“Liberal” Court Okays Eminent Domain Abuse by George Leef July 1, 2005 On June 23, the Supreme Court delivered its much-anticipated decision in Kelo v. City of New London. The case squarely presented an important constitutional issue — whether it is permissible for units of government to use the power of eminent domain to ...
A Week in a (Sort of) Libertarian Country, Part 2 by Scott McPherson July 1, 2005 Part 1 | Part 2 The Republic of Costa Rica has no army. The country, roughly the size of West Virginia and with a population of around 4 million people (including 50,000 North American expatriates), is proudly neutral. Its constitution dates to 1949, following a brief civil war and adoption of many democratic reforms. By Latin American standards, ...
The Courts and the New Deal, Part 2 by William L. Anderson July 1, 2005 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 The system of laws and courts in the United States today hardly resembles that system that came about in the wake of the founding of this republic. This sea change in the law is not due — as some might claim — to the complexities of ...
Economics for the Citizen, Part 5 by Walter E. Williams July 1, 2005 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Someone might have made you a gift of this publication. Does that mean reading this article is free? The answer is a ...
Book Review: Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Fight by George Leef July 1, 2005 Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Fight: Race, Class, and Power in the Rural South during the First World War by Jeanette Keith (University of North Carolina Press, 2004); 260 pages; $55.95 hardcover; $22.50 paperback. What little most Americans have heard about U.S. involvement in World War I is that U.S. ...
Who Cares about the Income Gap? by Sheldon Richman June 29, 2005 I didn’t wake up this morning wondering whether I had shrunk the income gap between me and Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. I have never wondered about that. But that’s me. If I am to believe the New York Times and other major newspapers, lots of people are obsessed ...
Bush Is Right to Link 9/11 with Iraq by Jacob G. Hornberger June 29, 2005 Even though the Iraqi people and their ruler, Saddam Hussein, had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks, President Bush was correct in once again linking 9/11 to his invasion and occupation of Iraq in his speech to the nation last night. Why? Because the motivation behind the 9/11 attacks was ...
Trade Wars: The Empire Strikes Back by Sheldon Richman June 27, 2005 A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... Representatives of the Imperial President have traveled to the far eastern region to “negotiate” strict limits on exports. Although the recent surge in shipments of badly needed inexpensive clothing from traders in the region has raised the ...
Muddle at the Supreme Court over Medical Marijuana by Sheldon Richman June 20, 2005 When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against medical-marijuana users, many critics of the decision thought the six-justice majority failed to show compassion for severely ill people. But the Supreme Court doesn’t sit to dispense compassion. It’s supposed to ensure that Congress respects the Constitution and, by extension, individual ...
Max Boot’s Recruiting Plan Deserves the Boot by Jacob G. Hornberger June 17, 2005 Max Boot, one of the most ardent boosters of the U.S. government’s invasion of Iraq and one of the most pro-empire proponents you’ll ever find, is lamenting the difficulty that military recruiters are having in signing up young American men to give their lives for foreign democracy and ...
From Communism to Terrorism by Jacob G. Hornberger June 13, 2005 A front-page article in the June 10, 2005, issue of the Los Angeles Times reported another disturbing feature about the 9/11 attacks: A chilling new detail of U.S. intelligence failures emerged Thursday, when the Justice Department disclosed that about 20 months before the Sept. 11 attacks, a CIA ...
Compulsion: It’s What’s for Dinner by Sheldon Richman June 13, 2005 Most recent free-speech controversies have been about government efforts to restrict someone’s right to express himself. So it is noteworthy that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in a case involving not stifled speech, but rather coerced speech. Alas, it decided the case wrongly. Everyone has seen the generic ...