Archive for James Bovard
Contributing editor James Bovard is the author of Attention Deficit Democracy,Terrorism and Tyranny, Lost Rights, and other books.
Storm Trooping to Equality
Politicians have long enjoyed promising to deliver equality to the American people. In a January speech, President Clinton announced that he is seeking a budget increase to hire more federal agents to penalize more companies for alleged inequalities in their wage and salary structures. Clinton declared, “We have an opportunity now, and an obligation, to [...]
1Jul1999 | James Bovard | 0 comments | ContinuedMoney: The Great Gold Robbery
The New Deal established much of the moral framework of contemporary political life. Though some of the programs and policies of that era have been terminated, the moral heritage of the New Deal continues to permeate American government and political thinking. In 1936 Franklin Roosevelt declared, “I should like to have it said of my [...]
1Jun1999 | James Bovard | 1 comment | ContinuedBogus Freedom
“Freedom from want” is one of the most frequently invoked notions of freedom in our time. However, it is a bogus freedom that politicians and socialists offer to lull people into accepting policies that destroy true freedom. Freedom from want has been most loudly advocated in this century by those who favored removing almost all [...]
1May1999 | James Bovard | 0 comments | ContinuedThe Great Betrayal: How American Sovereignty and Social Justice Are Being Sacrificed to the Gods of the Global Economy by Patrick Buchanan
Little Brown & Company • 1998 • 320 pages • $22.95 Patrick Buchanan has given America one of the most eloquent theological tracts of recent decades. Unfortunately, when Buchanan, a two-time presidential candidate, takes his theological views into economic areas, the result is a recipe for poverty, conflict, and subjugation. The subtitle of Buchanan’s book [...]
1Jan1999 | James Bovard | 0 comments | ContinuedThe IRS, Now and Forever?
Since late last year, politicians in Washington, D.C., have been promising to save Americans from the Internal Revenue Service—to fundamentally reform the agency, once and for all. The surge of anti-IRS outrage fits a dismal pattern in recent American history. On July 30, 1996, when signing a bill to provide meager additional protections to taxpayers, [...]
1Nov1998 | James Bovard | 1 comment | ContinuedTeachers Unions: Are the Schools Run for Them?
Public education is the most expensive “gift” that most Americans will ever receive. Government school systems are increasingly coercive and abusive both of parents and students. Government schools in hundreds of cities, towns, and counties have been effectively taken over by unions, and children are increasingly exploited, thwarted, and stymied for the benefit of organized [...]
1Jul1996 | James Bovard | 2 comments | ContinuedSeizure Fever: The War on Property Rights
Mr. Bovard is the author of Shakedown (Viking, 1995) and Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (St. Martin’s, 1994). Mass confiscation has become politically fashionable. Politicians and the courts have created an overwhelming presumption in favor of the government’s right to seize control over private land, private homes, boats, and cars, and even the [...]
1Jan1996 | James Bovard | 1 comment | ContinuedThe World Bank vs. the Worlds Poor
James Bovard has written on foreign aid for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. This article is based on a study he prepared for the Cato Institute. The World Bank is helping Third World governments cripple their economies, maul their environments, and oppress their people. From Benin to Zaire, the bank has [...]
1May1988 | James Bovard | 0 comments | ContinuedJamaica: No Free Market, No Miracle
James Bovard, a widely published writer on economic affairs, writes frequently on international developments. An earlier version of this article appeared in the Journal of Economic Growth (Vol. 1, No. 2). In 1980, advocates of the free market, limited government approach to development .and growth predicted that Jamaica would soon become the “miracle of the [...]
1Dec1987 | James Bovard | 0 comments | ContinuedFederal Job Training: Road to Nowhere
In 1964, at the height of the Great Society, the Johnson Administration decided that government should provide a job for every teenager who couldn’t find employment. The first summer jobs program, the Neighborhood Youth Corps, was established in 1965 to give poor urban youths “meaningful” work experience and to encourage them to stay in school. [...]
1Nov1987 | James Bovard | 1 comment | ContinuedLiberty &/Vs. Equality
The relics of liberty are being smashed on the insatiable altar of equality.
1Oct1977 | James Bovard | 2 comments | Continued-
The Latest
Contraception: Insuring the Uninsurable
Update below. Controversy rages over the Obama administration’s mandate that all employers – including... Read More
The Snow Plowers’ Petition
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Super Bowl versus Education?
In the spirit of Super Bowl weekend I’d like to deconstruct a Facebook status update that a friend... Read More
Capitalism, Corporatism, and the Freed Market
When a front-running presidential contender tells the country that thanks to Barack Obama, “[w]e are... Read More
Creating Jobs versus Creating Value
Picking on New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is one of the largest participation sports on the Internet.... Read More
