Author Archive
Advice to Tea Partiers
The Tea Party movement may endure, but its endurance will be a testament to its ability to understand that cutting government means having a long-term focus, says John Samples, author of the Cato book The Struggle to Limit Government. In a new video, Samples outlines an assessment of what Tea Partiers should do if they want to sustain an effort to cut government.
He offers five pieces of advice for members of the Tea Party movement:
1. Republicans aren’t always your friends.
2. Some tea partiers like big government.
3. Democrats aren’t always your enemies.
4. Smaller government demands restraint abroad.
5. Leave social issues to the states.
Monday Links
- A real solution for a starving continent: Why Bono is wrong to blame the West for African poverty.
- An overview of the economic reforms necessary for a transition to liberal democracy throughout Africa.
- Secretary of Education Arne Duncan taking data out of context to stage a “crisis.”
- The General Motors ads that claim they paid back their government loan are BS — GM is still Government Motors.
- Podcast: “Public Sector Unions Threaten Prosperity” featuring Armand Thieblot.
Weekend Links
- Why new financial reform plans could make American business less competitive.
- Regardless of its currency regime, China has been the hottest major export market for U.S. companies in the last decade.
- How not to spend taxpayer money: City council in the UK spends £2,000 (about $3,000) on an 8-foot long bike lane.
- Could the U.S. become another Argentina?
- Podcast: “A Small Step Forward for Online Privacy” featuring Jim Harper.
Earth Day Links
Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a time to highlight and discuss ways to work toward a cleaner planet. Cato’s energy and environment research promotes policies that would help protect the environment without sacrificing economic liberty, goals that are mutually supporting, not mutually exclusive.
- Why we should thank capitalism for environmental gains: “It is businessmen — not bureaucrats or environmental activists — who deserve most of the credit for the environmental gains over the past century and who represent the best hope for a Greener tomorrow.”
- Finding the right balance: “Today, America’s environment is cleaner—and Earth Day has indeed helped ensure that. …We should renew our promise to keep the environment clean—without adding to human misery or stalling improvements in the human condition.”
- Want clean air? Try this.
- Is high-speed rail really an environmentally friendly alternative to driving and air travel? “Planners have predicted that a proposed line in Florida would use more energy and emit more of some pollutants than all of the cars it would take off the road.”
Wednesday Links
- Who are these centrist, independent-minded voters some say will be crucial in the 2010 elections? They’re not conservative. Many of them may be libertarian — fiscally conservative but socially liberal or tolerant. For more on this group, read about the libertarian vote in the age of Obama.
- Clear and simple: It is unconstitutional for the federal government to force people to buy a private product.
- Prepare for a new era of crony capitalism.
- A job killer: How Sen. Dodd’s financial reform will will hurt Main Street.
- Podcast: “Ending (or Entrenching) Bailouts” featuring Mark A. Calabria
ObamaCare Is RomneyCare 2.0
Former Massachusetts governor and possible 2012 presidential contender Mitt Romney has spent a lot of time campaigning against the recent health care overhaul.
One problem: It looks a lot like the law he signed in 2006 while he was governor of Massachusetts.
“In every important respect the Obama plan and the Romney plan are identical,” says Michael Cannon, Cato director of health policy studies.
In a new video, Cato’s David Boaz and Michael Cannon explain how alike the two plans really are. Watch:
Wednesday Links
- Scrambling to fill out your complicated tax form this week? You wouldn’t have this problem under a flat tax system. Take a look at how simple it would be.
- How special interests respond to governors who attempt to deal with their state’s budget deficit.
- Economist Richard Rahn: Washington and Europe are engaged in the most massive act of wealth destruction since World War II.
- Student Essay Contest: Win free tickets to the 2010 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty dinner, May 13 in Washington DC.
- Podcast: The Beijing Consensus featuring Stefan Halper
Essay Contest: Win Free Tickets to the Friedman Prize Dinner
In partnership with Students for Liberty, Cato is holding a contest for two tickets to the Friedman Prize biennial dinner and award presentation, which will be held at the Hilton Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C, on May 13, 2010. The winners of the contest will each receive a free ticket to the event, regularly sold for $500 each.
To apply for the essay contest, reply to the following questions in 500 words or less:
In light of the selection of Akbar Ganji for the receipt of the 2010 Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, who would you nominate for a second prize this year and why?
Submissions should be both attached in an MS Word (or compatible) document and included in the body of an e-mail, along with the contestant’s name, school, graduation year, and major. E-mail all submissions to CatoOnCampus@cato.org
Tuesday Links
- Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji awarded the $500,000 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty.
- New rules for your taxes: Pretend your way to tax freedom — just like Congress!
- Americans this year will spend more on taxes than on clothing, food, and shelter combined.
- Is federal power now unlimited? To defend the nominee President Obama chooses to replace the liberal Justice Stevens, Democrats will be forced to say what they really believe about the Constitution.
- Podcast: “Stevens’ Undue Deference” featuring John Samples
What’s a Libertarian?
In a new episode of Stossel, Cato’s David Boaz and Jeffrey Miron join a panel of experts to discuss where libertarians stand on a host of major issues facing the nation today. They tackle libertarian views on war, abortion, the welfare state, gay rights and more.
Watch the videos below for a full re-cap.
The first video covers the so-called culture wars, including gay marriage, abortion and immigration:
More videos after the jump.
Thursday Links
- David Boaz on libertarian nostalgia: There’s no such thing as a golden age of lost liberty. “If you had to choose, would you rather live in a country with a department of labor and even an income tax or a Dred Scott decision and a Fugitive Slave Act?”
- Now that we’ve finished creating a new $1 trillion health care entitlement program, Washington has suddenly discovered that we are facing a crisis with—surprise—entitlement programs.
- Obama’s top economic adviser suggests that it’s time for America to adopt a VAT, or value-added tax. Here’s why imposing a VAT would pretty well finish the transformation of our country into a European-style slow-growth nation.
- On Stossel tonight: David Boaz, P. J. O’Rourke and Andrew Napolitano discuss libertarianism on Fox Business at 8pm & Midnight ET. Don’t miss it.
- Podcast: “Neutralizing Net Regulation” featuring Jim Harper.
Tuesday Links
- Gene Healy: Why terrorism isn’t an existential threat: “It’s worth remembering that terrorism has always been a weapon of the weak — and it usually fails”
- Was the Iraq War worth it? Malou Innocent: “Don’t believe the hype. The Iraq war remains a mistake of mammoth proportions. And Iraq’s election represents a pyrrhic victory, as the economic, political, and moral costs of the occupation far outweigh any benefits.”
- Doug Bandow on the problem with international alliances: “Washington collects alliances like people collect Facebook friends. …Contrary to the U.S. government’s current practice, America needs fewer allies. Washington should no longer act as the world’s 9-1-1 number.”
- Podcast: “Forestalling Foreclosures Redux” featuring Mark A. Calabria.
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