Patrick McKnight
The Democrats’ Massive New Spending Bill is Too ...

By Lee Enochs

When Joe Biden was elected President last year he promised to bring unity to a country that was highly divided during the Trump presidency.

However, he and the Democrats quickly forgot that campaign pledge to bring unity and healing to our divided nation as evidenced by Biden and the Democrats’ massive $3.5 trillion dollar spending bill called the “Build Better Act.”

The 2,465-page bill which promises to significantly expand America’s social safety net, is Joe Biden’s chief legislative priority, and if passed will fund everything from expanded Medicare funding, free community college and the fight against climate change.

The Democrats’ Massive New Spending Bill is Too Partisan
Patrick McKnight
On Donald Rumsfeld's Failed Iraq War Policy

By Lee Enochs

History now shows that Rumsfeld and the second Bush administration were gravely mistaken about WMD's being in Iraq at that time and the consequences of this blunder of unfathomable proportions, was the loss of over 5 000 American soldiers and over 100,000 innocent Iraqi lives.

Because Rumsfeld was considered the "chief architect" of the second Bush administration's Iraq war policy, any objective discussion over his legacy must include this monumental and historic foreign policy mistake. This was left out of your comments on Rumsfeld.


On Donald Rumsfeld's Failed Iraq War Policy
Patrick McKnight
Cryptocurrency, Human Liberty, and Economic ...

If we want freedom and privacy, we must persuade others that these are worth having.

Cryptocurrency, Human Liberty, and Economic Education
Patrick McKnight
A Response to John MacArthur’s Attack on ...

by Lee Enochs

Anyone that has been paying attention to what is transpiring in current affairs throughout the United States should acknowledge that political progressives and socialists have been emboldened and are increasingly influencing public policy decisions in America. With this increased influence of leftism has come a proportional erosion in our civil and constitutional liberties.

Case in point, the massive social media popularity and “Green New Deal” agenda of Democratic socialists Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other leftist environmentalists, have already influenced new President Joe Biden to kill the economically prosperous Keystone Pipeline contract and with it, thousands of American jobs.

A Response to John MacArthur’s Attack on Religious Freedom
Patrick McKnight
The Capitol Riot Wasn’t a Coup. It Wasn't Even ...

By Ryan McMaken

On Wednesday, a mob apparently composed of Trump supporters forced its way past US Capitol security guards and briefly moved unrestrained through much of the Capitol building. They displayed virtually no organization and no clear goals.

The only deaths were on the side of the mob, with one woman—apparently unarmed—shot dead by panicky and trigger-happy Capitol police, with three others suffering nonspecific “medical emergencies.”

Yet, the media response has been to act as if the event constituted a coup d’etat. This was “A Very American Coup” according to a headline at the New Republic. “This Is a Coup” insists a writer at Foreign Policy. The Atlantic presented photos purported to be “Scenes from an American Coup.”

The Capitol Riot Wasn’t a Coup. It Wasn't Even Close.

Keep Those Federal Troops out of American Cities

Keep Those Federal Troops out of American Cities

By Ryan McMaken

The violence and the utter disregard for basic human rights displayed by the Left in recent years—combined with its support for war crimes when a Democrat is president—have made me inclined to play nice with conservatives these days. At least conservatives aren't planning to torch my neighborhood any time soon, and at the moment they're no worse than the Left on foreign policy.

On the other hand, sometimes even the relatively less bad guys (for now) come to some very dangerous conclusions.

Canceling the Cancel Culture: In Defense of Libertarian Scholar Walter Block

Canceling the Cancel Culture: In Defense of Libertarian Scholar Walter Block

By Lee Enochs

In recent weeks many of us have heard about the troubling issue of "cancel culture," a movement on the radical left that is designed to see anything the liberal political establishment deems politically incorrect and "racist," abolished and eliminated from collective society.

The left is now acting like the Taliban of Afghanistan, and is toppling statues and calling for many of our favorite films, books, television shows and songs to be canceled, banned and abolished under the premise that these items transgress what is socially and politically acceptable.

Woman Attacked by Police Dog Gets $250K Settlement from New Jersey Town

Woman Attacked by Police Dog Gets $250K Settlement from New Jersey Town

By John Paff

On February 3, 2020, the Borough of Oaklyn (Camden County, NJ) agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a Collingswood woman who claimed that Borough cops sicced a police dog on her after chasing her home because she parked incorrectly in a 7-Eleven parking lot.

In her lawsuit, Natalie Diaz said that in the early evening of February 2, 2016, she went to the 7-Eleven in Oaklyn to purchase a cup of coffee. After seeing that there were no parking spaces, “she parked her car by one of the exits to the parking lot” with her engine running and lights on. When she exited the store “a few minutes” later, several people, including Oaklyn Police Officer Jayne Jones, “were yelling at her to move her car.”

Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania Issues Official Statement on COVID-19

Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania Issues Official Statement on COVID-19

By Steve Sheetz, Chair of the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

One thing that we (being human) all have in common is that this pandemic is having an effect on each of our lives.  There is but 1 universal truth to come from all of this that the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania can get behind, and that is the truth that we all need to practice a certain level of empathy for those whose lives we know nothing about.  That truth that says that we do not know what others are dealing with, nor do we have all of the answers.  We have had complaints about what is being done, and how those plans have been implemented, but over all there is but one path forward.

National Debt Tops $24 Trillion

National Debt Tops $24 Trillion

By Michael Maharrey

The US national debt pushed above $24 trillion on Tuesday.

The US government was already running massive budget deficits long before the coronavirus pandemic and the debt was piling up at a dizzying pace. Response to the outbreak has put spending and debt in hyperdrive.

6 Reasons for Optimism in 2020

6 Reasons for Optimism in 2020

By Tyler Brandt

“The 2010s have been the best decade ever. The evidence is overwhelming.”

Those are the words of Cato Institute senior fellow Johan Norberg, penned in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal.

Norberg’s words seem hyperbolic at first glance, but he may be right. In many ways, the world is getting better every day, and at an explosive rate. This is contrary to mainstream sentiment, where pundits clamor about democracy falling apart, climate catastrophe threatening our very existence, and capitalism failing us.

Yet, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Data show the past decade has been a story of human flourishing and progress. Here are 6 facts about human progress that give us reason to be optimistic heading into 2020:

Pennsylvania Aims To Move Forward Both On Medicinal & Adult Use Cannabis Programs

Pennsylvania Aims To Move Forward Both On Medicinal & Adult Use Cannabis Programs

By Patrick McKnight

A new effort to legalize recreational cannabis is coming to the Keystone State. Pennsylvania lawmakers Daylin Leach and Sharif Street are hoping to build support for their latest proposal, Senate Bill 350 which they introduced on October 15th. The bill would allow for both home delivery and the automatic expungement of many previous criminal convictions related to marijuana. The bill’s supporters estimate it will generate $500 million in tax revenue within twelve months.

Mid-Atlantic States Enact Historic Reforms, But Remain Stalled on Legalization

Mid-Atlantic States Enact Historic Reforms, But Remain Stalled on Legalization

By Patrick McKnight

Recent comments from Governor Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney suggest one final legislative effort to legalize marijuana in 2019.

“I think I’ve been consistent that I hoped we could have one more shot at this,” Murphy told reporters last week. “Getting something to happen sooner, if we have a real shot at that, I’d be all in. … Count me all in to try and work toward that.”

The Governor’s promised to legalize marijuana within his first 100 days in office. That was nearly two years ago. The following year and half have been a rollercoaster of rising and falling expectations for reform advocates. After Murphy and Sweeney came to an early 2019 agreement regarding how recreational marijuana would be taxed, the stage appeared finally set for a legislative vote.

Veterans Struggle to Gain Access to Medical Marijuana

Veterans Struggle to Gain Access to Medical Marijuana

By Patrick McKnight

Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have enacted medical marijuana programs. Despite this expansion military veterans often face greater obstacles to gaining access to medical marijuana than other groups. Veterans suffer widespread health problems including chronic pain, traumatic brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder at a rate higher than the general population. When veterans seek medical care from the federal Veterans Administration health system, they not only lack access to medical marijuana but may fear jeopardizing all federal benefits if they admit to personal use. Notwithstanding the rapid spread of medical marijuana across the United States, many veterans report feeling left behind.