Daily Articles

The Soviet Union’s Continuing Influence on America

by James Bovard July 26, 2011

It has been almost 20 years since the Soviet Union officially dissolved. While the nation of that name no longer exists, its legacy continues influencing political thought and practices in many places in the world. The glorification of the Soviet Union by American intellectuals from the 1920s onwards helped spur the creation of federal programs that continue plaguing the ...

The War on Terrorism Is a War on Freedom (audio)

by Future of Freedom Foundation July 25, 2011

On July 15, 2011, the Future of Freedom Foundation sponsored a panel at FreedomFest 2011 entitled "The War on Terrorism Is a War on Freedom." Panelists included FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger, FFF senior fellow Sheldon Richman, and FFF policy adviser James Bovard. The panel was moderated by American Conservative magazine editor Daniel McCarthy. Download the MP3 here.

Rupert Murdoch and Freedom of the Press

by Wendy McElroy July 21, 2011

A scandal rocking the British Isles is slopping onto American shores. In its zeal to scoop the news, a British paper within Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire engaged in illegal and immoral activities. Specifically, the News of the World (the News) bribed police officers for confidential information and hacked into private phone messages. The well-founded accusations are currently ...

Low-Hanging Fruit: Farm Subsidies

by Fergus Hodgson July 20, 2011

Toing and froing over the debt ceiling has delayed an extension of the federal Farm Bill, set to expire in 2012. Of all the wasteful federal programs, agricultural subsidies may be the most painless to eliminate, so bring on their expiration. The Farm Bill is actually an aggregation of 15 bills, and it includes a host ...

The Road to the Permanent Warfare State, Part 3

by Gregory Bresiger July 20, 2011

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 |Part 12 |Part 13 Why did the United States, in 1947, suddenly decide that it could no longer ...

Creating a Military State

by Andy Worthington July 19, 2011

“Some issues,” the New York Times declared in an editorial on June 25, “require an unwavering stand. Preserving the role of law enforcement agencies in stopping and punishing terrorists is one of them. This country is not and should never be a place where the military dispenses justice, other than to its own.” Fine words, indeed, although the ...

Should Social Security Be Saved?

by Laurence M. Vance July 18, 2011

Speaking at a conference for a finance trade association in Chicago, former President George W. Bush said that the biggest failure of his administration was not privatizing Social Security. In 2001 the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security was formed. This bipartisan, 16-member commission issued a report that included three reform proposals, all of which allowed workers to voluntarily transfer ...

The Cause of Current U.S. Deficits and Debt

by Laurence M. Vance July 18, 2011

Except for a brief period of time in 1835 under President Andrew Jackson, the United States has been in debt since the founding of the Republic. The first reported national debt in 1791 was over $75 million. Congress now spends more than that every ten minutes. Since the last year of the Bush administration, annual federal deficits have exceeded $1 ...

Understanding the U.S. Torture State

by Anthony Gregory July 15, 2011

The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse edited by Marjorie Cohn (New York University Press: 2011), 342 pages. When I was a child in Reagan’s America, a common theme in Cold War rhetoric was that the Soviets tortured people and detained them without cause, extracted phony confessions through cruel violence, did the unspeakable to detainees who were helpless ...

Thinking Vertically

by Rich Schwartzman July 14, 2011

The reaction to the Casey Anthony trial in Florida is just more proof of how ignorant so many Americans are about rights, laws, and liberty. Everyone from TV hosts — who should know better — to radio sports talk-show hosts (yes, really) to the normal gang at the coffee shop, all are appalled at a jury who failed to convict ...

Put Down Your Rights and No One Needs to Get Hurt!

by Wendy McElroy July 13, 2011

Few activities are as dangerous as watching a cop too closely, as John Kurtz knows well. Kurtz is the founder of the Orlando, Florida, branch of CopWatch, a network of activists in the United States and Canada who patrol the streets on foot or in a vehicle to monitor and document police activity in order to spotlight ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: July 9, 2011

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 11, 2011

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