Freedom Daily Archive

The Myth of the Level Playing Field

by Samuel Bostaph January 1, 2005

One of the catch phrases of the day is “a level playing field.” Some businessmen are using it to refer to the competitive situation in which they would prefer to be, but allege they are not for some reason. And, not surprisingly, the reason they usually give for not having “a level playing field” is that a competitor has ...

Government Can’t Run Schools Like Businesses

by Thomas L. Johnson January 1, 2005

What this all boils down to is, are we trying to raise sheep — timid, docile, easily driven or led — or free men? If what we want is sheep, our schools are perfect as they are. If what we want is free men, we’d better start making some big changes. — John Holt, The Underachieving School Just ...

How the Enemy Combatant Label Is Being Used, Part 1

by Jesslyn Radack January 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 On Monday, October 4, the Supreme Court declined to consider a petition filed by Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. Al-Marri is perhaps the least well known of the three persons who have been held in the United States as enemy combatants. The decision was unsurprising yet still disappointing. Al-Marri, who has been waiting for nearly three ...

Book Review: Restoring the Lost Constitution

by George Leef January 1, 2005

Restoring the Lost Constitution —The Presumption of Liberty by Randy E. Barnett (Princeton University Press, 2004); 366 pages; $32.50 Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. The dust jacket of this superlative book shows the first page of the U.S. Constitution with numerous holes in it, as if words and passages had been cut out — a ...

The Bill of Rights: Eminent Domain

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2004

One of the bedrocks of a free society is a system of private property. The concept of economic liberty is founded not only on principles of free enterprise but also on the principle that people have the right to accumulate the fruits of their earnings. If government has the power to arbitrarily seize a person’s wealth or property, then ...

Democratic Relativism

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2004

It occurred to me recently that the American political system is even worse than I thought. Before the abstract discussion, lets look at some particulars. When First Lady Hillary Clinton held secret meetings in order to formulate the Clinton administrations plan for medical services, the Republicans exploded with rage. Secret government! they shouted. Nefarious elitism! Conservatives overflowed with venom. Republicans ...

Gun Nuts at 30,000 Feet?

by James Bovard December 1, 2004

After the pervasive failure of airport security on 9/11, the Air Line Pilots Association sought federal permission for pilots to carry handguns to defeat hijackers. Capt. Steve Luckey, chairman of the association’s flight-security committee, explained, “The only reason we want lethal force in the cockpit is to provide an opportunity to get the aircraft ...

The Great Voucher Fraud

by Laurence M. Vance December 1, 2004

The mantra of “school choice” is repeated endlessly by proponents of educational vouchers, and is getting louder. But does an income-transfer program cease to be an income-transfer program just because it is recommended by conservatives, libertarians, a Republican president, and free-market economists? Advocates of educational reform are agreed on one thing: the doleful condition of the public school system. But ...

Do We Need a New G.I. Bill — Or Even the Original One?

by George Leef December 1, 2004

The G.I. Bill turns 60 this year. That legislation, of ficially known as the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, guaranteed, among other things, that returning soldiers could attend college at the expense of the federal government, or to be more accurate, the expense of federal taxpayers. It was the first of Washington’s many forays into higher education. Before the G.I. Bill ...

West Africa and Colonialism, Part 3

by Wendy McElroy December 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In Europe, the tensions that would become World War II were already apparent. In fascist Italy, Benito Mussolini dreamed of reviving the glory of Rome and he looked to Africa for colonies to conquer. In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia, a proud nation that symbolized the best of Africa. For more ...

Book Review: Bad Trip

by Paul Armentano December 1, 2004

Bad Trip: How the War against Drugs Is Destroying America by Joel Miller (Nashville: WorldNet Daily Books); 242 pages; $24.99. The self-proclaimed toughest cop in America, Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, brandishes a badge and a gun, and drives a custom-painted U.S. Army tank. “We are proud to have the ultimate weapon in the war on drugs in our ...

The Bill of Rights: Due Process of Law

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 2004

One of the most deeply rooted principles in American jurisprudence is the concept of due process of law, which is enshrined in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “No person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Due process of law actually stretches back to the year 1215, when the ...