Government's attempt to provide cheap green lighting. In 2007, when Congress passed legislation that would gradually ban old school incandescent light bulbs, they added a carrot to the pile of sticks: A $10 million dollar prize to encourage the development of a cheap, green, domestic light bulb to replace the dearly departed Edison model. ... MORE
There are only two classes in a free society. Mitt Romney claims that his tax cuts will stimulate the economy and pay off the deficit. If history is any guide, this won’t be true. Ronald Reagan cut taxes in the 1980s. For a time, the economy improved and the government gained more revenue. Congress spent that money and expanded the deficit. George W. Bush ... MORE
A curse called Homeland Security. There were once seven words you couldn't say on television, as the late comedy icon George Carlin famously lampooned 40 years ago. Now it appears there are more than 500 words you shouldn't say on Twitter or Facebook unless you want to be flagged by the Department of Homeland Security. There is a surveillance program ... MORE
Arizona Senate passes bill to create nullification jury. After being shot down earlier this week, the Arizona State Senate revived and successfully passed a bill that would create a mechanism for the state to nullify federal laws. As TPM has reported, Senate Bill 1433 would create a 12-person “Joint Legislative Committee on Nullification of Federal Laws ... MORE
Big government is liberty's greatest threat. Hardly a day goes by that I’m not compelled to reflect on the haunting words of Pastor Martin Niemoeller: “First they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the trade ... MORE
First Amendment gives way to blasphemy and hate speech. The recent exchange between an atheist and a judge in a small courtroom in rural Pennsylvania could have come out of a Dickens novel. Magisterial District Judge Mark Martin was hearing a case in which an irate Muslim stood accused of attacking an atheist, Ernest Perce, because he was wearing a ... MORE