Entries by James Bovard

Biden’s Wrecking Ball for Financial Privacy

The Biden administration is seeking to compel banks to report to the IRS any bank account with more than $600 in transactions per year. This proposal is a linchpin of Biden’s American Families Plan, and will supposedly help generate almost $500 billion in federal revenue over the next decade. But previous catch-all financial reporting requirements […]

Absolute Power Is No Covid Safety Net

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown champions have perennially invoked “science and data” to sanctify any mandate politicians impose. Hard facts have recently shown that neither vaccines nor face masks provide surefire protection against the virus. But no amount of evidence has yet shaken faith in the magic of absolute power. Covid policies […]

The Coming ‘January 6’ Train Wreck

With the DOJ’s first sentencing, the legal realities are disappointing the left’s lust for blood. The January 6 Capitol clash may be the gift that keeps on giving to cynics everywhere. In the coming months, Americans will likely see jaw-dropping bureaucratic debacles, stunning abuses by federal prosecutors, and appalling bloodlust by angry Biden supporters. Perhaps […]

Will Biden’s Sham Corruption Crackdown Endanger Freedom?

Denouncing corruption is the easiest way for rascally politicians to appear honest. Upholding a venerable Washington Kabuki tradition, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he was “issuing” a memo to “establish combatting corruption as a core U.S. national security interest.” But Biden’s crackdown is more likely to subvert financial freedom than to create a new […]

The Bogus January 6 Commission Poses a Real Threat to Freedom

Editors’ Note: The January 6 Commission bill was defeated in the U.S. Senate last week. Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) intends to attempt to pass this again later in June. This can only be done by eliminating the Senate filibuster rule and having all future Senate bills passed by a simple majority (50 plus the […]

Will the Pandemic Promote Political Power in Perpetuity?

“It’s like we created another industry in our state. The amount of money is staggering,” Andrew Schaufele, director of Maryland’s Bureau of Revenue Estimates, happily declared last week. The Biden stimulus plan is deluging governments across America with hundreds of billions of dollars of extra revenue that will allow politicians to stretch their power in […]

“Governing as Looting” in Washington and Beyond

At what point does a democracy become a kleptocracy? That type of degeneration routinely happens in Third World regimes but the same blight can occur in the United States. Few things epitomize “governing as looting” like the automated traffic ticket cameras that hundreds of local governments have inflicted on drivers across the nation. In 2015, […]

A Grim Reaper Speaks

President Biden’s first speech to Congress last night hit all the pandemic hot buttons. Even though most members of Congress are vaccinated, all of the 200 attendees in the Capitol were required to wear masks and “socially distance.” The Hill reports that the “imagery will underscore how the pandemic is still gripping the nation despite the availability […]

Will FBI ‘Chats’ Send Conservatives To Prison?

With no requirements to record interviews, and the potential to prosecute based on false statements, the FBI has a terrifying amount of power over citizens. Across the nation, FBI agents are swooping down upon conservative activists, Trump supporters, and anyone suspected of any tie to the January 6 clash at the Capitol. Conservative author Candace […]