October 21, 2017

Federal court ponders Constitutionality of prostitution ban

from Reason: "Why should it be illegal to sell something that you can give away for free?"
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

USA Liberty Act won’t fix what’s most broken with NSA internet surveillance

from EFF: The bill doesn’t end the practice of “backdoor searching,” when government agents — including domestic law enforcement — search through the NSA-gathered communications of Americans without any form of warrant from a judge.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Republicans officially give up trying to cut spending

from Reason: After all that fuss from 2009 onward, Rand Paul is the last Republican left objecting to the continued growth of government.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

DHS pays police millions to ticket and prosecute motorists

from MassPrivatei: Police pull over more than 50,000 drivers on a typical day, more than 20 million motorists every year. So why do they need more money still?
Police State America

50 state study shows that more requirements lead to less jobs

from Will-Law: States with more burdensome licensure requirements (fees, training hours, exams, and age requirements) had significantly lower employment in the ten professional occupations.
Regulation Nation

The media blackout of Clinton-uranium scandal senate probe

from CNS News: Media bias is currently “on full display,” Media Research Center President Brent Bozell warned Thursday as network news continued to ignore the Senate probe into the Clinton-Uranium scandal.
Media Bias on Parade

October 17, 2017

Survey find Americans’ views on free speech is a whole bunch of crazy

from the Daily Bell: Why a whole bunch of crazy?
"There are no contradictions. If you see a contradiction, check your premises. One of them is wrong" -- Ayn Rand
Indoctrination and Censorship

Who's the Harvey Weinstein of sex work? The police

from Reason: This week has a lot of people wondering "who's the Harvey Weinstein?" of their industry. For sex workers, the answer is all too often a local cop.
Police State America

Chicago's soda tax fizzles

from Reason: Everybody realized it was about bringing in money, not improving public health.
Regulation Nation

⭐️  Walter E Williams: Who pays what in taxes?

from Creators: Today, some politicians argue that the rich must pay their fair share and label the proposed changes in tax law as tax cuts for the rich. Let's look at who pays what.
Economic Policy: Statism vs. The Free Market

Rand Paul: The insurance companies are extorting us, Trump stopped that

from RealClearPolitics: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) discusses the president's executive order on the Affordable Care Act, why he says the plan is an attempt to empower consumers and why this could be a bipartisan issue.
Regulation Nation

ICE’s civil forfeiture guidelines leaked, and they’re not good

from RealClearPolitics: A government handbook reveals details of its legalized theft program. The concern is strictly about the value of property with no consideration of justice.
The Government is Not Us

September 23, 2017

The treasonous media hates America

from LibertyCrier: Compelling evidence is presented in an 11-minute video of Trump's words and media coverage.
Media Bias on Parade

Unlawful rental registries: Coming soon to a city near you

from The Free Thought Project: Unlike the federal government, local government cannot print money. In order to grow, they have to mine for new revenue sources.
The Government is Not Us

Cop who threw handcuffed man into lake and watched him drown, gets only 10 days in jail

from The Free Thought Project: To prove once and for all that no one is above the law, the state punishes one of its own.
Police State America

Look around! Common law works. government statute doesn’t.

from The Daily Bell: Wouldn’t that be great if you could simply base your actions on common sense and respect for the standards of a community?
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Rand Paul: ‘I won’t be bribed or bullied’ on repeal vote

from The Hill: Rand Paul is one of the few politicians who was actually committed to repealing Obamacare. He has voted to do so each time. But he will not rubber stamp Obamacare Lite.
Regulation Nation

California demands money from Gatorade to protect water from slander

from Reason: California politicians take nitwittery to the next level in order to shakedown a productive corporation.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

VIDEO: Rand Paul - The Folly Of Foreign Aid

John Stossel: Libertarian Lite

Lighten up, truth can be scary. In this year's Republican presidential primaries, Sen. Rand Paul got little traction. In 2012, his father failed. That year, the Libertarian Party candidate, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, got just 1 percent of the vote. We libertarians must be doing something wrong. Maybe our anti-government message is too   ... MORE

VIDEO: Rep. Justin Amash On Dumping Trump, Supporting Ted Cruz, And Why Apple Shouldn't Unlock Its iPhone

Rand Paul Weighs In On The Apple-FBI Dispute

by Elias J. Atienza.      Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) told CN2 that Apple shouldn’t be compelled to hack the encrypted iPhone of San Bernadino shooter, Syed Farook. Apple has strongly opposed a court ordered request by the FBI to open the phone, citing that it could create a backdoor and weaken the security and privacy  of users. “What’s extraordinary ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: What Rand Paul Brought To The Race

The fate of the only small government candidate.  During the last Republican presidential debate in which he participated, Rand Paul condemned the National Security Agency's mass collection of Americans' telephone records, cautioned against reckless intervention in Syria's civil war, and declared that a "true fiscal conservative" must "look   ... MORE

Joel Kurtinitis: Ted Cruz’s Quiet Coup In Iowa

The process of discovery.    I came home exhausted on Caucus night, just as I had many other nights in the year leading up to our first-in-the-nation nominating contest. As a veteran of the Ron Paul revolution, I considered myself a hardened political warrior, charging the trenches of the establishment and lobbing internet hand grenades at     ... MORE

Nick Gillespie: Two Cheers (& More!) For Rand Paul!

This was only the beginning.      With Rand Paul's suspension of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination comes an understandable deluge of autopsies, elegies, screw-yous, and snarky subtweets. Yet I come not to bury the "libertarian-ish" Paul but to praise him. In five short years as a senator, he's already elevated a host ... MORE

The Only Small Government Candidate Leaves The Race

by Anthony L. Fisher.  The era of big government continues. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul has suspended his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. In a statement released this morning, Paul wrote: It's been an incredible honor to run a principled campaign for the White House. Today, I will end where I began, ready and willing to    ... MORE

Jacob Sullum: Corny Crony Capitalism In Iowa

Only 2 candidates won't pander to ethanol lobby.    The "report card" from America's Renewable Future, a biofuel industry group, is not complicated. If you are a presidential candidate participating in Monday's Iowa caucuses and you support "the commonsense, bipartisan Renewable Fuel Standard," you get a "good rating," symbolized by a fuel    ... MORE

John Stossel: Running On Empty

Using tax dollars to buy votes in Iowa.      Cars run on fuel. Politicians run on votes, and they'll do almost anything to get them. That includes supporting mandates that force us to use ethanol, a fuel made from corn that Iowa farmers grow. They support ethanol because Iowa is the first state to vote on presidential candidates. Candidates     ... MORE

VIDEO: Rand Paul - A Message Of Opportunity

VIDEO: John Stossel - Regulation Nation

VIDEO: Rand Paul On How To Win Iowa And The Presidency

High Price Of Principles: Ted Cruz And Rand Paul Will Pay In Iowa For Their Failure To Pander To The Ethanol Lobby

by Alexander Bolton.      Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.) are trying to avoid an ethanol landmine in Iowa. Both Republican senators have criticized federal subsidies for ethanol, which are popular in Iowa, the state hosting the first Republican contest in the 2016 race for the White House. Iowa kingmakers in the party such as Sen. Chuck    ... MORE

VIDEO: Rand Paul - GOP Debate: Singles Night

VIDEO: We Need Smart Foreign Policy

Stop Expecting Rand Paul To Be Ron Paul

by Eric July.    Libertarian elitism is something that truly annoys me, but it really shows itself when we have these Rand Paul vs. Ron Paul discussions during our current election cycle. Do not get me wrong, it isn’t completely absurd that someone would compare a man to his father. But if one is alluding to an expectation that Rand is supposed to be   ... MORE