Still The Gold Standard: Barry Goldwater’s “The Conscience of a Conservative” 50 Years Later

by lws

“The Conservative also recognizes that the political power on which order is based is a self-aggrandizing force; that its appetite grows with eating. He knows that the utmost vigilance and care are required to keep political power within its bounds.” – Barry...

Politicians, Bailouts and Bank-Owned Houses

by Steven Waechter

Around the corner from my former apartment in Newton was a house that was taken in foreclosure. The “For Sale” sign had been there for a very long time, the lawn wasn’t mowed regularly and the shrubs had died in the winter but hadn’t been removed. Walk around...

The Failure of Stimulus

by Steven Waechter

Imagine a plot of land in the desert, consisting only of mesquite scrub and dust. If you assembled a system of sprinklers on this desert land, and ran them heavily enough, you could make the desert green with grass, corn, or even water loving willow trees. But then...

American Gladiators II: A Painful Look Back…A Bright Future Ahead

by lws

The Following piece is the 2nd installment of an ongoing series here at The Conservative Reader. “American Gladiators” is a recurring feature focusing on the defining political issue of our generation: the crucial battle over Federal spending and the debt and...

Dear Republican Candidates: It’s Monetary Policy, Stupid

by Steven Waechter

At barely five feet tall and armed only with a Ph.D in economics, Milton Friedman hardly had the look of a hero set out to save a nation. Yet, Professor Friedman predicted with near perfection the disastrous economic situation the United States is enduring today. He...

Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places

by lws

As a life-long Iowan, I can tell you the ridiculous National stereo-type that we are all corn growers or hog farmers is bad enough without adding an even worse one…that we are a bunch of babies. With the political season heating up and the eyes of the Nation...