Author: John Stossel

It’s tax time. I’m too scared to do my taxes. I’m sure I’ll get something wrong and my enemies in government will persecute — no, I mean prosecute — me. So I hired Bob. Bob’s my accountant. I like Bob, but I don’t like that I have to have an accountant. I don’t want to […]

Did you fill out a March Madness bracket this year? In many states, if you put money in a pool, that’s illegal! The NCAA website warns, “Fans should enjoy … filling out a bracket just for the fun of it, not … the amount of money they could possibly win.” Give me a break. Americans […]

We’re told government protects us, but protectors quickly become bullies. Take the Food and Drug Administration. It seems like the most helpful part of government: It supervises testing to make sure greedy drug companies don’t sell us dangerous stuff. The FDA’s first big success was stopping thalidomide, a drug that prevented the nausea of morning […]

Spring cleaning is a healthy tradition. If only politicians did it! They don’t. When Barack Obama ran for president, he promised to clean house, “I’m not a Democrat who believes that we can or should defend every government program just because it’s there. There are some that don’t work.” I cheered when I heard that! […]

You’ve probably heard that Democratic Party leaders decided that a way to win votes this November is to shout loudly that Republicans wage “war on women.” Politico calls this a “proven, persuasive argument.” Give me a break. The idea of a conservative “war on women” is as silly as propaganda I was taught in college: […]

This week, President Barack Obama proposed “a budget that will create new jobs in manufacturing and energy and innovation and infrastructure, and we’ll pay for every dime of it by cutting unnecessary spending, closing wasteful tax loopholes!” What? I must have fallen asleep and woken up in 2008. That could not be something he’d claim […]

America’s most popular cable news host is upset. “Marijuana use, video games and texting (are) creating major social problems,” says Bill O’Reilly. “This is an epidemic that will lead to a weaker nation!” Give me a break. Crotchety old geezers always complain about “the kids.” The Boston Globe frets about “Idle Trophy Kids.” The New […]

On Saturday, some 1,500 students from all over the world gathered to discuss freedom at the Students for Liberty Conference in Washington, D.C. Economist Donald Boudreaux showed the students a department store catalog from 1958 to underscore how the free market, while contributing to income inequality, also dramatically improved the lives of the poor: “The […]

Politicians say, “We’re all equal,” and pretend that they represent everyone. But, in fact, they constantly pick winners and losers. America is now like the place described in George Orwell’s book “Animal Farm”: “All animals are equal,” but some are “more equal than others.” “Animal Farm” was about Communism, but today the allegory applies to […]

Do you like to cook? Throw dinner parties? Many people enjoy that, but paying for the food, plus accessories, is expensive. Would you host more often if you could get your guests to cover the costs? Or suppose you’d like to: go: to a dinner party to meet new people in your neighborhood. Or maybe when you […]

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday wasn’t what I wanted to hear. This is what the president: should: have said: “I cannot imagine what I was thinking when I pushed Obamacare. I now see it is folly to entrust government, which cannot balance its books and routinely loses track of billions of dollars, with […]

The Hill, the newspaper that covers Congress, says this year, there will be a major policy battle over “climate change.” Why? We already waste billions on pointless gestures that make people think we’re addressing global warming, but the earth doesn’t notice or care. What exactly is “global warming” anyway? That’s really four questions: 1. Is […]

The big online retailer Overstock.com now accepts payment in Bitcoin. That’s good news for lovers of liberty because Bitcoins give us an alternative to government-controlled money. Bitcoins are a currency created by anonymous, private tech nerds, not by government. Governments don’t like competition, and our government sometimes bans competing currencies. But as more of us […]

President Barack Obama says income inequality is “dangerous … the defining challenge of our time.” The pope is upset that capitalism causes inequality. Progressives, facing the failures of Obamacare, are eager to change the subject to America’s “wealth gap.” It’s true that today, the richest 1 percent of Americans own a third of America’s wealth. […]

If you saw a fat man in a sleigh distributing presents this week, he was in violation of several government regulations. The Federal Aviation Administration has complaints about his secret flight path. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources might shoot his unauthorized reindeer the way they shot a baby deer named Giggles at an animal […]

This wasn’t a great year for liberty. A few disasters that government caused: –Obamacare. It was supposed to “bend the cost curve” downward. The central planners had lots of time to perfect their scheme. For a generation, the brightest left-wing wonks focused on health care policy. The result? Soviet-style consumer service comes to America. –Government […]

I’m annoyed that so many Hollywood celebrities hate the system that made them rich. Actor/comedian Russell Brand told the BBC he wants “a socialist, egalitarian system based on the massive redistribution of wealth.” Director George Lucas got rich not just from movies but also by selling Star Wars merchandise. Yet he says he believes in […]

‘Tis the season for giving. But when you give, do you know your money will help someone? Social workers say, “Don’t give to beggars.” Those who do give are “enablers,” helping alcoholics and drug users to continue bad habits. It’s better to give to charities that help the “homeless.” I put “homeless” in quotes because […]

Had today’s politicians and opinion-makers been in power four centuries ago, Americans might celebrate “Starvation Day” this week, not Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims started out with communal property rules. When they first settled at Plymouth, they were told: “Share everything, share the work, and we’ll share the harvest.” The colony’s contract said their new settlement was […]

Marty the Magician performed magic tricks for kids, including the traditional rabbit-out-of-a-hat. Then one day: “I was signing autographs and taking pictures with children and their parents,” he told me. “Suddenly, a badge was thrown into the mix, and an inspector said, ‘Let me see your license.’” In “Harry Potter” books, a creepy Ministry of […]

I didn’t know what a libertarian was when I started reporting. I was just another liberal. I knew the Republicans were icky, and Democrats were more like me — except they didn’t care about debt. I had no idea there was an actual movement of thinking people who want to honor the principles of the […]

The market is fine for some things, people will say, but other activities are too important to be left to the market. Or too complicated. Or too fundamental to our democracy. I say: Privatize everything.’ To some of you, that will sound callous — but failure to privatize services, keeping them in government hands instead, […]

I’ve always avoided reporting on the Federal Reserve. I know it’s more important than much of the stuff I cover, but it’s so boring. How can I succeed on TV reporting on the Fed? Fed chairs even work at being dull. Alan Greenspan said he tried to be obscure because he didn’t want to spook […]

What would you think of a person who earned $24,000 a year but spent $35,000? Suppose on top of that, he was already $170,000 in debt. You’d tell him to get his act together — stop spending so much or he’d destroy his family, impoverish his kids and wreck their future. Of course, no individual […]

These days, being seen as a victim can be useful. You immediately claim the moral high ground. Some people want to help you. Lawyers and politicians brag that they force: others to help you. This turns some people into whiners with little sense of responsibility. Joe Biden’s niece was arrested recently for throwing a punch at […]

Government wants you to play a role in the “shutdown” of the federal government. Your role is to panic. Republicans and Democrats both assume that shutting some government is a terrible thing. The press concurs. “Shutdown threatens fragile economy,” warns Politico. “Federal workers turn to prayer,” laments The Washington Post. If the public starts noticing […]

People say public schools are “one of the best parts of America”. I believed that. Then I started reporting on them. Now I know that public school — (START ITAL) government school (END ITAL) is a better name — is one of the (START ITAL) worst (END ITAL) parts of America. It’s a stultified government […]

Invent something and the first thing that goes through some people’s minds — especially politicians’ minds — is what might go wrong. 3D printers now allow you to mold objects right in your living room, using patterns you find online. It’s a revolutionary invention that will save time, reduce shipping costs and be kind to […]

What’s up with so many Democrats wanting missile strikes on Syria, while Republicans balk? I’m told Republicans are the war party. Is this just hypocrisy? Politicians change their position on military intervention when their own party controls the White House? Historian Thaddeus Russell says it’s not. He says it’s always been “progressive” Democrats who led […]