Politics

Paul Ryan: Would-Be Savior of the Welfare-Warfare State

by Sheldon Richman August 15, 2012

Paul Ryan may be the conservative’s conservative, but understand what that means: He’s out to save the welfare/warfare state from its own intrinsic unsustainability. He’s no small-government man. Ryan’s budget blueprint, at best, wouldn’t balance the budget for three decades and meanwhile would add trillions in debt. He would only slow President Obama’s planned spending increases. If Ryan got his ...

An Echo, Not a Choice

by Sheldon Richman July 1, 2012

Last November, Barack Obama stood before an audience and said government needs to be “responsive to the needs of people, not the needs of special interests.” He added, “That is probably the biggest piece of business that remains unfinished.” He made those remarks, the New York Times reports, before a $17,900-a-plate fundraising dinner at the home of Dwight and Antoinette ...

Slow, Predictable Hearing on Fast and Furious

by Wendy McElroy June 14, 2012

The show trial of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on a citation of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena is scheduled to climax on June 20. That's when the investigating Oversight Committee has called for a vote on whether to move forward with a criminal contempt citation. Holder may be guilty, but the hearing is ...

The Wisconsin Union Fight Reconsidered

by Sheldon Richman June 8, 2012

The failed gubernatorial recall effort in Wisconsin has generated a degree of political hostility that is extraordinary even by today’s standards. Many people interpret Gov. Scott Walker’s efforts to limit collective bargaining by government-employee unions as a general attack on workers and their right to organize. That may be the case, but it’s not the only interpretation available. According to ...

Obama’s Campaign Sop to Women

by Wendy McElroy May 14, 2012

Barack Obama is buying votes. The Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA) is a blatant sop thrown to a voting block on which his next presidency may depend: women, specifically, liberal women. Obama also hopes it will weaken Mitt Romney, who is trying to woo women himself and, yet, cannot endorse the PFA without alienating conservatives. The PFA ...

An Echo, Not a Choice

by Sheldon Richman April 26, 2012

With Mitt Romney’s sweep of Tuesday’s primaries, he will almost certainly be President Barack Obama’s Republican opponent in November. Romney has vowed to make the economy the chief issue against Obama, and he is sure to portray the president as an enemy of free enterprise in order to draw a contrast with himself. How fit is Romney’s claim to ...

Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano: Two Parties = Zero Difference

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 8, 2012

On February 6, 2012, Mises Chair Lew Rockwell and Future of Freedom President Jacob Hornberger explain how we got to a place where both political parties have the same major policies. Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

It’s the Message

by Rich Schwartzman December 27, 2011

During the lead-up to the last presidential campaign — during the winter of 2007–2008 — there was another push for a Ron Paul candidacy. I covered part of that push for two local weekly newspapers. For the photo op I shot a couple of staged groups, and I had everyone shout “Ron Paul” right before I pressed the shutter. One of ...

Freedom Watch: The Attack of Ron Paul (video) Fox Business News

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 20, 2011

Future of Freedom Foundation Founder Jacob Hornberger tells FBNs Ashley Webster why Ron Paul is turning up the heat on his competitors for the 2012 nomination as he surges in the polls. Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com

Outrage over Body Parts of War Dead Is Misdirected

by Laurence M. Vance December 20, 2011

There didn't seem to be a lot of outrage last month when it was reported by the Washington Post that the Dover Air Force Base mortuary had for years been disposing of the unidentified remains of U.S. soldiers by cremating them and then dumping the ashes in a landfill in King George County, Virginia. The Dover mortuary receives ...

Wisconsin Invoices the Exercise of Rights

by Wendy McElroy December 19, 2011

Despite a proclaimed opposition to new taxes, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has advanced a policy that amounts to a new and draconian tax. People will have to pay the state for the privilege of free speech and assembly. To exercise those rights in or outside state facilities will entail permits at least seventy-two hours in advance and potentially prohibitive ...

What Is a Vice-President And Why?

by Wendy McElroy December 13, 2011

John Adams, the first vice-president of the United States (17891797), once exclaimed, My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived. A century later, there seemed to be little change. The 28th vice-president of the United States, Thomas R. Marshall (19131921) once stated, ...