Conservatives and the Looting of Americans by Laurence M. Vance September 16, 2019 The ideas of Thomas Robert Malthus (1766–1834) are alive and well. Malthus was the popularizer of the bogus idea that the population was increasing beyond the means of subsistence. He wrote in his 1798 book, An Essay on the Principle of Population, “The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man” ...
The Bill of Rights Turns 230, and What Do We Have to Show for It? Nothing Good by John W. Whitehead September 11, 2019 “That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.”—Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale It’s been 230 years since James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights—the first ...
The Secret History of the Monopolization of Welfare by the State by Richard M. Ebeling September 10, 2019 The fundamental political issue always confronting society is whether human relationships shall be based on free association and voluntary choice, or on governmental compulsion and command. Of course, in most societies there are elements of both, often called the interventionist state or the “mixed economy.” But, nonetheless, the basic institutional alternatives are liberty or coercion. This often seems difficult for ...
Americans Certainly Do Need a Payroll Tax Cut by Laurence M. Vance September 6, 2019 For most employees in the United States there are three different federal taxes taken out of their paychecks by their employers: income tax withholding, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax. Social Security and Medicare taxes are known together as payroll taxes. Unlike the amount withheld for income tax, over which employees have some control, depending on how many allowances ...
Friends of Freedom, Do Not Despair by Richard M. Ebeling September 5, 2019 Friends of freedom can easily become despondent when they look at what appear to be the ideological and political trends that fill the media day in and day out. Government spending keeps growing, national debts pile up, and regulations and redistributions seem to be narrowing the arenas of market and personal freedoms of choice. Anti-liberal demagogues abound, seemingly everywhere. ...
America’s Lost Liberties, Post-9/11 by John W. Whitehead September 4, 2019 “These are the times that try men’s souls.” ― Thomas Paine, The American Crisis Take heed, America. Our losses are mounting with every passing day. What began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act has snowballed into the eradication of every vital safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse. The citizenry’s unquestioning acquiescence to anything the government wants ...
Another Worthless Republican Plan by Laurence M. Vance September 2, 2019 The national debt, budget deficit, federal budget, and congressional spending have all skyrocketed during the time that Donald Trump has been in office — just as they did when George Bush and Barack Obama were in office. The national debt now exceeds $22 trillion. It is expected to reach $23 trillion by the end of 2019. The debt is a ...
The Case for Open Immigration by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2019 Every American living today has lived his entire life under an immigration crisis. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. America’s system of immigration controls is based on the concept of central planning, which is a core feature of socialism, which, as anyone from North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela will attest, always produces crises. Government officials centrally plan the movements of millions ...
The Sham of Government Transparency by James Bovard September 1, 2019 The Supreme Court in June ruled that the federal government can keep secret the food-stamp sales totals of grocery stores. By a 6 to 3 vote, the Court declared that such business records are exempt from disclosure under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This case, started eight years ago by the Argus Leader, a South Dakotan newspaper, ...
The Specter of Communism Is Haunting Illinois by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2019 A specter is haunting Illinois — the specter of communism. Although the governor of Illinois, Jay “J.B.” Pritzker, said earlier this summer, upon signing the state’s $40 billion budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, that the budget was balanced “for the first time in decades,” according to the state’s own actuarial calculations, the budget is actually billions in the red. ...
Free-Market Liberalism vs. Corrupted “Capitalism” and La-La Land Socialism by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 2019 One of the issues that confronts the friends of freedom is how best to make the case for liberty as a political idea and ideal and as a policy proposal. A central element in that is making sure that we know what it is that we are advocating and why, and what it is that we oppose and why. ...
Insane and Ill-Advised: Trump’s Future War with Iran, Part 2 by Danny Sjursen September 1, 2019 Part 1 | Part 2 Iran is an enigma to most American policymakers. Iranian foreign and defense policies, according to Kenneth Katzman, are “products of overlapping, and sometimes contradictory, motivations.” The key question is whether Iran is an expansionist, theocratic, Shia-chauvinist state, or a rational, defensive bulwark with only limited regional aspirations. While it is a bit of both, ...