Politics

Politicians as Interchangeable Units

by Wendy McElroy November 8, 2013

Why did it take a comedian to demand answers about a blatant double standard embedded in Obamacare? On October 7, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was grilled mercilessly by Jon Stewart, who focused on why businesses can delay enrollment for a year but individuals cannot. Stewart speculated on the reason, saying, “Geez, it looks like ...

Don’t Look for Grown-Ups in Government

by Sheldon Richman October 16, 2013

With the government partially closed for over two weeks now and the debt-ceiling deadline upon us, the pundits are demanding that the “grown-ups in the room” finally put a stop to the childish goings-on in Washington. That would be nice — except there are no grown-ups in the room. If you seek evidence, just look around. Politicians, from President Barack ...

JFK’s War With the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated, Part 1

by Douglas Horne August 5, 2013

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 Introduction I served on the staff of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) from August of 1995 through September of 1998, during the final three years of ...

Obama’s Bid for Unilateral Power over Elections

by Wendy McElroy May 14, 2013

“I consider it completely unimportant who in the party will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how.” — Joseph Stalin (1923), as quoted in The Memoirs of Stalin’s Former Secretary by Boris Bazhanov. To glimpse the political future of America, turn off the news, ignore public statements from officials, and ...

The Calling: The Problem with Political Heroes and Villains

by Steven Horwitz May 9, 2013

It’s sometimes hard to tell the coverage of politics from the coverage of sports. People seem to root for political parties as though they were sports teams, cheering Team Red or Team Blue on to victory with the same passion they bring to the Super Bowl. Individual team members are followed with the same intensity as are star players ...

Obama, Union Buster?

by Wendy McElroy May 1, 2013

Organized labor has been a bedrock of President Obama’s political power. How far will he go to preserve support from this key Democratic constituency? On April 16, the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers (UURWAW) became the first union to officially call for the repeal of Obama’s signature legislation — the Affordable Care Act, also known as ...

The Motives of Public Officials

by Scott McPherson March 18, 2013

It is not uncommon for critics of the free market to allege that for-profit providers of services have an interest, not in solving problems, but rather in prolonging them. Why would the medical industry cure cancer, heart disease, or AIDS, for example, when it would just be putting itself out of business? This argument essentially hinges on the notion that ...

The Washington Con Game Goes On

by Sheldon Richman January 7, 2013

Much of what government does seems unfathomable until you remember one thing: the politicians think the people are morons. Take the latest example: the effort to avert the “fiscal cliff.” If, as the politicians say they believe, the country is in a budgetary deficit and debt crisis combined with an anemic economic recovery, why would they raise taxes on everyone ...

Reflections on the 2012 Elections

by Tim Kelly November 23, 2012

Every two years the parasitic political class must subject themselves to a vote of confidence from their hapless hosts, the American people. These elections — which H.L. Mencken called “an advance auction sale of stolen goods” — allegedly grant legitimacy to the system of legalized plunder we call politics. The quadrennial presidential elections have long since become meaningless ...

Scottish Independence Vote Holds Important Lessons — And Possibilities

by Scott McPherson November 16, 2012

In 1998 the people of Scotland, part of the United Kingdom, gained a considerable measure of self-government. For the first time in almost three centuries their parliament met in Edinburgh, the capital, after a referendum among Scots in the previous year resulted in 74.3 percent of voters answering “Yes” to the statement, “I agree that there should be a Scottish ...

Debates? Let’s Call Them the Agreements

by Ken Sturzenacker October 3, 2012

Are you expecting Barack Obama and Mitt Romney to express any significant difference of opinion or policy on almost any issue you can imagine? Here’s one libertarian’s view: Not bloody likely. The broadcasts of the presidential contenders facing off are far more “Agreements” than they are “Debates”. Jobs? At much lower median wages that four years ago. That’s “recovery” for you. Unemployment? ...

The Hubris of Romney and Obama

by Sheldon Richman September 27, 2012

Mitt Romney, whose bid to unseat Barack Obama looks more desperate every day, senses he’s found a weakness in his rival. In a foreign-policy speech the other day, he blasted Obama over the upheaval in the Arab world, saying, “This is a time for a president who will shape events in the Middle East.” Romney is making two claims: that ...