Politics

Some Republican Revolution

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1997

With revolutionaries like these, who needs counter-revolutionaries? Now that President Clinton has signed all the 1998 spending bills, we have a clear picture just how vigilant the Republican Party, which controls the U.S. Congress, is about cutting back on the scope and power of government. It is not a ...

Campaign Finance Follies

by Sheldon Richman October 2, 1997

Imagine you open a store fully stocked with goodies. Lo and behold, people show up with money eager to buy. Would you be surprised? Of course not. That is the sum total of what is called the campaign finance problem. Politicians have goodies, legislative favors, to sell, and people are eager to buy them with ...

Property as the Key to Self-Determination

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 1997

In political philosophy, no concept is as controversial as property. It excites libertarians, repulses socialists, and leaves inconsistent statists ("liberals" and conservatives) confused. What is it about property that packs such power? To answer that question, it is important to realize that flawed political philosophy will lead to flawed notions of property. Good-faith socialists (those not motivated simply by envy) ...

The Energizer Leviathan: Still Growing and Growing

by James Bovard October 1, 1997

President Bill Clinton has repeatedly announced that "the era of big government is over." Many Republican congressmen have responded by laying down their ideological swords and pretending their work is done. But if freedom is to be revived in this country, Americans must begin paying less attention to the platitudes in politicians' speeches and more attention to the nasty ...

New Laws Aren’t Needed for the Paparazzi

by Sheldon Richman September 2, 1997

Tragedy often spawns new, ill-conceived laws. A good rule of thumb would be to avoid new legislation that is inspired by incidents involving the death or injury of beloved people. Despite good intentions, such laws will turn out to be mistakes. Legislate in haste, repent is leisure. The death of Princess Diana quickly prompted calls ...

School Candy in Virginia

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 2, 1997

It's election time in Virginia and voters are being offered a host of goodies. Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr. and former state Attorney General James S. Gilmore III, the Democratic and Republican nominees for governor of Virginia, are involved in an educational bidding war in their attempt to win election this fall. Both candidates ...

The Communist Manifesto

by Karl Marx July 1, 1997

We were warned of the general procedure and the specific measures for a successful communist or socialist revolution by Karl Marx, the "father" of communism, in 1848: "We have seen . . . that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of ruling class, ...

The Key to Race: Depoliticize It

by Sheldon Richman June 2, 1997

President Clinton has called for an "unprecedented conversation about race." That's curious, since we've been talking about race nonstop since who knows-when? Mr. Clinton said that "we have torn down the barriers in our laws. Now we must break down the barriers in our lives, our minds, our hearts." That's also curious, because there are ...

Vice President Chutzpah

by Sheldon Richman May 2, 1997

You'd think a little humility would have been in order. Asked to speak to a gathering of CEOs of some of the nation's most successful companies, Vice President Al Gore, who makes his living spending money people have no choice but to give him, lectured them about the need to make their employees happy. ...

The Campaign Finance Red Herring

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 1997

That campaign-finance nonsense is again on the public agenda. The recent episodes involving the Democratic National Committee, the White House, and House Speaker Newt Gingrich have renewed for the umpteenth time the calls for a drastic overhaul of how politics is funded in America. The DNC unilaterally announced it would ...

Washington: Scandalized and Loving It

by Sheldon Richman April 2, 1997

Here's the key to understanding Washington: it loves scandal. That's not the official line, of course. Scandal is portrayed as tragedy. Everyone wrings his hands, lamenting the time wasted investigating wrongdoing and the lost opportunities for reform. On cue, someone will always say that scandal mongering is politically motivated and that "the voters did ...

Clinton’s Biggest Disaster Fraud

by James Bovard January 1, 1997

President Clinton proclaimed in campaign ads last fall that "my job as American president is to take care of the American people." Fewer events present more opportunities for the flaunting of compassion and buying votes than do natural disasters. As a result, under Clinton, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has become far more ...