So you think you’re free? Thanks to big government spending and exploding debt, the United States — and indeed the world — is less economically free today than it was a year ago, according to the 18th annual Index of Economic Freedom, released yesterday by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Economic freedom — the ability of individuals to control the fruits of their labor and pursue their dreams — is central to prosperity around the world. Heritage and The Wall Street Journal measure economic freedom by studying its pillars: the … More

John Lambert tackles two hot-button issues in one thought-provoking article

For the last three months, the village of Wukan in Guangzhou, China, has been the scene of unrest. Locals were outraged that, for years, their lands were often being sold from under them by village officials. When petitions to provincial-level authorities brought no relief, they began to stage public protests, which in turn were met by baton-wielding police, causing villagers to surround the local police station and burn several vehicles. To placate the situation, the local authorities agreed to meet with a delegation of residents—but then several of the delegates … More

There are quite a few reasons to be concerned about the U.N.’s pending Arms Trade Treaty. It poses a number of risks to the Second Amendment and, more broadly, it is based on the completely fallacious belief that all the world’s nations are actually serious about controlling the illicit arms trade. If they were, of course, no treaty would be necessary. What the treaty will end up doing is making the arms trade more dangerous, by giving the world’s dictator states an internationally-recognized right to import and export all the … More

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Marine and U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, and the start of the political firestorm surrounding the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Operation Fast and Furious. An AK-47 assault rifle used as part of the operation was found at the scene of Terry’s murder, near Rio Rico, AZ. It turned out to be one of more than 2,000 firearms the ATF allowed to pass into Mexico, with the understanding the guns would be handed off to violent drug cartels. … More

When Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) asked Attorney General Eric Holder to explain the letters concerning Fast and Furious that were withdrawn by DOJ because they were “inaccurate,” as well other misstatements by Holder’s Justice Department in the investigation of the gun-walking disaster, Holder was quick to his own defense, arguing that no one lied. “Tell me what’s the difference between lying and misleading Congress, in this context?” Sensenbrenner asked. “Well, if you want to have this legal conversation, it all has to do with your state of mind and whether … More

Mike Maharrey wonders if Washington’s foreign policy ideas could get any traction in American politics today

The political debate over China seems familiar because they’ve been on the political table for years.  Is China taking American jobs?  How cooperative is the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on issues like nuclear programs in North Korea and Iran?  China rises; America frets, and Presidential candidates talk about roughly the same things every four years. But what if China is about to change? By the time America holds its presidential election next year, China will have begun a leadership transition of its own.  The current leadership group headed by Hu … More

It has been 12 months since the American people spoke resoundingly at the polls against overtaxing, overspending, and overborrowing, but memories can be short in Washington. All it takes is for a couple of politicos and the so-called “mainstream” media to denigrate the Tea Party and the freshman congressional class–and urge compromise–and you have the spectacle of some Members of Congress hiding under the neutral-sounding “revenue raising” banner and urging the so-called “Super Committee” to raise taxes. Throw in some character assassination of those holding the line against spending and … More

Exercising liberty: A real-world example of people choosing to be free. Without government permission, that is.