• "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

Gee, I’m So Intimidated by These Experts!

Here’s Princeton’s Sean Wilentz writing about nullification.  Here’s my reply, which exposes him as an uninformed propagandist.  (“Uninformed” is exceedingly kind, as you’ll see.)  Much more where that came from in Nullification, my forthcoming book.

And below is a YouTube version of my appearance on NPR, opposite Duke Law School’s Neil Siegel.  Siegel acknowledges none of my arguments, each of which undermines what he is trying to say.  We get a lot of the usual propaganda about the sinister intentions of those who oppose the regime, with Siegel solemnly informing us about how deeply concerned he is, blah blah blah.  His defense of the constitutionality of the health-care bill consists of an irrelevant aside about the Committee on Detail, but never points to an actual constitutional clause.  He seems unaware of the purposes for which nullification has been employed in the past.  If this is the best they can do, we are going to keep steamrolling them.

  • http://www.mises.org Mechanized

    Obfuscation, historical distortion, and outright omission by those without the truth are the only tools within the opposition’s intellectual armory. You appear to have little trouble dismantling their arguments Mr. Woods.

  • http://www.k466.gather.com Matthew

    Impressive performance, Mr. Woods! Siegel’s nonsense was driving me crazy. You would make a good politician statesman. You wipe the floor clean in a debate on any subject, thanks so much for your work! This country needs your leadership!

  • Jason

    Wow! That was painful! The fact that Siegel is considered an “expert” an anything is beyond me. Those kind of people remind me of deconstructionists, always trying to make any phrase in the constitution mean anything they want in order to impose their agenda on the citizens. I am impressed how effective you were in refuting the opposition given how little time you were given compared to the other guy. Keep it up!

  • Dave

    Out of 37:33 what did they give you? 3 minutes total? I love how Siegal keeps saying “well if social security and medicare is consitiutional then so is this.” Well guess what Neil, neither of those things are constitutional either. He made my head hurt.

  • http://seanwmalone.blogspot.com Sean Malone

    Seriously Tom… You need to interrupt asshats like Siegel. I found it primarily aggravating to listen to the host constantly direct time to Neil and virtually never you. I also find it irritating that you didn’t just get aggressive about it.

    Butt right in next time.

  • http://www.thomasewoods.com woods

    I would have, and have done so in other cases, but I never, ever listen to NPR, and for all I knew no one ever interrupts and I would have looked like the biggest jerk in the history of the network. But next time, you are right.