Cato on Campus - Foundations of Liberty: Limited Government

The Cult of the Presidency

Tue, 13 May 2008 13:31:00 EDT

By Gene Healy: "Our system, with its unhealthy, unconstitutional concentration of power, feeds on the atavistic tendency to see the chief magistrate as our national father or mother, responsible for our economic well-being, our physical safety, and even our sense of belonging. Relimiting the presidency depends on freeing ourselves from a mind-set one century in the making."

Is Real ID Really Going to Happen?

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:11:00 EDT

By Matthew Blake: "Little about Real ID has gone as planned. All 50 states, and the District of Columbia, were given extensions by the Dept. of Homeland Security to comply with Real ID. This extension was given despite the fact that 17 states passed resolutions saying they have no intention of ever implementing the program."

Everyone in Favor, Say Yargh!

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:34:00 EDT

By Joanna Weiss: "Long before they made their way into the workings of modern government, the democratic tenets we hold so dear were used to great effect on pirate ships. Checks and balances. Social insurance. Freedom of expression. So Leeson, an economics professor at George Mason University, will argue in his upcoming book, The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates."

Mississippi Drug War Blues�the Case of Cory Maye

Thu, 08 May 2008 14:17:00 EDT

The latest Drew Carey Project video for reason.tv tells "a story about the intersection of race, the war on drugs, the disturbing increase in the militarization of police tactics, and systemic flaws in the criminal justice system. It is a tragedy in which one man is dead and another may spend his life in prison without possibility of parole."

Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Hounded to Death

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:32:00 EDT

By David Boaz: "Faced with the prospect of years in prison, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the �D.C. Madam,� committed suicide on Thursday. Her pursuers and prosecutors should be ashamed of themselves."

Battle Over Eminent Domain Is Another Civil Rights Issue

Thu, 01 May 2008 14:06:00 EDT

By David T. Beito and Ilya Somin: "Few policies have done more to destroy community and opportunity for minorities than eminent domain. Some 3 to 4 million Americans, most of them ethnic minorities, have been forcibly displaced from their homes as a result of urban renewal takings since World War II."

An Elephant Never Forgets?

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:03:00 EDT

By Tim Lee: "Transparency is an important tool for limited government. Senior administration officials are more likely to behave themselves if they know their correspondence is subject to subpoena and will be available for the scrutiny of future historians. It�s therefore troubling that for most of the last 8 years, the Bush administration has failed to have an automated system in place for complying with the law as his predecessor did."

America on drugs

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:14:00 EDT

"In the Los Angeles Times, Jacob Sullum debates Cully Stimson about drug policy in a back-and-forth argument that's wraps up today."

Milton Friedman Prize Selection Committee Member Arrested

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:54:00 EDT

The Ugandan government has arrested Andrew Mwenda, a member of the 2008 International Selection Committee for the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, along with his fellow journalists Odobo Bichachi and John Njoroge. Andrew Mwenda is a brave journalist who tells it like he sees it. He is well known for standing up for the rights of others; his involvement in the Milton Friedman Prize is only one element of his long commitment to human rights.

Venezuelan Student Movement Leader Awarded $500,000 Milton Friedman Liberty Prize

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:02:00 EDT

Yon Goicoechea, leader of the pro-democracy student movement in Venezuela, has been awarded the 2008 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. Under Goicoechea's leadership, the student movement organized mass opposition to the erosion of human and civil rights in Venezuela and played the key role in defeating Hugo Ch�vez's bid for a constitutional reform that would have turned the country into a dictatorship.

Employers Must Pull the Trigger

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:03:00 EDT

By Robert A. Levy: "The owner of the property should be able to determine � for good reasons, bad reasons, or no reason at all � whether to admit gun owners, non-gun owners, neither or both. Customers, employees and guests who object may go elsewhere. That's the controlling principle."

The Dance, Dance Revolution Will Be Televised After All

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:19:00 EDT

By Julian Sanchez: "The plan had been to celebrate the birth of the author of the Declaration of Independence by congregating, flashmob style, for ten minutes of quiet iPod-fueled dancing, then repair to a pub nearby. Instead, park police brought the party to an abrupt halt, arresting 28-year-old Brooke Oberwetter and leading her away in handcuffs, while chasing the rest of the group off."

Inequality and Excess

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:47:00 EDT

By Arnold Kling: "What the American people really should feel awkward and defensive about is the level of inequality and excess of political power. Instead of asking ourselves what we can do about Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, we should be asking ourselves about what we can do about the Clintons and the Spitzers. Those who want more and more power should be our biggest concern."

Coyne on Exporting Democracy after War

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:40:00 EDT

"Christopher Coyne of West Virginia University and George Mason University's Mercatus Center talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his book, After War: The Political Economy of Exporting Democracy. They talk about the successes and failures of America's attempts to export democracy after a war."

Real ID Act Has Been a Real Fiasco

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:55:00 EDT

"The big trouble is that there�s no evidence that this Draconian act, even if fully implemented, would be more than a minor inconvenience for a determined terrorist. But having all that information � including copies of birth certificates and Social Security cards � available in one database would make an irresistible target for identity thieves. And it would be a major inconvenience for millions of innocent Americans and a major expense for state governments � meaning taxpayers."

Don't 'Pull an Iraq' in Afghanistan

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:48:00 EDT

By Benjamin H. Friedman: "This week at a NATO summit in Bucharest, Romainia, American officials asked Europeans to send more troops to the war in Afghanistan. Leaders in both the Democratic and Republican Parties agree that higher troop levels and a deeper commitment to state-building are the path to victory in Afghanistan. But both sides are wrong, and Iraq shows why."

Is Taxation Voluntary?

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:50:00 EDT

"Jan Helfeld interviews Senator Harry Reid about government coercion. Reid maintains that taxation is voluntary despite all evidence to the contrary."

The Long Fall of Robert G. Mugabe

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:46:00 EDT

By Marian L. Tupy: "Mugabe is in this position primarily because he has turned Zimbabwe into one of the world's poorest countries--the result of his worsening political repression, frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary, confiscation of property, and evisceration of the once-thriving private sector. With health, education, and incomes in freefall, Zimbabweans are ready for change."

FISA Funny Business

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:50:00 EDT

By Julian Sanchez: " The terrorist attack had been as devastating as it was unexpected. Convinced that better intelligence was the key to preventing fresh attacks, the president resolved to seek legislation granting the executive branch broad new wiretapping powers. But he had a problem: The opposition party, which controlled Congress, was equally determined to block provisions that they saw as an affront to privacy."

Bridges Over Troubled Water

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:23:00 EDT

By Christopher Preble and Jeremy Lott: "War costs money too. Round the bill for the bridges to nowhere that so incensed McCain up to $500 million. Our occupation of Iraq, which often seems to be getting nowhere, is costing north of $10 billion a month. That sum could finance the construction of 40 superfluous bridges this month and 480 bridges in a year."

Is Health Care a Right?

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:49:00 EDT

In this podcast economics Professor Russell Roberts of George Mason University debates a physician who thinks health care is a right and the government should provide it.

Armed for Liberty

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:54:00 EDT

By Alan Gura and Robert A. Levy: "Imagine a right � intended, in part, as a deterrent to oppressive government � that can be exercised only when, where, and in the manner that government directs. "

Wiretapping's True Danger

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:19:00 EDT

By Julian Sanchez: "Without meaningful oversight, presidents and intelligence agencies can -- and repeatedly have -- abused their surveillance authority to spy on political enemies and dissenters."

Who Says the Surge Is Working?

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:27:00 EDT

By Terry Michael: "When it comes Iraq, neoconservative true believers have been allowed to set the bar of "success" below ground level. In this, they're aided by media siding with power instead of challenging it, all while congressional Democrats cower in their cloak rooms."

Peace Won't Come to Zimbabwe

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:27:00 EDT

By Marian L. Tupy and David Coltart: "The case against Mr. Mugabe and the ZANU-PF for crimes against humanity would be compelling. They have turned one of Africa's most prosperous and relatively free nations into an Orwellian nightmare. Since 1994, the average life expectancy in Zimbabwe has fallen to 34 from 57 for women and to 37 from 54 for men. Some 3,500 Zimbabweans die every week from the combined effects of HIV/AIDS, poverty and malnutrition."