Freedom Daily Archive

Legalized Immorality

by Clarence Manion October 1, 1996

It must be remembered that 95 percent of the peace, order, and welfare existing in human society is always produced by the conscientious practice of man-to-man justice and person-to-person charity. When any part of this important domain of personal virtue is transferred to government, that part is automatically released from the restraints of morality and ...

Book Review: Human Action

by Richard M. Ebeling October 1, 1996

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises (Irvington-on Hudson, N.Y.: The Foundation for Economic Education, 4th revised edition, 1996); 906 pages; $49.95. On September 14, 1949, Yale University Press released a major new work — Human Action by the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises. The following week, in his regular Newsweek column, Henry Hazlitt referred to the ...

The Failure of the Republican “Revolution,” Part 8

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 1996

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 During the first few weeks of the Republican "revolution," Republicans were talking like libertarians. "It's time to dismantle FDR's New Deal and LBJ's Great Society," they ...

If Liberty Mattered — Once More, a Presidential Candidate’s Press Conference, Part 7

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 1996

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 The Wall Street Journal: Mr. Candidate, in your last answer, you said that you opposed Robert Dole's proposal for housing vouchers as a substitute for government-provided public housing. Yet, isn't ...

More Washington Gibberish

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1996

That recent spike in gasoline prices provided more examples of the strange tongue spoken in the nation's capital. I call it Washington Gibberish. On the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota called the price increase a "crisis." Republican Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, sitting at his side, did not disagree. He joined Dorgan in calling ...

Section 8: A Wrecking Ball for Your Neighborhood

by James Bovard September 1, 1996

The federal government is involved in economic blockbusting in thousands of the nation's neighborhoods. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is using government handouts to allow welfare recipients to move into middle-class and upper middle-class neighborhoods. Congress created the Section 8 program in 1974 to provide direct rent subsidies to selected low-income families. Section 8 currently gives ...

Poverty Relief: Civil versus Political Society

by Doug Bandow September 1, 1996

t seems that just about everyone in Washington now believes in welfare reform. Even President Clinton, who vetoed legislation passed by the Republican Congress. But that was then. With an election fast approaching, the president is now solidly behind welfare reform. Unfortunately, he doesn't go nearly far enough. Nor do the Republicans. ...

Book Review: Why Government Doesn’t Work

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 1996

Why Government Doesn't Work by Harry Browne (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995) 245 pages; $19.95. Government is big, intrusive, and out of control. It is hard to find practically anyone who disagrees with this general perception of the political situation in America today. A Democratic president even says the era of big government is over, and leading Republicans insist that ...

The Failure of the Republican “Revolution,” Part 7

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1996

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 With the Republican takeover of both houses of Congress in 1994, the Republicans announced that a new "revolution" had swept America, led by Senator Robert Dole ...

If Liberty Mattered — Once More, a Presidential Candidate’s Press Conference, Part 6

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 1996

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 Fortune: Mr. Candidate, your call for the repeal and abolition of all of the core programs of the welfare state is not one shared by a majority in either major ...

Freedom, Not Growth

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 1996

All politicians favor economic growth. They all promise to create jobs and "grow the economy." That is a vintage Republican issue, but the Democrats aren't dummies. Many of them have learned that the old appeal to class warfare and other quasi-Marxist themes are passé. They too have thrown themselves onto the growth bandwagon. Bill Clinton's so-called New Democrats can ...

Zoning: The New Tyranny

by James Bovard August 1, 1996

Modern zoning laws presume that no citizen has a right to control his own land and that every citizen has a right to control his neighbor's land. Zoning laws have become far more invasive and restrictive in recent years. If you want to use your own land, increasingly you have to beg, bribe, and grovel to the nearest government ...