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, ...
The American Gulag by John W. Whitehead August 29, 2019 “The exile of prisoners to a distant place, where they can ‘pay their debt to society,’ make themselves useful, and not contaminate others with their ideas or their criminal acts, is a practice as old as civilization itself. The rulers of ancient Rome and Greece sent their dissidents off to distant colonies. Socrates chose death ...
The U.S. Revives the Personal State by Richard M. Ebeling August 28, 2019 It was French king Louis XIV (1638-1715) who famously declared, “L'etat c'est moi” (“I am the state”), indicating his insistence that he possessed absolute power over his subjects and everything else within the reaches of his domain. This week, it was clearer than usual that this is an attitude apparently shared by Donald Trump, president of the United States. America ...
Minimum Wage Nonsense by Christine Smith August 26, 2019 Once again, the call for raising the federal minimum wage is in the news, with most Democratic Party candidates for president endorsing its doubling from $7.25 to $15/hour. Some candidates have suggested it be increased even more, depending on the region of the country. Of course, this is because of great compassion and empathy for the American worker. Right? After ...
American Apocalypse by John W. Whitehead August 23, 2019 “The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out ... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” — H. L. Mencken The U.S. government is working hard to destabilize the nation. No, this is not ...
Radio Hypocrisy by Laurence M. Vance August 21, 2019 During the Cold War, Radio Free Europe (RFE) broadcast news, information, and U.S. government propaganda to Soviet satellite countries and Radio Liberty (RL) did the same to the Soviet Union. But although the Cold War has been over for 30 years, RFE/RL is still operating. According to the RFE/RL website, RFE/RL journalists report the news in 22 ...