Regulation Policy & Welfare

Handicapped Parking and a Free Society

by Laurence M. Vance October 4, 2011

Special parking permits that allow disabled motorists to park in spaces reserved for the handicapped are commonly issued in every state. But in the nation’s most populous state — California — where more than two million of such permits have been issued, it was recently reported by the Los Angeles Times that 56,000 people that had a ...

Antitrust Is Central Planning

by Laurence M. Vance September 13, 2011

Child safety, national security, national defense, counterterrorism, and consumer protection — by invoking one of these terms, the federal government can do almost anything and the public will not just go along with it, but accept it as good and necessary. Under the guise of consumer protection, the U.S. government is seeking to block the merger of two companies — ...

Surviving the Inanity

by Rich Schwartzman August 8, 2011

It’s easy to be skeptical. Sometimes, though, you have to either laugh at the lunacy or go running into the ocean screaming, “Get me out of here.” The United States is just few hundred billion dollars short of the national debt being 100 percent of GDP and is waging illegal wars in a handful of different countries. The 40-year-long war ...

Viva La Lemonista Revolución!

by Wendy McElroy August 3, 2011

August 20 is Lemonade Freedom Day and everyone who can do so is asked to set up a stand; everyone else is urged to imbibe. The reason? Authorities across America are closing down kids’ lemonade stands because, in many states and localities, they violate health codes, licensing laws, and other permit requirements. A recent headline in Reason ...

Liberty and License

by Laurence M. Vance July 26, 2011

Same-sex couples in New York City can now apply for marriage licenses using online forms that feature gender-neutral terminology. This follows the passage of the Marriage Equality Act, the New York law that legalized same-sex marriage. The bill became law on June 24, 2011, and took effect thirty days later. Marriage licenses in New York City cost $35. The state ...

Sinking Entrepreneurship

by Rich Schwartzman July 7, 2011

It happens every spring. Umpires shout out to grown men, “Play ball,” and bureaucrats shout out to kids, “Shut down that lemonade stand.” While the latter might not happen every year, it happens often enough. Sometimes a mayor will trot out, tell the bullying code-enforcement officers to go away and then he buys a glass of lemonade to show what ...

Whither U. S. Energy Policy?

by Laurence M. Vance July 6, 2011

President Obama has authorized the release of 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The oil reserve is currently at a historically high level of 727 million barrels. “We are taking this action in response to the ongoing loss of crude oil due to supply disruptions in Libya and other countries and their impact on ...

Red-Light Camera Feud Reveals Ulterior Motives

by Fergus Hodgson June 29, 2011

By their very name, public servants claim to work for their fellow community members. The recent stand-offs over red-light cameras, however, indicate that many such officials have, to put it gently, conflicting interests. Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C., use red-light cameras, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week agreed to a resolution (p188) ...

Strong Helmets and the Stronger Hand of Government

by Laurence M. Vance May 31, 2011

Concussions among youth who play sports are said to be on the rise. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), more than 920,000 athletes under the age of eighteen were treated in emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, and clinics for football-related injuries in the year 2007. Sports injuries are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injury ...

France Forgets Voltaire

by Wendy McElroy April 22, 2011

“France’s burqa ban: Has Europe forgotten the gas chambers?” The Christian Science Monitor (April 14) headline is followed by the text, “As we’ve seen with France’s burqa ban that went into effect this week, global religious tolerance — especially in Europe — is under threat.” France is arresting women who wear a burqa or niqab in public ... ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: The Immorality and Destructiveness of the Welfare State (video)

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 19, 2011

The Jacob Hornberger Show broadcasts live Saturday nights at 7pm EST. Visit FFF's Ustream Channel to watch the show live. Download the MP3 here, or subscribe to the RSS feed

The Fluoridation Question Revisited

by Laurence M. Vance March 2, 2011

Municipalities and other water providers throughout the United States — and the general public they serve — are universally concerned about the amount of industrial chemicals, toxic metals, carcinogens, pesticides, and pollutants present in the drinking water supply. On the surface, it seems rather strange to add foreign substances to drinking water other than what is necessary to purify and ...