Bush Profiteering from Housing Defaults by Future of Freedom Foundation March 25, 2010 President Bush is determined to end the prejudice against people who want to buy a home but dont have any money. Since he became president the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has spent more than $120 billion. HUD public-housing projects continue to devastate poor neighborhoods. HUD largesse to local governments continues to finance the confiscation and demolition of private homes, and HUD programs continue to spur fraud and corruption around the nation. Bush has done almost nothing to reduce HUDs damage to America. Instead, he is devoting himself to expanding home giveaways. He proclaimed on June 16, 2003, Homeownership is more than just a symbol of the American dream; it is an important part of our way of life. Core American values of individuality, thrift, responsibility, and self-reliance are embodied in homeownership. In Bushs eyes, self-reliance is so wonderful that the government should subsidize it. Bush could ...
Book Review: The Bush Betrayal by Future of Freedom Foundation March 30, 2010 The Bush Betrayal by James Bovard (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004); 336 pages; $26.95. The reelection of George Walker Bush rubs too much like the gruesome aftermath of a hit and run made bearable only by our instinctual ability to self-medicate in numbness. For a first-stage coping mechanism just ask the Sopranos psychiatrist it works. For a long-term political strategy, however, its nothing short of disastrous. So now, faced with the prospect of another four years under President Bush rule, the opposition faces a do-or-die challenge to break the Sirens song of big government with a clear clarion call for liberty. And it starts in the same place as it did in the last major social revolution: with a massive effort in public education. James Bovards latest book, The Bush Betrayal, could be the start. I know of no better way to prepare ourselves for the coming administration than to read some ...
Bureaucracy: A Mises Classic, Part 2 by Future of Freedom Foundation March 25, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 Last month I discussed Ludwig von Misess presentation of profit management in his great little book Bureaucracy. He explains in detail how consumers use the price and profit-and-loss systems to direct entrepreneurs toward producing the things they want most urgently. (Of course, they dont self-consciously use these systems; they simply buy and abstain from buying in order to best satisfy their needs.) Nothing matches this arrangement which we call the free market, or capitalism for delivering the goods and services that make our lives better and more comfortable. Mises goes to the trouble of describing profit management so he can contrast it with bureaucratic management, or government administration. It would be a mistake to conclude that Mises was anti-bureaucracy. As an advocate of limited government, he can be said to have been an advocate of limited bureaucracy. He opposed ...
Henry David Thoreau and Civil Disobedience, Part 1 by Future of Freedom Foundation April 1, 2010 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Henry David Thoreau (18171862) was an introspective man who wandered the woods surrounding the small village of Concord, Massachusetts, recording the daily growth of plants and the migration of birds in his ever-present journal. How, then, did he profoundly influence such political giants as Mohandas Gandhi, ...
Economics for the Citizen, Part 1 by Future of Freedom Foundation March 25, 2010 10-Part Series Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Last fall semester, I didnt teach for the first time in 37 years. No, I havent retired. ...
Ashcroft, 9/11, and Government as Victim by Future of Freedom Foundation March 29, 2010 John Ashcroft resigned as attorney general last November. Unfortunately, few Americans are aware of how profoundly Ashcroft botched his job and abused his power. He continues to be revered by many conservatives, despite his role in dragging the Bill of Rights into the mud. Nothing better illustrates both Ashcrofts arrogance and verbal manipulations than his testimony last April 13 to ...
Beware Grand Inquisitors and Psychology Professors by Future of Freedom Foundation March 27, 2010 For some people, there are a limitless number of reasons individual freedom is not the great good libertarians believe it to be. The in reason at the moment is that freedom to choose among a large number of options makes people unhappy. The leading theoretician among the choice-is-bad set is Barry ...
The Biggest Medicare Fraud Ever by Future of Freedom Foundation March 31, 2010 The Bush administration admitted in February that its new Medicare drug prescription benefit would cost $1.2 trillion over the next decade not the $400 billion that Bush had promised when he was pressuring Congress to enact the bill. His vast expansion of the welfare state is wrecking any effort to rein in government spending. ...
Afghan Absurdities by Future of Freedom Foundation April 2, 2010 Americans have heard many news reports about Bush administration falsehoods on Iraq. However, the scams of Afghanistan have not gotten as much attention as they deserve. Following are some examples of how the Bush administration has misled the American people regarding Afghanistan.
Bushs Foreign-Aid Fraud by Future of Freedom Foundation April 2, 2010 President Bush has doled out more than $70 billion in foreign aid and loan guarantees to foreign governments, countries, and international organizations. He committed billions in new aid in large part to get the endorsement of a rock star and to garner applause at ...
Unchaining Africa by Future of Freedom Foundation March 25, 2010 Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Africas Future by George Ayittey, (Palgrave/Macmillan 2005); 483 pages; $35. So much promise, so little progress. Populated with creative people and filled with natural resources, Africa, one might think, should be a global powerhouse. ...
Harebrained Pot and Wheat Decisions by Future of Freedom Foundation March 25, 2010 Earlier this year, the Supreme Court, acting again like a gang that smoked too much bad weed, ruled that the federal government has the right to prohibit people from growing marijuana for medicinal purposes. The Court relied on an interpretation of the Constitutions Commerce Clause that basically gave the feds ...
