Republicans versus the Constitution by Laurence M. Vance January 16, 2013 The new Congress, the nation’s 113th, was officially sworn in at 2:09 p.m. on January 4. The Republicans lost two seats in the Senate, giving the Democrats an even larger majority of 53 to 45 (plus the two Independents, who will caucus with the Democrats), and 7 in the House, where they hold a smaller majority than before of ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Guns and Libertarianism by David S. D'Amato January 8, 2013 The tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, has expectedly renewed interest in the “gun debate,” animating the worst inclinations of both the left and right halves of the statist conversation. Some conservative quarters are calling for something like armed-to-the-teeth military police to be stationed in the country’s schools. Progressives have naturally fallen back on all of the stock bilge in adjuring ...
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 ...