- + More Evidence that “Direct Taxes” include Levies on Wealth and Income—My earlier entry provided links to Founding-era sources showing that the Constitution’s category of “direct taxes” included levies on all kinds of w...
- + Tench Coxe on the Executive Branch: President, not a King—American presidents behave almost like elected kings, exercising vast powers with very little accountability. But that wasn’t the plan. Tench Co...
- + Eight Essential Principles Behind the 2nd Amendment—There is only one thing the ATF is authorized to do under the Constitution. Disband! This may sound like hyperbole, but when you understand ...
- + Benjamin Franklin’s Brilliant Satire: Exposing British Hypocrisy Through a Fake Prussian Edict—As frustrations with usurpations and arbitrary power from the British government grew, American colonial leaders fired up the presses, producing hundr...
- + Clearing Up the Confusion About the Constitution’s Term “Direct Taxes”—The Supreme Court’s June 20 decision in Moore v. United States continues the long-standing controversy over the Constitution’s distinction between “...
- + Benjamin Franklin: How to Lose an Empire—“Empires, by Pride & Folly & Extravagance, ruin themselves like Individuals.” Benjamin Franklin certainly understood history . ...
- + How Tench Coxe Shaped the Ratification Debates: Essays of A Pennsylvanian—History often overlooks Tench Coxe, but he was one of the most important founding fathers. While the Federalist Papers are celebrated and widely...
- + Northwest Ordinance: Landmark 1787 Law Set the Foundation—On July 13, 1787, the Confederation Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, one of the most important and influential acts of the early republic. It ...
- + The Supreme Court Was Wrong About Taxes—Along with some good decisions, Supreme Court justices made some mistakes in the term just ended. One mistake involved taxes—and it is likely to bedev...
- + Bringing Back Gold Clause Contracts: A Challenge to the Fed—One of the ways the government maintains its fiat money system is by throwing up legal and regulatory roadblocks to those wanting to use real money. B...
- + The Forgotten Declaration that Explained the War for Independence—We are “resolved to die freemen rather than live slaves.” These powerful words, penned by Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, hold a promine...
- + James Madison on the Ignored “Fundamental Principle of the Revolution”—Forget schoolhouse history. James Madison exposed a much deeper truth about the American Revolution. It wasn’t just “taxation without representa...
- + Unlimited Supremacy, Gun Control and the American Revolution—When most people talk about the Revolution – they tend to point to “taxation without representation” as the main reason. Or, they go...
- + The Supreme Court Bump Stock Case: Defeat for the “Deep State”—Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion for the Supreme Court in Garland v. Cargill —the “bump stock firearms” case—may be more important for what it does n...
- + Power From the People: The Revolutionary Roots of the 10th Amendment—Thomas Jefferson called the 10th Amendment the “foundation of the Constitution,” and for good reason too. It enshrines many of the radical...
- + Free and Independent: The Foreign Policy of Washington and Jefferson—Anxious to preserve their hard-won independence, Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson championed a foreign policy centered on avoiding &#...
- + Was Shays’ Rebellion Overblown? The Debate Over the Constitution—“Never let a good crisis go to waste” isn’t just some modern invention by people who want to expand government power. It seems to be an approach used ...
- + Magna Carta: Cornerstone of Liberty Across the Centuries—June 15 marked a pivotal date in the annals of liberty: the anniversary of the Magna Carta’s signing at Runnymede, England. Over 800 years ago, this “...
- + 2nd Amendment: The Untold Truth Schools Don’t Teach—“Governments are afraid to trust the people with arms” James Madison was a student of history. And this quote, from Federalist 46 – is no ...
- + Pursuit of Happiness: “We Cannot be Happy without Being Free”—The “pursuit of happiness” is a foundational principle enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. In the Founders’ view, this was inextricably link...
- + Timely Lessons About Tyranny from the Father of the Constitution—James Madison, often referred to as the “Father of the Constitution,” once predicted that the Bill of Rights would become mere “parchment barrier,” wo...
- + No Deal for Gun Control: How the American Revolutionaries Defied the Empire—June 12, 1775 – less than 2 months after Lexington and Concord and the “shot heard ‘round the world,” General Gage made an offer he felt the Am...
- + The Pilgrim Code of 1636: English Charter, Christian Covenant, and Modern Constitution—“As freeborn subjects of the state of England, we hither came endowed with all and singular the privileges belonging to such, in the first place we th...
- + Nullify the Fed from the Bottom Up: A Step by Step Approach—With its monopoly on money, the Federal Reserve is the engine that drives the biggest, most powerful government in the history of the world. But...
- + Free Speech on Trial: Jailed But Re-elected—In a time of political turmoil, when criticism of the government could land you behind bars, Matthew Lyon, a congressman and fierce critic of the Fede...
- + From Nixon to Biden: How the US Turned Banks into Spy Networks—“Americans do not have financial privacy, really at all. We have this illusion of financial privacy. ” Cato policy analyst Nicholas Anthony ...
- + American Founder Jonathan Smith’s Inspiring Speech—When the second and third teams are impressive, you know the first team must be really good. Americans studying the Constitution tend to focus on t...
- + Patrick Henry’s Virginia Resolves: Bedrock Principles of American Liberty—On his 29th birthday – May 29, 1765 – Patrick Henry helped spark the American Revolution. His Virginia Resolves against the Stamp Act not ...
- + The Tyranny of the Majority—Does it really matter if the instrument curtailing liberty is a monarch or a popularly elected legislature? This conundrum, along with the witty versi...
- + The Dragnet State: How Geofence Warrants Turn Everyone into a Suspect—Imagine drawing a box on a map and declaring that every person who was within that area during a given time is a suspect in a crime. That is the eff...
- + Understand the Real Meaning of the Necessary and Proper Clause—The Necessary and Proper Clause is arguably the most misunderstood and abused clause in the Constitution. During the ratification debates, Anti...
- + Executive Order 6102: A Deep Dive into FDR’s Gold Confiscation Program—Franklin D. Roosevelt’s gold confiscation order in 1933 attempted to remove most gold from private hands. But due to widespread noncompliance, it ulti...
- + Virtual Home Invasions: We’re Not Safe from Government Peeping Toms—The spirit of the Constitution, drafted by men who chafed against the heavy-handed tyranny of an imperial ruler, would suggest that one’s home is a fo...
- + Beyond the Text: Understanding the Constitution’s Original Meaning—How do we learn the original meaning of the Constitution? A lot of people will say, “Just read it.” That’s an essential first step, but it’s not ...
- + Is Your Car Spying on You?—Last week, Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Edward Markey of Massachusetts revealed that automobiles sold in the United States with a GPS or emergency ca...
- + Which Way Forward for America?—With the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the American people brought into existence the most unusual way of life in history, one that led to the gr...
- + The Wicked Rebellion: General Clinton’s Amnesty Offer and North Carolina’s Rejection—No deal. That’s pretty much how North Carolina patriots responded to British Major General Henry Clinton’s proclamation condemning what he calle...
- + Edmund Randolph vs the National Bank—After Congress passed a bill to establish the first national bank in early 1791, President George Washington asked Attorney General Edmund Randolph to...
- + The Steady Slide Towards Tyranny: How Freedom Dies from A to Z—The American governmental scheme is sliding ever closer towards a pervasive authoritarianism. The American people, the permanent underclass in Amer...
- + Sovereignty and Agency—In the American political system, the people of the several states are sovereign, meaning they hold final or ultimate authority. Power flows from them...
- + SCOTUS Defends Property Rights, but Raises Constitutional Questions—The current Supreme Court is a vigorous defender of property rights. In general, I like that. But as I observed in a column last year , the court som...
- + The Founders’ Case for a Strong Militia Over Standing Armies—One of the primary reasons the founders wanted a strong militia system with a well-armed general public was to minimize or even eliminate the need for...
- + It Was Gun Control: What Started the War for Independence—The fighting at Lexington and Concord didn’t happen because the British army came to collect taxes. It was gun control. Of course, the go...
- + Thomas Jefferson’s Warnings and Predictions about the Dangers of Money-Printing—Thomas Jefferson’s chilling warnings about unchecked fiat, paper money proved prophetic as the U.S. plunged into its first boom-bust economic cr...
- + Limited or Absolute Power: Warnings from Anti-Federalist Agrippa—The Anti-Federalist writer Agrippa powerfully expressed many of the same reservations about the Constitution as other opponents – that it would ...
- + The Government Wants Your Money Any Way It Can Get It—The government wants your money. It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it. This is what comes ...
- + A Positive Feedback Loop of Power-Grabbing—The classical liberal philosophy expounded by John Locke and many of the American founders was a brilliant attempt to abolish government by the princi...
- + Utah’s Step-By-Step Strategy in Support of Sound Money—“End the Fed” is a popular slogan among supporters of sound money, but it’s almost certain that Congress will never shut down its own money printer. S...
- + 10 States and Counting: 2nd Amendment Financial Privacy Act—Ten states – and counting – have passed a bill called the “2nd Amendment Financial Privacy Act,” to nullify a gun control surv...
- + The Petition of Right: Essential Part of American History—On June 7, 1628 the Petition of Right was ratified by the British Crown in the days preceding the English Civil War. The measure was passed by the P...
- + Utah’s Step-By-Step Strategy Against the Surveillance State—When it comes to political activism, a lot of people think they have to accomplish everything all at once. They propose or demand what amounts to litt...
- + The Real Enforcement Mechanism for the Constitution—Almost everything people learn about how the Constitution is supposed to be enforced is wrong. As a result, we live under the largest government...
- + Congressional Omnibus is Like a Bad Hollywood Movie Sequel—This weekend’s late-night spending vote in Congress seems like another in an endless series of sequels to a bad suspense movie. Just at the brink of “...
- + The Social Security and Medicare Scams—Charlotte Cowles is a financial advice columnist for The Cut , “a New York Magazine site dedicated to women’s lives and interests, including politics...
- + Can Congress Ban TikTok?—When James Madison set about to draft the Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution — he was articulating what lawyers and phi...
- + The Ides of March: George Washington Quells a Coup—It was the end of 1782 and the War for Independence was all but over, but the details of the official peace treaty had not yet been hammered out betwe...
- + Federal Reserve Responsibility for Consumer and Government Debt Crises—According to the Federal Reserve, credit card delinquencies increased by 50 percent in 2023, while consumer debt grew to 17.5 trillion dollars. A...
- + No Emergency Powers in the Constitution—It has become an article of faith that under our system of government, federal officials can declare an emergency, which then purportedly authorizes f...
- + Tyranny Is Rising as Freedom Falls—Day by day, tyranny is rising as freedom falls. The U.S. military is being used to patrol subway stations and police the U.S.-Mexico border , ...
- + War Powers: The True History of George Washington and the Indian Tribes—Supporters of unilateral executive war power want you to believe presidents can make all kinds of decisions about war and peace because, as they tell ...
- + Taking Rights Seriously—The world is filled with self-evident truths — truisms — that philosophers, lawyers and judges know need not be proven. The sun rises in the east and ...
- + William Dawes: A Literally Unsung Hero of American Liberty—In the shadows of American history, where the deeds of the famous are celebrated, there lies the often overlooked story of William Dawes, a man whose ...
- + War Powers: The True History of Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates—People on both the left and the right claim the president possesses significant, unilateral power over military action, and they support this myth by ...
- + The Truth about the Much-Abused Commerce Clause—The Constitutional Convention released its proposed Constitution to the public on Sept. 17, 1787. Almost immediately, debate began on whether to ratif...
- + Johnsoncare, Bushcare, Obamacare, and Trumpcare—Former president Donald Trump has vowed to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) with his own plan. Because “Obamacare is too expensiv...
- + Mercy Otis Warren: Constitution Would “Terminate in the Most Uncontrolled Despotism”—Mercy Otis Warren came down firmly opposed to ratification of the Constitution, and her anonymously written pamphlet titled “ Observations on the new ...
- + How the Federal Reserve Backstops the Biggest Government in History—The Federal Reserve is the engine that drives the biggest government in history . Without the central bank’s machinations, the U.S. governme...
- + Liberty Poles: Symbols of Freedom From Tyranny, Ancient and Modern—On May 21, 1766, the Sons of Liberty erected a liberty pole in the commons of New York City, celebrating the repeal of the Stamp Act. Although li...
- + The Global Deep State: Funded by the American Taxpayer—The debate over U.S. foreign aid is a distraction. That’s not to say that the amount of taxpayer money flowing to foreign countries in the form o...
- + Five Years Later Supreme Court Decision Still Hasn’t Significantly Limited Asset Forfeiture—Many people believe the Supreme Court “ended asset forfeiture” with its 2019 opinion in Timbs v. Indiana . As we argued at the time, Timbs ...
- + Taking Free Speech Seriously—Can the government prevent Big Tech from censoring political and cultural voices on their platforms? Can the government regulate these platforms to co...
- + Deciphering the Commander-in-Chief Clause—The Constitution designates the president as the commander in chief of the “Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the severa...
- + The Meaning of “Regulate Commerce” to the Constitution’s Ratifiers: An Update—Constitutional Background The constitutional justification for much of the federal regulatory and administrative apparatus rests on either of two ...
- + The Feds Are Buying Our Emails!—While we are all consumed with Joe Biden’s bumblings and Donald Trump’s trials, the federal government’s rapacious appetite for spyi...
- + The American Revolution Was a Rejection of Unlimited, Centralized Power—In school, you probably learned that the American Revolution was about “taxation without representation,” or perhaps standing armies. But ...
- + “Vote the Bums Out” is the Wrong Strategy—“Vote the bums out!” is the dominant political strategy in the United States. If you don’t like what’s going on, wait two years, or maybe four, and ...
- + Constitution 101: Supremacy Clause—When people tell you that “federal law is ALWAYS supreme” – they’re not just wrong, they get the Supremacy Clause of the Const...
- + Watchlisted: You’re Probably Already on a Government Extremism List—According to the FBI, you may be an anti-government extremist if you’ve: a) purchased a Bible or other religious materials , b) used terms lik...
- + The Emperor’s New Clothes—Just as a fictional emperor paid his tailors a fortune for clothes that no one could see, and then marched naked in a grand public procession while hi...
- + Benjamin Franklin’s Finest: Top Views from the “First American”—Today in history, January 17, 1706, Benjamin Franklin was born. Referred to many as “The First American,” Franklin was famous at home and abroad. He’s...
- + Breaking Free from the Monster State: 5 Essential Principles—Getting from where we are today – living under the largest government in history – to a real “land of the free,” won’t be quick or easy. B...
- + Milk and the Police State—Last week, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, state troopers and investigators executed a search warrant on the farm of Amos Miller. Miller has been p...
- + The Rise of the Political Psychopath—Many years ago, a newspaper headline asked the question: “ What’s the difference between a politician and a psychopath? ” The answer, then and now,...
- + Why It May be Impossible to Disqualify Trump from the Presidency—Can former President Donald Trump be disqualified from another presidential term? The answer to that question partly hinges on the answer to this one:...
- + The Strategy: How to Beat the Feds—Taking on the biggest and most powerful government in history may seem like an impossible task. It isn’t. That’s not to say that it’s going ...
- + What The Constitution Means By “Declare War”—In the 2000 film Thirteen Days chronicling the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy tells General Taylor, “I’m the president of the United States, ...
- + Life, Liberty, and Property: The Influence of John Locke—Despite attempts by educrats and those who would have us ignorant of history to remove him from general public knowledge and conversation, John Locke ...
- + We Have it in our Power to Begin the World over Again: Top Quotes for 2024—In the Appendix to Common Sense, first published on January 10, 1776 – Thomas Paine wrote about the “birthday of a new world,” with this t...
- + Break the Cycle: In 2024, Say No to the Government’s Cruelty, Brutality and Abuse—Folks, it’s time to break the cycle of abuses—cruel, brutal, immoral, unconstitutional and unacceptable—that have been heaped upon us by the governmen...
- + War and Big Government Go Hand-In-Hand—War and big government go hand-in-hand. James Madison warned us . “Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be ...
- + Thomas Paine: A Lifetime of Radicalism—Although he has been called “The Father of the American Revolution,” Thomas Paine was perhaps the most unlikely man in the world to carry the torch of...
- + What Everyone Gets Wrong About Machiavelli—Born 554 years ago, Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was an Italian philosopher, politician, and writer who is widely considered one of the most import...
- + These are the Times that Try Men’s Souls—Beginning with the immortal line, “THESE are the times that try men’s souls,” Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis, No. I” holds a revered place ...
- + In Defense of Free Speech and Free Silence—When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he included in it a list of the colonists’ grievances with the British government. ...
- + The Foundation of the Constitution—Here’s a pretty common question: Which is the most important amendment in the Bill of Rights? Setting aside the fact that I agree that ...
- + We’ve Already Got a Dictator-in-Chief: How Absolute Power Corrupted the President—Once a dictator, always a dictator. Power-hungry, lawless and steadfast in its pursuit of authoritarian powers, the government does not voluntari...
- + Blueprint: Rhetoric and Resistance Against the Townshend Acts—“The right of the people, to resist an unconstitutional law, is absolute and unqualified, from the moment the law is enacted.” Lysander Spo...
- + What Does the Constitution Mean by “Natural Born Citizen?”—The Constitution says that only a “natural born citizen” may be president. Throughout history, political partisans have accused opposing candidates of...
- + The White House Goes Rogue: Secret Surveillance Program Breaks All the Laws—The government wants us to believe that we have nothing to fear from its mass spying programs as long as we’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t believe it...
- + Today in History: Second Continental Congress Responds to King George’s Proclamation of Rebellion—On Dec. 6, 1775, the Second Continental Congress responded to King George III’s proclamation of rebellion, reaffirming the colonists’ loya...
- + Applying James Madison’s Strategy to Stopping Federal Gun Control—Writing in Federalist 46 – James Madison gave us a four-step blueprint of how to stop federal programs – without waiting for the federal...
- + How Free People Should Respond to Unconstitutional Acts—How should a free people respond to unconstitutional acts? Most people today use three strategies, none of which reflect how the founders told us to r...
- + There Is No Right to a “Freedom from Fear”—Charlatans and statists (but I repeat myself) are very fond of calling things they support “rights.” Single-payer healthcare is a “right.” Speedy...
- + The Real Constitution They Don’t Want You to Know About—I’ve been told that law students prepping for the Bar Exam are told that if the Tenth Amendment is ever among the answers on a multiple-choice questio...
- + Trenchard and Gordon: Forgotten Influences on the Founders—Do you recognize the names John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon? If not, I recommend you read this article and then immediately go to this link and...
- + Alexander Hamilton’s Biggest Big Government Plan—Alexander Hamilton had a lot of big government plans for the United States, but his craziest plan may have been his proposal for an 11-point plan for...
- + AUMF Reform Will Not Restore Proper Constitutional War Powers—There has been a lot of talk about repealing Authorizations for the Use of Military Force (AUMFs) currently in effect. This, we are told, would restor...
- + We the Exploited: The U.S. Government Buys and Sells Its Citizens for Profit and Power—Americans have become easy prey for hackers, scammers, snitches, spies, and con artists. But don’t be fooled into thinking the government is protectin...
- + Today in History: Continental Congress Approves Final Draft of the Articles of Confederation—On Nov. 15, 1777, the Second Continental Congress finalized the Articles of Confederation after 16 months of debate. The Articles were then sent ...
- + Obsta Principiis: Have We Waited too Long to Save Our Constitution and Our Freedom?—The spirit of liberty is, and ought to be, a jealous, a watchful spirit. Obsta Principiis is her motto and maxim; knowing that her enemies are secret ...
- + Stop Drinking the Political Kool-Aid, America: Voting Will Not Save Us—We are one year out from the 2024 presidential election and as usual, the American people remain eager to be persuaded that a new president in the Whi...
- + Federal Power Outside the Constitution?—If you have read my Epoch Times series, “ How the Supreme Court Rewrote the Constitution ,” you know that the justices have stretched some of the Cons...
- + How “Pope Night” Turned into a Protest Against the Stamp Act—Remember, remember the Fifth of November. On November 5, 1765, a long-running holiday celebration in New England turned into a protest against Brit...
- + Propaganda: Calling it Inflation Rather than Depreciation—One of the ways that the government uses propaganda to increase its own power is by changing the meaning of words. The word “inflation” is a perfec...
- + Samuel von Pufendorf: A Lasting, Though Forgotten, Influence on Our Founding Fathers—Samuel von Pufendorf, a prominent 17th-century philosopher and jurist, led a life that was profoundly influenced by his family’s experiences during th...
- + Informing the Founders: A Short History of Standing Armies in England—The founding generation harbored a deep distrust of standing armies. This flowed not only from their first-hand experience with the British, but also ...
- + John Adams: Patriot and Tyrant?—Many revere John Adams as a great patriot. Others view him as a big-government tyrant. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Adams was a ...
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