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Tax Tyranny
fee.org > articles > tax-tyranny
Sheldon Richman | Friday, July 6, 2007If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. I hear that's what they say in the Rocky Mountains. I'd like to propose an addendum: If you do like a federal court's tax ruling, wait 11 months. Last August a three-judge panel of the influential U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia stunningly declared a section of the Internal Revenue Code unconstitutional because it permitted the taxation of money that should not be considered income. Now those judges have changed their minds, ruling essentially that Congress can tax anything it wants. Then again, we already knew that. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: Tax Tyranny
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-tax-tyranny
Sheldon Richman |If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes. I hear that's what they say in the Rocky Mountains. I'd like to propose an addendum: If you do like a federal court's tax ruling, wait 11 months. Last August a three-judge panel of the influential U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia stunningly declared a section of the Internal Revenue Code unconstitutional because it permitted the taxation of money that should not be considered income. Now those judges have changed their minds, ruling essentially that Congress can tax anything it wants. Then again, we already knew that. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Illiberal Means, Illiberal Ends
fee.org > articles > illiberal-means-illiberal-ends
Sheldon Richman | Friday, June 8, 2007The years 1914-1918 must have been lonely for Randolph Bourne. Bourne was a popular writer in Progressive circles, prolifically turning out articles for The New Republic and Seven Arts magazines. But soon the former, along with other publications, lost interest in his writing and the latter ceased operations, leaving Bourne out in the cold. What happened? Bourne bucked his fellow intellectuals, including his mentor John Dewey, and opposed U.S. entry into World War I. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Progressive Illiberalism
fee.org > articles > progressive-illiberalism
Sheldon Richman | Friday, April 20, 2007“The Progressive movement, which dominated the American scene in the years from the turn of the century to United State entrance in World War I, was not primarily a liberal movement,” writes Arthur A. Ekirch Jr. in his magisterial work The Decline of American Liberalism. “[I]n contrast to former American efforts at reform, progressivism was based on a new philosophy, partly borrowed from Europe, which emphasized collective action through the instrumentality of government.” More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: Progressive Illiberalism
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-progressive-illiberalism
Sheldon Richman |“The Progressive movement, which dominated the American scene in the years from the turn of the century to United State entrance in World War I, was not primarily a liberal movement,” writes Arthur A. Ekirch Jr. in his magisterial work The Decline of American Liberalism. “[I]n contrast to former American efforts at reform, progressivism was based on a new philosophy, partly borrowed from Europe, which emphasized collective action through the instrumentality of government.” More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: Jeffersonianism Interred
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-jeffersonianism-interred
Sheldon Richman | Friday, March 30, 2007For historian Arthur A. Ekirch Jr., the decline of American liberalism tracked the rise of nationalism and the corporate state, the intimate alliance between business and government. He equates liberalism — libertarianism — with economic freedom and property rights for the common citizen, not just for an aristocracy. From the relative, though imperfect, laissez-faire periods of the Jefferson and Jackson presidencies, the United States moved almost unswervingly to become what Albert Jay Nock would call a “Merchant-state” in which the central government heavily intervened on behalf of particular business interests, hampering the independence and progress of upstart competitors as well as workers. For most people, this is what the word “capitalism” would come to denote. More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Arthur Ekirch’s The Decline of American Liberalism
fee.org > articles > arthur-ekirchs-the-decline-of-american-liberalism
Sheldon Richman | Friday, March 23, 2007I like revisiting classic, and unfortunately forgotten, works in the (classical) liberal, or libertarian, canon. This pays several dividends. For one, it brings great books to the attention of people who never knew they existed. Moreover, old books often contain insights and information you can find nowhere else. Murray Rothbard was fond of pointing out that, contrary to what people assume, knowledge does not advance inexorably “onward and upward.” Important things can be omitted, overlooked, and forgotten. Consequently, later books on a subject can be less complete than earlier books. So it is wrong to think that the older books need not be consulted because subsequent work incorporates everything of value from the past. More . . .
A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: Arthur Ekirch's The Decline of American Liberalism
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-arthur-ekirchaposs-the-decline-of-american-liberalism
Sheldon Richman |I like revisiting classic, and unfortunately forgotten, works in the (classical) liberal, or libertarian, canon. This pays several dividends. For one, it brings great books to the attention of people who never knew they existed. Moreover, old books often contain insights and information you can find nowhere else. Murray Rothbard was fond of pointing out that, contrary to what people assume, knowledge does not advance inexorably “onward and upward.” Important things can be omitted, overlooked, and forgotten. Consequently, later books on a subject can be less complete than earlier books. So it is wrong to think that the older books need not be consulted because subsequent work incorporates everything of value from the past. More . . .
A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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Health Hazard
fee.org > articles > health-hazard
Sheldon Richman | Friday, February 9, 2007Back in the days before America had an income tax (yes, son, I've read there really was such a time), proposals to impose the tax were met with warnings that it would be “inquisitorial.” Opponents apparently didn't also see its potential for manipulating behavior. But what more effective carrot and stick is there than an income tax? More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman
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The Goal Is Freedom: “Congressional Generosity” and the Power to Tax
fee.org > resources > the-goal-is-freedom-congressional-generosity-and-the-power-to-tax
Sheldon Richman | Friday, January 19, 2007Every now and then we get a glimpse into what government officials really think about our rights to life, liberty, and property. The U.S. Justice Department recently provided such a glimpse in a controversial tax case, Murphy v. IRS.
How revealing it is! Did you know that if the government abstains from taxing all your income, you should be grateful for this “congressional generosity”? More . . .A NEW article by Sheldon Richman