Strict Gun Control Will Seem Like War on Drugs | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary

Strict Gun Control Will Seem Like War on Drugs | Jeffrey A. Miron | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Strict controls and prohibition, moreover, don't eliminate guns any more than drug prohibition stops drug trafficking and use. Prohibition might deter some potential gun owners, but mainly those who would own and use guns responsibly."

"Even if strict controls or prohibition had prevented Loughner from obtaining a gun, he might have still carried out a violent attack. Timothy McVeigh's 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people, illustrates perfectly that a determined lunatic has multiple ways to inflict harm.

Beyond being ineffective, gun prohibition might even increase violence by creating a large black market in guns. So if gun laws follow the path of drug laws, we can expect more violence under gun prohibition than in a society with limited or no controls."

Congress Rediscovers the Constitution | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Congress Rediscovers the Constitution | Roger Pilon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Congress must acknowledge honestly that it has not kept faith with the limits the Constitution imposes. It should then stop delegating its legislative powers to executive agencies. Congress should either vote on the sea of regulations the executive branch is promulgating or, far better, rescind or defund those regulations, policies and programs that never should have been promulgated in the first place"

Can We Stop Calling Them "Consumer Protections" Now? | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Can We Stop Calling Them "Consumer Protections" Now? | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "At the same time Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius was threatening to bankrupt insurers who claim ObamaCare is increasing premiums by more than 1 percent, her own employees estimated that one of the law's regulations — the requirement to purchase unlimited annual coverage — will increase some people's premiums by 7 percent or more when fully implemented."

"The ban on discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions has caused insurers to stop selling child-only policies in dozens of states. The dependent-coverage mandate was cited as one of the reasons spurring a Service Employees International Union local in New York City to eliminate coverage for 6,000 dependent children.

In 2008, Congress passed a similar mandate that supporters said would expand coverage for mental-health and substance-abuse services. Instead, that mandate spurred the Screen Actors Guild to eliminate mental-health coverage for 12,000 of its lower-paid members. It had the same effect on 3,500 members of the Chicago's Plumbers Welfare Fund, and 2,200 employees of Woodman's Food Market in Wisconsin. Other employers are curtailing access to mental-health services thanks to this mandate, and some insurers have stopped selling such coverage altogether."

"This supposed consumer protection also punishes efforts to reduce fraud and improve quality by reviewing claims. Thus, in addition to increasing premiums, it may expose patients to unnecessary and even harmful services."

"Sebelius has so far issued 222 waivers, which raises the question: if these were really consumer protections, why waive them?"

"rules that were supposed to protect children have stripped sick kids of their health insurance and made it harder for parents to find coverage for kids who may soon fall ill. Other rules have reduced wages and discouraged hiring amid high unemployment."

Welcome to the President's Private Prison | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary

Welcome to the President's Private Prison | Nat Hentoff | Cato Institute: Commentary: "'indefinite detention as a long-term Obama administration policy makes clear that the White House ALONE (emphasis added) will manage a review process for those it chooses to hold without charge of trial."

"To deprive someone of their liberty for what could very well be their entire lifetime without charging them with any crime and without having the evidence necessary to convict them in a regular court strikes at the heart of our core constitutional values."

Time to Play Dr. No | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary

Time to Play Dr. No | Michael F. Cannon | Cato Institute: Commentary: "A former New York City fraud investigator has estimated that fraud and abuse account for as much as 40% of Medicaid spending in New York — an amount that dwarfs all future budget gaps combined.

ObamaCare makes this unmanageable program even worse. The health-care bill's Medicaid mandate forces states to expand eligibility, to enroll more people who were already eligible, and gives states less flexibility to eliminate abuse."

"Medicaid's 'matching grants' mean that when states eliminate waste, fraud and abuse, they only get to keep (at most) half the savings. So they don't try even half as hard as they should."

A Brighter Look at Milgram's Obedience Study - Michael Kitchens - Mises Daily

A Brighter Look at Milgram's Obedience Study - Michael Kitchens - Mises Daily: "Thus, only in the direct presence of the authority figure do you find that most people will obey malevolent orders. Overall, what we find is that authority is a relatively weak way to establish and maintain social order."