Join the members of the Liberty Conspiracy as they discuss issues ranging from the "Incorporation Doctrine" and gun rights, to the NBA, to protests conducted at military funerals, protests that are being challenged by government, and which will be heard by the philosopher kings in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gardner Goldsmith offers a long-lasting lesson on the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the so-called "incorporation doctrine." He takes the leap point of the recent lawsuit challenging the city of Chicago's ban on firearms, and extends his analysis to the Bill of Rights and even to scholars who miss some major points when it comes to understanding the wording and dynamic working of the Constitution.
I would like to enter into the record the following letter from Professor Robert D. Auerbach, a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. This letter provides additional information regarding remarks I made at yesterday's Financial Services Committee Humphrey-Hawkins hearing, remarks which Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke categorized as "bizarre."
The National Taxpayers Union has once again recognized Congressman Ron Paul as a "Taxpayers' Friend" in its 2009 ratings of Congress.
Is the Timelord a socialist, or is he, as one would expect, a libertarian who believes in the primacy of the individual?
Citizen X explores the history of the U.S. Constitution from a skeptic's perspective. We find that, far from being a limiter on government, the Constitution has been the facilitator of big government. Was this an accident or was it by design?
A Rasmussen poll released Thursday shows that only 21 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. government has the "consent of the governed" as specified in the Declaration of Independence.
On Thursday, a man flew his plane into a building housing an office of the IRS, which had been taking his money for years without his consent. Gardner Goldsmith investigates the contemporary views of such violence. Is it self defense? It is justified to stop the theft? What does one consider "just" government and "consent"?
It's tax season again. And for many of us, the idea of doing taxes and giving the IRS the pound of flesh they demand is a harrowing thought. One Austin, Texas, man, claiming to have been fed up with being ripped off by the IRS for over 20 years, flew a small plane into a building containing the local IRS office this morning.
Get ready for the final vote for the Freedom Book Club's Book of the Year! You still have time to vote. Voting ends on Feb 15th! Here's Gard and Furb discussing the book club and the books!
Ever wonder about the strange image of people applauding utterly meaningless statements made by politicians? About the nationalistic rhetoric employed by the politicians as they try to appeal to the multitudes? About the seeming derangement of people who appear to NEED approval from their "leaders" before they can feel good about themselves?
Jersey Shore? Fuhgeddaboudit. Jersey City is the gem of reality TV. Shore is MTV. Jersey City is FBI. Like, how real is that? Killer videos of pols talking trash and passing cash have been unspooling in federal court in Newark at the trial of Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini. Beldini was busted last summer in an FBI sweep that corralled dozens of Jersey pols. It was one of the largest corruption roundups in Jersey's thick history of roundups.
At issue is the recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Should the members of the corporation be allowed to employ speech rights under the name of the corporation?
Private sector union membership has been on a slow and steady decline for decades. While union leaders decry the numbers, saying that good union jobs are disappearing, the reality behind unions is much more complex. To an extent, they have become a victim of their own success.
Haiti. A tragic situation as thousands die during and after a massive earthquake. Politicians promise millions in other peoples' money to help the victims. Gardner Goldsmith explains why Haiti is in such bad shape compared to other places that have had such natural disasters.
How does one look at a potential TSA Head who fears Americans more than the terrorists Americans often fear? One views him as more interested in protecting the US government than the US citizenry.
The Internal Revenue Service seems less interested in providing "customer service" and more in intimidating you into paying up, whether you truly owe anything or not.
Join us as Furb takes over the production, offering his take on Chris Dodd's decision not to return to the Senate, and on a lot more!
Join us as we roll in 2010 with Gard and Ziggy, as they discuss the end of on era and the beginning of a new one for Dr. Who, the original Prisoner, the crap of U2, new work by New Model Army, and how one man's ability to communicate with the outside world has been constrained by government bureaucracy!
The Conspiracy offers a full-on offensive against the assumption that government is needed to "give permission to marry." The disastrous consequences of this mentality can be seen every year, and a new story shows us just how pernicious the idea is.
If you're struggling to make ends meet in this economy, you aren't alone. But government employees aren't with you. The average federal government employee takes home far more in salary and benefits than you do, their pay has risen throughout the recession, and is set to continue to rise.
The great horror author Wayne Simmons chats with Gardner Goldsmith from his home in Northern Ireland, and has a great deal of incredibly insightful things to say about the nature of the term "anarchy," about writing, about economics, and about music!
Sanctions are not diplomacy. They are a precursor to war and an embarrassment to a country that pays lip service to free trade. If a foreign government attempted to isolate the US economically, cut off our supply of gasoline, or starve us to death, would it cause Americans to admire that foreign entity? Or would we instead unite under the flag for the survival of our country?
I find it shocking that legislation this serious and consequential is brought up in such a cavalier manner. Suspending the normal rules of the House to pass legislation is a process generally reserved for "non-controversial" business such as the naming of post offices. Are we to believe that this House takes matters of war and peace as lightly as naming post offices?
In late 1986 Soviet armed forces commander, Marshal Sergei Akhromeev, told then-Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, "Military actions in Afghanistan will soon be seven years old. There is no single piece of land in this country which has not been occupied by a Soviet soldier. Nonetheless, the majority of the territory remains in the hands of rebels." Soon Gorbachev began the Soviet withdrawal from its Afghan misadventure. Eight years into our own war in Afghanistan the Soviet commander's words ring eerily familiar.
In this second part of our investigation of how government law concerning intellectual property harms living standards and infringes on liberty, Gardner Goldsmith is joined by Furb, founder of The Freedom Book Club.
Cast your mind back to November, 2007. When the bursting housing bubble made it seem as if mortgage fraud perped by parties larger than brokers, bank clerks, and appraisers might finally matter. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent an ominous missive to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He was launching an "industry-wide investigation into mortgage fraud" . . .
FURB takes the helm as he compiles recent calls to the Liberty Conspiracy Hotline.
The Conspiracy concludes its look at the legendary television series, "The Prisoner", and studies how its creator, Patrick McGoohan dismantled the arguments in favor of the state.
We hope you enjoy this production, which is the first of two parts concentrating on the monumental achievement of Patrick McGoohan in his series "The Prisoner."
In this the fourth of our Fundamentals Reissues, the Liberty Conspiracy concludes the discussion about supposed "rights" as defined and "defended" by government, which can only exist by intruding on one's rights. Gardner Goldsmith offers an insightful explanation of why all government is predicated on the breach of rights, and is thus not supportable under its own raison d'etre.
Google posted an apology for image search results in which the top image depicted first lady Michelle Obama as an ape. The image, however, was just one of dozens of images of celebrities and political figures altered to look like apes.
Join Gardner Goldsmith in this special reissue of one of the productions that explores the bedrock ideas of freedom. In this case, he delves into the way in which the term "rights" has been corrupted by the very government supposedly created to protect those rights. Listen, and see why Goldsmith makes a compelling argument that one can never trust government to protect so-called "rights", because in order for government to exist, it must infringe on rights at the outset.
I was pleased last week when we won a vote in the Financial Services Committee to include language from the Audit the Fed bill HR1207 in the upcoming financial regulatory reform bill. As it stands now, if HR 3996 passes, because of this action, the Federal Reserve's entire balance sheet will be opened up to a GAO audit. We will at last have a chance to find out what happened to the trillions of dollars the Fed has been giving out.
After years of writing about how governments abuse, murder, and imprison innocent people and destroy life around the world, I find that I have been wrong, really wrong. All this time, I wrongfully tried to convince readers that terrible things are done in the name of "good government," and now I have to apologize to them.
The House Financial Services Committee voted Thursday to add Rep. Ron Paul's broadly supported proposal to audit the Federal Reserve to a larger banking reform package.
Chicago, long one of the most corrupt cities in America, has seen three of its government bureaucrats commit suicide in recent memory, the latest being the president of its school board.
On Monday, the Washington Blade and several other gay newspapers were shut down after the Small Business Administration, which had put them in receivership, was unable to sell them.
New Hampshire's guarantee of a $250,000 line of credit for a local newspaper freshly emerged from bankruptcy is raising fresh questions about whether media outlets which receive government assistance can remain independent, and whether government should offer such assistance at all.
Raising a child is probably the most important thing a person will ever do in life. Yet we constantly hear stories of child abuse and neglect.
October 14th. The big chill was early, even for Albany. A press conference was being held in the park across from the New York Court of Appeals. The highest court in the state was set to hear Goldstein et al v. New York State Urban Development Corporation. The press conference speakers and their supporters were primarily Brooklynites up from The City. Veterans of the Atlantic Yards wars. Folks who've attended numerous court proceedings, marched in myriad demonstrations, and organized countless fund-raisers in a six year effort to keep their homes, businesses, and neighborhoods from being crushed by Atlantic Yards, the dream baby of mega developer Forest City Ratner. Eminent domain abuse is the heart of the matter.
Festival planning sessions "led" by Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and other luminaries at the Yippie House were chaotic and open to the dozens of crashers drifting in and out. Nothing like the war room strategy sessions imagined by fantasists on the right. Weird to see, four decades later, fantasists on the left spinning similar conspiracy theories about the masses of Tea Party protesters. Many of whom carry flags sporting rattlesnakes and the slogan "Don't Tread On Me."
The federal government needs to hire 600,000 people over the next three years, including 273,000 for "mission-critical" positions, according to a survey released Thursday by a statist think tank.
When reading the account of the Expo I had to put Life, Inc. down and check the cover. Had Random House sent me an advance copy of the wrong book? Was this Bonfire of the Vanities Redux? Or had Mark Twain or Jim Thompson risen from the dead to re-skewer American grift? Nope. There was the short sweet title Life, Inc. Followed by . . .
You could power 9,800 homes for a year on the energy that the U.S. Department of Energy is wasting by not using setback thermostats in its facilities, many of which already have them installed.
Arguments from pragmatism fail to convince because people refuse to believe studies and statistics, and arguments from principle fail because they are too abstract for people to grasp. How, then, does one argue for liberty?
The debate over health care reform has turned violent in the last week as protesters on both sides of the issue clashed in cities across the country, revealing a long-simmering civil unrest.
If you have a credit card, you've almost certainly just received, or are about to receive, a notice that your rates, fees and minimum payments are going up. For this you can thank Congress.
It has become clear to even the least astute observer that the United States is in decline and has been so for some time now. Despite the hollow promises of the government's talking heads, however, worse is yet to come. What is to become of the United States of America? Will the beacon of liberty, already dangerously dim, be finally extinguished?
Many of you reading this are government employees yourselves. Are you aware of wrongdoing within your agency or department? Have you tried to report it through established channels such as an inspector general and gotten absolutely nowhere -- or gotten fired, or worse? Now a new option is open to you.
Did you buy extra ammunition after Barack Obama was elected President, and are you still concerned that he might ban your guns? Are you concerned that the economic crisis could devolve into a depression, or worse? Do you think the federal government has overstepped its authority under the Constitution? If so, the government thinks you're a right-wing extremist and a potential terrorist threat.
Dick Heller, who thinks of himself as "just a regular guy," became part of history June 26, 2008, when the Supreme Court ruled in his favor in the landmark Second Amendment case which bears his name. Heller and the lead attorney on his legal team, Dane von Breichenruchardt, tell the story of how they won and what legal challenges they will bring next.
Those of us who criticize the government have no end of material to work with. There's far more stupidity in government than I'll ever have time to publish, let alone write about myself. Yet I believe that we who criticize should also offer solutions to the problems we point out, and moreover, that when those solutions improve the state of things, that we should act to implement them. As part of this, I want to hear from you about what you want to see Homeland Stupidity do.
"When my goal is to get something on the table, to have my issue actually be resolved," says Angela Keaton, "all they really need to know is: war bad, peace good."
To those of you who are facing layoffs, foreclosure, or worse, help can't come fast enough. But so far all you've been offered is a measly $400 tax rebate and vague promises about how the bailouts and the stimulus package will create more jobs and get the economy moving again. And of course, you're doubtful. You're right to be.
For Dick Heller, the battle to reclaim Second Amendment rights from the District of Columbia was over 30 years in the making, and it isn't over yet.
So many of the world's billionaires and other great achievers, past and present, never graduated from high school, or never even went to school at all, that one begins to wonder if there's a pattern here. Could removing your children from public school entirely be a key to their future success?
When I think of public schools, the first thing that comes to mind now is the high school principal who was removed from his position and escorted from the building by police because he wanted his teachers to use lesson plans. Everyone knows public schools are broken. Can they be fixed?
The June 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller Supreme Court decision was hailed as a victory by advocates of gun rights. It was also hailed as a victory by advocates of gun control. Who is right to claim victory? And what legal challenges do gun owners face in the future?
If you consider yourself a citizen of the United States of America, or of any other country, you should not watch this video until you have mentally prepared yourself to have everything you believe in challenged. You have been warned.
Dr. Mary Ruwart is a quiet heroine of the liberty movement. In addition to being author of one of the most widely cited books on liberty, she is also a pharmaceutical industry insider, and at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum, she told exactly why prescription drugs (and health care generally) are expensive and difficult to access, and how many people have died because of it.
If you've ever seen professional wrestler Glen Jacobs at his day job, you may be quite surprised to hear him speak when he's not at work.
When alcohol was prohibited in the United States, it didn't take long for people to recognize it as a universally bad idea. Yet the same is true of the prohibition of other drugs, and for the same reasons. A popular slogan at the time was, "Save Our Children: Stamp Out Prohibition." Perhaps we should bring it back, because the war on drugs certainly is endangering our children.
As virtually everyone is aware, the Internet has changed the way people do business and how they live their lives. It has also changed the way people do activism.
"Most people do not value liberty," says Libertarian Party founder David Nolan, "at least not as much as we do." What does this mean for those who wish to spread the message of freedom?
Separate school and state? But how will children get an education unless the government gives it to them?
What happens when 500 activists for freedom converge on the same hotel in one of the freest places left in this country?
A fundamental change occurs in the psyche of most people who work for the government. They begin to develop a superiority complex. After a while, they begin to believe they can do whatever they want to anyone who isn't part of their exclusive club. And to an extent, they're right: they have all the guns, after all. Here are a few examples of government employees showing their disdain for the ordinary people whose money they live on.
Illinois governor Milorad "Rod" Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested Tuesday on federal corruption charges, for allegedly attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, and trying to have Chicago Tribune editorial board members fired.
Nationally syndicated radio talk show host Ian Freeman will spend 100 days in jail because he questioned the legitimacy of a system which would penalize him for having a couch in his yard and conduct his trial in secret.
With there being less than a hair's difference between presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain, many Americans are going to wake up today still undecided on which to vote for, the giant douche or the turd sandwich. Today I want to share with you how I think you should approach the polls on this Election Day, 2008.
Hit the road Halloween. For those who loathe politicians (count me in) there's no more horrific time than the final days of a presidential race. Our flesh creeps as the last candidates standing (sort of) do the Transylvania Twist faster and faster, spinning their true (sort of) beliefs on a dime and contorting themselves into whatever position seems ripe for the moment.
Evil omens re the economy hath melded Obama and McCain into one man, living in the cramped quarters of one craven political soul. Something/someone has to give. President-wannabe Obama McCain steps forth to issue a decree. Let the bailouts begin! Up the oligarchy! State capitalism we are here!
We've all heard the real economic news by now, or worse, experienced it. You've gone to the bank to find it closed, or you've gotten laid off, or you're just feeling the pinch in your wallet as money grows ever tighter. You need to understand how and why it happened if you're going to get yourself out of this economic mess, because surely you've figured out by now that your so-called leaders in Washington aren't going to do it; they seem hell-bent on making things even worse for you.
The Big Bailout Circus has the nation in stitches. Taxpayers are being sewn into a skin-tight forever suit by an amazingly bipartisan group of government clowns. But despite the agreement about the need for a slap dash redo of the U.S. financial system -- and by extension our political system -- the designing bozos disagree about details. And none can resist an occasional hit of the rubber chicken . . .
It's bad enough that the federal government wants to spend trillions of dollars of your children's money to bail out financial institutions that should be allowed to collapse for the good of the economy. But under the terms of the proposed bailout plan, the government will be able to rescue bad banks in secret.
Last week the world of finance was rocked hard as the policies of the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government finally came home to roost, with one major investment bank going under and many more in dire straits and being bought up at fire-sale prices.
Americans should be marching on D.C. by the millions with pitchforks in hand in protest of what the government has done to the economy and the nothing it plans to do about it. Yet they aren't, primarily because they don't understand the problem.
Cynicism is a sin in the Age Of Hope. But cynics won't go gently into the goody good night. . . .
A congressionally mandated study released Wednesday found that the U.S. national security system is outdated and needs major restructuring.
A Brooklyn jury has found Emmanuel "Toto" Constant guilty of mortgage fraud and grand larceny. Constant is the former founder and leader of FRAPH, the Haitian paramilitary group that in the early 90's systematically tortured and murdered thousands of supporters of deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
On July 4 I woke up in Pennsylvania, in a mansion which had served as a station on the Underground Railroad, that network of people and places which helped slaves escape their bondage before and during the Civil War. And I thought that, with the replacement of yesterday's chattel slavery with today's universal bondage, it may be time for a new Underground Railroad.
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that the individual right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by the Second Amendment was nevertheless open to regulation, restriction, licensing and registration, just like the First Amendment.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama not only wants to raise the price of your gas, he wants to raise the price of your food. Not to mention tax you to death for the privilege.
So far the federal government has done little to respond to the historic floods in eastern Iowa which are among the worst in recorded history. In order to maintain tyranny in the flooded areas, local governments have had to step up to meet the challenge.
If you missed the fifth annual Porcupine Freedom Festival in Gilford, N.H., last week, make plans now to attend the next one.
The only place on the planet can you find hundreds of liberty loving activists who are actually doing something to advance the cause of freedom is right here in Gilford, N.H., at the fifth annual Porcupine Freedom Festival.
Back in April (it seems like an eon of Clinton ago!) FBI Director Robert Mueller gave a speech to the American Bar Association titled "Corporate Fraud and Public Corruption: Are We Becoming More Crooked?" The question was left open. Mueller wrapped up with a Teddy Roosevelt quote: "Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual, and of nations alike."
It's May again, that time of year when the Department of Homeland Security hands out millions of dollars of your hard-earned money to whoever it wants for the strangest of reasons, or none at all, in the name of "infrastructure protection." Today's stupid spending: $184,415 for a casino shuttle.
The war on terror could be recast as "A Global Struggle for Security and Progress," according to an internal Department of Homeland Security memo.
If "Truth is treason in the empire of lies," as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) writes in his new book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, then Paul has certainly committed treason by laying out the truth of the precarious state of the United States in 2008.
When the next hurricane threatens to strike, how will you get the news? For that matter, will you survive? Some want to give the Federal Emergency Management Agency even more authority over disaster response than it already has, even while it struggles to modernize the country's emergency alert system.
Ostensibly the Transportation Security Administration exists to keep Americans safe when they fly. In reality it's a bureaucratic nightmare which never should have been created in the first place. Consider what the TSA has done to pilots and air marshals to put you at risk.
After the last few resistors departed in 2006, Corcoran Jennison, the preferred developer for the Fort Trumbull project, got cracking on a tony utopia. A thousand condos bloomed. Crowds of affluent young professionals now sip lattes and tap laptops in cafes overlooking the Long Island Sound. Revenues are rolling in. Property taxes have been slashed and children are learning to read and write as well as kids did a half century ago.The real squeal:
"What are you working on today, Madam President?" asked Doctor Murchison."My plan to fix the housing crisis," said Hillary, without looking up.
The Department of Homeland Security has granted an extension to New Hampshire for compliance with the provisions of the federal REAL ID program.
The New Hampshire state representative who made headlines last year when he e-mailed a constituent suggesting that he snitch out his marijuana-smoking friends is at it again.
Albany. The capital of New York. The heart of state government. Can't you feel the rhythm of the beat? Lub dub lub dub. Pols who make it there, don't need to go anywhere -- they can stay in Albany forever and ever and ever. The governor's mansion is akin to the hotel in "The Shining." After taking over, the new guy always goes barmy. He doesn't even have to live in it. Just throw an occasional reception.
Hot damn. The government is going to stimulate the economy. Not with a lap dance or lubricated love glove, but with taxpayer dollars. Come summer, Mister and Miz America will get a rebate from Uncle Sam. What a man! Some people will get more than a thou of their own money back. Consumers will rush out and pump the economy. Wal-Mart here we come. Simultaneously, just like in romance novels.
I'm suffering from mixed feelings about the New Hampshire primary results. There was only one candidate truly worth voting for on Tuesday, who truly exemplifies the Live Free or Die spirit. Then again, the Old Man of the Mountain is gone, and perhaps that Live Free or Die spirit fell with him.
Karl Marx would love the popular moves among politicians in various state governments and the federal government to ban so-called "junk" food in schools, and to "put healthy food in" convenience stores and on the tables of those they define as poor. It's a very elitist and arrogant mindset that promotes this ideology, and it needs to be addressed.
Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
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