J D Tuccille: The Terrible Truth About The TSA

It's a failure at everything it does. We don't all all agree on whether the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has any business groping toddlers and destroying expensive medical equipment in the pursuit of its appointed mission of keeping travelers safe from scary terrorists. Quotable security expert Bruce Schneier calls it all pointless and oppressive  ... MORE

Gerri Willis: The Good Government Spending Myth Busted

When politicians spend more, citizens must spend less. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is out trying to promote the administration's free-spending policies. He's pushing back against Republicans who are calling for immediate budget cuts and long-term reform for social security and Medicare. To bolster his campaign for tax increases instead of deeper cuts ... MORE

VIDEO: Ayn Rand - Is Atlas Shrugging?

Gustin L Reichbach: A Judge's Plea For Medical Marijuana

A law that requires the innocent to suffer. Three and a half years ago, on my 62nd birthday, doctors discovered a mass on my pancreas. It turned out to be Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. I was told I would be dead in four to six months. Today I am in that rare coterie of people who have survived this long with the disease. But I did not foresee that after having dedicated    ... MORE

What Does Ron Paul Have Against Gary Johnson?

by Ben Jacobs.   Why won’t Ron Paul back Gary Johnson? On a campaign conference call today, campaign spokesperson Jesse Benton said that Paul would not back Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson under any circumstances.  This was the most definitive language used by Benton on a call laced with caveats.  Benton said that Paul was “not likely” to   ... MORE

VIDEO: 3 Lies About Wisc Gov. Scott Walker Recall

Tricia Escobedo: Group Argues Weed Is Safer Than Booze

Ad campaign injects reality into Colorado debate.   Colorado advocacy group is spending thousands of dollars to convince people that smoking pot is safer than drinking alcohol. It's an attempt by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol to rally support for a vote in November that would legalize the drug for recreational use.  ... MORE

Investors.Com: ALEC And The Left's War On Free Speech

Journalists show their "free speech" colors. If you want an insight into today's left, look at its multifront war against the American Legislative Exchange Council for committing the grave sin of pushing free-market bills in state legislatures. At a recent meeting in Washington, Aniello Alioto of ProgressNow Colorado summed up the left-wing's campaign against  ... MORE

Andrew Napolitano: Is There A Drone In Your Backyard?

What happened to the right to be left alone? Earlier this week, the federal government announced that the Air Force might be dispatching drones to a backyard near you. The stated purpose of these spies in the sky is to assist local police to find missing persons or kidnap victims, or to chase bad guys. If the drone operator sees you doing anything of interest  ... MORE

ObamaCare Patient-Dumping, Privacy Meddling & Cronyism


by Michelle Malkin.   The stench of Chicago cronyism over the White House just got fouler. Inhale this: A shadowy $10 billion Obamacare agency with zero oversight just awarded first lady Michelle Obama’s pet patient-dumping scheme at the University of Chicago Medical Center a $5.9 million taxpayer-funded grant. It will enable Mrs. Obama’s cronies to build a ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Regulation Nation

Ted Nugent: The Great California Nightmare

Bankrupt state serves as a warning to the rest of AmericaI was reminded of that last week when I heard from Sergei Shevchuk, a reader who was flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Delta Air Lines. "I was pleasantly surprised when an officer advised me not to take out my laptop and liquids and to keep my shoes and jacket on," he told me. "They said they've been   ... MORE

When Will Obama Evolve On The Drug War?

by Sheldon Richman. Much is made of how President Obama’s position on same-sex marriage has “evolved” to an endorsement of legalization. One hopes his position on the atrocity called the “war on drugs” is evolving. It’s not really a war on drugs. It’s a war on people, most of whom have committed no violence or other aggression against person or     ... MORE

VIDEO: Don Boudreaux: Why I Am A Libertarian

Christopher Elliot: What Do Really Know About The TSA?

Enough to know they should be defunded?  When it comes to the TSA, you may know less than you think. I was reminded of that last week when I heard from Sergei Shevchuk, a reader who was flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Delta Air Lines. "I was pleasantly surprised when an officer advised me not to take out my laptop and liquids ... MORE

Julie Stachowiak: Confirmed. Medical Marijuana Helps MS

Could scientists know more than politicians? I'll admit, I found it a little weird to see this all over the news of the multiple sclerosis world. I kind of thought we already pretty much knew that marijuana helped with certain MS symptoms. I guess the big news here is that this was a well-run, rigorous (albeit small) study. In this study, published in the      ... MORE

Robert Costa: The Younger Paul Eyes 2016

Libertarians take heart, Rand Paul rises.    As Representative Ron Paul, a 76-year-old Texan, slows down his presidential campaign, libertarians are looking for their next champion. But their search will be short. Over the past two years, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the candidate’s charismatic son, has established himself as a favorite ... MORE

John Stossel: Making Life Fair

Do you really want to surrender your fate to politicians?   When my wife was a liberal, she complained that libertarian reasoning is coldhearted. Since markets produce winners and losers -- and many losers did nothing wrong -- market competition is cruel. It must seem so. President Obama used the word "fair" in his last State of the Union address   ... MORE

VIDEO: FOX NEWS - Government Eyes In The Sky

NY Post: The Senate's Foolish USPS Bailout

A good reason for taxpayers to go postal. The US Postal Service is so mired in debt that nothing can save it from going bust — but the Senate is trying to dump a $33.7 billion bailout in its lap anyway. Against the Postal Service’s wishes. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe did something brave last year: He tried to bring USPS into the age of instant electronic  ... MORE

Paul Joseph Watson: Talking Surveillance Cameras

See what's coming to a street near you.    Talking surveillance cameras that bark orders at passers-by and can also record conversations are heading for U.S. streets, with manufacturer Illuminating Concepts announcing the progress of its ‘Intellistreets’ system. As we first reported last year, high tech street lights with “homeland security       ... MORE

VIDEO: Is Free Enterprise Really Based on Greed?

Emily O'Neill: Public School Is Prison For Patriots

Public education teaches not to question authority.   When I was twelve, my mom took me out of public school and homeschooled me. I chose my own reading list and learned all I could about politics, law, and history. Eventually my mom didn’t have to call meetings at the kitchen table to check on my progress. I wanted to learn — and I wanted to arrive at my  ... MORE

Gene Healy: From Watergate to Wedgiegate

The nasty pranks potential candidates committed as kids. From Watergate to Wedgiegate—the Washington Post's investigative journalism has sure come a long way. If last week's "expose" on Mitt Romney's prep-school bullying is any indication, from now on the fully informed voter will have to pore over every nasty prank potential candidates committed as ... MORE

Krauthammer On Drones: "Stop It Here, Stop It Now"

Government marches toward a police state.  "I'm going to go hard left on you here, I'm going ACLU," syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said in opposition to the use of drones on the U.S. homeland. "I don't want regulations, I don't want restrictions, I want a ban on this. Drones are instruments of war. The Founders had a great aversion to any      ... MORE

William Tucker: It Will Be Hot In Texas This Summer

Courtesy of federal energy policies.    Texas, the most energy-intensive state in the nation, could be facing a severe electrical shortage this summer. How could such a thing happen? Mainly, it's the result of a long series of federal interventions that have finally left the state turning in circles about what to do next. First, the gory details. Last summer  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Saving Endangered Species

Walter E Williams: Should We Obey All Laws?

Only if we are truly a nation of sheep. Let's think about whether all acts of Congress deserve our respect and obedience. Suppose Congress enacted a law — and the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional — requiring American families to attend church services at least three times a month. Should we obey such a law? Suppose Congress, acting under the    ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: A Censored Race War?

A one-way street called 'hate crimes.' When two white newspaper reporters for the Virginian-Pilot were driving through Norfolk, and were set upon and beaten by a mob of young blacks — beaten so badly that they had to take a week off from work — that might seem to have been news that should have been reported, at least by their own newspaper.   ... MORE

VIDEO: The Jones Plantation


A parable of democracy.

Daniel Halper: $16 Billion Deficit In California

Another bad gamble by the bluest of states. California Governor Jerry Brown bet that a nascent financial recovery would lift the world’s ninth- largest economy enough to whittle down a $9.2 billion deficit. Instead, the gap has widened to $16 billion. Today the 74-year-old Democrat will unveil his revised budget and explain what additional spending must be cut.  ... MORE

Peter L Gray: Don't Board 'Fracking Banned' Wagon

Another empty scare tactic to promote green energy.  In my last column, I preached patience for those who question the safety of extracting shale gas via fracking. In this month’s column, I profile the growing trend of states and localities electing to ban fracking in response to fears that it might cause groundwater contamination. The availability of cheap  ... MORE

Jeffrey Folks: Your Money Or Your Schools

Jerry Brown's threat. As a child, I was fond of adventure stories about the exploits of pirates, highwaymen, and miscreants of all sorts.  In every such tale there was the moment when the dashing if disreputable protagonist confronts a gaggle of respectable folk and proclaims, "Stand and deliver.  Your money or your life!"  At the age of eight, armed with  ... MORE

Mike Kimel: Libertarians And Privacy

Invasions of privacy, public and private.   Over at EconLog, David Henderson berates a fellow libertarian on the difference between Facebook at the Census.  But let's grant, for the sake of this discussion, that FB is quite contemptuous of privacy and that the Census Bureau is less so. Here's the difference. Every single person who signs up with Facebook  ... MORE

VIDEO: David Henderson - Joy Of Capitalism

John Fund: Censoring Naomi Riley

She was fired for having the courage to state the obvious. The Oslo Freedom Forum is an annual event sponsored by the New York–based Human Rights Foundation, which brings together dissidents and journalists from all over the world to show that people of good will can promote basic freedoms without an overlay of ideology. Censorship, both official  ... MORE

Manon McKinnon: A Tale Of Two Julias

One of them didn't let government cook for her. This is the story of two ladies named Julia -- one real and one not -- and of their ties to the land of France. The real Julia found her fate and fortune among the Gauls when she discovered French cuisine and determined to spread the word, and the recipes, to all American cooks. For its ability to inspire and ... MORE

VIDEO: EPA's Hot Air

The Case Against Taxpayer-Funded Crop Insurance

by Baylen Linnekin.   The Farm Bill, that quintessentially quinquennial congressional replenishment of the pork trough from which many of America’s farmers indulge, is now upon us. Late last month the bill, dubbed the Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012, cleared what will likely be its biggest hurdle when the bipartisan Senate Agriculture    ... MORE

Washington Times: More TSA Lies

Obnoxious agency caught fibbing to Congress again. Frequent flyers are no fans of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The blue-gloved bureaucrats are experts in making trips to the airport as unpleasant as possible. As a joint congressional panel revealed Wednesday, the agency’s biggest failing is its inability to grope the truth.     ... MORE