Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:08:03 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss John Stossel :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/John+Stossel istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/the-next-crisis/86469/ Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Barack Obama says, "[Today's economic problems are] a stark reminder of the failures of ... an economic philosophy that sees any regulation at all as unwise and unnecessary." What? Does that mean that until last week the Bush administration embraced the free market? Nonsense. Governments at all levels have regulated and subsidized the housing and financial industries for years. Nothing changed under President Bush. At the Division of Labour Web log, an economist, Lawrence White, asks: "What... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/chris-rock-has-it-wrong/86035/ Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST Complaints about racism still dominate press discussion of the disparity between black and white success. Comedian Chris Rock tells white audiences, "None of ya would change places with me! And I'm rich! That's how good it is to be white!" I assumed that the success of Barack Obama, as well as thousands of other black Americans and dark-skinned immigrants — many of whom thrive despite language problems — demonstrates that America today is largely a colorblind meritocracy. But a white campus... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/fallacy-of-promise-of-green-jobs/85550/ Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EST The Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, has a great twofer pitch: "green jobs." It sounds like a winner. In one fell swoop he can promise to end unemployment and fix and save the planet from climate change. Or so he says. "I'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy — wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/responding-to-energy-myths/84683/ Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST "John Stossel sounds like a real defeatist. ... We have our backs to the wall, and he's raising the white flag." "Stossel has lost his mind." My column last week mocking "energy independence" angered people. I argued that "independence," a favorite slogan of vote-hungry politicians, would require the government to interfere with the global division of labor, which, as economists have understood since Adam Smith's day, make us richer and therefore better able to deal with the future... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/inanities-of-energy-independence/84312/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST It's amazing how ideas with no merit become popular merely because they sound good. Most every politician and pundit says "energy independence" is a great idea. Presidents have promised it for 35 years. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were self-sufficient, protected from high prices, supply disruptions, and political machinations? The hitch is that even if America were energy independent, it would be protected from none of those things. To think otherwise is to misunderstand basic economics and... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/who-owns-your-job/83774/ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Stossel is a pig." "Wait and see how he is going to react when he [gets] fired by ABC News without a reason, just because he is skinny like a monkey." Lots of "20/20" viewers hated what I said about age discrimination laws on TV. Most everyone says anti-discrimination laws are good laws, especially those that protect older workers. But they're not. This year, two DJs from Kansas City, Max Floyd and Tanna Guthrie, sued their radio station for firing them. "The reason for firing was [that]... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/beyond-pillow-talk/83243/ Wed, 6 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EST In this column I often take a skeptical look at liberal scare-mongering about global warming and cancer threats from pesticides, Teflon frying pans, plastic bottles, cell phones, etc. The liberal scaremongers' solution is always: more government. But conservatives scare people, too. When I was growing up, most everyone agreed that it would be a terrible thing if young people were exposed to sex. It must be kept out of sight. When an obviously pregnant Lucille Ball appeared on "I Love Lucy," it... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/how-many-wives-is-too-many/82853/ Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST "Texas authorities on Tuesday indicted the leader of a polygamous sect ... on charges of felony sexual assault on a minor, the first criminal charges to stem from a massive raid on the group's West Texas compound," the Los Angeles Times reported last week. The Associated Press and other press outlets used similar words: "indicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs ... charges of felony sexual assault of a child." Straightforward reporting? In my "20/20" special "Sex in America," polygamy... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/cracking-down-on-the-sex-police/82530/ Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST In a desolate public park in Columbus, Ohio, a man responded to the advances of a topless woman. She asked him to "show me yours." When he did, police officers arrested him. Columbus law says her being topless is okay; exposing his genitalia is not. Why did cops hide in the shadows to arrest a man no one but they could see? On last week's "20/20," Dr. Marty Klein pointed out that the police weren't protecting children. "There were no children anywhere in sight. In fact, there were no adults... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/tear-down-those-stop-signs/82055/ Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST Day after day in Warren, Mich., people wait in a long line to pay traffic fines. Many are there because police say they didn't come to a full stop at a stop sign. Often the policeman saying that is Officer David Kanapsky. On last week's "20/20," you heard a motorist in court insist that she did come to a complete stop. The judge replied, as judges there often do: "I find Officer Kanapsky's testimony to be credible. He is an unbiased witness." But the officer is not really unbiased. The more... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/armed-to-save-lives/81470/ Wed, 9 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'Repeal the Second Amendment," the Chicago Tribune editorialized. "The Supreme Court on Thursday all but ensured that even more Americans will die," the New York Times said. "[T]he Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms only in relation to service in a state militia," added the Washington Post. Those are a few of many editorial expressions of disgust from the mainstream press over the Supreme Court's ruling that when the Bill of Rights says that "the right of the people to keep and... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dire-news-from-my-colleagues/81198/ Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST 'It's been described as the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. And it brings with it grave dangers for all American families," said Martin Bashir on "Nightline." "Recession looms ..." On the "Today" show June 20, David Faber referred to "the recession ... these tough economic times." Yet that very day first-quarter gross domestic product was revised upward again to 1%. America is not in recession, and who knows — maybe we'll be less likely to have one if my compatriots... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/mccains-anti-capitalist-mentality/80619/ Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST "I believe there needs to be a thorough and complete investigation of speculators to find out whether speculation has been going on and, if so, how much it has affected the price of a barrel of oil. There's a lot of things out there that need a lot more transparency and, consequently, oversight." Those are the words of presidential candidate John McCain. This man is the Republican? There's more. "I am very angry, frankly, at the oil companies not only because of the obscene profits they've made... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/legalize-every-drug/80204/ Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST The other day, reading the New York Post's Page Six gossip page, I was surprised to find a picture of me, followed by the lines: "ABC's John Stossel wants the government to stop interfering with your right to get high. ... The crowd went silent at his call to legalize hard drugs." I had attended a Marijuana Policy Project event celebrating the New York State Assembly's passage of a medical-marijuana bill. (The bill hasn't yet passed the Senate.) I told the audience I thought it pathetic that... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/alarm-is-sounded-on-entitlements/79733/ Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EST Congress is spending us into a hole. We hear about the cost of earmarks and the Iraq war. But what about "entitlements"? That's the government's ironic term for programs that transfer money from people who earned it to people who didn't. Entitlement? How can you be entitled to someone else's money? To finance "entitlement" programs, the government threatens force against the taxpayers who provide the money. Why are people who favor compulsion called humanitarians, while those who favor freedom... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/taking-on-the-huffington-left/76106/ Thu, 8 May 2008 00:00:00 EST She was once the darling of conservatives like Newt Gingrich, but now you can't watch a television news-talk program without seeing her calling for more government and showing scorn for those who want less. She's Arianna Huffington, Web site impresario and author of "Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution and Made Us All Less Safe." I interviewed her for "20/20" last week because I was impressed by the success of the Web site she created. In just... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/arlines-in-charge/75684/ Thu, 1 May 2008 00:00:00 EST Unless the government watches closely, the airlines will kill you. That seems to be what many reporters and politicians believe. "The result of inspection failures and enforcement failure [by the Federal Aviation Administration] has meant that aircraft have flown unsafe, un-airworthy, and at risk of lives," the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Rep. James Oberstar, said. "The FAA has clearly displayed a dangerous and cavalier lack of regard for tough safety enforcement," Senator... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/bullying-for-a-living/74540/ Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST "We cannot use force." That was my response last week when a lawyer shouted at me, "You media types are bullies, too!" We were arguing about my Wall Street Journal op-ed that called class-action and securities lawyers bullies and parasites who enrich themselves through extortion. It's legal extortion, but extortion nonetheless. These aggressive lawyers and their Naderite defenders don't get it. Or they pretend they don't. There are only two ways to do things in life: voluntarily or forced. We... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/upside-down-education/74012/ Wed, 2 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EST The cat is finally out of the bag. A California appellate court, ruling that parents have no constitutional right to homeschool their children, pinned its decision on this ominous quotation from a 47-year-old case, "A primary purpose of the educational system is to train schoolchildren in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare." There you have it; a primary purpose of government schools is to train schoolchildren "in... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/gun-control-isnt-crime-control/71908/ Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST It's all too predictable. A day after a gunman killed six people and wounded 18 others at Northern Illinois University, the New York Times criticized the U.S. Interior Department for preparing to rethink its ban on guns in national parks. The editorial board wants "the 51 senators who like the thought of guns in the parks — and everywhere else, it seems — to realize that the innocence of Americans is better protected by carefully controlling guns than it is by arming everyone to the teeth." As... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/and-econ-isnt-for-presidents/71632/ Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST The presidential candidates have been asked repeatedly how they would "manage the economy." With the exception of Ron Paul, every candidate has accepted the premise that this is something the president of America should do. Or can do. Nonsense. Democrats act like the president is the national economic manager. Republicans pay lip service to free markets, tax and spending cuts, and less regulation — before proposing big programs to achieve "energy independence," job training, and a cooler... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/stimulating-nonsense/71311/ Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST The hottest buzzword of the day is "economic stimulus." Virtually every politician and pundit agrees the government must act quickly to forestall a recession by increasing consumer spending. President Bush and the Democratic leadership in the House quickly got together on a $150 billion package that also includes tax incentives for business investment. The Republican and Democratic presidential contenders back "stimulus" too — Ron Paul is the exception. Any government program that wins the... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/adoption-bargain/70779/ Wed, 6 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST Do you want to rescue an abandoned child and give him a loving home? Don't even try, says the State Department. That's not exactly what the bureaucrats said, but it's close. The State Department says the Guatemalan adoption system "unduly enriches" so-called baby brokers and that "Guatemala has not established the required central authority to oversee intercountry adoption." "Central authority"? This from our government? They sound like Soviet apparatchiks. Last December, the American consul... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/how-much-is-your-kidney-worth/69669/ Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST Why are so many people so hostile to free markets? Markets provide miracles that we take for granted. Clean, well-lighted supermarkets that sell 30,000 products. Starvation has largely vanished from countries where private property and economic freedom are permitted. Free markets have rescued more people from poverty than government ever has. And yet, when innovators propose extending this benign power, people shriek in fear. This was clear reading the Wall Street Journal not long ago. The... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/live-and-let-live-candidate/69245/ Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul opposes things like prostitution and drug use, but he says the federal government has no business trying to stop adults from engaging in them. Freedom of choice, he says, shouldn't just be restricted to choices he approves of. It's the job of the federal government, says the congressman, to protect us from external threats, but it should not try to protect us from ourselves. Here's the final edited installment of my interview with him. John Stossel... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/known-as-dr-no/68623/ Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST U.S. congressional representative and Republican presidential contender Ron Paul has been called "Dr. No" because he repeatedly votes against legislation he believes gives government too much power. If it's not in the Constitution, he says, the federal government has no business doing it. He even votes against appropriations to his constituents. Here's Part 3 of my edited interview with Rep. Paul. Your district is subject to floods, but you vote against FEMA. Why? Ron Paul: Because I think FEMA... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/world-according-to-paul/68330/ Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST Ron Paul is the only Republican presidential candidate saying we should get our troops out of Iraq … now. Here's more of my edited interview with the congressman. Some people say that if we don't attack the enemy there, they'll attack us here. Rep. Ron Paul: I think the opposite is true. The radicals were able to use our bases in Saudi Arabia and the bombing of Iraq (from 1991 to 2001) as a reason to come over here. If China were to do the same thing to us, and they had troops in our land, We... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/my-interview-with-ron-paul/68021/ Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST Over the last few months, I've received hundreds of emails from people asking me to interview Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, so I did. It's refreshing to interview a politician who doesn't mince words. It's even more refreshing to interview one who understands the benefits of limited government. Here, then, is the first in a series of columns on my talk with Ron Paul. Some of his answers are shortened. What should government do? Ron Paul: Protect our freedoms. Have a strong... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/replanting-the-commons/67601/ Thu, 6 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST My Thanksgiving column about how the pilgrims nearly starved practicing communal farming but thrived once they switched to private cultivation made some people angry. One commented, "Sharing of the fruits of our labor is a bad thing?" I never said that. I practice charity regularly. I believe in sharing. But when government takes our money by force and gives it to others, that's not sharing. And sharing can't be a basis for production — you can't share what hasn't been produced. My point is... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/another-dung-theory/67131/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST Another global warming skeptic has dared speak up. Meteorologist John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, calls global warming "the greatest scam in history." "Environmental extremists, notable politicians among them … create this wild 'scientific' scenario of the civilization threatening environmental consequences from Global Warming unless we adhere to their radical agenda. … I have read dozens of scientific papers. I have talked with numerous scientists. … There is no runaway climate... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/tragedy-of-the-commons/66843/ Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST Every year around this time, schoolchildren are taught about that wonderful day when Pilgrims and Native Americans shared the fruits of the harvest. "Isn't sharing wonderful?" say the teachers. They miss the point. Because of sharing, the first Thanksgiving in 1623 almost didn't happen. The failure of Soviet communism is only the latest demonstration that freedom and property rights, not sharing, are essential to prosperity. The earliest European settlers in America had a dramatic demonstration... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/vouchers-with-strings/65991/ Wed, 7 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST I apologize. Last week, I wrote enthusiastically about Utah's chance to have school vouchers. By now, we know whether voters said yes or no. Either way, while a voucher experiment is a good thing, and far superior to a government-run monopoly, I wonder if I wasn't too enthusiastic. As the editor of the Freeman magazine and author of Separating School and State, Sheldon Richman, puts it: "'Public' money going to private schools cannot bode well for the future of those schools. Note that the Utah... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/debating-global-warming/65274/ Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST First he won the Oscar — then the Nobel Peace Prize. He's being called a "prophet." Impressive, considering that one of former Vice President Al Gore's chief contributions has been to call the debate over global warming "over" and to marginalize anyone who disagrees. Although he favors major government intervention to stop global warming, he says, "the climate crisis is not a political issue. It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity." Give me a break. If you must declare a... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/young-sex-offenders/64695/ Wed, 17 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST Imagine how DeMarcus Blackwell felt when he was told that his son Chris had engaged in "sexual contact and/or sexual harassment" at school. School officials in Waco, Texas, said Chris rubbed his face in the chest of a female teachers' aide. Well, before you can imagine this father's reaction, you need to know one other fact: His son was 4 years old when the "sexual" incident occurred. What got Chris into trouble was giving the aide a hug. Only after DeMarcus strenuously complained did the... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/after-schip-that-needs-resetting/64348/ Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST Health-care costs overall have been rising faster than inflation, but not all medical costs are skyrocketing. In a few pockets of medicine, costs are down while quality is up. Dr. Brian Bonanni has an unusual medical practice. His office is open Saturdays. He e-mails his patients and gives them his cell-phone number. "I need to be available 24 hours a day," he says. "I want to be there when a patient has questions, and I want to be reachable." I'll bet your doctor doesn't say that. Mr. Bonanni... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/lexus-of-health-care/63834/ Wed, 3 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EST Candidates for president have plans to get more people health insurance. Some would compel us to buy it; others would use the tax code to encourage that. Regardless, insurance is the magic that will solve our health care problems. But contrary to conventional wisdom, it's not those without health insurance who are the problem, but rather those with it. They make medical care more expensive for everyone. We'd each be better off if we paid all but the biggest medical bills out of pocket and saved... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/move-in-the-wrong-direction/63507/ Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST Almost daily, we're bombarded with apocalyptic warnings about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance. Senator Clinton wants to require everyone to have it, big companies to pay for it and government to buy it for the poor. That is a move in the wrong direction. America's health care problem is not that some people lack insurance — it's that 250 million Americans do have it. You have to understand something right from the start. We Americans got hooked on health insurance because... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/bad-medicine-2007-09-21/63163/ Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST Almost daily we're bombarded with apocalyptic warnings about the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance. Senator Hillary Clinton wants to require everyone to have it, to require big companies to pay for it, and have government buy policies for the poor. That is a move in the wrong direction. America's health-care problem is not that some people lack insurance, it is that 250 million Americans do have it. You have to understand something right from the start. We Americans got hooked... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/michael-moore-challenge/62650/ Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EST Cuba has great socialized medic ine — much better than the half-socialized system America has, according to Michael Moore and his documentary "Sicko." "They believe in preventative medicine," Mr. Moore says in his movie. "And it seems like there's a doctor on every block." To prove his point, Mr. Moore took some sick 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba. The group, with a camera crew tagging along, was treated at a showcase Havana hospital. "I asked them to give us the same exact care they give their... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/healthier-than-you-think/61127/ Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST The New York Times recently declared "the disturbing truth … that … the United States is a laggard not a leader in providing good medical care." As usual, the Times editors get it wrong. They find evidence in a 2000 World Health Organization rating of 191 nations and a Commonwealth Fund study of wealthy nations published last May. In the WHO rankings, America finished at 37, behind nations like Morocco, Cyprus, and Costa Rica. Finishing first and second were France and Italy. Michael Moore... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/wisconsins-medical-experiment/60076/ Wed, 8 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EST "On, Wisconsin ... run the ball clear down the field!" It's time to amend the Wisconsin football song so we can cheer on the Badger State's politicians as they move toward health-care socialism. The Wall Street Journal editorial-page editors are upset that Wisconsin's state Senate passed "Healthy Wisconsin", which will give health insurance to every person in the state. Of course, the Journal editors are right in saying that the plan is "openly hostile to market incentives that contain costs"... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/theres-profit-in-prosperity/59215/ Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EST In political life today, you are considered compassionate if you demand that government impose your preferences on others. But what's compassionate about that? Compassionate is "live and let live." Brink Lindsey, author of the new book "The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture," says that a growing number of Americans agree. They are increasingly tolerant of other people while still holding firm values of their own. Mr. Lindsey writes at the Cato Institute... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/harnessing-jeffersonian-spirit/57521/ Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST "Reviving the Hamilton Agenda." That's the headline the New York Times gave David Brooks's recent column honoring the Founding Father, Alexander Hamilton, perhaps least interested in limiting political power. Unlike his rival Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton favored strong central government and weaker states. And he didn't trust the free market. He was an old-fashioned mercantilist — he wanted politicians and bureaucrats to control private economic activities for the sake of special business... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/one-versus-five/54219/ Thu, 10 May 2007 00:00:00 EST Bill Clinton once declared, "The era of big government is over." Both Republicans and Democrats applauded. What a joke. Government grew under Mr. Clinton, and grew even faster under his successor. Government is so big today that more than half the population gets a major part of its income from the state. So says a study by economist Gary Shilling. A Springfield, N.J., consultant and forecaster, Mr. Shilling says the portion of Americans feeding substantially at the public trough stands at 52... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/school-choice-besieged/53709/ Thu, 3 May 2007 00:00:00 EST I've been on the road lately, giving speeches at universities, think tanks, and community groups to let people know about the release of the paperback edition of "Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity." On the book tour I notice that the people who seem the most energized are school-choice advocates. Many of them are under attack. When the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing individual liberty, criticized the Washington state teachers union's use of dues to politick... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/celebrating-wrong-day/53259/ Thu, 26 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST Last Sunday was marked by an orgy of celebrations of Earth Day, the worldwide annual event intended "to spark a revolution against environmental abuse." Even the Bush administration had an Earth Day Web site, which stated, "Earth Day and every day is a time to act to protect our planet." Watching the press coverage, you'd think that the earth was in imminent danger — that human life itself was on the verge of extinction. Technology is fingered as the perp. Nothing could be further from the... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/edifice-complex/52286/ Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST Why do we let politicians name buildings after each other? I understand building monuments to honor leaders like Washington and Jefferson. But monuments to current members of Congress? Haven't we lowered the bar too far? Today all a congressman has to do to get his name slapped on a building is bring home enough pork. Senator Lott of Mississippi has lots of facilities named after him: a middle school, an airport, the Trent Lott Center at Jackson State, the Trent Lott Leadership Institute, and... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/fear-industrial-complex/51902/ Thu, 5 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EST For the past two weeks I've written about how the press — part of the Fear Industrial Complex — profit by scaring us to death about things that rarely happen, like terrorism, child abductions, and shark attacks. We do it because we get caught up in the excitement of the story. And for ratings. Worse, because many reporters are statistically illiterate, personal-injury lawyers get us to hype risks that barely threaten people, like second-hand smoke, or getting cancer from trace amounts of... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/future-by-formulary/49092/ Thu, 22 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST The Democrats who now control Congress want to change President Bush's Medicare drug benefit to require government officials to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies. Under the current program, competing insurance companies cut the deals and offer coverage to the retired and disabled. Yet another lesson in the well-established principle: Government intervention begets more government intervention. When Mr. Bush signed this program into law, it was the biggest expansion of the... JOHN STOSSEL http://www.nysun.com/opinion/absurdity-on-the-trade-balance/46929/ Thu, 18 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EST I'm told to worry about the trade deficit. Commentators and populist politicians are wringing their hands. The trade deficit is a "malignant tumor in the intestines of the U.S. economy," says Pat Buchanan. Lou Dobbs is very upset that "We're borrowing about $3 billion a day just to pay for our imports." Economists had taught me that the trade deficit is not a big deal. The budget deficit may be a big one, but that's a different issue. But with all the pundits and politicians alarmed, I began to...