Licensing Gone Wild: Government Bureaucrats Shut Down 82-Year-Old Barber

Dale Smith has been cutting hair for over 50 years.  The Oregon barber is well-known in his hometown for walk-in appointments and $8 cuts — at least, until he got shut down by bureaucrats from Oregon’s Board of Cosmetology.
Dale’s crime?  He forgot to renew the barber license he earned 54 years ago.
The bureaucrats are saying [...]

Puppies + Bureaucrats = Federal Free Speech Lawsuit

What do you get when you mix bureaucrats with a bunch of adorable puppies?
In Kim Houghton’s case, you get a major First Amendment lawsuit.

Kim Houghton decided after a successful, 20-year career in advertising that she wanted more.  She wanted to realize her American Dream and become an entrepreneur in a business focused on dogs.
She had [...]

Texas Entrepreneurs Win Fight for Economic Liberty

Carl Mitz is a third-generation horseman.  The Texan is widely known as one of the nation’s best horse dentists.  He’s treated the teeth of over 100,000 horses and has clients in over 30 states.
But Texas bureaucrats tried for years to shut him down.
In a classic case of economic protectionism, Carl and all other Texas equine [...]

Licensing Gone Wild: Armed Government Agents Raiding Barber Shops

Let’s say you have a knack for cutting hair.  If you live in Florida, guess how many hours of government-mandated instruction you’d be forced to sit through before you can become a barber?
1,200.
That’s right, well over a thousand hours.  Plus, you’d have to pay thousands of dollars to cover the cost of your classes and [...]

‘I’m Exhausted’: Disappointed Supporters Question Obama

From the New York Times:

It was billed as “Investing in America,” a live televised conversation on the state of the economy between President Obama and American workers, students, business people and retirees, a kind of Wall Street to Main Street reality check.
But it sounded like a therapy session for disillusioned Obama supporters.
In question after question [...]

How Much Private Property is the Government Stealing in Your State?

You’ve probably heard about eminent domain abuse.  That’s where the government takes your land and hands it over to another private party….one that is more politically connected.
But you may not have heard about civil forfeiture.  And yet, today, it could very well be the most egregious abuse of private property rights in America.
We all [...]

Institute for Justice: The Power of One Entrepreneur Campaign

If government is serious about job creation, it should get out of the way of the entrepreneurs who actually create them.
That is the message of a new campaign launched this week by the Institute for Justice—the nation’s leading legal advocate for economic liberty. A series of studies called The Power of One Entrepreneur highlight the [...]