VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Words vs Realities


Professor Sowell explains some of the blue smoke and mirrors used in the healthcare debate.

The Obama Tax Hike Machete

by John Berlau. In his deficit reduction "vision" speech on Wednesday, President Obama tried to distinguish his plan from that of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan by using a rather crude analogy. The president said, "We have to use a scalpel and not a machete to reduce the deficit." But when it comes to tax hikes -- to extend the analogy -- the Obama administration's 2012 budget is charging ... MORE

Steve Chapman: Fertilizing Farms With Tax Dollars

The case against farm welfare. If you don't mind sweat, dirt, or the smell of manure, this is a great time to be a farmer. Incomes are up, land values are high, and global demand is growing. Oh, and if you're one of the lucky farmers, there's a bonus: a tap on the federal treasury. Farm subsidies are an oddity in a competitive, capitalist economy. In what other business can you expect continuing  ... MORE

Peter Suderman: Debt Wrong

Obama bets the government can save itself.  “From our first days as a nation, we have put our faith in free markets and free enterprise as the engine of America’s wealth and prosperity,” President Barack Obama declared in a speech at George Washington University yesterday. “More than citizens of any other country, we are rugged individualists, a self-reliant people with a healthy ... MORE

VIDEO: What The Initials "IRS" Really Mean

Thomas Sowell: Taxes and Politics

Someone once said that taxes are the price we pay for civilization. That may have been true when he said it, but today taxes are mostly the price we pay so that politicians can play Santa Claus and get reelected. That's not the worst of it. We may think of taxes as just a source of government revenue. But tax rates are a big political statement on the left, whether they bring in any revenue or not. ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Complex Inferiority

This year, for the first time in more than a decade, I ventured outside the reassuring realm of TurboTax while preparing my return, looking for a late-arriving form at the IRS website. It's scary out there. Staring at bewildering forms and instructions, I flashed back to the days when I did my taxes by hand, based on my uncertain understanding of what was required, and hoped for the best— ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Eat The Rich

I've often said that I wish there were some humane way to get rid of the rich. If you asked why, I'd answer that getting rid of the rich would save us from distraction by leftist hustlers promoting the politics of envy. Not having the rich to fret over might enable us to better focus our energies on what's in the best interest of the 99.99 percent of the rest of us. Let's look at some facts about the rich  ... MORE

VIDEO: Andrew Napolitano - Is This American Justice?

FCC Internet Regulation: Not So Fast

by John White. In the House, HJ37, the resolution to disapprove the FCC action, has been approved on a floor vote of 238 to 174. Last December, under cover of the holidays and the spectacle of the lame duck Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) defied a federal court and enacted an internet regulatory takeover. In answer, the House began moving House Joint Resolution 37 through ... MORE

Doug Bandow: Tax Freedom Day -- Not

Taxes cost Americans more than food, shelter and clothing combined.
Americans finally finish working for the federal government on April 12 this year. That's three days later than last year, but still a couple weeks earlier than Tax Freedom Day in 2006 and 2007, April 24. The record in both peace and war was May 1 in 2000. Had Al Gore defeated George W. Bush in that year, TFD probably would have  ... MORE

VIDEO: How One Weiner Deals With Obamacare

Chicago School Nannies Ban Home-Packed Lunches

Students of Little Village Academy in Chicago are banned from eating packed lunches brought from home and must eat cafeteria food unless they have a medical excuse. The policy has resulted in chanting, uneaten food dropped in bins and angry parents. The school says it is trying to protect students from their unhealthy food choices but pupils have been stirring up chants at lunchtime of: ‘We should bring our own lunch' ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Leave Us Alone


Cut taxes, cut spending, cut regulation!

Import Brazil's Oil Policy, Not Brazil's Oil

In 1980, Brazil imported 77 percent of its oil.  Now, it imports 0.0 percent. During that same period, America increased its oil imports from roughly 30 percent to 70 percent.  If Brazil can become completely self-sufficient in oil, why can't America start becoming more self-sufficient? Brazil is one of the BRICs, an acronym that refers to the nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the rising powers. The BRIC have been ... MORE

Capitalism Embraced Everywhere But Here

by Maxwell Strachan. Nearly three years after the financial system first came perilously close to collapse, American support for an unregulated free market appears to have cratered. A new report by GlobeScan, an international opinion research consultancy, suggests that the number of Americans who believe in the strength of the free market economy dropped markedly last year. In fact, according to the  ... MORE