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Romney, Taxes, and Dependence on Government

by Sheldon Richman September 20, 2012

Mitt Romney isn’t just out of touch; he’s also out of sync with the movement to shrink government. In an interview clarifying his now-infamous speech to donors, captured on clandestine video, Romney said, “I think people would like to be paying taxes.” Come again? He also said, “The good news is if you are doing well enough financially that you ... [click for more]

A Militarist Foreign Policy Means More Death and Destruction

by Gregory Bresiger September 19, 2012

“A feeling has been growing for a long time — even before Viet Nam — that the presidency was somehow out of hand. The White House has been building to some kind of smash.” — George Reedy, former aide to President Lyndon Johnson “More and more it appears that the art of governing is the art of deceiving on ... [click for more]

Republicans Just Don’t Get It

by Laurence M. Vance September 18, 2012

Not without some controversy, the Democrats and Republicans have issued their new party platforms for 2012. It was predictable, in the case of the Republicans, and surprising, in the case of the Democrats, that “civil liberties” are mentioned only one time in each platform. However, the term is not defined and no examples are given. The Democrats do ... [click for more]

Deeper in the Afghan Quagmire

by Sheldon Richman September 14, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organization. What is the Haqqani network? Wikipedia says that it is an insurgent group using asymmetric warfare to fight against US-led NATO forces and the government of Afghanistan. Originating in Afghanistan during the mid-1970s, it was nurtured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Pakistan’s Inter-Services ... [click for more]

Obama, the Courts, and Congress Are All Responsible for the Latest Death at Guantánamo

by Andy Worthington September 14, 2012

I felt sick when I heard that the man who died at Guantánamo this past weekend was Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, a Yemeni. I had been aware of his case for six years and had followed it closely. He had been cleared for release under George W. Bush (in December 2006) and under Barack Obama (as a result of the ... [click for more]

The Democrat’s War of Women against Women

by Wendy McElroy September 12, 2012

“I can’t understand why any woman would want to vote for Mitt Romney, except maybe Mrs. Romney.” The words came from Democrat and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The words are part of a great lie being spun out in this election season: Democrats are pro-woman. Indeed, the lie has become a main theme of the Democratic ... [click for more]

Share Our Wealth

by Laurence M. Vance September 11, 2012

Flamboyant, controversial, and extremely popular, Louisiana politician Huey P. Long died 77 years ago this week. Many of his proposals, however, are alive and well today in both major parties. The seventh of nine children in a deeply religious home, Long was born in 1893 in the rural piney woods of north-central Louisiana. After working as a salesman and then ... [click for more]

More Markets? More Government? Wrong Question!

by Michael C. Munger September 10, 2012

Michael Munger is Professor of Political Science, and Director of the PPE Certificate Program. His primary research focus is on the functioning of markets and regulatory policies. His other work includes a variety of policy monographs and reports, for private organizations and government agencies at the federal, state, and local level. He has taught at Dartmouth College, University of ... [click for more]

Eleven Years after 9/11, Guantánamo Is a Political Prison

by Andy Worthington September 6, 2012

Eleven years since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the majority of the remaining 168 men in Guantánamo are held not because they constitute an active threat to the United States, but because of inertia, political opportunism, and an institutional desire to hide evidence of torture by U.S. forces, sanctioned at the highest levels of government. That they ... [click for more]

The GOP’s Gold Plank

by Tim Kelly September 6, 2012

The 2012 Republican Party platform contains a plank concerning a possible return to the gold or other metallic standard. The US dollar has been a fiat currency since President Richard Nixon suspended its convertibility to gold on August 15, 1971. The plank reads, Determined to crush the double-digit inflation that was part of the Carter Administration’s economic legacy, President Reagan, shortly ... [click for more]

Republican Welfare State

by Laurence M. Vance September 5, 2012

Republicans are upset with Barack Obama — again. This time it is about welfare. Not the constitutionality and legitimacy of federal welfare programs, but their structure and requirements. No one should think for a minute that Republicans are opposed to the welfare state. After all, it is their welfare state. The latest brouhaha erupted because the Department of Health and ... [click for more]

Texas Inventories Children

by Wendy McElroy September 4, 2012

Officials at Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas, apparently view George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four as an instruction manual rather than a cautionary tale. Over 6,000 students will be required to carry microchipped ID so that the district can track their movements in school and on school buses. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips will be embedded in ... [click for more]