Michael Maharrey | The Libertarian Institute

Look to the Constitution, Not ‘Necessity’

by Michael Maharrey | May 27, 2020 | Featured Articles

I hear a lot of bad constitutional arguments justifying this or that federal action. One common justification for expanding federal power is: “This thing is necessary! It needs to be done.” But it doesn’t follow that the federal government has to do the thing. In fact, the founding generation expected that the states and the people would do most of the “necessary things” – not the federal government. Tench Coxe was a prominent and influential advocate for ratification of the Constitution and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1788-1789. He later served as Secretary of...

When the Government’s ‘Cure’ Aids the Disease

by Michael Maharrey | May 18, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles

Remember all of the government bailouts and stimulus in response to the 2008 financial crisis? Conservatives threw a fit. The Tea Party movement grew out of worry about the impact of all of the stimulus, money-printing, and the taxes they knew were coming down the pike. My, how things have changed in 12 short years—and with a Republican sitting in the Oval Office. Today, pretty much everybody supports the stimulus and bailouts gushing out of Washington D.C. even though they dwarf anything imagined during the Obama administration. “This is different!” so we’re told. Government policy set up...

Supreme Court Rules Against Fourth Amendment

by Michael Maharrey | May 12, 2020 | Criminal Justice, Featured Articles

The Supreme Court handed down another opinion eroding the Fourth Amendment in a case that should have never gone to the federal court. Kansas v. Glover revolves around a traffic stop by Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Mehrer. He pulled Charles Glover over after running his license plate and finding that Glover had a suspended driver’s license. Glover entered a motion to suppresses evidence gathered during the stop, arguing there was no reasonable suspicion of an actual crime. The deputy stopped the car based on the assumption that the registered owner was probably driving. The district...

Joint Law Enforcement Task Forces are Creating a National Police State

by Michael Maharrey | Apr 17, 2020 | Featured Articles, Justice

Through the proliferation of joint law enforcement task forces, the federal government is creating a national police force that operates in a legal twilight zone with little or no oversight. Law enforcement officers from various state, local and federal law enforcement agencies make up these joint task forces. The concept evolved out of the unconstitutional “War on Drugs” launched by President Richard Nixon. The first multi-jurisdictional task forces were put together in the 1970s. Dan Baum chronicled the evolution of these multi-jurisdictional police forces in his book, Smoke and Mirrors:...

That Didn’t Take Long: U.S. National Debt Exceeds $24 Trillion

by Michael Maharrey | Apr 13, 2020 | Economics, Events, Featured Articles

The U.S. national debt pushed above $24 trillion on Tuesday. The U.S. government was already running massive budget deficits long before the coronavirus pandemic and the debt was piling up at a dizzying pace. Response to the outbreak has put spending and debt in hyperdrive. The Trump administration has added $1 trillion to the national debt in just six months. It’s easy to just brush off the spending spree. Virtually everybody agrees the stimulus is necessary to deal with the economic impacts of coronavirus. But the Trump administration was stimulating long before this emergency. Uncle Sam...

Why Do We Trust Politicians to Run Our Lives?

by Michael Maharrey | Apr 9, 2020 | Featured Articles, Politics

I became a journalist because I love to write. In fact, most people tend to pursue career paths related to things that interest them if they have any choice in the matter. A person who likes to bake might become a baker. A person who likes numbers might become an accountant. A person who loves animals and biology might become a veterinarian. So, what does a person who likes to control other people do? Become a politician. Think about it. If various jobs tend to attract people with certain interests and personalities, we should probably be wary of those attracted to government “service.”...

Stimulus Bill Lets Fed Operate in Complete Secrecy

by Michael Maharrey | Mar 30, 2020 | Economics, Events, Featured Articles

I guess we’re just supposed to have faith that Jerome Powell will do the right thing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of faith in anybody when it comes to passing out billions of dollars in cash or creating government policy. -Mike Maharrey, TAC Last week, Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus bill in an effort to offset the economic impacts of the coronavirus. Most people have focused on the $1,200 checks to Americans and bailouts for industries hard-hit by the economic shutdown. But the 883-page bill does a lot more than that, including empowering the central bankers at...

No! ‘We’ Are Not the Government

by Michael Maharrey | Mar 21, 2020 | Featured Articles

During a speech in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed, “The government is us; we are the government, you and I.” Most people believe this. And it's a bald-faced lie. Fernandina Beach, Florida, shut down all of its public beaches this evening in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Anybody caught on the beach is subject to trespassing charges. So, let’s boil down what’s going on into simplest terms. Government officials closed "public" beaches. If we go on our "public" beach that “we” ostensibly own as members of “the public" we are subject to trespassing...