Daily Articles

Two Ways to Fight an Economic Depression

by Gregory Bresiger March 1, 2009

“There was a depression in 1920? Really?” That was the comment I received recently from a smart, usually well-informed editor. Yes, there was a depression. But it was over so fast that few people seem to have heard of it. Yet almost everyone knows about the Great ...

Obama’s Uninformed Optimism

by Sheldon Richman February 27, 2009

President Obama is optimistic that “We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.” That and $5 will get you coffee at Starbucks — until inflation kicks in. In his appearance before Congress, Obama demonstrated he can give a speech. Big deal. We ...

Socialism’s “Fatal Conceit”

by Ralph R. Reiland February 25, 2009

The appeal of socialism, wrote Nobel-winning economist F. A. Hayek, “depends on the instinctual appeal of promised consequences.” The problem, argued Hayek, is that “socialism cannot possibly do what it promises.” Socialism fails, unavoidably, because it is based on the flawed concept, the “fatal conceit,” that one man or one group, ...

Obama’s “Humane” Guantánamo Is a Bitter Joke

by Andy Worthington February 23, 2009

The “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where the majority of the remaining 242 prisoners have been held for seven years without charge or trial, “complies with the humanitarian requirements of the Geneva Conventions,” according to a government official who spoke to the New York Times after reading an 85-page report prepared for President Obama by ...

President Obama, What about Tomorrow?

by Sheldon Richman February 20, 2009

The Obama administration’s $275 billion bailout for mortgage lenders and troubled borrowers once again shows that “tomorrow-be-damned” thinking still rules the White House. President Obama has clearly dumped the Clinton administration’s theme song, “Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow.” (Not that Clinton or his successor took the lyric to heart.) Under the plan, the federal government will ...

What Is Wrong with Guns in Churches?

by Scott McPherson February 20, 2009

If you’re going to talk nonsense, the best strategy is to talk it loud, often, and to as many people as possible. Thanks to the editorial board at the Springfield (Missouri) News-Leader, there was no shortage of nonsense being spread around on February 19. That day, on the paper’s website,

Guantánamo: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

by Andy Worthington February 16, 2009

On January 22, in an executive order relating to the closure of Guantánamo, President Barack Obama established a comprehensive review of the cases of the remaining 242 prisoners, to work out who could be released and who should continue to be held. The executive order explained that the review was to be “conducted with the full cooperation and ...

Bipartisan “Stimulus” Nonsense

by Sheldon Richman February 12, 2009

The cynicism and shallowness of politics have been abundantly on display throughout the debate over the “stimulus” bill. The Democrats insult the intelligence of the American people by peddling the following sophistry: Republicans were big spenders when they controlled the government. Republican criticism of Democrats for being big spenders is ...

Don’t “Compromise” on the Bogus Stimulus Bill

by Sheldon Richman February 10, 2009

As the misnamed “stimulus” bill works its way through Congress, we once again see compromise equated with responsibility. The political “leadership” and establishment media seemed to have a vested interest in portraying anyone who refuses to compromise as recklessly unconcerned with the well-being of the country. The problem with this ...

Guantánamo’s Refugees

by Andy Worthington February 9, 2009

The continued imprisonment of at least 61 prisoners at Guantánamo, who have been cleared for release after multiple military review boards (or, in recent months, after rulings in a U.S. court), was an affront to notions of justice when the Bush administration was in power, and is even more so now that Barack Obama, who has pledged to ...

The Twin Threats of Socialism and Gun Control

by Scott McPherson February 9, 2009

The confirmation of Eric Holder as the new U.S. attorney general is being celebrated as one more “historic” moment in American politics. Holder is the first African American appointed as the nation’s highest-ranking law-enforcement officer. He may also be the most anti-gun attorney general in U.S. history. Reason magazine called ...

Don’t Forget Guantánamo

by Andy Worthington February 6, 2009

At first glance, this might seem to be an unnecessary headline, given that Barack Obama has been president for only two weeks and that one of his first acts was to sign a presidential order declaring that the notorious “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo Bay will be closed within a year. However, I believe it is appropriate, not ...