John Stossel stories, Page 5

Deaths from covid-19 are dropping, but we probably can’t resume normal life until someone develops a vaccine. Experts say it will take at least 12 to 18 months. Why so long? Because to make sure a vaccine works, researchers must recruit lots of volunteers and wait for them to get...

“No justice, no peace!” they shout. Then they break windows. It makes me furious. But then I watch the video of the Minneapolis cop kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, while Floyd repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe,” and three other officers just watch. Then I see the video of the woman...

We have a choice! Next presidential election, we don’t have to decide between two big-spending candidates, neither of whom has expressed much interest in limited government. Now, we have a third serious choice. This week, Jo Jorgensen, a psychology lecturer at Clemson University, won the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. OK,...

The government has closed most schools. So more parents are teaching kids at home. That upsets the government school monopoly. Education “experts” say parents lack the expertise to teach their kids. Without state schooling, “learning losses … could well be catastrophic,” says The New York Times. Home-schooling “will set back...

Mother’s Day made me think how my mom warned me, as a young teen: “Work hard! Or you’ll freeze in the dark!” Sometimes, the warning ended, “Or you’ll starve in the cold.” She grew up during the Depression. She and her peers were sensibly worried about freezing in the dark....

Recently, many politicians were in such a hurry to ban plastic bags. California and Hawaii banned them, then New York. Then Oregon, Connecticut, Maine and Vermont passed laws against them. More than 400 cities did, too. Why? Because plastic bags are evil , didn’t you know? “Look at the damage...

I’m “social distancing.” I stay away from people. I do it voluntarily. There’s a big difference between voluntary — and force. Government is force. The media want more of that. “Ten states have no stay-at-home orders!” complains Don Lemon on CNN. “Some governors are still refusing to take action!” Fox...

The media tell us China “beat coronavirus.” I don’t believe it. The Chinese government lies. AEI’s Derrek Scissors argues that they’ve underreported the number of covid-19 cases by millions. Still, it’s possible that China has the virus under control. But at what cost? Most of us in America now practice...

Two weeks ago, President Trump signed the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history: more than $2 trillion. For once, both Republicans and Democrats agreed. The Senate voted 96-0. The House didn’t even bother with a formal vote. At the White House, a reporter asked the president, pointing out that the...

Congress passed and the president signed a $2 trillion “stimulus” bill. “Not enough!” shrieked politicians. They said the government must do more. They demanded President Donald Trump reactivate the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that lets government force companies to make things. Trump hesitated. That upset lovers of big...

Coronavirus is frightening. I’m working from home, practicing “social distancing.” Experts say it’ll help “flatten the curve” so fewer people will be infected simultaneously. Then hospitals won’t be overwhelmed. But the infection rate grows. Doctors and hospitals may yet be overwhelmed. It didn’t have to get to this point. Coronavirus...

“We don’t have any …!” Fill in the blank. People are stocking up on things, fearing that we will be stuck in our homes, under quarantine, without essential supplies. Some hoard toilet paper. A popular internet video features someone driving up to what appears to be a drug dealer but...

Freelance jobs are “feudalism,” says California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez. She persuaded California’s legislature to pass a new law reclassifying freelance workers as employees. That means many people who hire them must now give them benefits like overtime, unemployment insurance, etc. Politicians said it would help freelancers a lot. Of course,...

South Carolina mom Debra Harrell worked at McDonald’s. She couldn’t afford day care for Regina, her 9-year-old daughter, so she took her to work. One day, Regina asked if she could just play in the neighborhood park instead. “I felt safe there,” she says, “because I was with my friends...

Good for Mike Bloomberg. During his first debate, he slammed Bernie Sanders by saying: “We’re not going to throw out capitalism. We tried that. Other countries tried that. It was called communism, and it just didn’t work!” Exactly right. It’s safe to say Bloomberg is not a communist. I wonder...

Bernie Sanders leads the race for the Democratic nomination. He may become America’s first self-described “democratic socialist” president. What does that mean? Today, when Sanders talks about socialism, he says: “I’m not looking at Cuba. I’m looking at countries like Denmark and Sweden.” But Denmark and Sweden are not socialist....

President Trump “saved the United States,” says former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. He’s one of the “smartest, most clever and successful” presidents, says Fox’s Jeanine Pirro. No, he’s “dumb and racist,” says comedian Seth Meyers, and guilty of “rampant corruption,” say commentators on MSNBC. The man divides opinion like no...

A law in South Carolina bans playing pinball if you’re younger than 18. That’s just one of America’s many ridiculous laws restricting freedom. “There is a role for the government in keeping people safe from actual criminals, people who commit murder, robbery,” says Rafael Mangual, a “tough-on-crime” guy at the...

The Iowa Caucus, the real start of the 2020 presidential primaries, is next week. Who’s favored to win? Sadly, the smart money says it’s the candidate who’s promised Americans the most “free” stuff. Six months ago, my staff and I tallied the candidates’ promises. All wanted to give away trillions...

Reporters complain about business. We overlook the constant improvements in our lives made possible by greedy businesses competing for your money. Think about how our access to entertainment has improved. “When I was a kid,” says Sean Malone in a new video for the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), “my...

People who want to work should be allowed to work. That includes people who once went to jail. With President Trump’s support, Congress spends your money giving ex-cons “employment assistance.” Why bother? State laws often make such employment impossible. Courtney Haveman had an alcohol problem. When she was 19, she...

Congressional hearings were created to educate lawmakers so they have knowledge before they pass bills or impeach a president. Not today. Today, hardly any education happens. During the President Trump impeachment “testimony,” legislators tried to score points. At least five times, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., shut down criticism by shouting,...

This week, children may have learned about that greedy man, Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is selfish until ghosts scare him into thinking about others’ well-being, not just his own. Good for the ghosts. But the way Scrooge addresses others’ needs matters. Today’s advocates of equality, compassion, increased spending on education, health...

Sen. Rand Paul just wrote a book, “The Case Against Socialism.” I thought that case was already decided, since socialist countries failed so spectacularly. But the idea hasn’t died, especially amongst the young. “Hitler’s socialism, Stalin’s socialism, Mao’s socialism. You would think people would have recognized it by now,” Paul...

Congress and the media obsess endlessly over whether President Trump should be impeached. Both ignore $23 trillion of bigger problems. That’s how deep in debt the federal government is now, and because they keep spending much more than they could ever hope to collect in taxes, that number will only...