Free Republic

Here at Mises Daily, we often poke fun at left-liberal Democrats for their Keynesian ways. To prove that this is about ideas, not parties, today we'll focus on a recent blog post in which Republican economist Larry Kudlow came out in favor of extending the "cash-for-clunkers" program. As we'll see, Kudlow's arguments are pure Keynesian nonsense. Sadly, many of today's ostensibly radical, "free-market" economists basically look at the economy in the same way as Paul Krugman. They just have a slight technical disagreement over the best way to prod people to spend money. Only the Austrian approach offers a different...

[Editor - this article appeared in print in 1953] Progressive education is not a new idea. Jean Jacques Rousseau experimented with it in the eighteenth century, but his startling succession of illegitimate children proved too much of a handicap to get his notions accepted; in the nineteenth century a Swiss preacher, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, declared: "We ought to read nothing; we ought to discover everything," and he set up an experimental school to carry out this theory; and an Italian woman doctor named Maria Montessori developed a system of education in Rome which is now widely known as the Montessori...

If one wants a nearly thorough education about the U.S. Constitution, it would be wise to examine the following: the notes from the Constitutional Convention, the public editorials written both for and against the proposed Constitution that followed, the state ratification debates, and the actual document itself. These all give one an almost comprehensive knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, although, as any law student will explain, modern constitutional law consists solely of Supreme Court cases mostly from the last 50-100 years. So why should someone bother wasting time on the above-mentioned items when they’re no longer relevant to our federal...

The political profiling scandal at President Obama's Department of Homeland Security just keeps on growing. On Tuesday, May 5, the Washington Times reported on a newly leaked DHS document on "extremism" which reinforces concerns that the DHS is treading a dangerous path of attempting to stigmatize and criminalize, in the minds of members of the law enforcement community, those who dissent from or peacefully oppose government policies and the trend toward omnipotent government. The new offending document, entitled "Domestic Extremism Lexicon," (click here to see a PDF version of the document) comes from the same bureaucracy within the DHS leviathan...

Daniel Hannan speaks about the GOP. Pretty short clip, but always nice to hear someone who makes sense.

In their zeal to oppose the lunacy of the so-called "stimulus" plan, many radio talk show hosts and other pundits have fallen into the Keynesian trap. Rather than the politicians spending nearly a trillion dollars, they argue, it would provide much more stimulus if the government gave massive tax cuts. This would "put money back in the pockets of average Americans" and they would go to the mall and "get that money into circulation and boost the economy." Although the instincts behind such arguments are sound, they often betray an underlying Keynesian mindset. By justifying tax cuts on the grounds...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFJGr1qYiww For anyone who cares to sit through this video I would be extremely grateful for intelligent responses to the allegations it presents. I've never heard about this supposed Holocaust until I saw this and coming from this guy, I'm not sure I give it much credibility. Still if I would like to be able to refute if it's just garbage but I don't have any information about this subject and preliminary searching isn't coming up with much. If anyone has census statistics, explanations, or general myth debunking of this, it would be greatly appreciated.

President-elect Barack Obama's "Blueprint for Change" calls for "affordable, accessible health care for all." After a quote from a speech he gave in Iowa City explaining that we have an "obligation" to "turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates," he outlines his plans "at a glance." According to the brief summary, 45.5 million people aren't covered, costs have doubled over the last eight years, and not enough money is spent on preventative care. The legislation Obama plans to sign into law by the end of his first term would somehow reduce the cost of healthcare...

"Police departments in cities across the country are beefing up their ranks for Election Day, preparing for possible civil unrest and riots after the historic presidential contest," reported The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based newspaper and Internet site, on October 21. The article continued: Public safety officials said in interviews with The Hill that the election, which will end with either the nation's first black president or its first female vice president, demanded a stronger police presence. Some worry that if Barack Obama loses and there is suspicion of foul play in the election, violence could ensue in cities with large...

1. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates to as low as 1% so that after inflation we had negative interest rates.

Republicans and Big Government Spending http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSITu4pbfeM&feature=PlayList&p=5B0402C8953DDCEA&index=2

Given last week's dramatic events — the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the end of Merrill Lynch's independence, and an $85 billion US-government bailout of insurer AIG — most financial institutions are likely to become more sensitive to the state of their net worth. For instance, all it takes for a financial institution that has a net worth of $30 billion and assets of $600 billion to go under is for the value of assets to fall by 5%. In the current financial climate, it can easily happen; hence, most financial institutions are not immune from the potential threat of going...

The Huntsville Times reported on September 12 that, in response to the looming threat from Hurricane Ike, Alabama Governor Bob Riley declared a formal state of emergency. The governor's declaration of emergency activated the state's price-gouging law, which makes "unconscionable pricing" illegal during times of emergency. The Times quoted Riley as saying that he thinks "a threat to public health is a strong possibility due to the shortage of fuels." Hurricanes don't cause shortages, however. Price controls do. A "shortage" occurs when the amount of a good demanded exceeds the amount of a good supplied at the prevailing price. In...

I heard Glenn Beck talking about them the other day and I was thinking about their situation... what did these men do wrong?! They are in prison for doing their jobs. This goes beyond tying one hand behind our border patrol agents' backs; this is like lopping their arms off and kicking them on the ground. These men literally did nothing wrong yet they sit rotting in federal prison for more than a decade. The leaders of the country they swore to protect have betrayed them both and have left them to a horrible fate. I can think of no...

Barack Obama's tax advisers recently posted a piece in the Wall Street Journal about their candidate's tax plans. Their article was designed to triangulate, painting their candidate as a tax cutter and the Republican opposition as a secret tax raiser. It was well written and well argued — not that you can really trust anything you read about what candidates will or will not do once in office. In any case, I was discussing the piece with a person whose politics are certainly left of center. She said to me something along the following lines: I'm really not sure I...

'Anybody who thinks that Moscow didn't plan this invasion, that we in Georgia caused it gratuitously, is severely mistaken," President Mikheil Saakashvili told me during a late night chat in Georgia's presidential palace this weekend. "Our decision to engage was made in the last second as the Russian tanks were rolling -- we had no choice," Mr. Saakashvili explained. "We took the initiative just to buy some time. We knew we were not going to win against the Russian army, but we had to do something to defend ourselves." I had just returned from Gori, which was still under the...

When William Bolthouse, a California philanthropist, donated $100,000 in March to support a proposition to ban gay marriage in California, calls and emails poured in -- not to Mr. Bolthouse, but to the corporate offices of a company that bears his name -- even though he sold it three years earlier. "It wasn't us, it's not our fault," says Jeffrey Dunn, now the chief executive of Bolthouse Farms, whose juice bottles are sold at upscale markets such as Whole Foods. Bolthouse Farms is the latest target in what has become an increasingly bitter political fight in California. As gay-rights activists...

It better be good. The GOP has a lot of making up to do and it NEEDS to present a strong conservative message especially in the areas of limited government and drilling. And McCain had better pick a good VP. I don't know what emotion I'd call it, but I'm definitely ready to watch this convention.

Every August, the Census Bureau's release of the latest income and health insurance figures results in a political uproar, but this year the political class seems almost embarrassed by the good news. Median household income rose slightly in 2007, the poverty rate held steady and the number of uninsured even dropped slightly. Even so, a closer inspection of the numbers shows some dark clouds around the silver lining -- though not of the sort that those warning of another Great Depression usually find. Begin with health insurance coverage. Census found that 45.7 million people, or 15.3% of the population, were...

Barack Obama said he plans to focus on the struggles of middle-class Americans, including their tax burden, in his Thursday night speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president. "The single most important thing I have to make clear is the choice we have in November between the same failed policy of the last eight years for the middle class and the new agenda to boost income for Americans and help families who are struggling," he said in a brief interview with The Wall Street Journal Tuesday. "I will make that contrast very clearly." In response to Republican ads and his...