Say what you will about his campaign and his supporters, but one of the more remarkable political stories of 2007. There were moneybombs in November and December that brought in more in a single day than some candidates had raised all quarter. By the end of the 4th Quarter, the campaign had raised $ 20 [...]

He went to Capitol Hill today and talked about the need for an economic stimulus package, and the stock market fell 300 points anyway: Federal Reserve chief Ben S. Bernanke told lawmakers today it is “critically important” that any economic stimulus package take effect quickly if it is to help ward off recession, and the [...]

Apparently, there’s not much liberty at the Statue of Liberty these days: Nearly 2 million tourists, many from overseas, descend on Liberty Island each year to commune with that green icon of American freedom, the Statue of Liberty. Most of them will actually get to see the monument—as long they put out their cigarettes, hand [...]

Reason’s Brian Doherty has a piece today over at Hit & Run that lends some much-needed sanity to the issues that we’ve been dealing with lately: I invite all fellow admirers of a tolerant, dynamic, vibrant, liberal, varied and growing world of ideas, expressions, and ways of being to consider, for a moment, that there [...]

A Republican State Senator has introduced a bill that would permit employers to fire someone who cannot speak English without being liable for unemployment benefits: RICHMOND, Jan. 16 — A Republican state senator from Fairfax County has introduced a proposal that would allow a boss to fire employees who don’t speak English in the workplace, [...]

On Wednesday Jason noted that Mike Huckabee had stated his desire to amend the Constitution to bring it in line with “God’s law.” Later that day, he appeared on Hannity & Colmes and attempted to clarify what he had said earlier in the day: On last night’s Hannity & Colmes, Colmes cited Huckabee’s quote about [...]

That’s the interesting legal question posed by a case out of Vermont: The federal government is asking a U.S. District Court in Vermont to order a man to type a password that would unlock files on his computer, despite his claim that doing so would constitute self-incrimination. The case, believed to be the first of [...]

Or was that the poll tax? Either way, I’m not a big fan of this new Texas law: There is a new price to be paid for looking at naked women in Texas. On January 1st the state’s strip clubs began imposing a $5 surcharge for each visitor. The “pole tax,” as it is commonly [...]

A Department of Homeland Security official thinks we should be required to present federally approved identification when buying prescription drugs: In a presentation aimed at promoting the final identification requirements released Friday, Stewart Baker, the Homeland Security Department’s assistant secretary for policy, suggested the controversial system could help federal agents combat methamphetamine production and abuse [...]

Christian leader and GOP Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee sees a vast right wing conspiracy against him: MIKE HUCKABEE: We’re doing OK in South Carolina. We’re up on television, we’ve got a good budget here, a good buy. We also have an extraordinary ground operation in South Carolina. I really believe we’re going to win here; [...]

Economist Steven Landsburg has an excellent article in today’s New York Times on the relationship between protectionism and coercion: Bullying and protectionism have a lot in common. They both use force (either directly or through the power of the law) to enrich someone else at your involuntary expense. If you’re forced to pay $20 an [...]

Jacob Sullum has an article up at Reason telling Ron Paul what he needs to do about the newsletter story: If I thought Ron Paul might be president in 2009, I’d have to admit that his newsletter negligence raises questions about his judgment and about the people he’d choose to advise him. But since the [...]

With Mitt Romney’s win in Michigan last night, we are now at the point where three separate candidates have won the first three contests of the Republican Nomination race. Hucabkee won Iowa, McCain won New Hampshire, and Romney surprised everyone with a strong win in Michigan. So, what happens next ? Mitt Romney: A win [...]

In separate pieces, two Cato scholars — Michael Tanner and Jeffrey Taylor — lay out enough evidence to make you wonder why anyone considers Mitt Romney an economic conservative. First, Tanner suggests that people actually look at his record as Governor: For some reason, Romney has been able to claim the Reagan mantle despite his [...]

After speaking with multiple sources (many of them off-the-record) and going through a publishing history, Reason Magazine has added weight to the suspicions of many on who was responsible for the Ron Paul newsletter…current Ron Paul advisor Lew Rockwell.  From the tone of the article nobody else seems to come close as a prime suspect, [...]

Former Prosecutor Michael Nifong has filed for bankruptcy protection: Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — Michael Nifong, the former North Carolina district attorney who pursued rape charges against three Duke University lacrosse players, then resigned after he was accused of withholding evidence, has filed for bankruptcy. Nifong, stripped of his law license by the North Carolina State [...]

Why am I not surprised by this comment made by Mike Huckabee: I have opponents in the race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the Word of the Living God and that’s what we need to [...]

Today was the first day of hearings into baseball’s steroid scandal and the Mitchell Report: WASHINGTON (AP) — At a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in the same, wood-paneled room where Palmeiro, Mark McGwire and others testified three years ago, congressmen mixed criticism of baseball and its players with praise for commissioner Bud [...]

There’s been much discussion here in the days since the Paul newsletter story broke about the extent to which some Ron Paul supporters seem to have the view that calling oneself a libertarian obligates you to support the Paul campaign. Apropos of that discussion, I was recently clued into this “Open Letter To Libertarians” written [...]

Forbes Magazine asks what the apparent failure of Ron Paul’s Presidential campaign means for the Internet’s influence over politics: On the Web, the Ron Paul Army reigns. With or without their favorite presidential candidate’s consent, they flood Web forums, overwhelm online polls and berate bloggers. They build countless fan pages and dominate user-generated media sites. [...]