Don Watkins: President Obama Vs. My Grandfather

A conflict of visions. My grandfather, a gruff and uneducated but whip-smart guy, started out poor. Following a stint in the Army, he spent a few years working and scrimped together enough money to start his own restaurant in a small town near Philadelphia. He—and the rest of his family—worked incredibly long hours, first to keep the restaurant in    ... MORE

Jazz Shaw: Ethanol Plant Reopens Despite Massive Drought

Food dries up, but tax dollars keep flowing. Not too long ago, we took a look at the effect the drought is having on the nation’s farmers, particularly those producing corn. The situation isn’t improving, as is being widely reported, and the farmers are in dire straights. Prices are rising for not only corn for the dinner table, but all the other  ... MORE

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - The Quest For Cosmic Justice


There are two conflicting concepts of justice.

Michael G. Franc: 'Keep That Pay Raise, I Can't Afford It'

Welfare's upside-down incentive.   Does our $927 billion–per–year welfare state discourage the poor from seeking work? Does it cause them to shun pay hikes? Does it, in short, create dependency? This may be the most intractable problem afflicting the welfare state. With a renewed interest in the Clinton-era welfare reform and President Obama’s recent       ... MORE

New Warrantless Wiretap Ruling Makes Spying Legal

by Dan Graziano. A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled in favor of President George W. Bush’s controversial Terrorist Surveillance Program, which allows the government to spy on Americans without a warrant. The court reversed an earlier decision in which two American attorneys were awarded more than $20,000 in damages and their lawyers        ... MORE

VIDEO: SWAT Kills Unarmed Man During Drug Raid

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Graphic evidence of the sometimes dire consequences of the drug war.   In the video released by the Salt Lake Tribune, a member of the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force repeatedly shoots and kills resident Todd Blair as Blair steps into a hallway holding a golf club like a baseball bat. According to a Tribune article in December, Blair was not the target of the raid. ... MORE

Peter Schiff: The Not So Super Hero

We must stop waiting for a savior.   The past week provided clear lessons not just in how central bankers have a limited ability to positively influence the economy but also how they are limited in their capacity to deliver the shortsighted policy actions that investors currently crave. The developments should provide new reasons for investors and    ... MORE

The Problem Is There Is No Such Thing As "States' Rights"

by Frank Keegan.   When U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois tried to fire up a ballroom full of state legislators here Tuesday morning, he used the phrase “states’ rights.” It popped up a few other times as the National Conference of State Legislatures met for its annual “Build Strong States” summit. The only problem: There is no such thing as “states’  ... MORE

The Number Of Americans Spied Upon Is Too High To Count

by Andrew Napolitano. Gazillions. That's the number of times the federal government has spied on Americans since 9/11 through the use of drones, legal search warrants, illegal search warrants, federal agent-written search warrants and just plain government spying. This is according to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who, when he asked the government to tell him what it was ... MORE

John Stossel: Wars To End War

America needs to reevaluate the military's mission.     On his recent trip abroad, Mitt Romney observed an American taboo by not criticizing President Obama's military policy. But before his trip, he made his position clear. Obama has "exposed the military to cuts that no one can justify," Romney said. He meant that unless Congress intervenes  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - First Jobs

Richard E. Ralston: The Separation Of Medicine & State

For politicians, healthcare is all about control.     The federal government in general, and the Food and Drug Administration in particular, increasingly inject themselves into direct control of every medical practice. The FDA is aggressively moving past its lock on the approval of every medication and all medical equipment. It now seeks control     ... MORE

Carrie Lucas: Let's Make Education Big Business

Utilize profit, loss and high pay for top performance. When you see that Americans spend more than $1.1 trillion on education—that’s 7.8 percent of GDP—it’s tempting to call education “big business.”  Except that it’s not really: 80 percent of that spending is controlled by government and spent on public schools and universities.  That means that it’s ... MORE

VIDEO: Celebrating the End of the Fairness Doctrine

Doug Bandow: Killing The Economy With Gov't Stimulus

Death by spending.    President Barack Obama’s presidency hangs in the balance after another disappointing employment report.  He continues to advocate new government “stimulus” programs to boost his reelection campaign.  However, Washington is awash in government “stimulus,” without effect.  Only productive private investment will spark economic   ... MORE

A. Barton Hinkle: Got A Pencil? You Didn't Build That

Nobody can make a pencil by himself.     Most people would never accuse President Obama of memorizing Milton Friedman under the covers at night. Yet the patron saint of laissez-faire probably would not take as much exception as many Republicans have to Obama’s comment in Roanoke three weeks ago that “if you’ve got a business – you didn’t build that.   ... MORE

Gene Healy: Take Me Down To The Parasite City

The District is blooming. Have you seen the latest jobs report? Major buzzkill: creeping unemployment, anemic growth, and the recovery's totally stalled. But not here: The District is booming! "Washington may have the healthiest economy of any major metropolitan area in the country," says New York Times D.C. bureau chief David Leonhardt in Sunday's   ... MORE

Gary M. Galles: Expand Freedom, Not Government

State power has an unbroken record of inability.   President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” rationalization for increasing taxes has since been “clarified” to the fact that teachers, roads, bridges, etc., provided by government, “gave you some help.”  But it still doesn’t support his conclusion. President Obama is mistakenly equating society  ... MORE

VIDEO: FOX NEWS - Will Authorities Abuse Skype?

Lisa Cerda: Hi-Jacking Your Privacy

Government laser will analyze you at the molecular level.   Your privacy is a highly prized possession, and the government wants to take it away. You may not even notice it is gone at first, but then one day, when you least expect it, your going to want your privacy back. But it will be too late. The government will have gathered and stored enough information ... MORE

Steve Forbes: To Help Free Market, Bury The Hatchett

Congress must get out of the way. We all want America’s economy to improve and realize that crony capitalism — where Washington politicians, not free markets, decide who succeeds — is a barrier to prosperous growth. Yet industries still dispatch lobbyists to Capitol Hill to get a legislative or regulatory “fix” when there’s a marketplace  ... MORE

VIDEO: Talk Back on Jobs - Cooperation

Thomas Sowell: Sports Versus Politics

Empirical evidence has great value.   It has long seemed to me that there is far more rationality in sports, and in commentaries on sports, than there is in politics and in commentaries on politics. What has puzzled me is why this is so, when what happens in politics has far more serious effects on people's lives. To take one common example, there are many people ... MORE

Robert Taylor: Your TSA Pat Down Will Only Get Worse

TSA refuses to hold hearing on "naked body scanners."   The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is once again in the news for refusing to obey a federal appeals court order from last year mandating that the agency hold public hearings over its "naked body scanners." They'll get around to it in 2013, says TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers.   ... MORE

Little League Lawsuit Epitomizes A Big League Problem

by Anthony W. Hager.  Some things can't be fully appreciated unless compared to their opposites.  We hold light dear because its absence is darkness.  Crisp autumn mornings are sweeter when compared to summer's searing heat.  Likewise, reward can't be fully valued without risk.  The connection between risk and reward is a common element in    ... MORE

Walter E Williams: Liberals, Progressives & Socialists

Where the tiny steps are taking us. In Europe, especially in Germany, hoisting a swastika-emblazoned Nazi flag is a crime. For decades after World War II, people have hunted down and sought punishment for Nazi murderers, who were responsible for the deaths of more than 20 million people. Here's my question: Why are the horrors of Nazism so well-known and    ... MORE

VIDEO: Real World Effects Of Minimum Wage


John Stossel. Why minimum wage laws have made life more difficult for low skill workers and spelled the end for movie ushers and gas station attendants.

Alva Noe: Legalize It: An Argument For 'Doping' In Sports

What does natural mean today?  Rocky's coach forbade him to have sex with his girlfriend while he was in training. Was this because he would be so tired out by sex? Or was it that the coach believed it would alter Rocky's drive, or mindset, somehow making him happy and relaxed, depriving him of the disturbed drive, the hunger, to win? I was just a kid when I    ... MORE

David Henderson: Getting Rich In America

Eight simple rules.     Sometimes, when the person beside me on an airplane finds out that I'm an economist, he/she will ask, "What's going to happen to the economy?" I answer, "I don't know." If the person is somewhat more sophisticated, he will ask "What's going to happen to interest rates?" I used to answer, "I don't know." I now answer:    ... MORE

VIDEO: Who Needs Economic Freedom ... ?



What Could Phelps Have Done Had He Not Smoked Pot?

by Nick Gillespie. As the sports world says a fond farewell to Michael Phelps, the most bemedaled Olympian that ever was, it's worth remembering the idiotic moral outrage that exploded when this picture of the eventual 18-gold-medal-winning swimmer surfaced in early 2009. To me, the most appalling aspect was the public apology that Phelps ended up giving ... MORE

Harry Binswanger: Revenge Of The Zeros

Battle between Rand and collectivism reaches a climax. With President Obama’s line “You didn’t build that,” the battle between individualism and collectivism has reached a climax. Obama has openly denied individual achievement, spitting in the face of every individual who ever had a creative thought. Obama has ventured to say straight   ... MORE

The Free Market Doesn't Need Government Regulation

by Sheldon Richman.   Most people believe that government must regulate the marketplace. The only alternative to a regulated market, the thinking goes, is an unregulated market. On first glance that makes sense. It’s the law of excluded middle. A market is either regulated or it’s not. Cashing in on the common notion that anything unregulated    ... MORE

Katie Kieffer: Where Is John Galt? Part Two

Entrepreneurs must take action.  Part One is here.   Now. And by ‘action,’ I mean protesting the federal government’s unconstitutional taxes and regulations. Or, the guilt is theirs if the economy tanks. Luckily, entrepreneurs have two role models to help them develop action plans: John Galt and Steve Jobs. Last week, I wrote that in order   ... MORE

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - Morality Crisis

Tait Trussell: Doctor's Fear For Medicine's Future

Incentives of ObamaCare are driving doctors away.    In a new national poll, doctors say they must now decide if they can continue practicing medicine in their patients’ best interest or bow to bureaucratically-set restrictions that take precedence over patient necessities. Another stark choice some doctors ponder is: Can I    ... MORE

Bill Frezza: Lost Liberty & The Wisdom Of The Olive Tree

Will it ever sprout again?  It’s easy to despair watching the flame of liberty flicker and die. To accept the sad fact that our Founders’ vision of limited government could not be sustained despite the constitutional straitjacket they so carefully designed. To lament the failure of the greatest experiment ever undertaken to secure the fruits of   ... MORE

VIDEO: Handcuffed Man Shot in Back of Police Car


Police maintain it was a suicide.

Daniel J. Flynn: You Didn't Win That

What Michael Phelps hasn't learned about fairness.   Swimmer Michael Phelps won his twentieth Olympic medal last night when he defeated fellow American Ryan Lochte in the 200-meter medley. And his Olympics haven't yet ended. Should he qualify, Phelps could extend his medal record in the 100-meter butterfly later today and the 4x100-meter medley ... MORE

Evan Mackey: Fed to the Sharks by Political Correctness

There are still humans driven by dark urges.   Cable television is replete with nature-themed shows these days.  Some of the most popular are those that feature quirky blokes who get dangerously close to deadly animals, usually because they claim to have an understanding of the beasts. The results are predictably dangerous, and sometimes deadly.     ... MORE