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Why We're Entering the Age of Ron Paul

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:00 EDT

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) will no longer be actively campaigning in forthcoming primaries for the Republican presidential nomination. But the libertarian politician's legacy - including controversial yet popular stands on everything from auditing the Federal Reserve to withdrawing troops from abroad to radically cutting government borrowing and spending - is just getting started.

Paul, says Brian Doherty, a Reason senior editor and author of the new Ron Paul's Revolution: The Man and the Movement He Inspired, "is leaving in his wake a set of institutions, and a set of hundreds of thousands of energized intelligent youngsters who are unquestionably going to shape American politics moving down the line."

Doherty argues Paul's long-term effect on the GOP will be similar to that of Barry Goldwater, the Arizona senator who, despite a crushing electoral loss to Lyndon Johnson in 1964, energized and transformed the Republican Party into the limited-government force that elected Ronald Reagan in 1980.

"His fans understand that Ron Paul is not just out to win an election," says Doherty. "Even if the [party bosses] shut the door in his face at the Republican convention as they did in 2008,...the ideas he injected into the party [and politics] are not going away anytime soon."

About 4:40 minutes. Produced by Sharif Matar, with camera by Matar and Tracy Oppenheimer.

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Matt Welch Discusses Obama's Symbolic Presidency with Varney

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

Reason Editor in Chief, Matt Welch appeared on Varney & Co. to discuss how Obama's job policies are only symbolic gestures and argues that the unemployment crisis would be better fixed by good governance and congressional budget. Air date: March 8, 2011.

About 3 minutes.

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FDR, The New Deal and The Expansion of Federal Power with Authors Burton and Anita Folsom

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

During his first presidential press conference, Barack Obama defended federal economic intervention, stating "there are several who have suggested that FDR was wrong to intervene back in the New Deal. They are fighting battles that I thought were resolved a pretty long time ago." "We were just amazed to hear him say that," says historian Anita Folsom. While this "idea is taught in colleges all over the country, we have to come to the realization that these big government ideas do not lead to prosperity."

In his 2008 book, New Deal or Raw Deal: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America, historian Burton Folsom took on the idea that the New Deal "worked." Now he's collaborated on a new book with his wife Anita, FDR Goes to War: How Expanded Executive Power, Spiraling National Debt, and Restricted Civil Liberties Shaped Wartime America, which tackles the idea that Roosevelt was a great wartime leader. During the war, the book argues, Roosevelt Administration stomped on civil liberties, fixed prices throughout the economy, ballooned the national debt, and brought the top income tax rate up to 94%.

The Folsoms see Roosevelt's big government approach as instrumental in shaping the modern word. From ObamaCare to the Community Reinvestment Act, they draw a direct line from FDR's actions to the worst public policies of today, along with the general view that "government programs are the solution to economic and political problems."

Bert and Anita Folsom sat down with Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie to discuss their new book and the enduring myths of FDR's presidency.

About 9:30 minutes. Shot by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein and Joshua Swain and edited by Bragg.

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Why We Still Like Ike: Biographer Jim Newton on Dwight Eisenhower's Underrated Presidency

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EDT

“He took it on himself to lower the sense of crisis in the country,” L.A. Times editor Jim Newton says of the subject of his new book Eisenhower: The White House Years. “He was going to sort of calm the country down.”

Yet while his self-effacing leadership, his skepticism about calls for collective action, his lack of sentimentality and his cautious stewardship of the federal budget all make Dwight Eisenhower seem far removed from contemporary Washington, Newton makes the case for Ike’s presidency as a modern, progressive phenomenon.

Among other things, Eisenhower signed a landmark interstate highway act, expanded executive authority, aggressively supported overseas coups and presided over the historic civil rights changes of the 1950s. He also left office with a budget surplus after inheriting a large deficit from Harry Truman.

Newton sits down with Reason.com's Tim Cavanaugh to talk about President Eisenhower’s time in the oval office, a time that Newton calls one of “enormous change in the United States and really an effective presidency”.

President Eisenhower would have celebrated his 121st birthday this Friday, Oct. 14.

Topic include: “The Middle Way”; Eisenhower as a television president; the military industrial complex, Cold War politics and the role of Ike’s brothers in shaping his presidency.

Shot by Paul Detrick, Zach Weissmueller and Sharif Matar. Edited by Tracy Oppenheimer.

Photographs courtesy of Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kan.

About 10 minutes. Scroll down for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Marc Eliot on Reagan in Hollywood

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EDT

At FreedomFest this July, Reason's Matt Welch spoke with Marc Eliot, author of Reagan: The Hollywood Years. The book chronicles Ronald Reagan's journey from sportscaster to actor to union president to politician.

Unlike critics who make sport of Reagan's Hollywood output (Bedtime for Bonzo, anyone?), Eliot documents how backlot politics helped transform the once-proud "New Deal Democrat" into the embodiment of Goldwater conservatism. His tenure as head of the Screen Actors Guild was punctuated by episodes such as the time when he received death threats by one of Al Capone's henchmen over a union dispute and his starring role in the negotiations that led to actors receiving residuals. And while Reagan's film career ultimately petered out, he was for a time among the highest-paid contract actors of his day.

Shot by Jim Epstein and Zach Weissmueller. Edited by Anthony L. Fisher. About 9.15 minutes.

Held each July in Las Vegas, FreedomFest is attended by around 2,000 limited-government enthusiasts and libertarians a year. Reason.tv spoke with over two dozen speakers and attendees and will be releasing interviews over the coming weeks.

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Nick Gillespie Discusses the History of Negative Campaign Ads on Stossel

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EDT

Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie appeared on Stossel to discuss how mudslinging in elections are common throughout American history and how negative campaign ads create positive results for voters. Airdate July 21, 2011.

Approximately 8.30 minutes.

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Matt Welch Discusses Obama's Libya Speech on America's Nightly Scoreboard

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EDT

On Monday, March 28, 2011, just after President Barack Obama addressed the nation about U.S. military intervention in Libya, Reason Editor in Chief Matt Welch appeared on Fox Business Network's America's Nightly Scoreboard to discuss the speech and assess Washington's current doctrine for using lethal force.

Approximately 3 minutes

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Veronique de Rugy Joins Parker Spitzer to Discuss Obama's Tax Cut Deal

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Reason monthly columnist and Mercatus Center economist Veronique de Rugy appeared on CNN's Parker Spitzer to discuss Obama's deal on tax cuts and how his presidency is continuing Bush-era policies. Airdate: December 8, 2010.

Approximately 8.23 minutes.

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Kurt Loder Discusses Congressional Gridlock and Censure on CNN's Parker Spitzer

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Reason Magazine's contributing film critic Kurt Loder joins a panel on CNN's Parker Spitzer to discuss political deadlock and censure in the post-election Congress. Airdate: December 3, 2010.

About 7 minutes.

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Richard Epstein on Barack Obama, his former Chicago Law Colleague

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 00:00:00 EST

Few legal scholars have blown as many minds and had the tangible impact that Richard Epstein has managed. His 1985 volume, Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain is a case in point. Epstein made the hugely controversial argument that regulations and other government actions such as environmental regulations that substantially limit the use of or decrease the value of property should be thought of as a form of eminent domain and thus strictly limited by the Constitution. The immediate result was a firestorm of outrage followed by an acknowledgment that the guy was onto something.

As Epstein told Reason in a 1995 interview, "I took some pride in the fact that [Sen.] Joe Biden (D-Del.) held a copy of Takings up to a hapless Clarence Thomas back in 1991 and said that anyone who believes what's in this book is certifiably unqualified to sit in on the Supreme Court. That's a compliment of sorts.... But I took even more pride in the fact that, during the Breyer hearings [in 199X], there were no such theatrics, even as the nominee was constantly questioned on whether he agreed with the Epstein position on deregulation as if that position could not be held by responsible people."

Born in New York in 1943, Epstein splits faculty appointments at the University of Chicago and New York University; he's also a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a contributor to Reason. In books such as Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws (1992) to Simple Rules for a Complex World (1995), and Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism (2003), Epstein pushes his ideas and preconceptions to their limits and takes his readers along for the ride. A die-hard libertarian who believes the state should be limited and individual freedom expanded, he is nonetheless the consummate intellectual who first and foremost demands he offer up ironclad proofs for his characteristically counterintuitive insights into law and social theory.

Indeed, Epstein's enduring value may not be any particular legal or policy prescription he's offered over the years but rather his methodology. He believes in robust and unfettered argument and debate as a way of gaining knowledge. If you don't put your ideas out in the arena, you can't be doing your best work, he argues. "The problem when you keep to yourself is you don't get to hear strong ideas articulated by people who disagree with you," he says.

Reason's Nick Gillespie interviewed Epstein at NYU's law building in October. The conversation was wide-ranging and high-energy--another Epsteinian virtue. They talked about legal challenges to ObamaCare, the effects of stimulus spending and TARP bailouts, and a former University of Chicago adjunct faculty member by the name of Barack Obama, with whom Epstein regularly interacted in the 1990s and early 2000s.

"He passed through Chicago without absorbing much of the internal culture," says Epstein of the president. "He's amazingly good at playing intellectual poker. But that's a disadvantage, because if you don't put your ideas out there to be shot down, you're never gonna figure out what kind of revision you want."

Filmed and edited by Jim Epstein with help from Michael C. Moynihan and Josh Swain.

Approximately 12.30 minutes.

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Where are the Jobs? The Parallels between Today and the Great Depression

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EDT

The Great Recession officially ended way back in June of 2009, so why are so many Americans still out of work?

It's not because politicians were twiddling their thumbs. Indeed, from from bailouts to "Cash for Clunkers" to the massive stimulus plan, government has busied itself with trying to fix the economy. And, according to President Obama, this "bold, persistent, experimentation" has brought our country back from the brink.

Obama borrows that phrase from President Franklin Rooselvelt, and today's president has a lot in common with the original bold, persistent, experimenter. Like Obama, FDR was a charismatic Democrat who replaced an unpopular Republican during a time of crisis. And like Obama, FDR championed a slew of policies designed to get America back to work.

Today many Americans credit FDR with rescuing our nation from the Great Depression, but there's plenty wrong with that view, says Lee Ohanian, a UCLA economics professor who specializes in economic crisis. "What's wrong with that view is that private-sector job growth did not come back under Roosevelt," says Ohanian, who notes that Americans often forget how long the Great Depression lasted. Unemployment stood at 17 percent in 1939, a decade after the infamous stock market crash, and, although times were much worse back then, Ohanian sees troubling parallels between the Great Depression and the Great Recession. In both instances our nation emerged from a severe downturn with strong productivity growth and the banking system largely restored. We were poised for a recovery, but didn't get one. "So the key puzzle for both today and the 1930s is why aren't private-sector jobs being created at a much more rapid rate?"

Uncertainty may have something to do with it. "Uncertainty is an enemy of job creation," says Ohanian. "Because in a world with a lot of uncertainty there's a tendency to 'wait and see.'" Our nation's job creators wait and see what Washington's next experiment will be.

CEO Joanne Garneau has spent a year waiting for the Federal Trade Commission to announce a new regulation that will determine whether her company hires more employees or even stays in business. It's just one regulation, a tiny one by Washington standards. How will businesses end up being affected by ObamaCare or the 2,300-page financial overhaul? What if taxes go up? Today, like the 1930s, uncertainty reigns.

According to research conducted by Ohanian and fellow UCLA economist Harold L. Cole, FDR's anti-market policies actually prolonged the Great Depression by seven years . And what about Obama's policies? When the unemployment rate finally does improve will he receive credit for rescuing America from the Great Recession or blame for prolonging the crisis?

Approximately 6.40 minutes.

"Where are the Jobs? The Parallels between Today and the Great Depression" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Field Producers: Paul Detrick and Zach Weissmueller; Production Associate: Sam Corcos.

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Never Enough: William Voegeli on America's Limitless Welfare State

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EDT

"The denial of the possibility that there is an endpoint [to the welfare state] is crucial to the liberal enterprise," says Dr. William Voegeli, author of the new book, Never Enough: America's Limitless Welfare State and a visiting scholar at Claremont McKenna College's Henry Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World.

In this Reason.tv interview, Voegeli traces recent federal government expansions to President Franklin Roosevelt's introduction of a "second Bill of Rights" that included the right to housing, education, and medical care.

Approximately 8.30.

Interview by Sam Corcos; shot by Hawk Jensen; edited by Paul Detrick.

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Katherine Mangu-Ward Discusses Whether President Obama is a Radical on Russia Today

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 08:30:00 EDT

On April 9, 2010, Reason senior editor Senior Editor Katherine Mangu-Ward appeared on Russia Today's The Alyona Show as part of a panel to discuss whether President Barack Obama is a radical and other political issues of the week.

Approximately 8 minutes.

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Anthony Randazzo Discusses Obama's First Year in Office on RT's The Alyona Show

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:00:00 EDT

The Reason Foundation's Director of Economic Research, Anthony Randazzo, joins a panel on Russia Today's "The Alyona Show" on February 21, 2010 to discuss President Obama's first year in office.

Approximately 13 minutes.

Glenn Greenwald on Drug Decriminalization in Portugal and Obama's Iffy Take on Civil Liberties

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Salon columnist and bestselling author Glenn Greenwald is the author of a new Cato Institute policy paper on Portugal's pathbreaking and hugely successful drug decriminalization program.

Greenwald sat down with Reason.tv's Nick Gillespie to talk about the lessons from Portugal—and Barack Obama's decidedly disappointing performance so far on drug policy, executive power, and civil liberties. Approximately nine minutes. Shot by Dan Hayes and Meredith Bragg; edited by Dan Hayes.

Go here for audio podcast.

Twilight at Monticello: Author Alan Pell Crawford on Jefferson's Last Years

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:00:00 EST

reason.tv recently sat down Alan Pell Crawford, author of the new book Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson, which details in meticulous and lively detail the late life of America's third president.

In this 20-minute interview, Crawford, a one-time press secretary to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and widely published journalist, discusses Jefferson's massive contributions to American political discourse; his role in creating the University of Virginia; his relationship to Sally Hemings, slavery, and manumission; and much, much more.

Discuss this video at reason's Hit & Run blog.

Happy Birthday, George Washington!

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:52:00 EST

George Washington, your legacy lives on. We see you every day on the dollar bill, and we celebrate the fact that you were a prominent member of an alien stoner cult (or if that's not completely accurate, we're nonetheless pleased you were a prominent hemp farmer).

Most of all we celebrate--and miss--your radically constrained view of presidential power.

(This special birthday video clip is from Richard Linklater's 1993 slacker cult classic, DAZED AND CONFUSED.)