There is no evidence that Mark Felt, identified by the code name Deep Throat, ever whispered "follow the money" to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward during the Watergate investigation just over 40 years ago. It's a line that lives on in the film All the President's Men. It's assumed to be true because it accurately depicts the situation in our government, where many corporations and politicians profit from state power and expansion.
Cronyism is a full frontal assault on the free society. Author and Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweizer talks about the crony crisis that infects the culture of Washington and many corporate board rooms. "I would say some of the biggest enemies of the free market today in America are big corporations," adds Schweizer. He also delves into how big government wedded to corporations threatens the marketplace for entrepreneurs and consumers alike, and undermines the poor.
Jordan Ballor offers "Principle and Prudence: Two Shrines, Two Revolutions, and Two Traditions of Religious Liberty." He examines two different versions of religious liberty that expresses freedom from religion that was modeled in the French Revolution and freedom for religion within America's revolution.
On CNBC this year, Rick Santelli announced, "We have become Europe." At the Acton Institute, Samuel Gregg has been writing and talking about the trend for years.
Stephen Schmalhofer contributes a review of Gregg's Becoming Europe. He calls Gregg "a trustworthy guide through European economic policy and culture, charting a course to keep the New World from repeating the mistakes of the Old."
This issue offers an excellent excerpt from Gerard Berghoef and Lester Dekoster's Faithful in All God's House. The book, which examines a holistic approach to stewardship, was originally published as God's Yardstick in 1982. It has been revised and re-released under Christian's Library Press.
The "In the Liberal Tradition" figure is Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987). She was an American author, congresswoman, and ambassador. Highly critical of totalitarianism, she also criticized the centralization of power under Franklin Delano Roosevelt saying America was "becoming a dictatorial bumbledom." President Ronald Reagan awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983.
In Rev. Robert Sirico's column, he declares, "If we miss the point of who the human person is, nothing else will matter." It's a great reminder how valuable our readers are and how valuable people are over ideology. We strive to keep this publication wedded to that principle, and we hope this issue reflects a greater understanding of the human person rooted in freedom and a higher love.
