Explore Freedom

The Hagel Brouhaha

by Sheldon Richman January 14, 2013

Washington is going through one of its regular melodramas with President Obama’s nomination of former senator Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense. (In light of America’s foreign policy, this is a title worthy of George Orwell; the position should be renamed the “secretary of war.”) To Hagel’s credit, he has the proper enemies on the right. Neoconservative advocates of perpetual ... [click for more]

Let Them Make Cake

by Scott McPherson January 14, 2013

In times gone by the ability of individuals to improve their lives and the lives of those around them depended on largesse, often conferred by royalty. Patents and monopolies were the product of royal favor, and there were prohibitions against anyone aside from the chosen few entering into certain trades. Improving one’s standard of living was not a matter ... [click for more]

The Jacob Hornberger Show: January 13, 2013 (video)

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 14, 2013

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TGIF: James M. Buchanan and Spontaneous Order

by Sheldon Richman January 11, 2013

On Wednesday, Nobel laureate James M. Buchanan of George Mason University died at the age of 93. Best known for his pioneering work in Public Choice — or “politics without romance,” as he described it — and constitutional economics as a way to limit government power, he also made important contributions to subjectivist economics. His ... [click for more]

Eleven Years of Guantánamo: End This Scandal Now!

by Andy Worthington January 11, 2013

Eleven years ago, on January 11, 2002, the Bush administration proudly presented to the world one of its major responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 — a prison on the grounds of the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, designed to hold hundreds of men and boys seized in the “war on terror” that was ... [click for more]

The Plunder Continues

by Tim Kelly January 11, 2013

It was clear the fix was in the moment the term “fiscal cliff” was coined to describe the series of spending cuts and tax increases that were set to kick in on January 1, 2013. The American people were told in 2011 that the debt ceiling needed to be raised again to avert an outright default on the national debt. ... [click for more]

Don’t Let the Aurora Shooting Curtail the Right of Self-Defense

by Sheldon Richman January 10, 2013

The July shooting in the Aurora, Colorado, movie theater, which took 12 lives and injured 58 during the midnight premier of The Dark Knight Rises, has incited the usual bitter controversy over guns. One side says tighter gun restrictions could have prevented the horrible incident that night. The other responds that more guns in the hands of law-abiding people ... [click for more]

Republicans and the Debt Limit

by Laurence M. Vance January 10, 2013

It’s official: The U. S. government has reached its debt limit. According to the Daily Treasury Statement for December 31, 2012, total public debt increased to $16.432 trillion, exceeding the debt limit of $16.394 trillion. The debt subject to limit, $16.393 trillion, was about as close as it could get without going over. This is a far cry ... [click for more]

His Majesty Obama and the Debt Ceiling

by Wendy McElroy January 10, 2013

President Obama may be poised to claim an unprecedented executive power. Or not. It depends on whether you credit official denials from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney or public statements from high-ranking Democrats. The monarchical power in question is the ability to raise the debt ceiling at will. It involves bypassing the House of Representatives, which currently has ... [click for more]

The Evil of the National-Security State, Part 6

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 9, 2013

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 (to be posted) | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 At the height of the Cold War in the early 1960s, when the U.S. government was doing everything to defeat communism and ... [click for more]

Is Social Security Welfare?

by Laurence M. Vance January 8, 2013

Since the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare became the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services in 1979, the term “welfare” has fallen into disuse. “Income security,” “entitlement,” or “public assistance programs” are now the usual terms for what used to be called “welfare programs.” Even the food-stamp program has been renamed the Supplemental ... [click for more]

Where Guns Are Outlawed, School Attackers Use Cars and Knives

by Michael Tennant January 8, 2013

In the days since the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, many in the media and government have asserted that the only way to prevent such attacks in the future is to prohibit persons from being able to purchase guns. So what are we to make of the fact that on Christmas Eve a man attacked a group ... [click for more]