The passing of scholar James Buchanan stills the voice of one who understood the fact that men, without Constitutional constraints, will vote themselves unlimited largess from the public treasury due to their own self interest. 

The story line in the new theatrical release Promised Land is obviously intended to leave audiences with a very dim and scary view of fracking and the companies that use this new method of drilling to tap vast amounts of oil and natural gas that otherwise would be inaccessible. But the depiction in Promised Land is so fantastic that the intent could backfire. Indeed, by the end of the film, moviegoers may be left annoyed and offended by the blatant attack on fracking. Indeed, this reviewer was very annoyed. (Warning: spoilers follow.)

Despite some noisy grilling by Senate Republicans, President Obama's nominee for secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, due to his connections with insider organizations like the Atlantic Council and the Council on Foreign Relations, is virtually guaranteed the position.

The release of a conveniently long-lost report showing that fracking is safe puts New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo in a tight spot: continue to appease environmentalists by delaying further the development of the rich Marcellus Formation under his state, or letting the free market extract those resources and generate thousands of jobs and millions in revenue to the state.

A pundit writing for The Hill has suggested that two senators who voted against the fiscal cliff bill might turn their attention to the 2016 presidential election. Based on their voting records, they could help restore the Republican Party to its former glory as the party of limited government.

With the newly enacted American Taxpayer Relief Act, taxpayers will find once again that their taxes will be going up, along with deficits and government spending, despite the rhetoric about the Act "fixing the fiscal cliff."

A theater shooting in San Antonio, Texas, on December 16 was ignored by the national media. Unlike the horrific Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, two days earlier, no one was killed in the San Antonio shooting. But that was likely because of the timely intervention of an armed off-duty law enforcement officer who was working at the theater. And the difference that a good person with a gun can make does not fit the mainstream media's anti-gun narrative.

With the passing of British writer The Right Honourable The Lord Rees-Mogg, a voice that for more than 60 years resonated in the freedom firmament was stilled.

Following increasing dissatisfaction with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), staffs of unnamed House members have developed a detailed plan to oust him as the first order of business when the new Congress convenes on Thursday, January 3.

Using "extraordinary measures," the Treasury won't hit the debt ceiling for another two months, which will then precipitate another debt ceiling crisis, with the same outcome as before: government spending will increase.