Daily Articles

Obamacare Reform and Paternalism’s Pratfalls

by James Bovard April 1, 2017

One of Donald Trump’s first actions as president was to issue an executive order to reduce the regulatory burden of the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare has been intensely controversial since it was enacted in 2010. The battle over its reform or replacement will very likely continue for most of this year, if not most of Trump’s term in office. ...

The Conservative Mantra

by Laurence M. Vance April 1, 2017

Conservative godfather Russell Kirk (1918–1994) wrote lengthy philosophical treatises on “the six canons of conservative thought” and “ten conservative principles.” Throughout his writings on conservatism he praised natural law, order, virtue, restraint, custom, convention, continuity, tradition, prudence, permanent things, an enduring moral order, property, and voluntary community, while he disdained hasty innovation, collectivism, uniformity, egalitarianism, utilitarianism, and those who ...

Donald Trump as Carnival Hawker and His Leftist Enemies

by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 2017

Politics has a strange influence on people. People who in their daily lives seem to act quite normal are driven into various forms of madness by politics. For instance, I have friends and acquaintances on both the political Right and Left, with whom totally normal conversations and interactions may be had — unless it turns to politics. Donald Trump is ...

Death at Your Door

by John W. Whitehead March 29, 2017

“It’s 4 in the morning, there’s headlights that are shining into your house; there’s a number of different officers that are now on the premises; they’re wearing tactical gear; they have weapons; and they approach your front door. Do you think that the ordinary citizen in that situation feels that they have an obligation to comply?”— Michigan ...

The Libertarian Angle: FA Hayek and Spontaneous Order

by Future of Freedom Foundation March 28, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss how spontaneous order organizes society in an efficient way while at the same time preserving liberty. Go to the podcast.

Libertarian Angle: Fiscal Policy (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation March 22, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss fiscal policy.

Stealing from the Citizenry

by John W. Whitehead March 21, 2017

“Civil forfeiture laws represent one of the most serious assaults on private property rights in the nation today. Under civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize your car or other property, sell it and use the proceeds to fund agency budgets—all without so much as charging you with a crime. Unlike criminal forfeiture, where property is taken ...

Trump’s Budgetary Blueprint Retains America’s Welfare State

by Richard M. Ebeling March 20, 2017

President Donald Trump has issued his preliminary federal budget proposal looking to the U.S. government’s next 2018 fiscal year. What it shows very clearly is that there will likely be no attempt to reduce the size and cost of most of the American interventionist-welfare state. On Thursday, March 16, 2017 the White House released, “America First: A Budget Blueprint to ...

Rule by Thieves

by John W. Whitehead March 17, 2017

“The first and most important thing to understand about politics is this: forget Right, Left, Center, socialism, fascism, or democracy. Every government that exists — or ever existed, or ever will exist — is a kleptocracy, meaning ‘rule by thieves.’ Competing ideologies merely provide different excuses to separate the Productive Class from what they produce. If the taxpayer/voters won’t ...

Republicare

by Laurence M. Vance March 16, 2017

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as the PPACA or Obamacare, was signed into law by Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, without a single Republican vote. It was fitting that Obamacare’s first requirement was a new tax, since the new law was in large part just a collection of tax increases masquerading as a health-care law. ...

The Libertarian Angle: The Debt Ceiling

by Future of Freedom Foundation March 15, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss U.S. fiscal policy. Go to the podcast.

The National Debt Limit Equals a Balanced Budget

by Richard M. Ebeling March 13, 2017

Once again the United States government is rapidly approaching a fiscal debt ceiling: After March 16, 2017, Uncle Sam will not be legally allowed to borrow any more money to cover its budget deficits, unless Congress votes to raise the debt limit, once again, like it has every time in the past. Uncle’s Sam’s debt has been growing at a ...