POLITICS

“The Constitution provides protections for people like the Helvenstons who want to use their property in a peaceful, productive manner without arbitrary intrusion by the government,” said Ari Bargil, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, a public interest civil liberties law firm. “The City of Orlando is violating this most basic of rights by insisting that the Helvenstons destroy their vegetable garden or face severe fines.”

Politicians of both parties are doing what they do best: Congratulating themselves on their achievement (at least temporarily) to break “gridlock” in the Senate and move a fiscal bill forward that satisfies both parties. The nation’s court jester, Joe Biden, claims...

With the possible exception of the New York Times' editorial board (and the cast of The Jersey Shore), everyone on the planet understood that the United States Government needs to cut spending, increase taxes, or both. Instead, after months of political posturing and...

The problem our nation faces is very much like a marriage in which one partner has an established pattern of ignoring and breaking the marital vows.

If we look at any number of social problems, we find numerous similarities. No matter the issue–education, energy, infrastructure, pollution, and much more–Americans look to government to provide the solution. These issues provoke heated political debates, with...

After months of deliberation, the Canadian government has finally approved the $15 billion takeover of the Canadian-based oil and gas producer Nexen Inc. by CNOOC, one of the state-owned oil companies of China. While I applaud the government for the approval, it...

Protection of individual rights, including property rights, is the requirement of harmony of people’s interests and everyone’s well-being, with the added benefit of goodwill and benevolence among all.

Pushing his agenda for higher taxes on “the rich,” President Obama kicked off his December 6 speech in Kansas by saying his Kansas grandparents “shared the optimism of a nation that triumphed over the Great Depression.” In fact, the 1929 stock...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made news last week by proposing to transfer the Congressional prerogative to raise the debt ceiling to the President. The change would essentially do away with the meaningless debt ceiling debates that have become ritual kabuki in...

I happened to hear Rush Limbaugh on Friday. He sarcastically chastised the pundits and “really smart people” who argue that the Republican party must be more inclusive. We should reach out to women, he said, by being pro-abortion. We should reach out to gays, he said,...

Being wrong tends to lead people to become defensive. Defensiveness and hostility, frozen in place in a person's mind, leads to irrational stubbornness and intellectual dishonesty. This is what happens in the demise of many marriages and relationships, or even...

In her essay, “The Anatomy of Compromise,” Ayn Rand wrote: “When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side; when they are not clearly defined, but are hidden or evaded, it works to the advantage of the...

In recent years, much has been made about the economic success of Texas and the decline of California. Many have pointed to California’s tax and regulatory burdens and the more business friendly policies of Texas as a primary reason. These certainly are a fundamental...