In 2007, I served as a consultant to a group of citizens opposed to an attempt to bring zoning to Hobbs, New Mexico. During that time, I wrote a series of articles that were published in the local newspaper. This is one of those articles. In a referendum, zoning was...
POLITICS
The Moral and Financial Bankruptcy of Government Intervention
What do the United States Postal Service (USPS) and America’s educational system have in common? Most Americans are aware that both are government monopolies, neither is meeting its stated goals, and both are huge money pits for taxpayers. Fewer Americans are...
Unlimited Government vs. Capitalism
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...
The Nature of Zoning
In 2007, I served as a consultant to a group of citizens opposed to an attempt to bring zoning to Hobbs, New Mexico. During that time, I wrote a series of articles that were published in the local newspaper. This is one of those articles. In a referendum, zoning was...
The Tired, The Poor, and The Huddled Masses
Since 1886, the Statue of Liberty has stood in New York Harbor as a beacon to individuals from around the world seeking the freedom to live their lives as they choose. On the pedestal of the statue is a plaque with the sonnet “The New Colossus”: Not like the brazen...
Rent Control Hypocrites
Those who benefit from government coercion seldom like it when the gun is turned around and pointed at them. They have no hesitation to demand that government use compulsion for their benefit, but complain when compulsion is directed at them. As an example,...
A New Way to Compete
There was a time when business owners competed on the basis of their products or services. They would try to be more innovative than competitors. They would develop new products, offer better service, or charge lower prices in order to win market share. Today, it...
The Legislative Remedy to Obamacare: Principles or Politics?
Long ago, Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense, "We have it in our power to begin the world anew." In that spirit the time has now come for Congress to throw out government medical policy and start over. We can at least take comfort that the U.S. Supreme Court decision...
Talk to the Houston Property Rights Association
In 2009, I delivered a talk to the Houston Property Rights Association. I had previously spoken to that group in 1993 during the debate over Houston’s last attempt to implement zoning. In my earlier talk, I cautioned that we might win the referendum on zoning, but...
Doctors for Socialized Medicine
This is perhaps my favorite line from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged with regard to doctors who support, or tolerate, socialized medicine: “Let them discover, in the operating rooms and hospital wards, that it is not safe to place their lives in the hands of a man they...
Tax Increases (or Cuts) Not the Real Issue
According to the Congressional Budget Office’s figures, extending the Bush tax rates will only increase the deficit by 4 percent. Actually, critics of the way the CBO figures this out are saying the 4 percent number is too high. They charge that the CBO does not take...
The Other Worst Supreme Court Decision in American History
It has happened before. The Supreme Court, back in 1857, issued a ruling so controversial, and so divisive, that four years later it led to Civil War. The decision involved slavery. It ruled that black individuals (even freed slaves) were not legal individuals under...
Doctor Payment “Capitation” — And What It Means For You
Now, thanks to our President, Congress and even Supreme Court—who was supposed to protect us—we’re about to turn over the practice of medical care to the least capable, and least morally qualified, to handle anything.
Nuisance, Zoning, and Property Rights
One of the primary justifications for zoning is to prevent “incompatible” land uses, such as keeping industrial facilities out of residential areas. Such “incompatible” uses are regarded as an inherent nuisance, and rather than wait for the nuisance to occur, the use...
Your Doctor is Now a Government Employee…Happy?
Obama and advocates of socialized medicine have won. But have they, really? I was talking with a waitress I know just today. She asked me, "Can you explain, in terms that I'll understand, what Obamacare actually means -- to me?" I told her: "Imagine if you went to...
Legal Gimmickry Rescues Obamacare
Despite the celebrations among Democrats, yesterday a majority of Supreme Court justices ruled that the Constitution does not allow the government to force Americans to buy health insurance. However in providing the swing vote to uphold the Affordable Care Act (aka...
“Hope and Change” in California’s Tanking Economy
Roger Hedgecock, former Mayor of San Diego, writes the following: I live in California. If you were wondering what living in Obama's second term would be like, wonder no longer. We in California are living there now. California is a one-party state dominated by a...
James Madison’s “Property”
Unlike contemporary politicians, the Founding Fathers recognized the importance of protecting property rights. They understood that, if individuals are to be free, prosperous, and happy, then they must be secure in their property. James Madison, the Father of the...
Individual Rights and the “Common Good”
We are often told that property rights must occasionally be sacrificed for the “common good”. According to advocates of this position, we must find a balance between what is good for “the community” and the uncompromised protection of individual rights. What this...
The Redistribution of Your Health
For most of the history of our republic, the purpose of taxation was to provide funding for the functions of government that are basic and necessary. Decades ago we began to depart from that and move aggressively in another direction. The government is now using tax...
The Cult of Sacrifice
In 2007, I served as a consultant to a group of citizens opposed to an attempt to bring zoning to Hobbs, New Mexico. During that time, I wrote a series of articles that were published in the local newspaper. This is one of those articles. In a referendum, zoning was...
Social Problems and the Solution
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...
The Twenty-First Century “Ineptocracy” of America
I ran across a t-shirt that says everything about the state of our country today: Ineptocracy: A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or...
Rent Control: The Most “Peaceful” Way to Destroy a City
Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck once wrote, “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” In the late 1970s, a poll of American economists found that ninety-eight percent agreed that “a...
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