Sheldon Richman: No One Can Run The Country

I don’t mean to pick on David Brooks, the resident conservative op-ed scribe at the New York Times, and I have no reason to defend President Obama on any count, but I can’t keep silent when I read Brooks assailing Obama for being too “prudent.” "Prudence can sometimes look like weakness…. Prudence is important, but Americans do have an expectation that their president will be the one out front, dominating  ...  MORE

VIDEO: Andrew Napolitano - Progressive Disaster

Sen. David Vitters: Obama's Energy Doubletalk

The gap continues to widen between what President Obama claims to be true about domestic energy production and what Louisianians know is true.  With prices at the pump climbing toward $4 a gallon, the President is asking us to believe that his administration supports expanded drilling off the Gulf Coast.  Those of us who live there know that nothing could be further from the truth.  ...   MORE

John Stossel: End the Drug War, Save Black America

One key to getting past the race issue in America is to end the war on drugs. John McWhorter says it's the most important thing we could do. Cato's Letter features a lecture by McWhorter in which he calls for an end to the war on drugs. (It's really a war on certain people.) McWhorter, the former Berkeley linguistics professor and now senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, specifically indicts the war on drugs   ...  MORE

VIDEO: Andrew Klavan - Your Public Sector Unions at Work

Larry Thornberry: Cap And Control The EPA

There's a relatively new front in the war against elephantine government and the Obama administration's socialist dreams. It's called The Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, and it's gotten less attention than it deserves, even in the conservative press. If it becomes law, the bill, which the full House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved 34-19 on Tuesday, would prohibit the federal Environmental Protection Agency ... MORE

Art Carden: Walking On Broken Glass?

Can we avoid natural disasters?  Probably not.  Can we avoid disastrous economic ignorance?  Yes.  The disaster in Japan provides yet another tragic illustration of how fallacies permeate the public conversation. First, destruction is not production.  It never is, and society isn’t better off because of it.  To claim otherwise is to fall victim to the Broken Window Fallacy, a fallacy that was exploded by Frederic Bastiat ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Green Jobs

Jacob Sullum: Let There Be Light

Dim bulbs in Washington have condemned me to pee in the dark.
During a Senate hearing last week, Rand Paul complained about the federal energy standards that will force conventional incandescent light bulbs off the market during the next few years. "I can't buy the old light bulbs," the Tennessee Republican said. "That restricts my choice." ...  MORE

Walter E Williams: Continuing Stubborn Ignorance

Within the past decade, I've written three columns titled "Deception 101," "Stubborn Ignorance," and "Exploiting Public Ignorance," all explaining which branch of the federal government has taxing and spending authority. How can academics, politicians, news media people and ordinary citizens get away with statements such as "Reagan's budget deficits," "Clinton's budget surplus," "Bush's budget deficits and  ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Blacks and Republicans

San Francisco irrepressible former mayor, Willie Brown, was walking along one of the city's streets when he happened to run into another former city official that he knew, James McCray. McCray's greeting to him was "You're 10."  "What are you talking about?" Willie Brown asked. McCray replied: "I just walked from Civic Center to Third Street and you're only the 10th black person I've seen." That is hardly  ...  MORE

VIDEO: Central Planning Defeating Individual Liberty

Lurita Doan: Real Battle - Makers vs Takers

Ideological budget battles between GOP and Dems in congress mask the real battle erupting across America-- the battle between the makers and the takers. Entrepreneurs and other working Americans, the makers, are growing tired of government's rapacious hand in their financial pocket and they are becoming more aggressive and more outspoken in their protests. Dems should expect this trend to continue.  ...  MORE

Get Your Dirty Hands Off Of Our Light Bulbs!

In the United States today, thousands upon thousands of ridiculous federal regulations tightly control almost every area of our lives. One example of this is that starting on Jan 1st, we are no longer going to be able to buy certain kinds of light bulbs in the United States. Back in 2007, President George W. Bush signed a law that mandates the following: "Manufactures will no longer be able to make the ...  MORE

Brian Doherty: Atlas Shrugged - Is A (Movie) Really A (Book)

The official release of the movie Atlas Shrugged Part One, based on Ayn Rand's controversial 1957 novel, is not until April 15. It then begins a limited theatrical rollout in 11 American cities (which the producers hope will grow from there). It has already been previewed to selected audiences in Los Angeles, D.C., and New York. I saw it in Los Angeles, on the Sony Pictures lot, in a screening regretfully marred  ...  MORE

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - Freedom Not to Act