Obama’s Sham Move on Syria by Jacob G. Hornberger September 2, 2013 After producing another classic national-security state crisis environment for the American people — this time over whether President Obama should order his military to bomb Syria — the president announced that he would first seek approval from Congress for his bombing run. Notice that he didn’t say he was seeking permission from Congress. He says that he doesn’t need permission ...
An Impeachable Offense by Jacob G. Hornberger August 30, 2013 Make no mistake about it: President Obama’s 90-minute telephone conference call with a group of congressional “leaders” to consult about his plans to initiate a military attack on Syria does not comport with the U.S. Constitution, the higher law that the American people have imposed on federal officials. The Constitution is clear: The power to declare war lies with Congress, ...
The Empire’s WMD Hypocrisy by Jacob G. Hornberger August 29, 2013 With much righteous indignation, President Obama is somberly indicating to the American people that he effectively has no choice — he must go to war, on his own initiative and employing what is effectively his private army, against Syria owing to the Syrian government’s purported use of chemical weapons against its own people. Where have we heard that one before? Come ...
The Fascinating Interventionist Mindset by Jacob G. Hornberger August 28, 2013 I sometimes wonder why interventionists don’t donate their brains to science, after they die of course. It would be interesting to know whether they are born with interventionist mindsets or whether their mindsets are the result of the many years of indoctrination they received in the public (i.e., government) schools their parents were forced to send them to. The situation ...
A Conflict of Visions by Jacob G. Hornberger August 27, 2013 An upside to all the domestic and international crises is that they are providing the American people with the opportunity to consider two alternative paradigms for the future of our nation: the paradigm of statism under which we all have been born and raised and the paradigm of liberty, free markets, and limited government that we libertarians are fighting ...
The Dictatorial Power to Punish a Dictator by Jacob G. Hornberger August 26, 2013 President Obama is considering what military action the U.S. government should take against Syria in retaliation for its purported use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people. At the risk of asking an indelicate question, where in the Constitution does it authorize the president to undertake such action? When our American ancestors were calling the federal government into existence, they ...
The U.S. Government Loves Egypt’s Military Dictatorship by Jacob G. Hornberger August 16, 2013 Some Americans are agog at the U.S. government’s indifference to the military coup in Egypt and to the dictatorship’s brutal massacre of peaceful demonstrators. They just don’t get it. The U.S. government loves Egypt’s military dictatorship as much as it loved the Chilean military dictatorship that took power in 1973 and proceeded to rape, torture, or kill tens of ...
Competition is Not Freedom by Jacob G. Hornberger August 15, 2013 Objecting to the proposed merger between American Airlines and U.S. Airways, the Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the two airlines. The rationale? The feds say that the merger would impede competition and therefore should be disallowed. The government’s action only goes to show how government officials can warp economic principles so as to justify their control ...
The Poison of Medicare, Medicaid, and Medical Licensure by Jacob G. Hornberger August 14, 2013 One of the common myths about America’s healthcare woes is that such woes are rooted in America’s “free-enterprise” system. It’s a myth because America’s healthcare system is actually based on socialism, economic control, and regulation rather than on “free enterprise.” After all, the term “free enterprise” means enterprise that is free of government control. Freedom from government control is certainly ...
Abolish the Postal Service by Jacob G. Hornberger August 13, 2013 Doug Bandow has a great article over at Forbes entitled “The Post Office Is Broke: It’s Time to End Washington’s Postal Monopoly.” Bandow’s article provides an excellent case as to why the Postal Service’s monopoly over the delivery of first-class mail should be repealed and, even better, why the government shouldn’t even be in the mail-delivery business at ...
The Never-Ending Drug War by Jacob G. Hornberger August 12, 2013 The drug war is back in the news with two major events, one here in the United States and the other in Mexico. Both events point to the utter futility and destructiveness of this decades-long disaster. The New York Times reports that Attorney General Eric Holder will announce a new policy to relieve overcrowded prisons. Holder is instructing U.S. Attorneys ...
Secrecy versus a Free Society by Jacob G. Hornberger August 9, 2013 A Texas company named Lavabit exemplifies everything that the national-security state has done to our nation. Lavabit is an Internet company that provides encrypted email service for its customers. It recently announced that it was voluntarily shutting down its business rather than capitulate to the demands of the NSA and its FISA Court to grant access to its customer’s ...