Thomas Sowell: Reckless Spending - High Speed Rail

Nothing more clearly illustrates the utter irresponsibility of Barack Obama than his advocacy of "high-speed rail." The man is not stupid. He knows how to use words that will sound wonderful to people who do not bother to stop and think. High-speed rail may be feasible in parts of Europe or Japan, where the population density is much higher than in the United States. But, without enough people packed into a given space,  ...   MORE

John Stossel: Why Does Government Suppress Information

Sunday night is Oscar night! Think you know who's going to win? Want to make a bet? The Hollywood Stock Exchange allows people to bet on which movies, actors, directors, etc. will take home Academy Awards. You can also bet on how much money a movie might make. It's called a prediction market ... except unlike other prediction markets, bettors can't use real money. What fun is that?  ... MORE

VIDEO: Behind the Scenes of Atlas Shrugged the Movie

Radley Balko: The Mind Of A Police Dog

How misconceptions about dogs can lead to abuse of humans.
For the first few years I had her, I was impressed by my late dog Harper's uncanny ability to assess people's character. She hated every crappy landlord and bad roommate. Barked at them. Snarled at them. Wouldn't go near them. But if I brought home a date I liked, Harper, a Shar Pei/Labrador mix, would curl up right next to  ...   MORE

Walter E Williams: Democracy Versus Liberty

It is truly disgusting for me to hear politicians, national and international talking heads and pseudo-academics praising the Middle East stirrings as democracy movements. We also hear democracy as the description of our own political system. Like the founders of our nation, I find democracy and majority rule a contemptible form of government.  You say, "Whoa, Williams, you really have to explain yourself this time!" ... MORE

Michael Pento: Geithner's Failed Makeover

The plan does not address the Fed's role in making interest rates arbitrarily low.
To counter the increasing demands that government reduce its micromanagement of the economy, last week the Obama Administration offered a fig leaf in the form of a white paper entitled "Reforming America's Housing Finance Market." In addition to marking the official end of the Bush era "ownership society," ...  MORE

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - Ownership and Preservation

Steve Chapman: Police Cameras and Crime

Can a surveillance state make us safer?
If you want to be on TV, don't go to Los Angeles or New York. Come to Chicago, where your wish is certain to be fulfilled. In fact, you couldn't avoid it if you wanted to, thanks to the nation's most extensive network of police surveillance cameras. Anytime you walk out your door, you may find an audience.  ... MORE


VIDEO: Ayn Rand - In Defense of Capitalism


Ayn Rand explains the necessity of capitalism to a free society.

VIDEO: Milton Friedman - Poverty and Equality

S. Fred Singer - The Sad State Of The State Of California

Many must be wondering whether the state of California is beyond repair.
This is particularly true after the November 2010 elections when its citizens voted for the same politicians that have brought them the same failed policies.  As deficits mount and taxes increase, productive people and enterprises are leaving California for more hospitable states.  Inevitably, there will be a tipping point when ...  MORE

David Harsanyi: An Assault On Taxpayers

The more we grow the government's education monopoly, the worse it will get.
When Dan Nerad, the superintendent of schools in Madison, Wis., was informed that 40 percent of the teachers union was calling in sick this week (evidently, something's going around), he shut down the entire operation. "At this ratio," he explained, "we have serious concerns about our ability to maintain safe and secure school environments." ...  MORE

VIDEO: Obama's Valentine: A $1.65 Trillion Deficit

FCC Commish For Government Intervention in Journalism

Success of FOX News pits government official against First Amendment.
Federal Communications Commissioner  Michael  Copps decried the decline of “real journalism” and called for the government to intervene during a speech to the FCBA on Tuesday. According to The Hill, Copps told the audience that he was disappointed in the commission’s inability to act. Copps went on to say that the decline  ...  MORE

Tom Bowden: 1 in 4 Americans Needs Permission To Work

In a fascinating article, the Wall Street Journal reports that the percentage of workers who need a state license to do their jobs is growing steadily. That percentage was 5% in the 1950s. In 2008, it was 23%. Think about it: one of every four workers is not permitted to work without begging permission from a bureaucrat. While I don’t agree with the article’s assumption that licensure is an acceptable government activity ...  MORE

Thomas Sowell: Rocky and Republicans

Rocky Marciano was the only heavyweight champion who never lost a single fight in his whole career— and, at the time, he seemed the least likely fighter to do that. In many a boxing match, he was battered, bruised and bleeding. One of the reasons Marciano took so much punishment in the ring was that he had shorter arms than most other heavyweights. It was easier for others to hit him than for him to hit them.  ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Economic Freedom in Free Fall


John Stossel interview guests Dr. Kim Holmes (Heritage Foundation) and David Henderson (Hoover Institution) about America's decline in economic freedom.

John Stossel: Is Seasteading the Future?

Escape the suffocating chains of intrusive government by starting your own country!
That's Patri Friedman's idea. He comes from an impressive line of libertarian thinkers. Milton Friedman, the Nobel-prize-winning free-market economist, was his grandfather. His father is David Friedman, author of the libertarian classic "The Machinery of Freedom." Milton Friedman advocated severely limited government. ...   MORE

Michael Boldin: California -- A Nullifier's Paradise?

Nullification. The word evokes images of white-haired men with tri-fold hats, holding up signs about the "evils" of Obamacare and socialism. States around the country are considering laws to reject federal laws on health care, guns, the Environmental Protection Agency regulations and more. The pundits scream "racism," the legal experts cite the "supremacy clause," and the entire country - left to right - ...   MORE

VIDEO: Andrew Klavan: Stop the Hate!


This right-wing hatred has to be stopped!

Walter E Williams: Self-Inflicted Poverty

Why is it that Egyptians do well in the U.S. but not Egypt? We could make that same observation and pose that same question about Nigerians, Cambodians, Jamaicans and others of the underdeveloped world who migrate to the U.S. Until recently, we could make the same observation about Indians in India, and the Chinese citizens of the People's Republic of China, but not Chinese citizens of Hong Kong ...  MORE