Daily Articles

More Washington Gibberish

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 1996

That recent spike in gasoline prices provided more examples of the strange tongue spoken in the nation's capital. I call it Washington Gibberish. On the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota called the price increase a "crisis." Republican Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, sitting at his side, did not disagree. He joined Dorgan in calling ...

Section 8: A Wrecking Ball for Your Neighborhood

by James Bovard September 1, 1996

The federal government is involved in economic blockbusting in thousands of the nation's neighborhoods. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is using government handouts to allow welfare recipients to move into middle-class and upper middle-class neighborhoods. Congress created the Section 8 program in 1974 to provide direct rent subsidies to selected low-income families. Section 8 currently gives ...

Poverty Relief: Civil versus Political Society

by Doug Bandow September 1, 1996

t seems that just about everyone in Washington now believes in welfare reform. Even President Clinton, who vetoed legislation passed by the Republican Congress. But that was then. With an election fast approaching, the president is now solidly behind welfare reform. Unfortunately, he doesn't go nearly far enough. Nor do the Republicans. ...

Book Review: Why Government Doesn’t Work

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 1996

Why Government Doesn't Work by Harry Browne (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995) 245 pages; $19.95. Government is big, intrusive, and out of control. It is hard to find practically anyone who disagrees with this general perception of the political situation in America today. A Democratic president even says the era of big government is over, and leading Republicans insist that ...

The Failure of the Republican “Revolution,” Part 7

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 1996

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 With the Republican takeover of both houses of Congress in 1994, the Republicans announced that a new "revolution" had swept America, led by Senator Robert Dole ...

If Liberty Mattered — Once More, a Presidential Candidate’s Press Conference, Part 6

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 1996

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 Fortune: Mr. Candidate, your call for the repeal and abolition of all of the core programs of the welfare state is not one shared by a majority in either major ...

Freedom, Not Growth

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 1996

All politicians favor economic growth. They all promise to create jobs and "grow the economy." That is a vintage Republican issue, but the Democrats aren't dummies. Many of them have learned that the old appeal to class warfare and other quasi-Marxist themes are passé. They too have thrown themselves onto the growth bandwagon. Bill Clinton's so-called New Democrats can ...

Freedom Is the Best Insurance against Terrorism

by Sheldon Richman August 1, 1996

In the wake of the possible bombing of TWA flight 800 and the bombing at the Olympics, President Clinton is doing what politicians always do at times like these: he's grabbing for power. If that has a feeling of deja vu to it, it should. Shortly after the blast at the federal ...

Zoning: The New Tyranny [long]

by James Bovard August 1, 1996

Modern zoning laws presume that no citizen has a right to control his own land and that every citizen has a right to control his neighbor's land. Zoning laws have become far more invasive and restrictive in recent years. If you want to use your own land, increasingly you have to ...

Zoning: The New Tyranny

by James Bovard August 1, 1996

Modern zoning laws presume that no citizen has a right to control his own land and that every citizen has a right to control his neighbor's land. Zoning laws have become far more invasive and restrictive in recent years. If you want to use your own land, increasingly you have to beg, bribe, and grovel to the nearest government ...

War Psychology: A Tool for Shaping Public Policy

by Catherine M. Farmer August 1, 1996

"War has shaped our constitutional order, the course of our national development, and the very mentality of our people," argued Professor Ralph Raico in the February 1995 issue of Freedom Daily . He may be right. However, laying aside the issues of global, national, and regional clashes, it's important to understand the psychology of war, as well, and recognize its ...

For Starters, What Is Government?

by Stu Pritchard August 1, 1996

Soon! Soon! Welcome contemplation of the voting booth will silence political shouting. Most of us will have had a bellyful of charge and countercharge, of shrill bombast, of candidates almost questioning each other's parentage. How refreshing it would be to hear one reply as did the Virginian in the novel of that name: "When ...