USA TODAY, October 28, 2015 Freedom gets a foyer; Liberty gets the shaft by James Bovard The budget agreement between President Obama and leaders of the House of Representatives is sparking a conservative firestorm across the land. Newt Gingrich predicts every Republican presidential candidate in tonight’s debate will oppose the deal — which a New York […]
Tag Archives | IRS

My Playboy Greatest Hits
So Playboy is becoming proudly birthday-suit free. Lots of jokes this week about how guys will now be able to honestly say “I only read it for the articles.” From 1994 through 2002, I wrote a bunch of pieces for Playboy on No-Knock Raids, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Janet Reno, IRS, Surveillance, Pork Barrel Prisons, the […]

FFF: Americans’ Fading Love of Freedom
Future of Freedom Foundation, October 2014 issue of Future of Freedom AMERICANS’ FADING LOVE OF FREEDOM by James Bovard Tea Party protesters, some Republicans, and many libertarians perceive the federal government as a vast engine of oppression. But are anti-Obama activists mistaken in presuming that most Americans still care about freedom? A Gallup poll released […]
FFF: America’s Cluster Bomb Congress
The Future of Freedom Foundation placed online today my article from the August 2014 issue of the Future of Freedom – America’s Cluster Bomb Congress by James Bovard Tens of thousands of Americans have been bushwhacked by a single arcane sentence in a 673-page law Congress enacted six years ago. The IRS is seizing both […]

IRS “Structuring” Robberies Go Back Decades – Playboy 1996
The New York Times had an excellent piece on Sunday on the IRS pilfering people whose bank account deposits were deemed “suspicious” – based on the shabbiest pretexts. (The Institute of Justice, which is doing great work on asset forfeiture, provided much of the research for the piece.) This abuse has been ongoing for decades. Here’s […]

Wash. Times: Americans’ Fading Love of Freedom
Washington Times  July 21, 2014 Sweet land of growing indifference An angry passion for freedom begins to fade by James Bovard Tea Party protesters and some Republicans are portraying the federal government as a vast engine of oppression. Are anti-Obama activists mistaken in presuming that most Americans still care about freedom, though? A Gallup poll […]
Wash. Times: Our Cluster Bomb Congress Plants Legislative IEDs
BOVARD Our cluster-bomb Congress plants legislative IEDs Arcane laws lie dormant until exploding under unsuspecting Americans by James Bovard Tens of thousands of Americans have been bushwhacked by a single arcane sentence in a 673-page law Congress enacted six years ago. The Internal Revenue Service is seizing both federal and state tax refunds for individuals […]