• "Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued.... Woods has opened up an area of historical analysis that should invite further study."
    -Journal of American History

  • "During these times that challenge our freedoms there is no one more qualified to make U.S. history relevant to the fight against big government than Thomas Woods."
    -Barry Goldwater Jr.
    Former Member of Congress

  • "I strongly recommend Woods's work."
    -The Honorable Ron Paul,
    U.S. House of Representatives

  • "Written with great clarity and fluency, making the complex philosophical and theological concepts approachable."
    -Journal of American Studies

  • "A must-read."
    -Barron's

  • "An excellent reading source for anyone interested in financial markets, and much more so for anyone interested in learning about capitalism without all the misinterpretations being thrown about in the financial media."
    -Asia Times

  • "Provocative, well-written, and deserves to be read."
    -Catholic Historical Review

  • "An engaging and important contribution to scholarship on the history of American Catholicism."
    -Journal of the Historical Society

  • "Woods and [co-author Kevin] Gutzman appeal to both left and right in this constitutionalist jeremiad…. The authors' exegeses of the Constitution and court decisions, heavy on original intent arguments, are lucid and telling."
    -Publishers Weekly

  • "A marvelous read. Every chapter taught me something new and unexpected."
    -Tom Bethell, senior editor,
    The American Spectator

  • "The hottest book today is Meltdown, by my friend Tom Woods."
    -Judge Andrew Napolitano, senior judicial analyst,
    FOX News Channel

  • "Should be required reading."
    -Economic Affairs (London)

  • "Woods, one of the best classical liberal [libertarian] scholars of his generation, has once more placed us in his debt with this lucid and tightly argued book."
    -David Gordon, The Mises Review

  • "Tom Woods is one of my dearest allies in the struggle against wrong-headed and dangerous economic policy."
    -Peter Schiff

Congress Has 15% Approval Rating

Says Politico. But who knows what this means? For some people, it doubtless means Congress isn’t moving fast enough to shovel them free stuff.

Unlearn the Propaganda!

  • JackofSpades

    I think Tom is right. It also makes me feel very bleak about the future, because it would seem individual self-interest and the monopoly on legalized aggression interact in such a way that incremental movements towards freedom are difficult.

    The main reason being that if any person or group desires to take the freedom approach, they could quickly be overtaken by those who have no problem using government to get their goodies. So the original person, out of self-interest, ranks “fighting fire with fire” ahead of being free and getting “a screw job” and uses the government against the second party.

    It almost seems as if true freedom will only be obtained by a large number of people taking a large leap towards freedom all at once, so as to not hurt their personal self-interest relative to their peers.

    Or maybe it’s 6 in the morning here and I am not making sense.

  • http://plenarchist.wordpress.com/ plenarchist

    Well, obviously that number must be wrong! There’s been 80%+ reelection rate since at least 1964 (though the Senate had a rough time in the 70′s). They’re loved by the people. Loved, I tell you! ;)

    http://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/reelect.php

  • Pastor Ko-Rect

    Thanks for pointing out the essence of Darrel Huff’s “How to Lie With Statistics”. Each Congressman gets re-elected in his own district. The poll is based on the enitre national group. The fallacy is that no one votes for the entire group. Even if they could, the popularity questions are not based are what voters would do in an election. The way that this stat is used is a bunch of holy bull.

  • Pastor Ko-Rect

    I meant UNHOLY bull.

  • http://plenarchist.wordpress.com/ plenarchist

    Another possibility is that elections don’t matter. That “We the People” have no actual say in the outcome. That 99.999% of the people could despise Congress and the President and vote accordingly but the election has been baked ahead of time. That the election is really only a choice between two pre-approved choices. And that what we actually have is oligarchy with the rhetorical sticker “Constitutional Representative Government” slapped on it.