In the world of politics, it's hard to separate the truth from the lies. In this strongly argued but nonpartisan book, Major Garrett and Timothy J. Penny draw on their combined decades of experience watching government work to illuminate the deceptions and delusions to which we as citizens are subjected every election season. Here are some of the lies: Tax Cuts Are Good Social Security Is a Sacred Government Trust Medicare Works Money Buys...

One of the bloodiest conflicts ever to take place on American soil, the Civil War pitted brother against brother as North and South fought to secure their futures. Confederate president Jefferson Davis's 1881 memoir, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government is a history of the Confederate States of America and a vindication of the Southern cause. While Rise and Fall disappointed Davis's hopes of restoring his fortune, destroyed during and...

In Russia, as the confrontation over the constitutional distribution of authority raged, Boris Yeltsin's economic program regularly wended its way in and out of the Constitutional Court until Yeltsin finally suspended that court in the aftermath of his clash with the hard-line parliament. In Europe, French and German legislators and executives now routinely alter desired policies in response to or in anticipation of the pronouncements of constitutional...

A government shutdown occurs when Congress does not approve of or the President rejects the federal budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Since the 1990s, Congress has often failed to pass the twelve to thirteen appropriation bills that set government-wide spending. In their stead they pass "continuing resolutions (CR)" to extend the existing spending law at or near current levels, and "omnibus" bills that combine many appropriations bills into...

We the People have had it pretty good since WWII. Our prosperity has resulted in our collective apathy toward the corrupt progression of what once were servants of the People into life-long career politicians in Washington, D.C. who have become our elite political ruling class. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Today in our United States we have an all-powerful central government enabled by a subservient media propelling our nation...

In our modern American society, we find ourselves amidst a disheartening breakdown, where chaos prevails. The dominance of a few corporations stifles diversity across numerous sectors of our economy. Complex and biased laws and tax systems cater to special interests, while the upbringing of many children and the quality of education are skewed towards wealthy areas. Moreover, our online platforms inundate us with fraudulent schemes, adding to the...

Over the course of nine months in 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker, and accompanied by Gustave de Beaumont, travelled the United States under the pretext of studying the American prison system. Over the course of his travels, Tocqueville also studied American society, religion, politics, and economics, undertaking what would become one of the most comprehensive studies to that time of the practice of democracy in the United States. Democracy...

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION DID NOT BEGIN WITH SHOTS FIRED FROM A GUN. The Revolution began much earlier, born of a growing discontent with a government that was unresponsive to the people's needs, unrepresentative of the people's views, and that denied its citizens their basic liberties. SOUND FAMILIAR? Though the seminal events of the founding of this great nation occurred over two centuries ago, many of the grievances verbalized by patriots such as...

It's hard to believe an Australian government could sign a deal which so betrays Australia's interests. How to Kill a Country demonstrates how the FTA as negotiated will seriously damage Australia's institutions, interests and identity. Three of Australia's leading policy analysts have investigated the fine print of Australia's Free Trade Agreement with the US. What they found is that the lopsidedness of the deal is just the beginning of the story....

Over the course of nine months in 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker, accompanied by Gustave de Beaumont, travelled the United States under the pretext of studying the American prison system. Over the course of his travels, Tocqueville also studied American society, religion, politics, and economics, undertaking what would become one of the most comprehensive studies to that time of the practice of democracy in the United States....