Daily Articles

The Case for Open Borders

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 13, 2017

FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger talks open immigration with a class at Northwoods University.

The Libertarian Angle: Trump, Obama, and DACA

by Future of Freedom Foundation September 12, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling the presidency and immigration policy. Go to the podcast.

Ludwig von Mises and the Real Meaning of Liberalism

by Richard M. Ebeling September 11, 2017

Liberalism has become one of the most widely misused and abused words in the American political lexicon. It represents, some say, politically “progressive thought,” based on the goal of “social justice” through greater “distributive justice” for all. Others declare it represents moral relativism, political paternalism, governmental license, and just another word for “socialism.” Lost in all of this is ...

Building a Republican America

by Laurence M. Vance September 8, 2017

The congressional show known as the budget process is taking place on the national stage. The show is a little late this year because of the inauguration of a new president. Normally, the president must submit his proposed budget for the next fiscal year (which begins on October 1) no later than the first Monday in February. However, a new ...

What Country Is This?

by John W. Whitehead September 7, 2017

“The Fourth Amendment was designed to stand between us and arbitrary governmental authority. For all practical purposes, that shield has been shattered, leaving our liberty and personal integrity subject to the whim of every cop on the beat, trooper on the highway and jail official.”—Herman Schwartz, The Nation Our freedoms—especially the Fourth Amendment—are being choked out by ...

The Libertarian Angle: In Praise of Price Gouging

by Future of Freedom Foundation September 6, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling talk about the economics of disaster recovery. Go to the podcast.

Free Markets, Not Government, Improve Race Relations

by Richard M. Ebeling September 4, 2017

Politically we seem to be living in some trying times. The political polarization, as captured in the mainstream news media, appears to be intensifying with even acts of destructive violence on the streets and campuses of American cities. At the same time, pictures out of Houston during and following Hurricane Harvey show empathetic assistance and cooperation between people and ...

The National Security-State and JFK, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2017

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 In 1970 — twenty years after the election of Jacobo Arbenz as president of Guatemala — the Chilean people did what the Guatemalan people had done. They democratically elected a self-proclaimed socialist and communist named Salvador Allende to be president of their country. Since ...

Will Trump Reduce Federal Spending?

by James Bovard September 1, 2017

Donald Trump’s first proposed budget took a step towards draining the swamp in Washington. His proposal was the first one since the Reagan era in which a president has sought a wholesale demolition of boondoggles. On the other hand, Trump’s defense and homeland-security spending increases will squander bounties that should be reserved for taxpayers, not bureaucrats. Regardless of whether Trump ...

Feeling Helpless Against the IRS?

by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2017

Although I enjoy looking at billboards on road trips because it breaks the monotony, I don’t pay too much attention to them when I am driving around town. However, one recently caught my eye because it had to do with something I frequently write about: taxes. The billboard said, “Feeling Helpless Against the IRS?” Since I don’t like handing my ...

The Supreme Court’s Destruction of Liberty of Contract

by David S. D'Amato September 1, 2017

Found in Article I, Section 10, of the Constitution, the Contract Clause is a failed attempt to prevent the government from taking actions that would compromise the integrity of contractual obligations — failed, in large part, because of the 1934 Supreme Court case Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell. Blaisdell is arguably the centerpiece of the Supreme Court’s ...

The Quirin Decision of 1942 Revisited

by Joseph R. Stromberg September 1, 2017

In Ex Parte Quirin (1942) the U.S. Supreme Court justified the trial by military commission of eight German soldiers “captured” on American soil. Edward S. Corwin called the case “a ceremonious detour to a predetermined goal” (Total War and the Constitution, 1947). Louis Fisher notes the “common perception … that Quirin was a contrived decision without anchoring ...