Author: John Stossel

We’ve heard another State of the Union speech, and my president said grand things like: “Think about … a future where we’re in control of our own energy … I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China … I will not back down from protecting our kids from mercury poisoning […]

I like to bet on sports. Having a stake in the game, even if it’s just five bucks, makes it more exciting. I also like playing poker. “Unacceptable!” say politicians in much of America. “Gambling sometimes leads to ‘addiction,’ destitute families!” Well, it can. So politicians ban it. It’s why we no longer see a […]

Watching President Obama’s inaugural, I was confused. It looked like a new king was being crowned. Thousands cheered, like subjects worshipping nobility. At a time when America faces unsustainable debt and terrible economic troubles, why such pomp? Maybe it’s because so many people tell themselves presidents can solve any problem, like fairy-tale kings — or […]

Thanks, California! Thanks for your monstrous spending and absurd regulatory overreach! America needs you. We need Connecticut and Illinois, too! We need you the way we needed the Soviet Union, as models of failure, to warn us what happens if we believe those who say, “Government can.” Moving to California was once the dream for […]

The Obama administration now proposes to spend millions more on handouts, despite ample evidence of their perverse effects. Shaun Donovan, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, says, “The single most important thing HUD does is provide rental assistance to America’s most vulnerable families — and the Obama administration is proposing bold steps […]

In the short time since President Obama was re-elected, government has issued hundreds of new regulations. The bureaucrats never stop. There are now more than 170,000 pages of federal regulations. President Obama wants still more rules. Cheering on increased financial regulation, he said, “We’ve got to keep moving forward.” To the president, and probably most […]

Charity — helping people who have trouble helping themselves — is a good thing two times over. It’s good for the beneficiary and good for the donor, too. Stephen Post’s fine book, “The Hidden Gifts of Helping,” reveals that 76 percent of Americans say that helping others is what makes them most happy. Giving money […]

Listening to progressive media pundits, I’d think the most evil man in the universe is Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform. His crime? He heads a movement that asks political candidates to pledge not to raise taxes. I think Grover accomplished a lot. But I wish he’d convinced politicians to pledge not to […]

Politicians claim they make our lives better by passing laws. But laws rarely improve life. They go wrong. Unintended consequences are inevitable. Most voters don’t pay enough attention to notice. They read headlines. They watch the Rose Garden signing ceremonies and hear the pundits declare that progress was made. Bipartisanship! Something got done. We assume […]

With America’s “fiscal cliff” approaching, pundits wring their hands over the supposed catastrophe that government spending cuts will bring. A scare newsletter called “Food Poisoning Bulletin” warns that if government reduces food inspections, “food will be less safe … (because) marginal companies … (will) cut corners.” We’re going to die! Most people believe that without […]

Insider trading leads the news again, casting a cloud over Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors $14 billion hedge fund. The SEC charged Mathew Martoma, who used to manage a SAC Capital division, with using inside information about tests on an Alzheimer’s drug to trade stock of the company working on it. The media love this […]

Yikes, we’re headed toward a fiscal cliff! It will crush the economy! Or so the media and politicians tell us. The “cliff” is a series of tax increases and budget cuts that automatically go into effect Jan. 1 unless Congress acts. Will Congress act? It will! I see the future: The politicians will meet and […]

Democrats won big last week. So government will continue to grow. Individual freedom will yield. At least some people with records of supporting liberty were elected: Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona and U.S. Reps. Justin Amash and Kerry Bentivolio in Michigan and Thomas Massie in Kentucky. Also, Washington and Colorado voted to allow any adult […]

I expect that by the time you read this, President Obama will have been re-elected. Get ready for four more years of Big Bloated Government. Hurricane Sandy didn’t help. The New York Times declared “a big storm requires big government,” and my liberal neighbors agreed. My science-challenged mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said the storm makes it […]

Mitt Romney tells people he won’t fire federal workers or cut education spending. He says he’ll spend more on the military. He sounds like a big-government guy. Or is he just pandering for votes? Ann Coulter came on my TV show to defend Romney. “What you call pandering is called getting elected,” Coulter said. Romney […]

On TV, my Fox colleague Bill O’Reilly says, “The recession was brought on largely by greedy Wall Street corporations.” Give me a break. Bill’s smart. If he believes such things, we who care about freedom have done a poor job communicating economics. Blaming problems on “greed” is a mindless cliche. Yes, Wall Street was greedy […]

We take free speech for granted in America, unlike elsewhere. The furor over that anti-Muslim video is the latest reminder of that. But freedom of speech is never safe, even here. Many colleges now impose “civility codes.” Civility is nice, but enforcing a “civility rule” against offensive speech would put an end to lots of […]

President Obama tanked in the last debate. Good. Now maybe people will listen when Mitt Romney says things like, “The genius of America is the free enterprise system, and freedom, and the fact that people can go out there and start a business. … The private market and individual responsibility always work best.” They do. […]

“There are no jobs!” That is what people told me outside a government “jobs center” in New York City. To check this out, I sent four researchers around the area. They quickly found 40 job openings. Twenty-four were entry-level positions. One restaurant owner told me he would hire 12 people if workers would just apply. […]

The Chicago teachers strike is over, but the public didn’t win. Schools will still transfer bad teachers to other schools because it’s nearly impossible to fire them. When bad teachers go from school to school, principals call it “the dance of the lemons.” It would be funny if those teachers didn’t slowly wreck children’s lives. […]

All political candidates call themselves freedom-lovers, but they are not. Neither major party really opposes government control of the economy or of our personal lives. I’m a libertarian because I see the false choice offered by political left and right: Democrats talk about personal liberty; Republicans talk about economic freedom. But what they do once […]

Bill Clinton got rave reviews for his speech at the Democratic National Convention. My wife said: “Clinton was great. He made Republicans look like liars and losers.” Clinton, now a sainted elder statesman, also gets credit for the booming economy of the ’90s. Today, he appears in an Obama commercial — in full “I feel […]

The Republican Convention ended on the theme “Believe in America.” That sounded nice, but it was just another platitude. Mitt Romney’s speech was filled with platitudes: “We will honor America’s democratic ideals. … We’re united to preserve liberty.” Please. Liberals and conservatives have real differences. We should state them. America is going broke, and tough […]

Forty years ago, the United States locked up fewer than 200 of every 100,000 Americans. Then President Nixon declared war on drugs. Now we lock up more of our people than any other country — more even than the authoritarian regimes in Russia and China. A war on drugs — on people, that is — […]

I wanted to like Paul Ryan. Before he was nationally known, Rep. Ryan visited me at ABC, and we went to lunch. He was terrific. He was a rare politician, one who actually cared about America’s coming debt crisis and the unfairness of entitlements. He even talked about F.A. Hayek’s “The Road to Serfdom”! If […]

I’m a libertarian in part because I see a false choice offered by the political left and right: government control of the economy — or government control of our personal lives. People on both sides think of themselves as freedom lovers. The left thinks government can lessen income inequality. The right thinks government can make […]

On his recent trip abroad, Mitt Romney observed an American taboo by not criticizing President Obama’s military policy. But before his trip, he made his position clear. Obama has “exposed the military to cuts that no one can justify,” Romney said. He meant that unless Congress intervenes, Pentagon spending will be cut by more than […]

The Olympics have gone smoothly despite — gasp! — America’s team wearing clothing made in China at the opening ceremony. “I’m so upset,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “Take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile, and burn them. … We have people in the textile industry who are desperate for jobs.” […]

Over the past few decades, America has locked up more and more people. Our prison population has tripled. Now we jail a higher percentage of people than even the most repressive countries: China locks up 121 out of every 100,000 people; Russia 511. In America? 730. “Never in the civilized world have so many been […]

What was your first job? I stuck pieces of plastic and metal together at an Evanston, Ill., assembly line. We produced photocopiers for a company called American Photocopy. I hated the work. It was hot and boring. But it was useful. It taught me to get good grades in school so I might have other […]