Hornberger’s Blog, September 2008 by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2008 Tuesday, September 30, 2008 Restore a Free Market to America by Jacob G. Hornberger The congressional rejection of President Bush’s bailout bill came as a shocker to me. As I was writing my blog yesterday about how one can always count on conservatives to cave in and abandon any semblance of a commitment to free-market principles, they went and surprised me by ...
Two Fantastic Books on Immigration by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2008 I just finished reading Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders by Jason L. Riley, which is one fantastic book on the immigration debate. Riley’s book, combined with Phillipe Legrain’s book Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them, provide the definitive case for open borders as the solution to America’s immigration “crisis.” Well, okay, I’d also ...
The Protection Provided by Gold by Jacob G. Hornberger August 29, 2008 A case before the Six Circuit federal Court of Appeals in Cincinnati demonstrates how our American ancestors relied on gold to protect themselves from U.S. officials. The case involves a long-term lease entered into in 1912 requiring the tenant to pay the agreed-upon rent in gold coins. This type of gold clause was common ...
The Dangers of Paternalism by Jacob G. Hornberger August 28, 2008 Americans have long been taught to view the federal government as a parent. While the government is sometimes abusive to American child-adults (e.g., IRS, DEA, torture, Waco, etc.), Americans know that that’s a trait that is common to many parents. What matters in life under a paternalistic regime is people’s unwavering faith in the government to watch over them ...
The Melding of Welfare and Warfare by Jacob G. Hornberger August 27, 2008 In a move that is certain to leave American anti-militarist liberals (i.e., leftists) in a quandary, the Pentagon has sent a U.S. Navy destroyer to Georgia to deliver “humanitarian aid” in the form of such things as baby food and bottled water. After all, don’t liberals believe that the primary mission of government is to ...
Is Iraq a Sovereign and Independent Colony? by Jacob G. Hornberger August 26, 2008 One cannot help but be amused over the negotiations taking place between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki over how long U.S. troops will be permitted to stay in Iraq and whether occupation troops will be subject to Iraqi law in the interim. My question is: Why is this something that even ...
“Red-Lining” in Cuba and Georgia by Jacob G. Hornberger August 25, 2008 In my August 19 blog, I pointed out how President Bush knowingly and intentionally ignored Russian President Putin’s warning that pushing to admit Georgia into NATO would cross Russian “red lines.” At the urging of the U.S. government, NATO, whose original mission was to defend against a Soviet attack, has already admitted many Soviet-bloc countries as members. U.S. officials ...
Dictatorial Power on War and Treaties by Jacob G. Hornberger August 22, 2008 If anyone still has any doubts about whether President Bush is exercising powers that any self-respecting dictator would relish, all he has to do is consider the military pact that Bush is entering into with Iraq. The pact involves the continued U.S. military occupation of Iraq as well as a date on which U.S. ...
Freedom of Speech in China and America by Jacob G. Hornberger August 21, 2008 According to today’s New York Times, two Chinese women, both in their 70s, have been sentenced to reeducation camp. The charge? Applying for a permit to protest, in accordance with rules previously established by Chinese communist authorities. The women wanted to protest the eminent-domain taking of their homes in Beijing for the purpose of ...
Lessons for Americans from Welfare-State Failure in Cuba by Jacob G. Hornberger August 20, 2008 Uh, oh! Problems in socialist paradise land. It seems that one of the primary bastions of socialism is considering moving away from its welfare-state principles. According to the Financial Times, “Cuba, one of the world’s surviving Communist states, is looking at watering down the generous social welfare system that has been a cornerstone ...
Home-Made Crises by Jacob G. Hornberger August 19, 2008 Yesterday, I wrote about how U.S. foreign policy ignites and engenders a variety of crises, especially since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Such crises are then used to get the citizenry all worked up and panic-stricken, which then enables the government to increase its power over ...
A New (but Old) Official Enemy by Jacob G. Hornberger August 18, 2008 With the Russian invasion of Georgia, Americans are able to capture a glimpse of another U.S. foreign-policy “success” story. The most shocking event in the history of the U.S. military-industrial complex, which President Eisenhower said was a grave threat to our democratic processes, occurred in 1989. That was the year that the Soviet Empire disintegrated, ...
