Free Republic

...The orders do tremendous harm to the economy as well as to people’s lives by preventing them from using their property the way they had intended. This is one reason that the Physical Property Rights ranking by the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) has shown a decline in recent years for the United States. The great harm that each and everyone one of these “administrative compliance orders” causes has recently been brought home by a couple from Idaho. Mike and Chantell Sackett purchased .63 acres of land for $23,000 in 2005 to build their dream home. Despite being 500 feet...

This afternoon, the U.S. Senate will be voting on an amendment to H.R. 2112, the Agriculture-Commerce-etc. appropriations bill for FY 2012. The amendment (#769) is being offered by Senator David Vitter (R-La.) The amendment in question would allow Americans to purchase prescription medicines from Canada. On its face, this is a pro-free market amendment. Why should the government prevent people from buying goods or services from anywhere they want to, especially a developed nation like Canada? The free market answer is that consumers would often not be importing just the medicine, but also the price control. In most countries, the...