September 28, 2017

The campus free-speech crisis deepens

from National Review: Suspending or expelling students who shout-down speakers, disrupt campus events, or take over campus buildings is the single most important step that can be taken to end the free-speech crisis. Yet administrators will not act.
Indoctrination and Censorship

The secret slush funds of asset forfeiture

from Reason: Two investigations published this week reveal how police and prosecutors spend asset forfeiture funds outside the public eye.
Police State America

Patriots and protesters should take a knee for the Constitution

from Rutherford Institute: John Whitehead talks about patriotism and President Trump’s call for “respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem.”
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Florida town booted food truck offering meals to hurricane survivors after nearby restaurant complained

from Reason: Does government exist to serve the people or represent well-connected cronies? You decide.
The Government is Not Us

Illegal immigration cost Americans a record $135 billion last year

from The Washington Examiner: John Whitehead talks about patriotism and President Trump’s call for “respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem.”
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Jeff Sessions just made the chief of the DEA look like a pothead's hero

from Reason: Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg reportedly resigned in part over the Justice Department's obstruction of marijuana research.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

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

September 21, 2017

Who truly imperils our free society? 

from Creators Syndicate: A revealing and insightful look into the barbarians destroying America from within.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Hours after Hurricane Irma, Miami-Dade county tickets residents for code violations 

from New York Post: Government wasted no time identifying Hurricane Irma not just as a storm but a windfall.
The Government is Not Us

John Stossel: Detoured by Government

from Creators Syndicate: More and more Americans are learning that licensing is about revenue collection and restricting competition for incumbent businesses. It is not about consumer protection but rather cronyism.
Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

Police in Oklahoma City fatally shoot man who was holding a stick

from New York Post: 2 cops see a man accused of no crimes holding a stick. One tasers him and the other shoots. The man dies. Cops get a vacation, man gets a funeral.
Police State America

France set to make wolf-whistling at women illegal

from Milo: Governments are relentless in their efforts control every facet of human behavior. Even the most benign expressions of unapproved thought are to be criminalized. France takes the lead.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

DHS pays police millions to ticket and prosecute motorists

from MassPrivatei: The odds of being ticketed by police are increasing at an alarming rate, as politicians and law enforcement invent new ways to take money from the public.
Police State America

September 13, 2017

Slash government regulations, cut red tape, and prosper 

from Forbes: Georgia’s path shows that a country can unlock a huge potential for increasing productivity, prosperity, and health just by adjusting its rules and regulations to allow its private sector to thrive.
Regulation Nation

🎬  Police ‘protect’ society by stealing man’s money for improperly selling hot dogs 

from The Free Thought Project: UC Berkeley Police were filmed taking the money out of a hot dog vendor's wallet as they gave him a ticket for not having a permit.
Police State America

Study: the liberal media’s summer of pummeling Trump

from MRC Newsbusters: It's official, Trump coverage was 91 percent negative. Fortunately for Trumpster, the mainstream media is correctly perceived as players, not refs.
Media Bias on Parade

Clinton already working on follow-up book casting blame for failures of first 

from The Onion: Breaking: Amazon slashes Hillary’s book price 40% before it even hit the shelves .
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

🎬  Flex your JURY NULLIFICATION rights

from LibertyPen: A short, but enlightening discussion of jury nullification. Steve Silverman, Thomas Woods Jr.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

September 6, 2017

The maximum price of the minimum wage

from The Washington Times:  When the bill for feel-good economics comes due, only the ignorant scream.
Regulation Nation

When cowards give in to looters, the American people are the losers

from The American Spectator:  Republicans wave the white flag on Obamacare as RINO senators and governors move toward a blueprint for surrender. When they ran for election, the GOP put on their masks. When they failed to act, they took them off.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Wisconsin moves to be first state ever to nullify federal cannabis prohibition through legislation

from The Free Thought Project:  State nullification of federal marijuana prohibition is completely constitutional, with the feds having little, if any, recourse to stop the process. Until now, cannabis has been legalized ONLY through direct initiative of the people, not by our so-called representatives.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Internet censorship bill would spell disaster for speech and innovation

from Electronic Frontier Foundation:  The bill, named the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, would not stop sex traffickers (its stated pretense), but it would chill free expression.
Indoctrination and Censorship

A 2020 Democratic agenda is emerging

from The Washington Post:  Intolerant and unrealistic, the party ditches pretended moderation and will openly fight for their left-wing agenda.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

September 2, 2017

Hollywood & New Yorkers Agree: We should aspire to be more like starving Venezuelans

from Squawker:  The Bernie Sanders' mentality of imposing universal poverty as a means to achieve equality.
Leftists would be wise to grasp the wisdom of Milton Friedman: “A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither.
A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.”

Economic Policy: Statism vs The Free Market

Ohio’s Campus Free Speech Act helps build free minds, free people

from The Hill:  Free speech is the best antidote for poisonous ideas. That is why the intolerant left is so scared of it.
Students need to explore their ideas, not constrain them. Education is about learning how to think, not being told what to think.

Indoctrination and Censorship

FDA pushing forward with terrible menu-labeling rules

from The Hill:  Unless this idiotic provision of ObamaCare is repealed, menu labeling will continue to be abnormally costly and ineffective (since costly and ineffective is the normal state of government). 

Regulation Nation

Regulation Nation

Latest Update: August 9, 2017

Innovation drives the small manufacturing boom—if it can survive regulatory meddling
Face first into bureaucratic madness – opening a hot dog stand in California
NYC law that makes dog-sitting illegal without a license
Trump is quietly stacking the labor board with union busters

County sued for requiring 10 page permit application to play Pokemon Go in s public park

Why Is Insider Trading Illegal? It shouldn't be.

California extends water restrictions despite abundant rainfall

Adult women can't consent to sex in Louisiana

Licensing Laws Shut Young People Out Of The Job Market

by Ben Casselman.  Young people entering the job market have always faced challenges: a lack of skills and experience, limited professional networks, unfamiliarity with workplace culture and expectations. But increasingly, they are also facing another obstacle: legal requirements that can shut off avenues to jobs before they even get the chance  ... MORE

Raising Minimum Wage Is Perfect Way To Kill Summer Jobs

by Jonah Goldberg.   Expect more teenagers on the streets. I had a lot of summer jobs. I was a foot messenger in New York for a couple of summers. I worked as a receptionist and mail-room flunky. Before my junior year of high school, I briefly sold ice-cream snacks — sort of yuppie bonbons — on the street for a company called Love Bites.     ... MORE

Hyprocrisy On Steroids: California Labor Union That Fought To Impose $15 Minimum Wage Now Wants An Exemption

The point is to drive up the costs of their competition.  The labor union that led the charge for a $15 minimum wage hike in cities across California is now moving to secure an exemption for employers under union contracts. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor buried the exemption on the eighth page of its 12-page proposal for the  ... MORE

Ed Spillane: Many Judges Continue To Jail Defendants Without Money To Pay Fines. Here Are The Alternatives.

Why one judge refuses to send such folks to jail.   Melissa J. showed up in my court last year with four kids in tow. Her children quietly watched from a nearby table while I spoke with her. The charges against her — driving with an invalid license, driving without insurance, not wearing a seat belt, failure to use a child safety seat properly  ... MORE

When Did The U.S. Repeal The Laws Of Supply & Demand?

by A. Barton Hinkle. Of soda taxes & minimum wage. Back in October, The New York Times reported that the law of supply and demand still works. "Yes, Soda Taxes Seem to Cut Soda Drinking," the newspaper told its readers, relating the results of Mexico's new tax on sugary beverages. Mexico's measure imposed a 10 percent tax on soft drinks, and so  ... MORE

Federal Drug Warriors Push For Pill-Tracking Databases

Gov't wedging itself between doctors and patients.     The nation's top health officials are stepping up calls to require doctors to log in to pill-tracking databases before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs. The move is part of a multi-pronged strategy by the Obama administration to tame an epidemic of abuse and death tied to   ... MORE

Higher Minimum Wage Equals Higher Prices, More Taxes

by John Seiler.     I have dinner once a week with some friends here in Orange County. I set a limit of $20 for beer and food, or $80 a month. When the state minimum wage jumped to $10 an hour from $8 a couple years back, the restaurants increased their prices. So I cut back from a full meal to appetizers. It’s less enjoyment, but, as President John F. ... MORE

Sharon Harris: Free Market or… Freed Market?

Unschackle our regulated economy.   Here’s a neat little phrase that can be very handy when talking about economics: “freed market.” No, not “free market.” Freed market. Here’s why. As we’ve discussed in the past, “capitalism” is often not a very useful word for libertarians to use to describe the economic system we advocate. Sheldon      ... MORE

The Fourth Branch Of Government Is Out Of Control

by A. Barton Hinkle.   The unelected tyrants. America has witnessed a massive shift in government authority, says George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley—one that "has occurred without a national debate and certainly not a national vote." That shift has led to the de facto creation of a "fourth branch of government containing   ... MORE

Jake Macaulay: Men Invading Women’s Restrooms

The PC politicians are insisting on it.  The mayor of San Francisco has banned all publicly-funded city employees from traveling to North Carolina. The NBA is threatening to relocate next year’s All Star game from Charlotte, North Carolina, to another city. Corporate giants like American Airlines and Hollywood giants like Disney are threatening action  ... MORE

Salim Furth: Government Regulators Have Added At Least An Extra $3,800 To The Price Of Producing A New Car

The high cost of savings-government style.  When Congress and the Obama administration passed and implemented extremely strict fuel economy regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claimed that it would save consumers a few thousand dollars on gas and add only $948 to the price of a new car. Three teams of independent     ... MORE

California Raises Cost Of Hiring To $15 An Hour

More unemployment guaranteed.   California legislators and labor unions have reached a tentative agreement that will take the state's minimum wage from $10 to $15 an hour, a state senator said, a move that would make for the largest statewide minimum in the nation by far. "This is not a done deal," Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, told The    ... MORE

Equating Vaping With Smoking Is Medical Malpractice

by Jacob Sullum.      Credibility up in smoke. Like most professional pundits, Margaret Cuomo has perfected the art of speaking authoritatively even when she does not know what she is talking about. Unlike most professional pundits, Cuomo is in a position to cause real damage. As a celebrity doctor spreading misinformation about the hazards of  ... MORE