Walter E Williams: Equality Or Inequality

Equality without destroying liberty.   Rick Santorum's speech at the Detroit Economic Club stirred a bit of controversy when he said: "I'm not about equality of result when it comes to income inequality. There is income inequality in America. There always has been, and hopefully — and I do say that — there always will be." That kind of statement, though having ... MORE

Scott Bittle/Jean Johnson: Presidents And The Price Of Oil

The great energy challenge.   If you’re a primary voter, you’ve got your pick of candidates who’ll promise to bring down the price of gasoline. Unfortunately, whoever wins is going to run up against the limits of presidential power pretty quickly. The fact is that presidents don’t have that much authority over the price of oil, for a number of virtually  ... MORE

Ross Kaminsky: Obama's Food Stamp Fetish

Free food for one seventh of the population.    The food stamp program, part of the Department of Agriculture, is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever. Meanwhile, the Park Service, also part of the Department of Agriculture, asks us to "Please Do Not Feed The Animals" because the animal may grow dependent ... MORE

VIDEO: The Drones Are Coming!


Government is deploying spies in the sky to monitor the American people.

Sheldon Richman: The Myth Of The Greater Good

Politicians must stop acting like the ends justify the means. I—and most other people, I assume—grew up being taught that the end doesn’t justify the means. Basically, this is an injunction not to rationalize one’s behavior while using other people as mere means to one’s ends. Most people apply that principle day to day. If you want at an item on a       ... MORE

Julia Angwin: FBI Turns Off Thousands Of GPS Devices

Probable cause makes a comeback. The Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning the warrantless use of GPS tracking devices has caused a “sea change” inside the U.S. Justice Department, according to FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann. Mr. Weissmann, speaking at a University of San Francisco conference called “Big Brother in the 21st Century” on Friday, said ... MORE

VIDEO: Why You Should Consider Chevy Volt

Scott Mayer: The Audacity Of Ambition

Downsizing the American Dream. President Obama seems to be downsizing the American Dream. In an insufficiently noticed January 25th speech in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he said: "Folks don't have unrealistic ambitions. They do believe that if they work hard they should be able to achieve that small measure of an American Dream." "Unrealistic ambitions" -- is he ... MORE

Andres Oppenheimer: Legalization Forces Gaining Ground

Could the end of the drug war be in sight?     For the first time since the United States launched its "war on drugs" four decades ago, there are signs that the forces supporting legalization or de-criminalization of illegal drugs are gaining momentum across the hemisphere. Granted, this is a debate that is just starting at government levels, and that will   ... MORE

Steve Chapman: Pandering At The Pump

Avoid D.C. if  gas market wisdom is what you want.   In the field of petroleum, location is everything. If you want to find oil, you don't drill in Rhode Island. And if you want to find wisdom about gasoline markets, you avoid Washington, D.C. In good times, the confusion and folly of our elected leaders have only limited impact. But when pump prices rise to ... MORE

Barry Farber: Obama's Political Hypnotism

Illusions eventually collide with reality.   Did they teach you about “psychic income” in school? Great stuff. If you like your work, for example, you’re getting more income, “psychic income,” than your paycheck indicates. If you love your work, you’re getting even more. If you love your work and meet people who become lifetime keeper-treasures, you’re a   ... MORE

VIDEO: Walter E Williams - It's The Elderly, Stupid!


A major reason why America's economic outlook is bleak.

Linda Chavez: Lighten Up On Political Correctness

Tyranny with manners.    Have we become so hypersensitive that a phrase in use for half a millennia must now be banished from the English lexicon? I'm speaking, of course, of the furor created last week when ESPN's mobile site ran a story headlined "A Chink in the Armor." The idiom is commonly used to describe the vulnerability in an otherwise  ... MORE

STANDARD-EXAMINER: End DUI Checkpoints

What ever happened to probable cause?   The Utah Legislature is mulling over House Bill 140, which would prohibit law enforcement from setting up DUI checkpoints across the state. Pressure from law enforcement agencies and interest groups may stifle that effort, but it's the correct move. There's no evidence that law enforcement officers, stopping ... MORE

VIDEO: Michael Steele Says Taxes Are Voluntary

NY Times: Big Government Eyeballs Social Media Debates

Keywords like cops and marijuana raise eyebrows. Analysts for a Department of Homeland Security program that monitors social networks like Twitter and Facebook have been instructed to produce reports on policy debates related to the department, a newly disclosed manual shows. The manual, a 2011 reference guide for analysts working with the  ... MORE        

Louis Loftus: The Drug War Can Endanger Americans

If ruining lives is the goal, the drug war is a success.  In a debate over the legalization of marijuana, it is common that the side speaking against the motion will often ask as a last resort, "Why should such a thing be made legal?"  Well, to begin with, our society is such that the burden of proof concerning the legality of an act or substance is not on those who ... MORE