Howard Rich is the Chairman of Americans for Limited Government. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2013 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Sat, 30 Apr 2011 04:01:00 GMT Sat, 30 Apr 2011 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ The defensive struggle that's currently being waged by America's public sector unions has the potential to usher in a renaissance of parental choice in our nation - assuming supporters of academic freedom are willing to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/04/30/union_battles_a_window_for_parental_choice cf9ace9f-6221-4ee1-9788-c58e1b4f7c42 Sat, 30 Apr 2011 04:01:00 GMT For years, America's left-leaning mainstream media outlets have belittled and rebuked members of the new media - questioning their credibility, impugning their integrity and assigning all manner of self-serving... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/04/14/new_media_catches_obama_bribing_the_fourth_estate 0829b0ef-b203-4879-9523-8cadd999a072 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 04:01:00 GMT With American politicians still refusing to substantively address the looming consequences of their fiscal irresponsibility, it only makes sense that voters are feeling frustrated and powerless. Last November’s... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/04/07/expand_voters'_rights_to_recall_politicians 30882f9e-f8a9-48b3-8e0f-4535ae89b812 Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:01:00 GMT As the world keeps a watchful eye over the badly-damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors in Japan, a radioactive threat much closer to home is being deliberately downplayed by our government. As part of the Department of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/03/31/homeland_radiation_threatens_more_than_just_our_health 3ca08da7-3033-48ab-bb08-349bba8f804f Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:00:00 GMT President Barack Obama says that Americans are "tired of talk" when it comes to rising gas prices. Unfortunately his administration continues to say one thing and do another on this critical economic front - ignoring... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/03/24/obama_awol_on_gas_prices 351e76ce-3596-4ed7-82f6-8240284cc7a9 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 04:01:00 GMT The Social Security debate is no different than the debate over any other government program - there are just a lot more zeroes involved. Of course the more zeroes, the less willing Washington politicians usually are to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/03/10/social_security_why_america_can_and_should_allow_private_accounts 365303c0-4d8c-4cf1-9d57-a433a6a2859c Thu, 10 Mar 2011 05:01:00 GMT A decade ago, when our national debt stood at a "mere" $5.6 trillion, the federal government was already dramatically overpaying its employees to perform all sorts of non-core functions. According to the U.S. Bureau of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/03/03/why_collective_bargaining_is_bad 395a1d14-b18d-48de-8aa2-160c517228cd Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:01:00 GMT President Obama has said that the cuts included in his fiscal 2012 budget will force "tough choices and sacrifices." Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner invoked a former tax-hiking president in defending his chamber's... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/02/24/budgeting_for_dummies 6cedf87a-d30c-487f-affd-633dc60352ee Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:32:51 GMT Washington politicians have worked themselves into a fine lather lately debating spending cuts. Yet as familiar rhetorical jabs are exchanged over proposed reductions to things like NPR and the National Archives, the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/02/17/entitlements_a_debate_deferred 10e6e98a-ed08-4305-8c27-bddf18c8fac0 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 05:01:00 GMT Have recent elections taught Republicans nothing? Routed from power in 2006 and 2008 for their wholesale betrayal of the American taxpayers, the GOP was granted a new lease on life because Democrats chose to put... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/02/10/going_gingrich a4e2fa8e-0595-4880-827f-61226f5f13b2 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 05:01:00 GMT In his State of the Union address last week, U.S. President Barack Obama acknowledged that America's "free enterprise system is what drives innovation." He also said that if America is to "win the future," then it must... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/02/03/"winning_the_future"_requires_real_choice ce76bb37-5f08-4c92-a777-36a99056c4ab Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:01:00 GMT Paced by California and Illinois, state governments across the country continue to mimic the unsustainable fiscal excesses of the federal government - creating crushing deficits and soaring unfunded liabilities.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/01/20/states_of_insolvency cb70d8b7-7df0-4be8-8bb1-31fcec99f028 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:01:00 GMT Lost amid the partisan posturing over the proposed repeal of Obamacare is a stark, unavoidable fiscal reality. Put simply: Our leaders have no choice but to scrap this socialized medicine monstrosity and start from... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/01/13/anti-repeal_movement_ignores_fiscal_realities 7dc1b59e-02ee-4113-8fe2-5819f98deedb Thu, 13 Jan 2011 05:01:00 GMT While the extension of Bush-era tax cuts dominated headlines during the recently-concluded lame duck session of Congress, the coming year will bring with it a renewed focus on public debt - whether policymakers like it... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2011/01/06/2011_a_fiscal_reckoning_that_cannot_be_avoided ef3b0902-a41a-47a3-8834-f76abd2ddad8 Thu, 06 Jan 2011 05:01:00 GMT At long last there are finally signs that the American Republic's breakneck descent into full-blown socialist madness - which was fast approaching terminal velocity prior to November's elections - could be leveling... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/12/23/stopping_the_descent 83341587-0a27-4e79-972d-2232da7631c0 Thu, 23 Dec 2010 05:01:00 GMT With fresh data showing that students in the United States are falling further behind their international peers, a commitment to universal parental choice at all levels of government is needed now more than... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/12/16/real_academic_accountability_requires_real_choices 01da2a74-2e3e-42ff-b608-46d48f98d064 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 05:01:00 GMT "Cancun can." That's the catchphrase of this year's United Nations' "global warming" conference - a costly taxpayer-funded boondoggle being held at the tropical Yucatan vacation destination. Last December U.S.... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/12/02/cancun_can't 99c6b173-4f1a-4806-aae2-d88258275ff8 Thu, 02 Dec 2010 21:17:55 GMT As the European economy grapples with yet another bailout of a bankrupt sovereign state, a storyline is emerging that seeks to frame this latest instance of government interventionism along deliberately disingenuous... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/11/26/calling_a_shamrock_a_shamrock 39e6f650-633a-4690-925f-bec70e663e67 Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:01:00 GMT While it lacks the panache of Patrick Henry's impassioned "give me liberty" cry (which the Virginian borrowed from Cato, incidentally), the reality is that Republicans looking for a modus operandi in Washington next... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/11/18/give_us_gridlock 9c52850e-1f42-430c-980e-a2a19b2a3510 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 05:01:00 GMT Mere days after winning the presidency on the strength of his proposed "middle class tax cuts," U.S. President Barack Obama switched gears and began outlining his vision for a massive "economic stimulus" - one that he... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/11/05/obama_the_anti-stimulant cc5eefb8-217a-4a3d-93ff-9081c89caa79 Fri, 05 Nov 2010 04:01:18 GMT A new Gallup poll shows that forty-six percent of Americans believe the federal government "poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens." The other fifty-four percent? Obviously they... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/10/28/a_clear_and_present_threat 19484623-c158-4ec5-8b04-48dc12ebfac2 Thu, 28 Oct 2010 04:01:00 GMT While you can't fool "all of the people, all of the time," it is surprisingly easy to fool a sufficient number of them to get elected. "People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/10/21/obama's_big_lies_get_bigger 2cdee90f-495a-4a83-8b98-9d77dc992ebf Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:33:11 GMT No public official has been more integrally involved in the federal government's "Great Intervention" than U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Over the course of three years (and two administrations), Bernanke... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/10/14/the_folly_of_"stimulation" d1847a86-d724-417b-a857-94f55f63b3d3 Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:00:01 GMT As the infamous Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) winds down this week, Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. are patting themselves on the back for a job well done. Not only are they claiming to have saved... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/10/07/the_toxic_truth_about_tarp 99e965b1-ce57-4519-936d-cb5b77feb806 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:01:10 GMT There may be no such thing as a silver bullet in public policy, but universal parental choice is the closest thing we have to one - assuming our politicians summon the courage to run with it. And based on the current... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/09/30/"superman"_and_silver_bullets 1e5538a2-38d8-4c5a-a49b-0fa243164816 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:01:00 GMT The more things "change," the more they stay the same in Barack Obama's Washington, D.C. - especially when it comes to government transparency. After decrying his predecessor as the "most secretive" President in... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/08/12/obamas_transparency_charade_continues 6bce0585-e652-4a00-9830-9533ec69b2bd Thu, 12 Aug 2010 04:01:00 GMT Four years ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised to "drain the swamp" of corruption in Washington, D.C., but after failing miserably to do so it now appears she's choosing to ignore it - while letting her colleagues... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/08/05/rangel_scandal_reveals_the_extent_of_capitol_corruption 6d64c482-de9a-4cab-a52c-c4f080ee832e Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:01:00 GMT Contrary to Barack Obama's rhetoric about protecting consumers, his new financial reform law represents a dangerous big government power grab that willfully ignores the true roots of the recent financial crisis. It... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/07/22/"financial_reform"_and_america's_march_to_marxism 5af91a55-a234-4d3f-98fa-345fdd815e67 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:00:00 GMT In a column published last week in The New York Times, Princeton economics professor Paul Krugman condemns recent attempts to inject some common sense into what has become an epidemic of mindless government growth in... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/07/09/inadequate_spending 8104054a-ec74-496f-969f-9ccdbf845a48 Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:00:00 GMT Ponzi schemes rely on people falling for promises that are literally too good to be true - but the outcomes are never really in doubt for the perpetrators of these scams, are they? First they are playing with money... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/06/24/is_the_welfare_state_a_ponzi_scheme d7a83a99-229c-47c5-8d53-3d98436effef Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:01:00 GMT In its latest attempt to mitigate public outrage over out-of-control government growth, the administration of President Barack Obama has instructed a handful of federal agencies to cut their budgets by five... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/06/18/barack_obama's_bogus_budget_cuts c49e36ed-857e-47b7-b0e7-838393326247 Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:01:00 GMT Of all the myths helping to sustain the unsustainable status quo in Washington, D.C., among the most widely accepted is the belief that a politician's seniority translates into tangible economic benefits for his or... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/06/10/politicians_cause_downsizing 354132c7-dcd7-4ce0-8b70-1143b1949477 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:01:00 GMT It began last November in statewide races in Virginia and New Jersey. Then it swept through Massachusetts in a stunning U.S. Senate special election this January. Most recently, it has spilled over into primary battles... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/05/20/americas_repudiation_of_obamas_america_continues 246746fa-f7ec-4d07-951c-66565ca07ef7 Thu, 20 May 2010 12:47:35 GMT America's Founding Fathers envisioned a limited government in which laws were fairly and evenly enforced and justice was blind. Yet as government's lust for additional power and its appetite for new spending have both http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/05/13/obamas_internal_reporting_service 18ff877f-b537-4588-b900-f0fa676d931f Thu, 13 May 2010 04:00:00 GMT A little over a year ago, a columnist for the newspaper that once served as the official communications organ of the Central Committee of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had some choice words for what rem http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/05/06/russia_and_america_turning_the_world_upside_down dc4ceb65-433f-4ea9-8c3b-27581ac2e8b1 Thu, 06 May 2010 04:01:00 GMT In its quest to ram perpetual bank bailouts and draconian new government regulations through the U.S. Congress under the guise of "financial services reform," the administration of Barack Obama and its allies have... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/04/29/goldman_creeping_socialism_finds_a_convenient_enemy b61a1fad-059b-4cb3-a6d3-96d79364c430 Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:01:00 GMT When he first began his career as a crusading consumer journalist in the 1970s, John Stossel believed fervently that higher taxes and greater government involvement in the marketplace were integral checks against corpor http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/04/22/john_stossel_and_the_media's_"statist_syndrome" ee729844-f16d-46fc-9054-7058c5722f19 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 04:01:00 GMT Lost amid the partisan sniping and procedural jousting over the passage of "Obamacare" is a fundamental, unavoidable hypocrisy - one that's worth unmasking as Washington politicians continue to ignore the will of the... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/03/25/obamacare_"the_bigger_the_lie" 517bfcf6-8825-47d0-9ee8-dabfd500c562 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:01:00 GMT In addition to promising an end to Republicans' out-of-control spending, Democrats vowed to "drain the swamp" of corruption in Washington D.C. prior to winning their Congressional majorities in 2006. Of course that was... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/03/18/the_sestak_scandal_this_is_"draining_the_swamp" 3f21aa2c-4a70-43ae-b2fb-95ba8f002756 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:01:00 GMT With the "science" of global warming collapsing like a house of cards, the Copenhagen "climate change" conference accomplishing absolutely nothing and a massive energy tax hike going nowhere in the U.S. Senate,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/03/11/jay_rockefeller_stands_in_the_way_of_obamas_environmental_end-around ec13cf2a-e87a-4750-b5fb-52e790b8abf4 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:01:00 GMT Seeking to capitalize on the righteous indignation voters are feeling toward President Barack Obama and his Congressional allies, a group of Republican politicians is dusting off an old playbook. Led by former GOP... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/03/04/gop_contractually-bound 7f6ec54e-ef93-4839-b3d8-bc82f99aa17b Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:01:00 GMT As America loudly repudiates the leftist agenda of President Barack Obama and his Congressional allies, a group of partisan GOP opportunists is busy promoting a theory of "Republican revisionism." What does this... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/02/19/"missing_bush"_why_republican_revisionism_won't_sell 6a76104a-daa3-4981-8402-09dade71646f Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:04:30 GMT A year after it was passed, it has become painfully obvious to anyone with open eyes that the massive federal "stimulus" - along with several other trillion-dollar government interventions in the free market - has... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/02/12/the_green_jobs_scam_unmasked 7c40fea6-6266-4f8f-8522-4b8f103e756a Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:01:00 GMT "We're not going to save our way out of this recession. We've got to spend our way out of this recession." - U.S. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn Just days before Congressman Jim Clyburn had the "audacity" to admit what... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/02/04/obamas_budget_fiscal_armegeddon 00d099c7-2fd5-4104-9e03-f15daa6df8ad Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:01:00 GMT Barack Obama's Panic Week has come and gone, but did his White House learn anything from the historic repudiation of his leftist agenda? Putting the question another way, has Obama made the necessary course... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/01/29/white_house_panic_week_yields_no_change_in_direction 2f824a00-6565-4af0-afef-9dcbca36a7d0 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:01:00 GMT It's been a time of Tea parties throughout America, but did anyone really believe that the limited government movement that's sweeping across the country would arrive at the site of the original Tea party so... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/01/21/obamas_kiss_of_death_in_massachusetts 64cde710-dc2e-48bc-88b7-8d10e08dc191 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:01:00 GMT The "New Socialism" - as columnist Charles Krauthammer adroitly calls the global governmental power grab and wealth redistribution schemes lurking beneath the "green economy" - has kicked into high gear in Washington,... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/01/14/green_jobs,_red_ink,_pink_slips 10823773-6902-4f43-9191-2c15a6008ce8 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:01:00 GMT While American politicians continue to indulge the unsustainable excesses of a federal government already littered with unnecessary functions, other nations have wisely begun to read the handwriting on the wall. What... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2010/01/07/following_the_irish_example 0b124c76-558c-44d2-9c76-45bd07748344 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:01:00 GMT During the 1980's, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar built a global cocaine cartel of unrivaled power and influence based on a simple philosophy, Plato O Plomo. Translated literally that means "silver or lead," but... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2009/12/30/plato_o_pomo_-_washingtons_gangster_way 18931e8a-375d-4b86-ad18-8904ffbb317e Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:01:00 GMT One of the oldest clichés in the book defines insanity as doing the same thing "over and over again" and expecting a different result. In that case, it's a pity we can't give our federal and state governments... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HowardRich/2009/12/17/insanity,_defined 45c7b148-9bad-493a-8ed1-9d2f5a38cd16 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:01:00 GMT