Politics & Rights

The Democrats, having made so-called “fairness” a key campaign issue in this year’s election, engineered a symbolic Senate vote on the so-called “Buffet Rule”—a special, higher income tax rate on the “rich.” As expected, it was defeated. But the Democrats’ assault on the rich is not mere political gamesmanship. It is…

Noteworthy news and views from the week ending April 21, 2011 The Antritrust Assault on Apple Discussing the government’s antitrust action against Apple, an attorney for the company said, “We believe that this is not an appropriate case against us and we would like to validate that.” Calling the government’s…

An informative video from the Foundation for Economic Education features Scott Beaulier discussing economic freedom in Africa. Beaulier focuses on two countries, Botswana and Zimbabwe. “Botswana since 1965 has been one of the most rapidly growing countries in the world averaging more than 7 percent growth per year,” and the…

In 1984, then-Colorado Governor Dick Lamm infamously said, “We've got a duty to die and get out of the way with all of our machines and artificial hearts and everything else like that and let the other society, our kids, build a reasonable life.” Though Lamm has long claimed that he…

How many executive agencies does it take to “regulate” hydraulic fracturing, the revolutionary process of harvesting natural gas (as well as oil) largely responsible for saving America’s economy? According to Barack Obama’s new executive order, it takes fourteen—plus a potentially unlimited number of “such other agencies or offices as the…

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is calling for the FDA to impose new regulations that would limit caffeine levels of energy drinks, on the grounds that consuming large quantities of caffeine has “health consequences.” What food or beverage consumed in excess would not cause “health consequences”? Tuna contains mercury, eating…

I will never forget a lesson I learned years ago interning in Washington, DC as a young, naive student. One of my jobs was to evaluate the transportation budget. I was shocked to discover that the Senators on the committee managed to add a variety of spending projects for their…

In a delightful essay for the Library of Economics and Liberty, economist David Henderson explains why property rights enable people to live together peacefully rather than fight over preferences and resources through the political system. Henderson opens with the questions, "Should restaurants allow smoking or not? Should schools teach evolution…

The Tea Party is ready for a “hostile takeover” of Washington, or so argues Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks. Recently I interviewed Kibbe about his forthcoming book, Hostile Takeover: Resisting Centralized Government's Stranglehold on America. Kibbe said his book “works on the analogy of what a hostile takeover is in…

Why have fifteen states joined the Department of Justice in persecuting several book publishers and Apple? Why do many in the media refer to the leaders of these businesses as “conspirators,” as though they were criminals? The producers are guilty of the heinous “crime” of selling digital books through willing…