Daily Articles

Preventing War with Iran Is Top Priority

by Sheldon Richman November 13, 2013

The best way to keep Iran from building a nuclear bomb is for the Obama administration and its nuclear client Israel to stop threatening the Islamic Republic. Look at recent history. In 2003 Iraq’s government had no nuclear weapons (or other WMD). The U.S. government invaded, and before long Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hanging from a rope. In 2011 Libya’s ...

Worshiping a False Idol: Why Money Is No God

by Dave Hebert November 12, 2013

A few weeks ago I was out to lunch with a group of friends when the subject of money came up. One person at the table said that we should replace the phrase “In God We Trust” on currency with “This Is Your God.” To my surprise, there was very little pushback to that and even a few people ...

The Libertarian Angle: On the Road College Tour

by Future of Freedom Foundation November 11, 2013

Jacob Hornberger and Sheldon Richman on monetary policy. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly.  

Politicians as Interchangeable Units

by Wendy McElroy November 8, 2013

Why did it take a comedian to demand answers about a blatant double standard embedded in Obamacare? On October 7, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was grilled mercilessly by Jon Stewart, who focused on why businesses can delay enrollment for a year but individuals cannot. Stewart speculated on the reason, saying, “Geez, it looks like ...

A Flood of Government Intervention

by Laurence M. Vance November 4, 2013

Some Americans are outraged at the federal government for reasons other than the recent government shutdown. No, they are not outraged because the National Science Foundation is funding the development of card games, videos and other educational programs “to engage adult learners and inform public understanding and response to climate change” through the $5.7 million Polar Learning and ...

TGIF: The Affordable Care Act Doesn’t Go That Way

by Sheldon Richman November 1, 2013

Web problems can be fixed. The problems inherent in the so-called Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) are another story. Let’s stipulate that most people who favor the ACA have honorable intentions: they want everyone, including people in ill health, to have access to good and affordable medical care. All decent people should want that. (How many favor ...

Egypt’s Lessons for Americans, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 2013

Part 1 | Part 2 The ambivalent reaction of the U.S. government to the Egyptian coup should not have surprised anyone. While U.S. law requires a termination of U.S. foreign aid to Egypt in the event of a coup, the Obama administration ignored the law by simply refusing to declare that the coup was actually a coup. Keep ...

The Phony Trade-Off between Privacy and Security

by Sheldon Richman November 1, 2013

Most people take it for granted — because they have heard it so many times from politicians and pundits — that they must trade some privacy for security in this dangerous world. The challenge, we’re told, is to find the right “balance.” Let’s examine this. On its face the idea seems reasonable. I can imagine hiring a firm to look ...

AmeriCorps: Idealistic Triumph or Usual Buffoonery?

by James Bovard November 1, 2013

National service is the latest fashionable panacea for all that ails America. Time magazine ran a July cover story, “How Service Can Save Us,” on the potential benefits of pressing all young people into service. The article approvingly quoted a retired Air Force veteran: “There isn’t an 18-year-old boy who doesn’t need to get his butt kicked by someone ...

The Fault in Fairness

by Joseph S. Diedrich November 1, 2013

The coffee aisle at the supermarket has become the latest front in the crusade for “social justice.” Coffee roasters proudly tout their allegiance to the ideals of the fair-trade movement, which ostensibly aims to elevate the economic and social welfare of disadvantaged Third-World farmers. Despite its meteoric rise in popularity, does fair trade translate its stated intentions into tangible results? ...

Freedom of Speech: Abridge to Nowhere

by Michael Tennant November 1, 2013

Americans, known for their outspokenness on matters of politics, sports, American Idol contestants, and practically every other topic, would appear to treasure few things more highly than their freedom of speech. Why, it’s even right there in the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law  ... abridging the freedom of speech.” In America, everyone is allowed to speak his mind ...

Whither Power?

by Kevin Carson November 1, 2013

The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields and Churches to States, Why Being in Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be by Moisés Naím (Basic Books 2013), 320 pages. The topic of Moisés Naím’s book is the decay of power — the shift of power “from brawn to brains, from north to south and west to east, ...