Daily Articles

Background Checks

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2001

"Why do we need the FBI doing background checks on presidential appointments? Are FBI agents determining whether China, Russia, or Cuba have planted communists among the people selected by the president? Or is this simply an excuse to pry into the private lives of the citizenry? Why aren't the president, ...

Some Real Reaching Out

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2001

With President George W. Bush having now taken office, theres a lot of talk about his reaching out to the opposition. The logic is this: the presidential race was so close that Bush owes some consideration to the people who voted for Al Gore. Naturally, that means embracing major parts ...

Food, Education, and Health Care

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2001

HAVE YOU EVER stayed up late at night worrying about whether there would be sufficient food in your community’s grocery stores the next day? Paced the floor over whether there would be the correct quantities of food for everyone? Fretted over whether rich people would buy up everything and leave ...

The Fundamental Rights of the European Union: Individual Rights or Welfare-State Privileges? Part 1

by Richard M. Ebeling January 1, 2001

Thirty years ago, British economist William R. Lewis wrote a monograph for the Institute of Economic Affairs in London entitled Rome or Brussels...? His theme was the contrast between the original motives and purposes behind the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957 through the Treaty of Rome and what the EEC had become by the early ...

Young People Aren’t Skeptical Enough!

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2001

Nearly everyone seems to agree on one thing: young people are tragically skeptical about politics. The subject came up in the third debate between Vice President Al Gore and Gov. George W. Bush, both of whom bemoaned the political disillusionment of the young. Minnesota’s governor, Jesse Ventura, constantly ...

The Marc Rich Pardon

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2001

"Everybody's upset with former President Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, the financier who had been indicted by a New York grand jury under former U.S. Attorney Rudy Guliani for buying and selling oil at the wrong price and with the wrong country and for not paying taxes on the profits. Okay, ...

Bring Back the Deficit!

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2001

Should we cut taxes or should we pay off the national debt? What’s missing from this picture? Aside from the fact that paying off the debt need not be a priority (there is no connection between the debt and economic growth), the question is a classic case of the Fallacy of ...

Why Not Abolish the Nonessentials?

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2001

The pomp and ceremony surrounding George W. Bush’s nomination of new department heads is now complete. The discussion and debate now center around the qualifications of each of the new nominees. But who is asking the crucial question: Rather than appointing the best-qualified people to run the various ...

Clinton’s Kosovo Frauds

by James Bovard January 1, 2001

AS AMERICANS DEBATE what President Clinton’s legacy should be, too little attention is given to his remarks on Kosovo. The United States launched a war against a European nation largely at Clinton’s behest. Clinton’s war against Serbia epitomized his moralism, his arrogance, his refusal to respect law, and his fixation on proving his virtue ...

Young People Aren’t Skeptical Enough!

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2001

NEARLY EVRYONE seems to agree on one thing: young people are tragically skeptical about politics and reluctant to participate. Various reasons are posited for this state of affairs. Republicans say it is because the Clinton administration has been dishonest the last eight years, and they called for a change at the polls. The Democrats, along with Sen. John McCain ...

The Second Amendment Protects an Individual Right

by Benedict D. LaRosa January 1, 2001

THERE IS A popular misconception that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution refers to a collective right rather than an individual right. Both history and reason argue against this misinterpretation. The right to self- (and collective) defense does not originate with, nor is it dependent upon, the Second Amendment. Man has ...

$44,000 Traffic Ticket

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2001

"Perhaps we should periodically count our blessings here in the United States. From a recent Associated Press article : 'A dot.com millionaire said he is fighting a huge traffic fine--reportedly $44,100--for driving dangerously. On a recent spin through downtown Helsinki, Jaakko Rytsola, 27, switched lanes too often and endangered other ...