The Daily Caller

The Daily Caller

In constitutional republics, presidents don’t have ‘kill lists’

Doug Bandow
Senior Fellow, The Cato Institute

Washington routinely criticizes despotic regimes where officials exercise the power of life and death without restraint. President Barack Obama is such an official.

A foreign policy fit for a republic

11:04 PM 05/30/2011

President Barack Obama says Washington supports democracy, and with the Arab Spring, his administration is abandoning its realpolitik ways. Of course, President George W. Bush said Washington was for democracy. And it was — sometimes. President Obama’s high-sounding promises aren’t likely to survive the next geopolitical crisis.

A self-tax for fiscal patriots

9:17 PM 12/05/2010

Legislators are battling over extending the Bush tax cuts. Should the “rich” get tax cuts? Congressional Republicans say yes and Democrats say no.

For big-spending hawks, the U.S. military’s work is never done

5:31 PM 11/26/2010

The U.S. strides the globe as a colossus, stronger than any other state and more dominant than any empire at any time in human history. The entire militaries of “rogue” states have less total firepower than one American carrier group while terrorist groups create more popular angst than extreme danger. The U.S. faces no existential threat like it did during World War II and the Cold War.

A Republican agenda of real change

7:26 PM 11/21/2010

The Republican Party is resurgent. But the last two periods of GOP dominance ended in political disaster. Unless Republicans promote real change — namely limited, constitutional government — they are likely to be sent back to political oblivion again. And deservedly so.

South Korea Free Trade Agreement key to prosperity and security

4:16 PM 10/19/2010

Unemployment remains high, with Washington politicians clamoring for job creation.  China is ever more confident, challenging the U.S. economically and politically.  The People’s Republic of China (PRC) even has displaced America as the number one trading partner of such leading East Asian states as South Korea.

Taxing Americans to protect — and occupy — the Europeans

11:59 AM 10/13/2010

Advocates of Big Government are forever creative in concocting new justifications for old programs. Supporters of more military spending are no different. One of the most unique arguments is that a bigger Pentagon budget is necessary to simultaneously protect and suppress the Europeans.

Dubai’s dark side

12:31 PM 08/20/2010

The city of Dubai has become a major Middle Eastern commercial center.  It also has been called the Middle East’s “shopping capital.”

A liberal God?

10:13 AM 07/26/2010

Nothing seems to scare the populist Left more than the people.  Protest the Obama administration’s big spending, pervasive centralizing, expansive regulating policies, and you must be an enemy of all that is good and true.  Attend a Tea Party rally and you’re probably a racist and certainly not a Christian.

Morocco: The limits of Islamic religious tolerance

10:31 AM 07/08/2010

It took Christendom centuries, but religious tolerance eventually replaced persecution.  Today it’s hard to find a Christian society that genuinely persecutes.

Confronting North Korea: Who’s in charge?

12:00 AM 06/09/2010

We see through a glass darkly, said the Apostle Paul, and that is certainly the case when it comes to North Korea. Power appears to be shifting as the Supreme People’s Assembly meets in Pyongyang.

Engaging China to maintain peace in East Asia

12:00 AM 05/25/2010

While the U.S. remains involved in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, East Asia contains the seeds of potentially bigger conflicts. China holds the key to maintaining regional peace.

Afghanistan: Whose war?

12:00 AM 05/14/2010

KABUL, Afghanistan—The easiest way for an American to fly into Afghanistan is on Kam Air from Dubai. But it appears that only Americans fly into Afghanistan on Kam Air from Dubai. Almost, anyway.

Ron Paul challenges GOP’s foreign policy agenda

12:00 AM 04/20/2010

It has been nearly a decade since President George W. Bush chose arrogance over humility as the basis of American foreign policy. The intervening years have not been good for the United States or the Republican Party. As the GOP seeks to take back the White House it needs to conduct a serious foreign policy debate. Republicans should start by listening to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

The problem with alliances: Britain and the Falklands

12:00 AM 04/02/2010

Washington collects alliances like people collect Facebook “friends.” As the Falklands Islands dispute heats up again, the U.S. finds itself being pressed to take sides. It turns out that collecting allies can be expensive.