Socialism

Social Insecurity

by Laurence M. Vance August 28, 2012

The six-member Board of Trustees of Social Security has released its 72nd annual report on the state of Social Security: “The 2012 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds.” The Social Security Act of 1935 requires that the board report annually to Congress on the ...

Ban the Public Library

by Laurence M. Vance May 30, 2012

Not everyone has the time or the inclination to read all the books on the New York Times bestseller list. But even those who have both may not be able to — if they’re trying to find their favorite title at their local public library. Fifty Shades of Grey, the first installment of an erotic, sado-masochistic trilogy by British author ...

Abolish the Postal Monopoly

by James Bovard March 11, 2012

Since the 1840s, it has been a federal crime to provide better mail service than Uncle Sam chooses to provide. The Postal Service has a monopoly on first-class mail delivery (with a limited exemption for urgent, courier-delivered letters costing more than $3). The monopoly has become more indefensible with each passing decade — especially since the government has been ...

Food Stamp Politicians

by Laurence M. Vance January 24, 2012

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is in hot water for referring to Barack Obama as “the food-stamp president.” The NAACP and the National Urban League have sharply criticized Gingrich for saying that “the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.” In the FOX News Republican presidential debate held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on ...

Federal Training Flops

by James Bovard December 28, 2011

Barack Obama recently proposed new programs to provide job training for youth and the long-term unemployed. For half a century, federal programs have provided trainees with little more than false hope. There is no reason to permit the feds to inflict new damage after all their previous failures. Between 1962 and 1980, the feds spent more for federal job training ...

Not Ending Social Security As We Know It

by Laurence M. Vance December 27, 2011

Social Security is not only the cornerstone of the welfare state, it is the most expensive item in the federal budget. The Social Security system provides benefits for retirement, disability, survivorship, and death to 54 million Americans at a price to its 157 million taxpayers of more than $700 billion a year. Social Security is a relic from the New Deal. The first ...

The Real Problem with Solyndra

by Laurence M. Vance September 27, 2011

Executives from the bankrupt solar-energy company Solyndra recently invoked their Fifth Amendment privileges before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, declining to testify to avoid self-incrimination. “On advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer any questions,” said CEO Brian Harrison and CFO Bill Stover at the Subcommittee hearing “Solyndra and The ...

The Unessential Air Service Program

by Laurence M. Vance August 30, 2011

During the Great Depression, the New Deal program known as the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) paid certain farmers not to grow corn, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, and tobacco in order to control their supply and drive up their prices. The money paid to farmers came from a tax imposed on processors of farm products. In the Soviet Union that ...

The Dark Side of the Welfare State

by Fergus Hodgson June 7, 2011

There comes a point when elected leaders reach the end of their ability to tax, borrow, and inflate for funding. The United States is verging on that threshold. However, rather than acknowledge the folly of and dispense with unsustainable entitlements, U.S. leaders are, for the most part, endeavoring to preserve them. This leads to what Sven Larson, a research fellow with ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: Central Planning, American-Style

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 16, 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

Condolences Yes, Assistance No

by Laurence M. Vance March 15, 2011

Thanks to the tremendous technological advances in communications that have taken place over the past few years, the whole world has now heard of and seen the destruction wrought by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. With thousands already confirmed dead, and many thousands more missing and presumed dead, the thoughts and prayers from people of every nation ...