BASEDPolitics’ Hannah Cox writes, Bono’s “charitable work and activism has led to tens of billions in AIDS relief for African countries and the cancellation of debt for some of the world’s poorest nations. Given some of this work, along with his status as a member of Hollywood royalty, many might assume Bono holds left-of-center views like many of his peers. (And by left of center I mean, anti-free market, pro-big-government opinions.)

Yet Bono recently sat down for an interview with The New York Times to promote his forth-coming book, ‘Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.’ And in the interview, he dropped some pro-capitalism bombs that may surprise the casual observer.

In the conversation, the interviewer posed the question, ‘Maybe this is too much of straw-man argument, but it’s easy to imagine a young activist looking through the book and seeing praise for George W. Bush and Bill Clinton—not exactly beloved figures these days—and thinking you’re out of touch. Or reading a sentence like ‘Why is there hunger in a world of surplus?’ and wondering whether you ever asked that question to all the billionaires you write about glowingly. So do you give credence to shifting ideas about activism and change in the same way that you give credence to shifting ideas about the pop world?’

To which Bono responded, ‘I ended up as an activist in a very different place from where I started. I thought that if we just redistributed resources, then we could solve every problem. I now know that’s not true.’

‘There’s a funny moment when you realize that as an activist: The off-ramp out of extreme poverty is, ugh, commerce, it’s entrepreneurial capitalism,” Bono said.”

Read the entire column.

The post Bono: Capitalism is the ‘off ramp’ out of extreme poverty appeared first on Liberty Tree.

NYT: US government made it ‘shockingly easy’ to commit pandemic fraud

“The COVID stimulus spending was one of the greatest scams in history & we’ll be paying for it for decades to come. Libertarians like ⁦@RepThomasMassie⁩ were the canaries in the coal mine who warned about this from the beginning.” ⁦@HannahDCox⁩ https://t.co/98cg85tcsv

— Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) October 6, 2022

BASEDPolitics‘ Hannah Cox writes, “In an episode of their podcast ‘The Daily’ this week, The New York Times said that, ‘when it comes to pandemic aid, the United States government made it shockingly easy to commit fraud.”

“The admittance comes on the tail of a grand jury recently indicting dozens of people in Minnesota for stealing almost a quarter of a billion dollars (yes, billion) from COVID relief programs,” Cox wrote. “But this incident is really only the tip of the iceberg it seems.”

She continued, “On the podcast, Times reporter David Fahrenthold said, ‘When you write about the fraud that happened against pandemic programs starting in 2020, it’s hard to think of any other episode in at least recent American history where so many people stole so much from the US government or so many people — just make it more broad, so many people broke federal law all at the same time.”

Cox observed, “Ultimately over 5 trillion was spent on COVID relief programs, and the dollars went in a lot of directions. But the Times says three programs were the most vulnerable to fraud: the federal unemployment benefits program, the Paycheck Protection Program, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.”

“The truth is we still have no idea just how much fraud occurred under these programs,” she noted. “Many of them used an honor system at the time that merely required people to declare under perjury they had been harmed by COVID and the lockdowns.”

Read the entire column.

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Based Politics’ Hannah Cox writes, “Civil asset forfeiture is one of the more nefarious policies in play, but Americans remain largely unaware of it. This practice is found both federally and across most states. Under civil asset forfeiture laws, the police can take your property if they merely suspect you of a crime.

That’s right: They don’t have to charge, convict, or even arrest you before they can do this. And boy do they run with it. Whether it’s cash, jewelry, cars, or even people’s homes, the police seize and sell assets from Americans all the time. They then use the profits to boost their department’s budgets.

According to the Institute for Justice, states and the federal government confiscated at least $68.8 billion from citizens from 2000 to 2020. (And that’s just what we can track!)”

Read the entire column.

The post The government confiscates more property from Americans annually than burglars do appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Based Politics’ Hannah Cox writes, “Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.’ And in order for this country to truly find its way back to the ‘domestic tranquility’ promised in the US Constitution, there is much injustice to be reckoned with…

In honor of #MLKDay, familiarize yourself with his 6 Principles of Non-violence, and commit to them.

There is still much work to do and injustice to overthrow.

By me:https://t.co/n80OGMXyG8

— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) January 17, 2022

When citizens employ violence to fight wrongdoing, they often amplify the original problem, create new victims in their wake, empower government forces to enact draconian responses, and lose the sympathy of those they need to persuade in order to effect change…

So what should be done about injustice? We cannot merely accept it. How can we effectively fight back? The answers can be found by examining those who have successfully challenged injustice before us, and won. In honor of one such man and the day set aside to remember him, let’s study Martin Luther King Jr.’s theory of change.”

Read the entire column.

The post Martin Luther King Jr.’s 6 principles of non-violence appeared first on Liberty Tree.

FEE’s Hannah Cox writes, “Many of those speaking out against Twitter’s decisions called for the repeal or reform of Section 230, antitrust legislation to ‘break up’ Big Tech, or, on the most extreme end, for social media platforms to be nationalized…

You get a choice on whether or not you want to use these platforms, and if you do then you play by their rules. That part is only a problem for people who believe they are entitled to the fruits of another person’s labor. Suggesting these platforms owe you an account is theoretically the same as arguing that people have a right to healthcare services. You don’t, and the minute you attempt to use the government to compel private actors to give you something is the minute you become an enemy of the free market and free speech…

If Americans are concerned that the government is pressuring Big Tech to censor certain viewpoints, it makes absolutely no sense for them to think giving the government more power over these companies would lead to less censorship.

My latest:https://t.co/8kuLueo91s

— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) January 6, 2022

And if Americans are concerned that the government is pressuring these companies to censor certain viewpoints, it makes absolutely no sense for them to think giving the government more power over these companies would lead to less censorship. There’s no logic behind this sentiment.

Make no mistake, the solutions to this problem offered by nationalist types—like Section 230 repeal or antitrust legislation—would only entrench the powers of existing companies and give Democrats—who are pushing for more censorship—exactly what they want.”

Read the entire column.

The post If government is pressuring Big Tech to censor conservatives, more government won’t help appeared first on Liberty Tree.

FEE’s Hannah Cox writes, “Despite the bipartisan hatred of Assange, the only people who should be facing criminal charges in this entire scenario are the people throughout our government who are responsible for the war crimes revealed by WikiLeaks, Assange, and Manning.

Assange was merely doing what the vast majority of the mainstream media has long since neglected: his job. https://t.co/iDrULNRFIN

— FEE (@feeonline) December 10, 2021

Assange was merely doing what the vast majority of the mainstream media has long since neglected: his job. Without this kind of reporting and actual journalism, US citizens would have no idea what our government is actually up to, the depths of corruption in our wars, the human rights violations we have carried out. how our tax dollars are really being spent, and what’s being done in our name. We need more of this kind of work, a lot more of it. And the prosecution of Assange does one thing and one thing alone—it scares other journalists from doing their jobs.”

Read the entire column.

The post Why the persecution of Julian Assange must end appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Run the numbers. @RandPaul has been right in every single argument he’s had with Fauci, usually with the latter just quietly reversing policy or changing definitions months later.@brad_polumbo & I discuss on the BASEDBrief:https://t.co/eXHPyIq5uE

— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) December 2, 2021

The post Run the numbers: Rand Paul has been right in every argument with Fauci appeared first on Liberty Tree.

Hannah Cox writes, “As far as the PRO Act goes, we already know exactly how it would play out if the full version is implemented. We don’t have to guess based on politicians’ spin: we’ve already seen a smaller model of it in California. The state legislation restricting freelancing that congressional Democrats pulled from to craft the PRO Act, AB 5, went into effect in the Golden State in early 2020.

Unions wanted this bill desperately. And as we all know, when the unions say jump the Democrats listen.

US unions only ever secure higher wages for their workers by limiting the number of jobs, stopping automation and innovation, and making our economy poorer and slower.

So it’s no surprise their latest antics would make the supply chain worse.

From me:https://t.co/iBE9Dtqh9D

— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) November 17, 2021

They moved this legislation forward in California to restrict the growing number of people who freelance in the state. Why? Because unions are at their lowest membership rates of all time.

The vast majority of people simply do not want to join a union, plain and simple. And in the 28 states where legislatures have passed what’s known as ‘Right to Work’ bills, workers cannot be forced to join a union, either. So, unions need money and force. And since Democratic politicians get huge donations from unions, they’re providing the force.”

Read the entire column.

The post Unions are still pushing a policy that would make the supply chain crisis even worse appeared first on Liberty Tree.

FEE’s Hannah Cox writes, “In the dystopian novel 1984, the government relied on the use of telescreens and informants to enforce its massive, repressive regime. And while that was fiction, events in our modern society are eerily similar to it.

There’s a troubling trend emerging: Americans are being encouraged and even incentivized to turn their fellow citizens in to the government for a myriad of reasons…

These are serious issues. As limited government advocates have warned for some time, the entwinement of government and healthcare could ultimately lead to the government determining who gets healthcare, what kinds of services the doctors may provide, and the infringement of the bodily autonomy of patients. We may not yet have the government monopoly on healthcare progressives desperately want, but one could argue we are already seeing many of these rights violations nonetheless.”

Read the entire column.

The post Government increasingly is asking citizens to turn each other in. Here’s why that’s so dangerous appeared first on Liberty Tree.

FEE’s Hannah Cox writes, “For months, all eyes have been on the Virginia governor’s race as both Democrats and Republicans saw it as a battleground for things to come. As it turned out, Republican Glenn Youngkin easily won the seat in a state that Joe Biden carried by over 10 points not even a year ago.

While Democrats attempted to make this election about Donald Trump, Youngkin took a decidedly different approach—focusing heavily on education and the issues that have animated parents across the country during the pandemic.

From fringe issue to ‘main character’ policy status, school choice had the biggest glow-up of the decade.

Everyone that put their own power (unions, admins, politicians) over educational outcomes ought to officially be on notice from here on out.

By me:https://t.co/ZLStSSSV7y

— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) November 4, 2021

In contrast, Youngkin’s opponent, Democrat Terry McAuliffe, elevated teacher’s unions, supported vaccine mandates for children, and sided with those who’ve pushed lockdowns and masking on schools as well. He even went so far in a debate as to say parents should not be making decisions on their children’s education when asked about controversies over curricula including critical race theory and sexually-explicit materials…

Families have endured almost two years of pandemic policy, with those with school-age children arguably suffering the most. Parents have had to scramble to school their children at home, rearrange work schedules, and deal with the growing anxiety and mental health issues their kids are facing as a result.

Parents have also gotten to see firsthand what’s actually going on in their children’s classrooms during this time, and many have not been pleased.

Unsurprisingly, these stances did not sit well with voters.”

Read the entire column.

The post Virginia’s governor race shows America’s school choice moment has finally arrived appeared first on Liberty Tree.