Daily Articles

Obamanomics: Growing the Pie or Dividing the Pie? (Video)

by Jeffrey A. Miron November 17, 2010

On November 15, 2010, Jeffrey A. Miron gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundations Economic Liberty Lecture Series. The speech can viewed below in its entirety. Jeffrey A. Miron is Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. Miron has previously ...

On Guantánamo, Obama Hits Rock Bottom

by Andy Worthington November 16, 2010

On national security issues, there are now two Americas. In the first, which existed from January to May 2009, the rule of law flickered briefly back to life after eight years of the Bush administration. In this first America, President Obama swept into office issuing executive orders promising to close Guantánamo and to uphold the absolute ban on ...

Blood on His Hands

by Sheldon Richman November 15, 2010

As George W. Bush hawks his memoir, Decision Points, he seems especially driven to justify his decision to invade and occupy Iraq. He emphasizes how sickened he was at learning that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction, though not too sick to kid about it at the White House correspondents’ dinner. While he refuses to say whether ...

Republican Phonies

by Sheldon Richman November 12, 2010

For freedom’s sake, divided government beats monolithic government. Even a casual look at recent history confirms that truth. Therefore advocates of freedom will gladly accept bitter partisan rivalry if that’s what it takes to arrest the growth of Leviathan. Come January we will have divided government. But does that mean anything more than a holding action? Will we see any ...

The Case against Medical Marijuana

by Laurence M. Vance November 11, 2010

Pot smokers aren’t the only ones disappointed by the rejection of Proposition 19 by California voters. Freedom lovers were just as dissatisfied with the outcome. Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Act, would have made it legal for individuals to possess, and authorized retailers to sell to those twenty-one and older, up to one ounce of marijuana. The ballot ...

The Freedom Oasis (Audio)

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 8, 2010

The Jacob Hornberger Radio Show 11/6/2010 //

Terrorism, Habeas Corpus, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

by Andy Worthington November 8, 2010

In the struggle in the U.S. courts to establish who can be detained at Guantánamo, and on what basis, following the Supreme Court’s ruling, in June 2008, that the Guantánamo prisoners have constitutionally guaranteed habeas corpus rights, there are three main players: the District Court judges, who, in 57 cases over the last two years, ...

NPR Flap Shows True Nature of Conservatives

by Laurence M. Vance November 3, 2010

Although it isn’t often that conservatives and Fox News come to the defense of a liberal journalist, I come not to congratulate them, but to condemn them. Award-winning liberal journalist Juan Williams was fired by NPR on October 20 for politically incorrect remarks he made about Muslims on The O’Reilly Factor. Fox News then granted him a $2 million, three-year ...

Today’s Election: Progressive Socialists vs. Conservative Con Men

by Scott McPherson November 2, 2010

Before nagging your neighbor about his yard, it’s not a bad idea to take a look at your own first. It’s like making sure you’re not in a glass house before throwing a rock. But these pearls of wisdom aren’t of much interest to a lot of people calling themselves “conservatives” these days. Whether it’s Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Newt ...

U.S. Covert War Provokes Terrorism in Yemen

by Sheldon Richman November 2, 2010

The U.S. government and mainstream media continue to play dumb about threats to Americans from the Muslim world. After two Chicago-bound packages of explosive materials originating in Yemen were found in England and Dubai, White House homeland security and counterterrorism advisor John Brennan said, “We are trying to understand who is behind it....” President Obama added, “We will continue to ...

Is There No End to Republicans’ Abuse of Guantánamo Prisoners?

by Andy Worthington November 1, 2010

Every now and then I’m forcefully reminded of the extent to which Guantánamo is still used by unscrupulous lawmakers as a political plaything, even though it is a place where, by any objective measure, a small number of terrorist suspects are held alongside insignificant Taliban foot soldiers and others unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the ...

Natural Rights, the Declaration, and the Constitution, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 2010

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Throughout most of history, it was a given that government had the legitimate authority to wield omnipotent power over its citizenry. If the king wanted a person’s land, he took it. If he wanted a share of its produce, he confiscated it. If he wanted to punish people for worshiping ...