Daily Articles

Creating a Military State

by Andy Worthington July 19, 2011

“Some issues,” the New York Times declared in an editorial on June 25, “require an unwavering stand. Preserving the role of law enforcement agencies in stopping and punishing terrorists is one of them. This country is not and should never be a place where the military dispenses justice, other than to its own.” Fine words, indeed, although the ...

Should Social Security Be Saved?

by Laurence M. Vance July 18, 2011

Speaking at a conference for a finance trade association in Chicago, former President George W. Bush said that the biggest failure of his administration was not privatizing Social Security. In 2001 the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security was formed. This bipartisan, 16-member commission issued a report that included three reform proposals, all of which allowed workers to voluntarily transfer ...

The Cause of Current U.S. Deficits and Debt

by Laurence M. Vance July 18, 2011

Except for a brief period of time in 1835 under President Andrew Jackson, the United States has been in debt since the founding of the Republic. The first reported national debt in 1791 was over $75 million. Congress now spends more than that every ten minutes. Since the last year of the Bush administration, annual federal deficits have exceeded $1 ...

Understanding the U.S. Torture State

by Anthony Gregory July 15, 2011

The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse edited by Marjorie Cohn (New York University Press: 2011), 342 pages. When I was a child in Reagan’s America, a common theme in Cold War rhetoric was that the Soviets tortured people and detained them without cause, extracted phony confessions through cruel violence, did the unspeakable to detainees who were helpless ...

Thinking Vertically

by Rich Schwartzman July 14, 2011

The reaction to the Casey Anthony trial in Florida is just more proof of how ignorant so many Americans are about rights, laws, and liberty. Everyone from TV hosts — who should know better — to radio sports talk-show hosts (yes, really) to the normal gang at the coffee shop, all are appalled at a jury who failed to convict ...

Put Down Your Rights and No One Needs to Get Hurt!

by Wendy McElroy July 13, 2011

Few activities are as dangerous as watching a cop too closely, as John Kurtz knows well. Kurtz is the founder of the Orlando, Florida, branch of CopWatch, a network of activists in the United States and Canada who patrol the streets on foot or in a vehicle to monitor and document police activity in order to spotlight ...

The Jacob Hornberger Show: July 9, 2011

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 11, 2011

The Jacob Hornberger Show broadcasts live every Saturday night at 7pm EST. Visit FFF's Ustream Channel to watch the show live. Download the MP3 here, or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Managed Trade Is Not Free Trade

by Laurence M. Vance July 11, 2011

As libertarians have long pointed out, trade agreements like the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO) are not free-trade agreements and organizations. Rather, they are managed-trade agreements and organizations that abdicate power to an international body, and in direct violation of the Constitution. As Congressman Ron Paul stated, We don’t need government ...

Torture Whitewash

by Andy Worthington July 8, 2011

How convenient is it that a door shuts on the Bush administration’s global program of extraordinary rendition and torture, just as America’s military-industrial complex plays musical chairs — with Republican holdover Robert Gates leaving as defense secretary, to be replaced by Leon Panetta, who has spent the last two years as the director of the CIA, while Gen. David ...

Don’t Support the Troops – Bring Them Home

by Sheldon Richman July 8, 2011

Reversing long-standing policy, President Obama will now send condolence letters to the families of U.S. military personnel who commit suicide in combat zones. That’s nice. But he could prevent future suicides by bringing all the troops home and ending America’s interventionist foreign policy. “They didn’t die because they were weak,” Obama said. “And the fact that they didn’t get the help ...

Amazon Taxes Rely on Economic Fallacy

by Fergus Hodgson July 7, 2011

The “Amazon” tax neither generates revenue nor creates a level playing field. It does eliminate profitable relationships and drive companies out-of-state, but that hasn’t stopped elected officials from plowing ahead obstinately. Concerned that people can avoid sales taxes by shopping online, seven states have passed legislation to place out-of-state retailers within their jurisdiction. Fourteen more have ...

Sinking Entrepreneurship

by Rich Schwartzman July 7, 2011

It happens every spring. Umpires shout out to grown men, “Play ball,” and bureaucrats shout out to kids, “Shut down that lemonade stand.” While the latter might not happen every year, it happens often enough. Sometimes a mayor will trot out, tell the bullying code-enforcement officers to go away and then he buys a glass of lemonade to show what ...