Richman
Bill OReilly, populist star of the Fox News Channels OReilly Factor may be the hottest television property around, but he doesnt know beans about how markets work.
The other night he charged the oil companies with conspiring to keep gasoline prices high. He quoted a 1995 Chevron memo stating that refining ... [click for more]
by Sheldon Richman
We’ve been had. By a Bush. Again.
The tax cut is a joke. After all the blather about how the surplus belongs to us, not the government, the resulting tax-cut bill is minuscule, ultra-gradual, and now scheduled to expire in 10 years! Republican and Democrat members of Congress, ... [click for more]
by Wendy McElroy
Part 1 |Part 2
The key issue around which the free-soil debate revolved was slavery. Specifically, the question was whether slavery would be extended into the territories that were expected to seek statehood.
Both anti-slavery farmers and slave-owners had been migrating into the territories for years. Each group was eager to acquire the political clout that came from having a ... [click for more]
by Jacob G. Hornberger
The Oklahoma City Bombing With the upcoming execution of convicted mass murderer Timothy McVeigh, much has been made of McVeigh's indifference to the fact that included among the 168 deaths in the Oklahoma City bombing were 19 children. McVeigh has referred to the children's deaths as "collateral damage." But it's important that we not forget that McVeigh is not ... [click for more]
by Sheldon Richman
I keep waiting for a swell of sanity to wash Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold’s campaign finance “reform” bill away once and for all. But I am beginning to despair that there isn’t that much sanity around anymore.
The polls show that most people don’t care about campaign finance issues. ... [click for more]
by Sheldon Richman
The Republicans still don’t get it. They say they want a tax cut because “the surplus is the people’s money,” but their heart isn’t in it. If they truly believed that, they wouldn’t quickly add that we need a tax cut to avert a recession. They supported the tax cut before ... [click for more]
by Sheldon Richman
Predictably, the key lesson of the recent China incident has not been learned. That lesson is this: America was designed as a republic and should not act like an empire. When it does act that way, the American people, not to mention the people in other countries, suffer.
Why does the U.S. government need to send spy ... [click for more]
by Wendy McElroy
Part 1 | Part 2
In 1837, in order to encourage a westward migration of the poor and unemployed from the industrial East, the journalist Horace Greeley proclaimed, “Go West, young man, go forth into the Country.”
The vast public lands in the West were seen as a safety valve for the increasing labor unrest of Eastern cities. Twenty-five years ... [click for more]
by Clarence Manion
A PRECISION TOOL designed for one purpose will be entirely ineffective — nay, it may even be destroyed — in an attempt to use it for another purpose. Every housewife knows that you cannot use an electric dishwasher as a garbage disposal unit.
Yet the same American people who know so ... [click for more]
by Jacob G. Hornberger
The Associated Press reported that in response to questioning at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Fidel Castro has "done some good things for his people." Powell was referring to Castro's two proudest socialist accomplishments -- public schooling and national health care. With Powell's boss, President George W. ... [click for more]
by Jacob G. Hornberger
AS A COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATIVE, President Bush wants to give federal aid to faith-based organizations. His plan has drawn attacks from both leaders on the religious Right and civil libertarians on the Left.
Religious leaders object to Bush’s plan on the ground that it will lead to governmental interference with religious organizations. The point they make ... [click for more]
by James Bovard
“WE HAVE A NEW SENSE OF optimism in America.... America has come back under his regime,” declared White House press spokesman Jake Siewert at the final White House briefing of Clinton’s presidency. Siewert recognized his gaffe and quickly repeated himself, substituting the word “administration” for “regime.” But actually, the word “regime” is far more accurate, at least insofar as ... [click for more]