The Agence France-Presse reports that North Korean defectors recently testified in front of a U.S congressional panel, recounting the horrors they experienced under the communist regime. One of the defectors, Kim Hye-Sook, who was taken to a prison camp when she was 13 because her grandfather had escaped to South…

The United Nations is encouraging governments all around the world to “curb” smoking by increasing taxes and regulations on tobacco companies. Supporters of this move justify this increase in government coercion by claiming this will make people healthier and increase revenue for the government. The government’s proper function, however, is…

People familiar with addition and subtraction repeatedly told President Obama that the U.S. government needed to cut spending substantially to better its fiscal situation. Obama and his Democrat Party refused to listen. The result was the S&P’s downgrading of the U.S. credit rating, the first in U.S. history. Although it…

The Obama administration has halted $800 million in military aid to Pakistan. In a CNN op-ed, Kori Schake argues against this, and claims that to destroy “violent Islam” the United States needs Pakistan’s help. She further claims that Pakistan’s unwillingness “to function with U.S. interests in mind argues for more,…

Rep. Michelle Bachmann in a recent forum said she would eliminate the Department of Education because “The Constitution does not specifically enumerate nor does it give to the federal government the role and duty to superintend over education.” Bachmann is right. The Department of Education is unconstitutional and should be…

CNN reports that the United States “pledged $900,000 of emergency aid to North Korea” after floods battered the country recently. Although in the grand scheme of inappropriate government spending, this is a minute amount of money, it is nevertheless a perfect example of how irrational the U.S government has become.…

Communist insurgents in the Philippines recently kidnapped a mayor and killed 4 soldiers. The Aquino administration reacted by telling the communist insurgents to stop the kidnappings and show “sincerity” in the “peace” talks underway between the Philippine government and communist insurgents. That is all the Aquino government did. Consequently, the…

Examines and grades various components of Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity,” which, although rejected in the Senate, is perhaps the best plan put forth by an elected official to date about how to deal with America’s financial crisis.

FoxNews.com reports that four of the five biggest U.S tobacco companies are suing the federal government to stop it from forcing them to use “new graphic cigarette labels that include the sewn-up corpse of a smoker and a picture of diseased lungs.” They are right to do so: The government’s…

In the recent Fox News debate in Iowa, Ron Paul claimed that Iran should be unhindered in its quest to acquire nuclear weapons and then blamed any tension with the Iranians on the United States, adding that the United States should “Stay out of their internal business.” If someone openly…

Miguel Octavio in the CS Monitor attempts to discredit Hugo Chavez and his government by denying that they are genuinely socialist, but Octavio fails to grasp the nature of socialism. [Chavez] said we were entering into socialism long ago (2005?), but has yet to define it or implement it. Socialism…

The Islamic terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf recently killed 7 Filipino Marines, beheading two. Philippine President Noynoy Aquino, expressing the proper outrage, said: Mark my words: to those of you who perpetrated this atrocity, know that you are now number one on my radar... make no mistake about it: you will…

Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC) has introduced the “Retirement Freedom Act,” a piece of legislation that would allow seniors to opt out of Medicare Part A while continuing to collect Social Security payments. As Demint’s press release states, “Currently, the Social Security Administration has handcuffed Social Security benefits to Medicare enrollment.”…

In a recent op-ed at Forbes.com, Joan Lappin decries the merger of AT&T and T Mobile, and calls for the FCC to prevent it. Her “justification” is that if “ATT was denied the right to merge with T Mobile, T Mo might instead merge with Sprint,” which she claims “would…

In the midst of a growing number of states seeking to impose new taxes on Internet-based enterprises, Texas Governor Rick Perry earlier this month vetoed a proposed Internet state sales tax. The Star-Telegram reports that “Texas store owners have said Internet retailers have an unfair price advantage because they are…