My parents were born in Germany. They couldn't find work in Europe so they came here to pursue the American Dream.

As a libertarian I say ... let people come! There should be free trade in labor as well as goods and services, that way everyone is freer and richer.

But it's hard to have open borders when some people want to kill us. It's also foolish now that we are a welfare state, and some people want to come here to freeload.

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Some of you are upset at about my segment on GMO foods. This Reason column reflects what I believe. No reputable studies find a danger and dozens find it safe. If the fears about hormones, chemicals, and pesticides in food are true, then why do we use more of them, and live longer?

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The American government is at war. We have the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, and also wars against business, "hate" and food... continue reading »

The pushers of more "stimulus" say that Europe's stagnant economies prove that budget cuts don't work. Headlines announce: "Austerity Has Failed in Europe."

But wait. How much has Europe actually cut? I'm thankful for this chart from Mercatus Center economist Veronique De Rugy:... continue reading »

This morning, on Fox and Friends, I said "no one" starved during the Depression. I was almost certainly wrong... continue reading »

"Austerity." The word means "self-denial" but politicians rarely "deny" themselves anything.

Despite the media wailing about "austerity," there have been few real cuts. Few in Congress actually want to cut spending. Senator Rand Paul explains why he is one of the few who does.

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As the summer driving season begins, we hear complaints about the price of gas, who's making money from it, and how government can "protect" us. In this week's syndicated column, I look at how what we think we know... is not so.

President Obama says, "Gas costs too much." So he announced: "We've put in place the toughest fuel economy standards in history. Over the life of a new car, the average family will save more than $8,000 at the pump."... continue reading »

Last week, the Department of Justice shut down a private online currency service called "Liberty Reserve." I had never heard of it, but according to the government lawsuit, Liberty Reserve anonymously processed "more than 12 million financial transactions annually, with a combined value of more than $1.4 billion." Liberty Reserve promised to redeem their digital dollars for US dollars, Euros, or gold. Good for them!... continue reading »

Here's the bad news: Last year, government spent hundreds of billions of dollars more than it did at the end of the big-spending Bush administration.

But good news: spending has basically flattened.

It actually fell a little, according to the CBO: From 2011 to 2012 the budget shrank $61 billion... continue reading »

What you think you know... is often wrong. Sunday I look at seven MYTHS... LIES... AND COMPLETE STUPIDITIES:

• FOOD... MYTH: Government should help people make healthy choices for themselves. TRUTH: The nanny state reduces your freedom while accomplishing little.

• MAIL... MYTH: The post office should deliver the mail. TRUTH: The private sector does it better... continue reading »