Freedom Daily Archive

The Demise of Conscience, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Americans who have supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq, including U.S. soldiers who have killed people in Iraq, might say, “Look, I thought there were going to be WMDs, just like the president did. We all just made an honest mistake.” There are major problems, however, with that position, at ...

Would-Be Rulers without Clothes

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2008

In a presidential debate with Sen. Barack Obama in Texas, Sen. Hillary Clinton scoffed at the idea that buying medical insurance should be voluntary. “It would be as though Social Security were voluntary Medicare, one of the great accomplishments of President Johnson, was voluntary.... We would not have a social compact with Social ...

Ellsberg’s Lessons for Our Time

by James Bovard May 1, 2008

Daniel Ellsberg is the kind of American who should receive a Medal of Freedom. Except that the Medals of Freedom are distributed by presidents who routinely give them to “useful idiots” and apologists for their wars and power grabs. It should be renamed the Medal for Enabling or Applauding Official Crimes in the Name of Freedom. Ellsberg knowingly risked spending ...

The Root of All Evil, Part 2

by Gregory Bresiger May 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to ...

The Roots of the Second Amendment

by Rick Lynch May 1, 2008

With the Supreme Court’s recent decision to take a look at the constitutionality of Washington, D.C.’s gun ban, we see once again, in every medium imaginable, hundreds if not thousands of commentaries, articles, speeches, and essays on the meaning of the Second Amendment. Words by the millions are being cranked out on the precise definition of “militia” in 16th-century ...

Socialism and Medicine, Part 1

by William L. Anderson May 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 If the financial popularity of Michael Moore’s latest “documentary,” called Sicko, is an indication of popular sentiment in this country, then the United States seems to be ready for what once was called socialized medicine, but today is better known as “single-payer medicine.” All of the ...

Bulldozed by Eminent Domain

by George Leef May 1, 2008

Bulldozed by Carla T. Main (Encounter Books 2007); 276 pages; $27.95. In 2005, eminent domain became a hot national issue with all the attention focused on it because of the Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. New London. While property-rights scholars and libertarian activists ...

The Demise of Conscience, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The demise of conscience among the American people is even more pronounced in the context of the warfare state than it is in that of the welfare state. The best example of this phenomenon can be seen in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. By examining Iraq, we can see ...

GOP Statists

by Sheldon Richman April 1, 2008

Any remaining pretense that the Republican Party is the party of free markets has been blown to smithereens in the election season. Even the lip service to free enterprise has become scarce, as the major candidates threw their arms around flagrantly statist economic proposals. This is vividly illustrated by the Bush-Pelosi “stimulus package,” which was ...

The Capsizing of American Democracy

by James Bovard April 1, 2008

American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees. This has created a voting bloc that overwhelms every other potential force. H.L. Mencken quipped in the 1930s that the New Deal divided America into “those who work for a living and those who ...

The Legacy of Milton Friedman, Part 2

by Doug Bandow April 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 Milton Friedman also was adept at proposing practical solutions to practical problems. He believed strongly in liberty, but he recognized that he needed to promote it practically. Nowhere was his ability in this area more evident than in his work on the All-Volunteer Force (AVF). He served on the official ...

Open Borders Work, Part 2

by Philippe LeGrain April 1, 2008

Part 1 | Part 2 Opponents of immigration marshal a battery of objections to opening up borders. They claim that it would cost jobs, pose a huge welfare burden, and threaten Americans’ way of life — even their security. Yet these fears are mostly nonsense. Critics argue that low-skilled immigration is harmful because the newcomers are poorer and ...