Daily Articles

Reform, Replace, or Repeal?

by Laurence M. Vance November 1, 2023

The U.S. government is a monstrosity. With its four million employees and annual budget approaching $7 trillion, there is no other way to describe it. The federal government contains a myriad of agencies, bureaus, corporations, offices, commissions, administrations, authorities, and boards, most of which are organized under 15 cabinet-level, executive-branch departments headed by a secretary: for example, Health and Human ...

The Austrian Economists and Classical Liberalism

by Richard M. Ebeling November 1, 2023

The Austrian School of Economics has been widely identified with classical-liberal and free-market ideas. This is especially the case in the writings of Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973) and Friedrich A. Hayek (1899–1992). But the free-market, liberal orientation of many members of the Austrian School goes back to its founding in 1871 with the publication of Carl Menger’s (1840–1921) Principles ...

Evil Walks Among Us

by John W. Whitehead October 25, 2023

“But these weren’t the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin, the kind a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind around—they were monsters with human faces, in crisp uniforms, marching in lockstep, so banal you don’t recognize them for what they are until it’s too late.” ― Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Enough ...

The Supreme Court Ignores the Real Issue

by Laurence M. Vance October 24, 2023

The first Monday of October is the beginning of the new term of the U.S. Supreme Court, which then runs until June or July of the following year. The first case (22-340) up before the court this term concerns the meaning of the word “and” in a federal law regarding prison terms for drug dealers. Mark Pulsifer pleaded guilty in ...

Postcards from a Police State: 22 Years of Blowback from the USA Patriot Act

by John W. Whitehead October 18, 2023

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."—Hermann Goering, German military commander and Hitler's designated successor For those ...

You’re Not Allowed to Say That NATO Caused the War, Unless You Are NATO’s Secretary General

by Benjamin Abelow October 17, 2023

There are two competing narratives about the origins of the Ukraine War. According to one narrative, Vladimir Putin is a Hitler-like aggressor. He wants to reestablish the Soviet empire by swallowing Ukraine and threatening the Baltic countries, Poland, and the nations further west. This narrative was created by Washington and Brussels. It has been repeated by European leaders and echoed ...

Guns for Hire: America’s Crisis State Goes Global

by John W. Whitehead October 13, 2023

“Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great staffs, both of the old parties have ganged aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become the tools of corrupt interests which use them in martialling to serve their selfish purposes. Behind the ...

This Is Not Freedom, America: The Profit Incentives Driving the American Police State

by John W. Whitehead October 4, 2023

“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” ― Frédéric Bastiat, French economist Pay no heed to the circus politics coming out of Washington DC. It’s just more of the ...

You’re Not Fired

by Laurence M. Vance October 3, 2023

At the end of every episode of “The Apprentice,” Donald Trump’s reality TV show, he would utter his signature catchphrase “You’re Fired!” Yet, it came as no surprise that Trump, when speaking recently in Michigan, where the United Auto Workers (UAW) recently went on strike, didn’t dare mention anyone being fired for refusing to work. UAW members voted about 97 ...

The Story of Sam Bird

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2023

In December 1966, Army Captain Sam Bird’s one-year tour of duty in Vietnam was coming to an end. He was set to be transferred from a combat zone in which he had been operating to a safe zone in the rear and then sent home. However, according to a written account entitled “The Courage of Sam Bird” by B. ...

Congress’s Unconstitutional Pay Raise Scandal

by James Bovard October 1, 2023

“A good politician is almost as rare as an honest burglar,” once quipped H. L. Mencken. After the shenanigans around the latest congressional pay increase, America’s burglars should file a posthumous libel suit against Mencken for that disparaging comparison. There is a pity party in Washington: You weren’t invited, but you’ll pay the bill. The Constitution’s 27th Amendment, ratified in 1992, ...

Why I Will Never Change My Mind about Marijuana

by Laurence M. Vance October 1, 2023

Charles Fain Lehman has changed his mind about marijuana. I haven’t, and never will, change my mind about marijuana. Lehman, a self-described “conservative,” is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal whose work has “appeared in outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, National Review, the New York Post, and elsewhere.” He is “a ...