Daily Articles

Hungary’s New Lesson for America

by James Bovard January 1, 2007

This past October was the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian uprising against the Soviet military. Hungarians bravely expelled Soviet tanks from Budapest and trumpeted their intention to create a democracy. But the Soviets returned with almost 5,000 tanks, killing thousands of Hungarians and re-fettering 10 million people into servitude to Moscow. But at least Hungarians had the gumption to stand ...

Soft-Hearted Economists Need Clear Heads

by Bart Frazier January 1, 2007

One of the issues at stake in the 2006 midterm elections was a raise in the minimum wage. Voters in six states had minimum-wage increases on the ballot, and unfortunately all of the initiatives passed. This is not surprising, however. On the surface, it appears that requiring employers to pay at least a subsistence living ...

Executive Orders and the Decline of Law, Part 1

by William L. Anderson January 1, 2007

Part 1 | Part 2 During his presidency, Bill Clinton would conclude his trips abroad by telling his advisors that he was determined to use the powers of his office. Those “powers,” of course, included what are called “executive orders,” which are orders that come from the office of the president of the United States and have the ...

Inflation Is Legalized Robbery, Part 2

by Gregory Bresiger January 1, 2007

Part 1 | Part 2 Whether one believes in the “price stability” policies of our nation’s central bank, or believes such policies have caused countless economic problems, the onus is on the Federal Reserve. It is a strange, quasi-secret public/private agency with little or no accountability.

The Myth of War Prosperity, Part 2

by Anthony Gregory January 1, 2007

Part 1 | Part 2 Depression, War, and Cold War: Studies in Political Economy by Robert Higgs (Oxford University Press: 2006); 240 pages; $35. So the New Deal was far from a success. But most conservatives and even many leftist scholars will concede this; ...

End Draft Registration!

by Sheldon Richman December 29, 2006

Whenever U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, the New York Democrat who will soon chair the House Ways and Means Committee, calls for resumption of military conscription, a host of powerful figures, Republican and Democrat, civilian and military, chime in at once to repudiate his proposal. They respond that the U.S. military ...

Would You “Support the Troops” in Bolivia?

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 27, 2006

Soldiers who join the military voluntarily sign a very unusual contract with the federal government. It is a contract that effectively obligates the soldier to go anywhere in the world on orders of the president and kill people as part of an invasion force against other countries. It doesn’t matter whether ...

Anti-Life Ethics in Iraq

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 15, 2006

As the debacle of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq continues to spiral downward, sucking countless more people into its death throes, some of those whose philosophy contributed to the fiasco remain steadfastly unrepentant for the death and destruction they have wrought. Among the unrepentant is George Weigel, senior ...

Death by Consensus

by Sheldon Richman December 13, 2006

When John Kerry came back from fighting in Vietnam, he famously inquired, How do you ask a man to be the last to die for a mistake? Regarding the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group (ISG), a lot of people would like to know, How do you ask a man to ...

Is Any War Civil?

by Sheldon Richman December 4, 2006

Whether Iraq is embroiled in a civil war is a matter of some controversy. News organizations such as NBC have dramatically announced that, indeed, it is. Pundits solemnly the debate the question on cable news talk shows. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell says yes. Present Secretary of State ...

End the Other War Too

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2006

The war in Iraq goes on, but we shouldn’t let it overshadow the war at home — one that frequently takes the lives of people who don’t deserve to die. It’s known as the War on Drugs, but it’s really a war on people who themselves are not making war against anyone. Too often individuals ...

The Choir is Key!

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2006

Dear Friend of FFF, We need your end-of-year financial support more than ever! With the U.S. mired in the quicksand of Iraq, with out-of-control federal expenditures causing the dollar to plunge in international markets, and with civil liberties of the American people under the greatest federal assault in our lifetime, the question naturally arises: What can we do to restore American ...