Dim political bulbs rule the day. Happy New Year, America! Your favorite light bulb is now illegal. Well, sort of. As of January 1, U.S. businesses can no longer manufacture or import “general service” incandescent bulbs—the most popular light bulbs in America. Consumers can still buy and use them while supplies last, but the remaining ... MORE
by Larry Copeland. A tactic used by the federal government to gather information for anti-drunken and drugged driving programs is coming under criticism in cities around the country, and some local police agencies say they will no longer take part. The tactic involves a subcontractor for the National Highway Traffic Safety ... MORE
Introducing the Big Apple's new lyin' king. New York's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, in his inaugural speech, denounced people "on the far right" who "continue to preach the virtue of trickle-down economics." According to Mayor de Blasio, "They believe that the way to move forward is to give more to the most fortunate, and that somehow the ... MORE
The grade and lubriciousness of the slippery slope. As we come to the end of a year that saw revelations about massive government spying programs, horrifying stories of police abuse, and brazen violations of the Fourth Amendment, I thought I might offer my own grim predictions about where civil liberties are headed in the ... MORE
To protect and defend Constitution taken seriously. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is suing the Obama administration over the
National Security Agency’s spying practices in an effort to “protect the
Fourth Amendment,” he told host Eric Bolling Friday on "Hannity."“The question here is whether or not, constitutionally, you can have a
single ... MORE
from Brian Lada, meteorologist. A fresh blast of arctic air will deliver some of the coldest weather in 20 years to the country's midsection during the second half of the weekend and into the start of this week. This brutal cold will bring danger to millions from the northern Plains to the Midwest and down into the Tennessee Valley. ... MORE
by Steven Greenhut. Gun registration had always seemed like the “line in the sand” — a proposal that would so offend the nation’s gun-rights advocates that they would bring out their full political muscle to stop it. Yet a California law mandating government record-keeping for all new long-gun purchases goes into effect on Jan. 1 and few ... MORE
Repeating a fallacy does not make it true. “Inequality is the defining challenge of our time,” according to President Obama. It’s certainly the topic of the day for Paul Krugman, Joe Stiglitz and a whole raft of liberal pundits. But have you noticed that hardly anyone else is talking about it? When is the last time you heard a shoeshine ... MORE
Minor traffic violations cause for cell phone searches. A judge decided last week that Oklahoma City, Oklahoma police were in
the right when they downloaded information off the mobile phone
belonging to Noe Vergara Wuences who was pulled over on March 22, 2012
because the temporary paper license plate on his new car ... MORE
Gov't borrows $1,088 per household in just 1 day. Uncle Sam—AKA the federal government—went on a New Year’s Eve binge,
adding a net of $125,202,709,546.99 to its total debt in just the one
day of Dec. 31, 2013, according to the U.S. Treasury. That equals approximately $1,088.60 for each of the 115,013,000 households the Census ... MORE
Fighting global warming in other countries. American taxpayers spent $7.45 billion to help developing countries cope with climate change in fiscal years 2010 through 2012, according to a federal government report submitted to the United Nations on a subject that Secretary of State John Kerry described as “a truly life-and-death challenge.” ... MORE
Freedom lives in the Granite State. Among the many advantages of moving to New Hampshire, these 101 reasons are at the top. New Hampshire has no general sales tax. New Hampshire has no general personal income tax. Dividends and interest are taxed at only 5%. New Hampshire state law prohibits the use of eminent domain for ... MORE
Sheldon Richman on licensing. The federal budget deficit was big in 2013, but not as big as the freedom deficit. We should all resolve to make 2014 the year that we secure our freedom from government, the biggest threat we face. We can start with freedom for low-wage workers. Hundreds of occupations are closed shut unless one has a
license. To get ... MORE
2014 is 1984. When mobile phones first came into use, the big fear was radiation. Governments and the big phone companies said everything was safe but the worry remained that all of that electromagnetic energy pouring in and out from our ear-held phones would cause brain tumors. More recently, the biggest controversy over the new era of ... MORE
Freedom of expression is under assault. College is where inquisitive minds go to be exposed to new ways of
thinking. But on some campuses, the quest for knowledge is frustrated
when administrators censor speech they would prefer be kept out of the
marketplace of ideas. To close out the year, we at the Foundation for Individual Rights ... MORE
The obliteration of privacy. After Edward Snowden released some of the most significant national
security leaks ever, we've been fed a constant stream of sickening
revelations. Snowden's message has mostly been listened to, and the
year culminated with him even getting a spot on prime time TV to tell us that “a child born today ... MORE
Walter McLaughlin on Medicaid cost recovery. When a bill the size and scope of Obamacare is dropped onto the desk of the average member of Congress, it’s safe to assume that they haven’t read it cover-to-cover before casting their vote. Had they done so with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, however, they ... MORE
Education stagnation vs school choice. My TV producers asked our Facebook audience to vote for a topic they'd most like to hear discussed on my year-end show. The overwhelming winner, for some reason: the education standards program Common Core. Most Americans don't even know what that is. But they should. It's the ... MORE
Robby Soave reports on drug war tyranny. Civil libertarians are criticizing Ohio police for arresting a driver because his car contained a compartment that could theoretically store illegal drugs, though no drugs were found at that time. The driver, 30-year-old Norman Gurley of Michigan, was pulled over for speeding. A highway patrolman ... MORE
Rocky Mountain high gets a new meaning. America's first retail stores selling marijuana open for business in
Colorado on Wednesday, putting the western state in the vanguard of the
country's evolving attitudes on legalizing the drug. Officials in the state famous for its ski resorts and breathtaking
mountain vistas have issued 348 retail ... MORE
Public servants or public masters? Government produces nothing. It creates no wealth. Yet the District of Columbia is ranked as the richest area in the nation. Politicians and bureaucrats shriek that business people are "greedy." But facts show differently. Imagine voting yourself a raise and millions of dollars in allowances. Imagine ... MORE
New law erodes personal rights. One particularly disturbing aspect of the approaching police state is
the practice of civil asset forfeiture. This is when law enforcement is
empowered to seize a person’s property — most often cash, cars, or
homes — without due process or having to prove it is connected to a
crime. In my ... MORE
The state against citizens. The Los Angeles police department has announced a New Year’s
crackdown on intoxicated drivers – with checkpoints to be set up across
the county complete with breathalyzers and cheek swab tests that can
detect recent drug use, the L.A. Times reported. Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer told CBS ... MORE