Michael Maharrey | The Libertarian Institute

A ‘Defend the Guard’ Explainer

by Michael Maharrey | Oct 5, 2022 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Presidential administrations come and go but the war machine churns relentlessly on. “Defend the Guard” legislation can throw a monkey wrench in its cogs. Defend the Guard is a state-level bill that would stop the deployment of a state’s National Guard units unless specific constitutional criteria are met. The legislation would prohibit the deployment of state Guard troops in “active duty combat” unless Congress has passed a declaration of war or taken official action pursuant to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15 of the United States Constitution to explicitly call forth the National Guard for...

By Enforcing Sanctions on Russia, SWIFT May Commit Suicide

by Michael Maharrey | Mar 8, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

The government of the United States has intervened militarily in other countries for decades, against the council of founders like George Washington who advised America should “observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.” But the U.S. doesn’t only project power across the globe through its massive military. It also weaponizes the U.S. dollar, using its economic dominance and its privilege as the issuer of the reserve currency as a carrot-stick tool of foreign policy. The U.S. government showers billions of dollars in foreign aid to “friends.” On...

The Costs of War on Your Wallet

by Michael Maharrey | Dec 16, 2021 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

James Madison warned us about the costs of war. War comes with an extremely high price tag. According to the Cost of War Project by the Watson Institute at Brown University, the U.S. spent $2.26 trillion on the war in Afghanistan alone. That comes to over $300 million spent every single day over the span of two decades. In 2018, the Watson Institute calculated that America’s “war on terror” had cost the equivalent of $23,000 per taxpayer. But the average person has no sense of the cost of America’s neverending wars. That’s because the government primarily pays for its wars by borrowing...

An Oppressive Cycle: How Police Militarization and Police Violence Reinforce Each Other

by Michael Maharrey | Dec 8, 2021 | Criminal Justice, Featured Articles

The militarization of state and local police through federal government programs changed the character of policing in the United States. It has turned “protect and serve” into “command and control.” Instead of serving the community as “peace officers,” many state and local law enforcement agencies have turned into domestic military forces. We see the images on TV news—cops in military gear, riding on armored vehicles and toting military-style weapons. Police apologists claim militarizing law enforcement agencies helps them fight dangerous criminals more effectively and that it makes the...

OSHA’s Vaccine Mandate Was Never Possible

by Michael Maharrey | Nov 19, 2021 | Featured Articles

On November 18, 2021 OSHA suspended enforcement of the Biden administration's vaccine mandate. According to a CBS News report, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will rely heavily on informants to help enforce the federal vaccine mandate. More significantly, the report asserts the federal government will have to rely on snitches because OSHA lacks the personnel to enforce the mandate itself. According to the report, the U.S. Department of Labor “will need a lot of help” enforcing the vaccine mandate. “Yet its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) doesn’t...

A Bill To Reject Unconstitutional Executive Orders Passes South Dakota House Committee

by Michael Maharrey | Feb 26, 2021 | Featured Articles

Today, a South Dakota House committee passed a bill that would create a mechanism to review presidential executive orders and end state cooperation with enforcement of certain orders determined to violate the U.S. Constitution. This process would set the stage to nullify some executive orders in effect in South Dakota. Rep. Aaron Aylward (R-Harrisburg), along with 16 Republicans, introduced House Bill 1194 (HB1194) on Feb. 1. Under the proposed law with an amendment passed today, the state legislature’s executive board would be required to review any executive order issued by the President...

Joe Biden’s Phony Limits on Police Militarization

by Michael Maharrey | Feb 5, 2021 | Criminal Justice, Featured Articles

According to a CNN report, President Joe Biden plans to reinstate Obama-era limits on a federal police militarization program. While this sounds like progress toward ending the militarization of local police departments, the Obama limits were little more than window-dressing. Through the federal grant programs such as the 1033 program, local police departments procure military-grade weapons. Police can also get military equipment through the Department of Homeland Security via the (DHS) “Homeland Security Grant Program.” The DHS doles out over $1 billion in counterterrorism funds to state...

How the War in Yemen Is Destroying America’s Constitution

by Michael Maharrey | Nov 12, 2020 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

While Americans obsess over election results, the U.S. government’s war machine has helped destroy millions of lives in the small desert land known as Yemen. Many have lauded Donald Trump as the most “anti-war president” in decades. But early in his presidency, Trump loosened the rules of engagement in both Somalia and Yemen. The result was a bombing campaign that eclipsed anything seen during even the Obama and Bush years. President Trump ramped up the war in the small impoverished Middle Eastern nation within days of taking office. According to Business Insider, Trump ordered commandos to...

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