After reading John Stossel's column which was titled in my local newspaper as "Liberals invade Washington, bent on cutting choice on schools, guns and even speech" I was struck by Stossel's absurd sense of personal entitlement.

A self professed libertarian, Stossel seems to think that a any group activity that limits personal freedoms is a violation of his rights. Stossel then goes on to rip the public school system, unions, lawyers and the FDA. Maybe he's right let's disassemble the whole works, hand out school vouchers, especially to low-income families because, I know they will spend the money wisely, assuring their children have opportunities to rise out of poverty. The FDA? Who needs it? Lets let every person be their own judge of food and drug standards. Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" was an overblown piece of sensationalist literature anyway. Let's also can workplace restrictions on behavior, we don't need those. If someone has a problem at work they can exercise their 2nd amendment rights and handle it themselves. Lets get rid of the unions too, they never served a purpose anyway. I have faith that when we get rid of the unions that all the corporations will do what is ethical and fair. Just look at their history.

Yes sir, libertarianism has its privileges. I can serve my ideals without regard to the effects. Isn't that what freedom is all about?

Re: Eric L: John Stossel is a voice of reason and common sense railing against the nanny-state regulators and lawmakers who think they know what's best for everyone else and want to micromanage every aspect of our lives. Were your comments intended to be ironic? If so, the irony is lost on me.

liberals have valid reasons for the stances they take. ive had enough of the deregulation agenda john. govt plays a role in protecting its citizens from corporations who would pollute the air and water, pay wages below minimum wage if they could, remove overtime pay, curtail your rights to sue when wronged, sell food that is unedible, etc. vouchers are unwelcome because they would eventually drain resources from the public school system which would affect the poor and even the middle class badly in the long run. republican policies have caused the mess we are facing despite attempts from the right to place the blame on social programs and the poor. regulations were put in place following the great depression to insure it never were to happen again, but greed got the best of business and corrupt politicians and they methodically stripped us of such regulations until we find ourselves in the position we are in now. free trade has decimated much of the country and benefited a select few. other countries enact policies to protect its economy and so should we. we cannot compete worldwide when other nations pay their workers $2 an hour and dont follow safety guidelines. unless, that is, we pay our workers a sub standard wage and disregard safety regulations. big business would have no problem following that road but that is unacceptable. trade policy must benefit both sides.nafta is a bad agreement we need a govt that serves the middle class and not just big business interests. the past 30 yrs since reagan have been a windfall for business at the expense of the people. its time for a change. republican policies havent worked for the average citizen, just for his boss.

RE: ehutch First, learn to use the shift key on your keyboard. You are obviously a victim of our nation's public school monopoly, which has lead to a severe "dumbing down" of the population. The public schools wouldn't necessarily expererience a drain. If they can compete then they would receive voucher money. Second, grab an economics textbook to learn how free trade benefits just about everyone, not just a select few. You would not have the standard of living that you enjoy without [relatively] free trade. Bad economic policy is not just a Republican idea; Democrats share the idiocy as well. Read Walter E. Williams' excellent article entitled "Socialism is Evil". Third, you might want to reaquaint yourself with a document called the U.S. Constitution. The government it envisions favors the rights of individuals and the several states over the federal government. Our chief problem is that we have lived with the tyranny of the federal government for so long, we don't know any different.
To complete your [re-]education consider Plato's "The Cave" and Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged".