REUTERS: Lawmakers Unfazed By Downgrade Risk

Congress fiddles while America's economy burns. A growing number of lawmakers do not think another downgrade of the country's AAA rating will harm America's economy, raising questions about how much pressure Congress is under to fix the intractable budget deficit. Analysts warn, however, that signs of complacency on Capitol Hill threaten efforts to cure America's ... MORE

VIDEO: Ayn Rand - The Virtue Of Selfishness


Thinking about the virtue of acting in one's own rational self-interest.

John Stossel: School Competition Rescues Kids

Government's monopoly over k-12 education has failed. For years, American education from kindergarten through high school has been a virtual government monopoly. Conventional wisdom is that government must run the schools. But government monopolies don't do anything well. They fail because they have no real competition. Yet competition is what gives us ... MORE

BREITBART: Chicago May Decriminalize Marijuana

Freeing up resources for more serious crimes. Chicago pot smokers may soon be able to light up without fear of jail time. Several Windy City councilmen said Thursday they plan to introduce a local law that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in order to cut costs and free up police to handle more serious crimes. Chicago police ... MORE

GALLUP Poll: Support For Gun Control Lowest In 50 Years

Another manifestation of widespread distrust of government. A record-low 26% of Americans favor a legal ban on the possession of handguns in the United States other than by police and other authorized people. When Gallup first asked Americans this question in 1959, 60% favored banning handguns. But since 1975, the majority of Americans have opposed ... MORE

VIDEO: Gary Johnson Among the OWS Protesters

Ralph Reiland: First Cigarettes, Now Bacon And Eggs

Denmark's central planners lead the way. You knew it was coming. First they came for the cigarettes, then Hank Williams Jr. got knocked off Monday Night Football for being politically incorrect, and now they're coming for the butter. Denmark, on October 1, put a $1.29-per-pound tax on all foods that hit 2.3 percent in saturated fats. That's on top ... MORE

Yaron Brooks & Don Watkins: What We Owe Steve Jobs

First of all, gratitude.  Watching the world mourn Steve Jobs, we are reminded of how massive crowds of Americans used to gather to celebrate the launch of a new bridge or a new railroad. There is a widespread recognition that Jobs was a creative genius who changed our world profoundly and for the better. Even President Obama, not usually given to praising businessmen, said ... MORE

NY Times: New Poll Finds Deep Distrust Of Government

Approval Ratings Of Congress
The public seems to be catching on. With Election Day just over a year away, a deep sense of economic anxiety and doubt about the future hangs over the nation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, with Americans’ distrust of government at its highest level ever. The combustible climate helps explain the volatility of the presidential race and has ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - 99% Economic Illiteracy


People have taken to the streets mad as hell, but don't seem to understand why.

Thomas Sowell: The Media And 'Bullying'

Advancing the agenda of those in vogue.  Back in the 1920s, the intelligentsia on both sides of the Atlantic were loudly protesting the execution of political radicals Sacco and Vanzetti, after what they claimed was an unfair trial. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote to his young leftist friend Harold Laski, pointing out that there were "a thousand-fold ... MORE

Investors Business Daily: California's Economic Suicide

Proof that the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Regulations finalized by the California Air Resources Board establish the nation's first state-run cap-and-trade regime. Despite Solyndra, the state will gather solar panels while it may. The 262 pages of regulations implementing California's 2006 global warming legislation, Assembly Bill 32, approved by CARB last Thursday, will  ... MORE

Merrill Lynch Warns Of Another U.S. Debt Downgrade

Politicians fiddle while Rome burns. The United States is in for another credit downgrade by year’s end if Congress fails to agree on a long-term plan to tame the nation’s $14.8 trillion debt, Merrill Lynch warned. In a research note, the Bank of America unit predicts that either Moody’s or Fitch will move to downgrade the U.S. AAA rating. Standard & Poor’s cut  ... MORE

VIDEO: Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged


Documentary Movie Trailer. Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged looks into Rand's background for the ideas and philosophy that inspired and shaped her novel and seeks to determine whether America is indeed headed for the disastrous outcome she predicted.

Michael Barone: Cult Of Global Warming Losing Influence

Religious fervor always cools off. Religious faith is a source of strength in many people’s lives. But religious faith when taken too far can prove ludicrous — or disastrous. On Oct. 22, 1844, thousand of Millerites, having sold all their possessions, climbed to the top of hills in upstate New York to await the return of Jesus and the end of the world. They suffered “the ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Profits Are For People

Profit is not a four-letter word. The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are demanding "people before profits" — as if profit motivation were the source of mankind's troubles — when it's often the absence of profit motivation that's the true villain. First, let's get both the definition and magnitude of profits out of the way. Profits represent the residual claim earned by entrepreneurs.  ... MORE

Random Roadblocks In The Name Of Terrorism

TSA's warrantless search and seizures go on the road. When the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last year that it would soon begin setting up security checkpoints in places other than just airports, it definitely was not joking. News Channel 5 in Nashville, Tenn., has announced that Tennessee is the official inaugural state for the launch of TSA's ... MORE

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Parallels To Rome

Katherine Mangu-Ward: 5 Myths About Healthy Eating

A helping of skepticism regarding government fixes. It’s hard to argue against rules that give consumers more information. Perhaps for that reason, proposals to require restaurants to jam calorie, fat and other nutrition statistics onto already crowded signs and menus pop up over and over—most recently as part of the health-care reform law—despite the fact that ... MORE

George Reisman: In Praise Of The Capitalist 1 Percent

Everyone benefits from the hated capitalists. The protesters in the Occupy Wall Street movement and its numerous clones elsewhere in the country and around the world chant that 1 percent of the population owns all the wealth and lives at the expense of the remaining 99 percent. The obvious solution that they imply is for the 99 percent to seize the wealth of ... MORE