Gene Healy is a vice president at the Cato Institute and the author of The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power (Cato 2008) and Indispensable Remedy: The Broad Scope of the Constitution's Impeachment Power (Cato Institute).
Gene Healy
Senior Editor, Cato Institute
Latest from Gene Healy
David Brooks' Paean to Presidential Power Is Year's Worst Op-Ed
You'd think it's nearly April Fools' Day, not Christmas.
It's Not Isolationist For America To Mind Its Own Business
Is it really a bad idea to oppose lobbing Tomahawk missiles at people?
Negotiating with Iran is Better than War
Diplomatic deterrence has a more impressive track record.
Nobody Wins When You Go Nuclear on Filibusters
Serious political movements shouldn't try to knock down all the barriers to power whenever they temporarily enjoy it.
NSA Isn't as Bad as the Stasi, Insist Agency's Defenders
That's not as reassuring as they think
Introversion Isn't Obama's Problem, His Inability To Tell the Truth Is
Given the disaster his presidency has become, you can't blame the guy for wanting some alone time.
John F. Kennedy Was No National Treasure
He was lawless, reckless, and anything but a national treasure
Obamacare May Not Work, But the NSA Sure Does
Unfortunately, the federal government still remains capable of tremendous technological feats.
Abolish the Department of Homeland Security
Instead of confirming Jeh Johnson, the Senate should abolish DHS.
Somalia: Obama Opens Another Bloody Front in War on Terror
Why are we engaged in another war?
No War in Syria
It's time for Obama to back down from his ill-conceived and unnecessary call for war.
Will Congress Vote No on Obama's War in Syria?
The president finally follows the Constitution. Will it matter?
The Government's Latest Attack on Civil Liberties
As if "VIPR" squads and "BOSS" surveillance weren't worrisome enough.
Whitey Bulger Trial Points to the Value of Cameras in Federal Courtrooms
Whatever justification the ban once had, it now rests on the insulting notion that you're not mature enough to handle what goes on in the courtrooms you pay for.
For Obama, Words Conceal the Indefensible
How the president uses language as a cover for the abuse of power.
Chris Christie Bellyflops on NSA Spying and Libertarianism
Christie says Rand Paul's views are dangerous. Is he right?
When Government Meets Organized Crime
Corrupt FBI let mobster Whitey Bulger keep killing-and it cost innocent lives.
Scandals at NSA and IRS Are Equally Alarming
Both agencies reveal a government that's out of control.
Spying's the Real Story, Not Edward Snowden
The NSA presents a grave threat to liberty, but the pundits just talk about the Snowden sideshow.
Nothing But Blood in Syrian Intervention for U.S.
The Obama administration doesn't understand what the average citizen does: Stay out of the Middle East.
Obama's Flight from Responsibility
The president needs to take responsibility for the actions of his own administration.
Should Obama Be Impeached?
We've had too few impeachments in American history, not too many.
Beware the IRS
The long, disturbing history of using the Internal Revenue Service to target political opponents.
Obama Wants Millennials to Love Big Government
These days, millennials are growing less gullible.
No More Tax Dollars for Presidential Libraries
Let America's former presidents burnish their legacies on their own dimes.
Boston Bombing Suspects Are Losers, Not Enemy Combatants
Terrorist tactics should not scare us into undermining the Constitution.
New Gun Laws Won't Prevent Another Sandy Hook
There's no guarantee new regulations will prevent another tragedy.
Bring the Troops Home from Korea
Despite Kim Jong Un's bluster, his regime is only a threat to the U.S. to the extent that we've put ourselves in harm's way.
Shame On Us If Newtown Panic Leads To Unwise Gun Laws
Most "solutions" wouldn't make us any safer but would make us less free.
The Iraq War's Unhappy Anniversary
Remembering the bipartisan efforts to expand the size and power of government.
Rand Paul vs. the "Forever War"
The Republican senator takes aim at modern conservative orthodoxy.
Washington, DC: Capital of The Absurd
Why the nation's capital is a clown show consumed by trivialities
America in Denial as Fiscal Tsunami Approaches
It's not just Congress that needs to change its expectations.
Obama's Executive Death Warrants
Obama's drone strikes are an affront to the entire Anglo-American constitutional order.
Chuck Hagel's Farcical Hearings
The Senate Armed Services Committee seems to think that the best defense is a good offense.
The Pomp and Circumstance of the Inauguration
The only part of the inaugural ceremony required by the Constitution is the oath of office.
'No Labels'? No Thanks!
Self-congratulatory, schoolmarmish earnestness and warmed over Beltway pap
Will Newtown Lead to Lockdown High?
The drive toward regimented, Panopticon-style schools won't make students any more secure.
The Five Worst Op-Eds of 2012
Bad arguments and bad writing from the nation's top opinionmongers
