Joe Biden Wants 4 More Years 'To Finish the Job.' What Job?
Plus: A listener question scrutinizing current attitudes toward executive power
Congress
Oren Cass Notices One of Industrial Policy's Fatal Flaws
Cass says industrial policy will only work if the politicians can put aside political disagreements and partisan agendas. In other words, industrial policy will never work.
This Bill Aims To Reduce Mass Incarceration by Encouraging States To Cut Their Prison Populations
The legislation, whose authors say two-fifths of prisoners are locked up without a "compelling public safety justification," would reward states that take a more discriminating approach.
Don't Believe the Media Fearmongering About Spending Cuts
In 2019, discretionary spending was $1.338 trillion—or some $320 billion less than what Republicans want that side of the budget to be.
Ethanol Subsidies Could Trip Up Debt Ceiling Negotiations
Plus: Home equity theft at the Supreme Court, New York shows how not to legalize marijuana, and more...
Non-Paywalled Version of My Boston Globe Article Making the Case for Legislation Granting Permanent Residency Rights to Ukrainian Migrants and Others Admitted by Using the President's Parole Power
It has been reprinted (with permission) by the Cato Institute.
What Does Tucker Carlson's Sudden Schism With Fox News Mean?
Plus: Should committed libertarians be opposed to pro-natalist policies?
The House GOP Debt Ceiling Plan Would Restore Spending Caps. Good.
The most important part of the Limit, Grow, Save Act is the limits.
Democrats Threaten Matt Taibbi With Jail Time Over Twitter Files Testimony
Weaponization of the federal government, indeed
The Biden Administration Reduced the Debt-to-GDP Ratio in the Worst Possible Way
The main driver behind the reduction is inflation—inflation that politicians created with their irresponsible spending.
These Members of Congress Have a Revolutionary Idea: Write and Pass a Budget the Old-Fashioned Way
A return to so-called normal order wouldn't fix all of Washington's many problems, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Unlock the Cannabis Industry for Financial Institutions
Financial institutions have been locked out of the cannabis industry because of a surveillance regime that appears to have done little to stop real criminals.
Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, and the Deeply Unserious Debate Over the Debt Ceiling
An impasse created by years of politicized, myopic decision making in Washington is pushing the federal government ever closer to a dangerous cliff.
Is Clarence Thomas Ethically Challenged?
Plus: What the editors hate most about the IRS and tax day
The Federal Reserve Was Supposed To Ease Economic Instability. Instead, It's Made It Worse.
A responsible political class would significantly reform the organization. Instead, they will likely continue to give it more power.
Patient Privacy at Risk in Senate Bill Aimed at Pharmacy Managers
Prosecutors could end up with a trove of patient-level data regarding highly personal drugs like Viagra, abortion pills, and more.
Elizabeth Warren Wants the Government To Save Batgirl
Companies make decisions all the time, some of them regrettable and unfortunate, that shouldn't be any of the government's business.
The Media and Politicians Keep Trying To Censor Things That Turn Out To Be True
The COVID-19 lab leak theory was labeled "misinformation." Now it's the most plausible explanation.
Biden Catches Up to Rest of Country, Ends COVID-19 National Emergency
The president signed a Republican-sponsored resolution ending the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump.
IRS Is 48 Days Late To Issue Report Telling American Public How It'll Spend New $80 Billion
The agency’s new report tells us practically nothing of significance.
Republicans' and Democrats' Refusal To Reform Social Security and Medicare Is Political Malpractice
In 10 years, the programs' funds will be insolvent. Over the next 30 years, they will run a $116 trillion shortfall.
Do 'More Guns Lead To More Deaths'?
No, and that good news needs to be front and center in all discussions of gun control, especially after school shootings.
A TikTok Ban Would Set a Dangerous Precedent. Live With Taylor Lorenz and Peter Van Valkenburgh
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a discussion about Congress' attempt to ban TikTok with the RESTRICT Act.
Is Proportional Representation On the Way?
If Congress wants to stave off such far-reaching demands, it should start behaving in ways that inspire more public confidence.
The Morally Funky Math of Homeowner Handouts
The rich are getting richer under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Social Security Will Be Insolvent by 2033
New data from the program's trustees show that insolvency will hit a year sooner than previously expected, giving policy makers just a decade before automatic benefit cuts occur.
Could the RESTRICT Act Criminalize the Use of VPNs?
Plus: States consider mandatory anti-porn filters, tariffs create baby formula shortages (again), and more...
This Year's Farm Bill Threatens To Be a Bigger Monster Than Ever
The massive piece of legislation embodies all that is wrong with American lawmaking.
Federal Courts Clash Over Financial Watchdog's Constitutionality
The CFPB funding scheme is constitutional, the 2nd Circuit says.
After the East Palestine Derailment, Congress Is Trying To Force Unrelated, Costly Regulations on Railroads
A bipartisan bill backed by J.D. Vance and Sherrod Brown would include a two-member crew mandate that unions have long sought—and that wouldn't have prevented the Ohio disaster.
Congress Asks Is TikTok Really 'An Extension of' the Chinese Communist Party?
TikTok's CEO served as little more than a punching bag for lawmakers with a dizzying array of big tech grievances.
To Balance the Budget, Republicans Must Cut Military Spending, Trim Entitlements, or Raise Taxes
If Republicans refuse to gore their three sacred cows, a new CBO report shows that balancing the budget is literally impossible.
TikTok Is Too Popular To Ban
Plus: Police sue Afroman for using footage from raid, California bill could ban popular junk foods, and more...
Congress Hasn't Passed a Budget on Time in 27 Years
Congress' end-of-year rush to fund the federal government has become the norm.
New Regulations Won't Stop the Next Bank Collapse
Plus: Another campus free speech debacle, foreign cheese groups lose Gruyere trademark case, and more...
James Madison's Decentralized Republic
The Constitution was intended to preserve state sovereignty, not create an all-powerful central government.
House Republicans Pass Bill To Prevent Federal Meddling in Online Speech
The bill is overbroad and could have unintended consequences.
No, the U.S. Shouldn't Wage War Against Mexican Cartels
There's little reason to believe that any of the tactics Republican politicians are proposing would be effective in keeping fentanyl out of the country.
Yes, There Are Libertarians During Bank Runs
Plus: The editors recommend the best books for sparking interest in free market principles.
Candid Cameras in Congress
During the recent multiday battle over the next speaker of the House, media outlets were free to capture Congress members negotiating, debating, and even losing their cool.
Democrats Deride the Twitter Files Reporters as 'So-Called Journalists'
Members of Congress showed their true colors at a Thursday hearing.
Ridiculous Spending on Museums May Be Here To Stay
Handouts for tourist-trap museums will be part of the federal funding battleground in the next two years.
America Needs a Better Kind of Capitalism
Big corporations and entire industries constantly use their connections in Congress to get favors, no matter which party is in power.
Ranked Choice Voting Worked in Alaska. Sarah Palin Came to CPAC To Complain About It.
According to a recent report, the system Palin once said was "so weird" that it "results in voter suppression" worked just as well as intended.
Biden Embraces the Fearmongering, Vows To Squash D.C.'s Mild Criminal Justice Reforms
In rebuking the legislation, the president showed that he may not know what's in it.
The Flap Over Biden's Comment About 2 Fentanyl Deaths Obscures Prohibition's Role in Causing Them
Both parties are complicit in the lethal policies that gave us fentanyl disguised as Percocet.
Congress Should Not Give Any Government Agency Financial Free Rein
Lawmakers should proactively retake the power of the purse from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.
Joe Manchin Is Once Again Telling Republicans and Democrats What They Don't Want To Hear
But it's exactly what they need to start talking about.
