A Shakedown, Not A Fair Shake For The Middle Class

Kumar Rao on the drug war.  In the wake of President Obama's re-election and the fervor around "fiscal cliff" negotiations, issues related to middle class empowerment and fairness are rightfully at the center of our national policy agenda. Decisions related to tax burden allocations and spending priorities are being made that have the potential  ... MORE

VIDEO: How Indianapolis Fixed Its Parking Problems

Thomas Sowell - Forward To The Past

Stumbling into a backward future.     The political slogan "Forward" served Barack Obama well during this year's election campaign. It said that he was for going forward, while Republicans were for "going back to the failed policies that got us into this mess in the first place." It was great political rhetoric and great political theater. Moreover, the       ... MORE

John Stossel - It's The Spending, Stupid!

Why the account is overdrawn by $16 trillion.      Listening to progressive media pundits, I'd think the most evil man in the universe is Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform. His crime? He heads a movement that asks political candidates to pledge not to raise taxes. I think Grover accomplished a lot. But I wish he'd convinced       ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Invincible Ignorance

A knee-jerk is not an enlightened response.    Must every tragic mass shooting bring out the shrill ignorance of "gun control" advocates? The key fallacy of so-called gun control laws is that such laws do not in fact control guns. They simply disarm law-abiding citizens, while people bent on violence find firearms readily available.       ... MORE

Radley Balko: The Police State Comes To Arkansas

Unfortunately, not an exaggeration:    "[Police are] going to be in SWAT gear and have AR-15s around their neck," Stovall said. "If you're out walking, we're going to stop you, ask why you're out walking, check for your ID." Stovall said while some people may be offended by the actions of his department, they should not be. "We're going to do it to       ... MORE

VIDEO: Antonin Scalia - Text And Intent

Jacob G Hornberger: Those Government Gun-Free Zones

It’s no big surprise.  A gun massacre brings out the gun-control crowd, which loudly demands that gun control be imposed on the American people, as if that would have prevented the massacre in Connecticut. It’s really a shame to have to trot out the same arguments exposing the fallacies of statist thinking, but, alas, it must be done.       ... MORE

Walter E Williams: A Hundred Percent Of Nothing

The power to control Detroit.    JoAnn Watson, Detroit city council member, said, "Our people in an overwhelming way supported the re-election of this president, and there ought to be a quid pro quo." In other words, President Obama should send the nearly bankrupted city of Detroit millions in taxpayer bailout money. But there's a painful lesson     ... MORE

VIDEO: Penn & Teller: Bullshit! - Gun Control


WARNING: Mature content.

Right To Work Laws Are, Indeed, Libertarian

by Shikma Dalmia. Every time Right to Work is in the news, a civil war breaks out among libertarians about whether it is consistent with libertarianism or not. On one side are folks like me who think that right-to-work laws are a modest advance for worker freedom because they exempt workers from having to pay mandatory union dues as a condition  ... MORE

NY Post: Reading, 'Riting And Race

Is arithmetic racist?   Are English and science and art? These might seem like stupid questions, but — speaking of stupid — a federal judge says the answer is yes, they are, and slapped New York City with a judgment that could cost the school system hundreds of millions. The case involves a 16-year-old lawsuit, a handful of unqualified teachers who tried  ... MORE

Katie Kieffer: Wishing You Capitalism On Earth

The right wish.   We wish each other "peace on earth." Wishing is not enough. We must act on this wish by promoting capitalism on earth. Too many people (including some religious leaders) are promoting the idea that re-distribution of wealth or “social justice” is the best way to foster peace. But Christians and Jews need only read the Old         ... MORE

Cynthia V. Ward: Fairness And Freedom

Fairness is a value judgment. In the fight over taxing the rich, those with good values are losing the judgment. They are losing because they have failed to name, and defend, the moral right which ought to define fairness toward all taxpayers: the right to own and to keep the wealth you create. President Obama proudly articulates the moral case for    ... MORE

VIDEO: FOX NEWS - No Warrants Necessary

Jacob Sullum: The Magical Thinking Of Gun Controllers

Obama showcases it at Sandy Hook memorial.  On Sunday night, speaking at a memorial service for the 26 victims of Adam Lanza's horrifying shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, President Obama provided a window onto the magical thinking of people who think such appalling crimes could be prevented if only we     ... MORE

Ronald Bailey: Your Cellphone Is Spying On You

Big Brother has been outsourced.   The police can find out where you are, where you’ve been, even where you’re going. All thanks to that handy little human tracking device in your pocket: your cellphone. There are 331 million cellphone subscriptions—about 20 million more than there are residents—in the United States. Nearly 90 percent of adult  ... MORE

VIDEO: I, Pencil: The Movie

Christopher Elliott: 3 Reasons Terrorists Laugh At Us

Thanks, TSA. Nothing will wipe a grin off your face faster than a squad of Navy SEALs rappelling into your anonymous compound from a Black Hawk. But while Osama Bin Laden is dead and gone, and unable to mock America's clumsy efforts to protect its planes from our Homeland-fueled fantasies, his disciples are more than capable of laughing at us. And laugh they  ... MORE

Jacob G. Hornberger: Drug-War Tyranny In Its Purest Form

Government is efficient at ruining lives. Stephanie George, who is now 42 years old, has spent the last 15 years of her life in jail. That might turn out to be a short period of time, given that her sentence is life without parole. She has no hope of ever being released from jail. Her crime? Living in a house in which her boyfriend maintained a    ... MORE

Tony Newman: 9 Signs The War On Drugs Is Almost Over

Moves toward a rational drug policy.    This year will go down in history as the the beginning of the end to America’s longest failed war: the war on drugs. Voters in Colorado and Washington made worldwide news by legalizing marijuana, Presidents around Latin America spoke out passionately against the drug war, and award-winning movies     ... MORE