Stossel Episode Rating Graph

From John Stossel's blog: IS THIS AMERICA'S LIBERTARIAN ERA? For the first time, several libertarians are members of Congress, and more Americans say they want government "to do less." Reason editors Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie say America has entered into a "libertarian era," and libertarians will be taken seriously. I sure hope so. RON PAUL REVOLUTION: Former presidential candidate Ron Paul did more than most anyone to get Americans interested in liberty. He says libertarians might be the future of the GOP. CONSERVATIVE RESISTANCE: Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard, says the libertarian surge is a "blip" and libertarians are naïve when it comes to foreign policy. We'll debate. NEXT GENERATION: Students for Liberty Co-founder, Alexander McCobin, says the student libertarian movement is growing, and is already bigger than college Republicans and Democrats. Students for Liberty recently held conferences in Chile, Venezuela and Nigeria. Students Barbie Sostaita and Matthew La Corte say they see more young people and their colleges taking an interest in the ideas of liberty. They give me hope. THE LIBERTARIAN CELEBRITY: There are a few: Vince Vaughn, Drew Carey, Kurt Russell and Tom Selleck. I'll try to book them in the future. Tonight illusionist Penn Jillette talks about how he got turned on to these ideas. MY TAKE: I didn't even know what "libertarianism" meant when I started reporting. I was one more liberal consumer reporter. Bashing business and calling for more government regulation won me 19 Emmys. But then I learned that government regulations drown life in red tape, and didn't even stop scams. By contrast, market competition policed business, rewarded good ones and punished bad ones. Competition protects consumers better than government. Life is best when government backs off, and allows people to do anything that's peaceful.

From John Stossel's blog: THE PROBLEM: Rep. Michael Burgess, a doctor turned congressman, says America is supposed to be different from Europe. But most discussion about Obamacare starts with the assumption that government, or someone else, should pay for our healthcare. Former Lt. Governor of New York, Betsy McCaughey, shows how that raises costs. WEBSITE WOES: John McAfee, the engineer who founded the world's largest security company, McAfee, says incompetent government contractors got the job because they have expertise in government, not software. Canadian journalist Brian Lilley explains why he wasn't surprised when he learned that Canadian-based company, CGI, was behind the website flop. He says they are part of the Obama administration's network of cronies. SILVER LINING: Avik Roy, who does healthcare research at the Manhattan Institute, and I discuss why in some ways, Obamacare may accidentally end up being a good thing. GET COVERED: Many celebrities are gung ho for Obama and have participated in the #GetCovered campaign. Reason Magazine's Senior Editor Peter Suderman says that celebrities don't realize that they're asking their young fans to sign up to pay for old folks like me. SINGAPORE: Singapore spends much less than the U.S. on healthcare, yet people there live longer. Why? William Haseltine, President of ACCESS Health International, says it's because people pay for more services themselves. MY TAKE: Most current talk about Obamacare is about the website. It is a mess, but that misses the larger problem with Obamacare-central planning. Central planning rarely works well, and usually brings us crummy products like the East German Trabant. This Halloween, nothing scares me more than big government micromanagement.

From John Stossel's blog: The debt limit was raised again, but this doesn't address America's real problem: unsustainable government spending. THE PROBLEM: Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow at CATO, and Abby McCloskey, program director of economic policy at AEI, spend their work days analyzing the budget. Both will discuss how government "solutions" are the real problem. DANGEROUS DEBT: It's hard to wrap one's brain around almost $17 trillion of debt. Movie producer Seth Meier and actor Brian Stepanek made a video that does a great job explaining the government's debt problem. They compare Congress to a man going to a bank to ask for a loan. On YouTube, it's been watched more than two million times. GENERATIONAL THEFT: The biggest reason our debt is such a threat to America's future is that people my age refuse to die, and we demand the "entitlements" we were promised. National Review Senior Editor Ramesh Ponnuru talks about what this debt will do to younger generations. SPENDING PROBLEM: Bob Beckel, co-host of "The Five," will try to help me understand why many Democrats say America "does not have a spending problem." DEFAULT: Most Americans hardly noticed the partial shutdown. But we're told default-not paying our bondholders in full, or delaying payment-would be a catastrophe. Would it? I'm skeptical. It would be best if government cut spending, but assuming they won't, all the options are bad: 1.Don't pay Medicare and Social Security. 2.Inflate the currency. 3.Stiff (or give a haircut to) the bondholders. I hope we never default, but I'd think it would be the least evil of the options. Russia defaulted. Argentina defaulted. Both recovered relatively quickly. I think we'd recover. But Garett Jones, an economist at George Mason University, argues that default would be terrible. MY TAKE: Now we've almost $17 trillion in debt, and when my age group retires, the debt will grow by more than a trillion dollars every year. That's a disaster. There is so much we could cut, and should cut. When I interviewed people outside of our studio, many agreed that government should cut spending. But when I asked them, "cut what, exactly?", most had no clue. But there's plenty to cut. I'd begin cutting tonight, and there's much more here: www.downsizinggovernment.org.

From John Stossel's blog: Keep the government shut? That sounds nuts, but remember that this is just a partial shutdown, and my hope is that this pause in some government spending -- will be a teaching moment. More people may realize that lots of what government does is not so important and given that America's going broke, we ought to cut some of it now, permanently. THE SHUTDOWN: Senator Mike Lee proudly says he kick-started the defund Obamacare movement that led to the shutdown. Economist Ben Powell agrees with my hope that a government shutdown will be a good thing. PRIVATE SECTOR: Companies lay workers off all the time. At the beginning of the year, American Express announced it would cut over 5,000 jobs. It's the creative destruction that helps them innovate and stay useful. Why is it so hard for politicians to make similar decisions? Former NFL defensive lineman turned entrepreneur, Tyoka Jackson, will explain how private businesses constantly make the tough choices, choices that government won't make. MEDIA BIAS: Some say the media hate Republicans, and it's true that they have "A Slobbering Love Affair" with Barack Obama. But I think the media also has a slobbering love affair... with big government. Bernie Goldberg and I debate the media's coverage of the shutdown. IMPERIAL WASHINGTON: Tourists visit Washington and admire the beautiful buildings. When I visit Washington, I see politicians and bureaucrats serving themselves. Cato Institute's Executive Vice President, David Boaz, explains why 4 out of 5 of America's richest counties now surround Washington D.C. GOP: I hear Republicans want to cut government. But Reason's Editor-In-Chief Matt Welch says the GOP wimps out when it comes to making real cuts. MY TAKE: When asked why Democrats won't negotiate over spending, Nancy Pelosi told CNN's Candy Crowley, "Because the cupboard is bare. There's no more cuts to make." They spend $3.7 trillion, and the cupboard is "bare"? Give me a break. Tonight I'll rummage through Nancy's cupboard and see what I find.

From John Stossel's blog: THE BLOB: America's school children have been trapped in a government-run monopoly, a so-called "public" school system that bores them to tears. Attempts at improvement are stopped not just by teachers' unions, but by the BLOB, an alliance of administrators, politicians, bureaucrats, PTAs and Big Government advocates that stifle almost all innovation. The BLOB demands more money, but schools don't stink because of a lack of money. We've tripled what we spend on K-12 education yet test scores don't go up. The good news: there are all kinds of alternatives now that allow kids to escape the government monopoly... HOMESCHOOLING: Former Presidential Candidate Ron Paul created The Ron Paul Curriculum for homeschoolers. 16-year-old Veronica Andreades and 12-year-old Jeremiah Burch discuss the perks of being homeschooled. SCHOOL VOUCHERS: Most Americans are assigned to a school based on where they live; how crazy is that? What if you were assigned to your local grocery store? Prices would be higher and there would be little choice (just like government schools). Luckily, some states now allow some poorer people to transfer to a school outside of their neighborhood. Louisiana parents love a voucher program that allows kids to leave failing schools, but the Obama administration just sued to stop the program, claiming it interferes with school desegregation efforts. Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise says U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder thinks students should be trapped in failing schools. MEXICO TEACHERS' UNION: Union teachers in Mexico not only cannot be fired, they have been able to sell their teaching jobs, or give them to family members! But now a new government changed the rules. So union teachers in Mexico are demonstrating, sometimes rioting. Mary O'Grady of the Wall Street Journal explains. UN-SCHOOLING: The most radical form of schooling is something called "un-schooling." Special Correspondent Kennedy went to visit a school that doesn't have teachers or tests. Kids do whatever they want! Do they learn? I think so. HACKATHON: 24-year-old Aaron Ginn, head of growth for StumbleUpon.com, seeks new ways technology can enhance education, and he's doing so with something called "hackathon."

From John Stossel's blog: SPACE TRAVEL: People once assumed that only government would, or could, launch people into space. NASA got us to the moon, after all. But that was more than 40 years ago. In the remaining years they haven't sent people to anyplace new. But Bas Lansdorp, of Mars One, plans to send people to Mars in just 10 years. 165,000 people have already signed up. OTHER INNOVATION: James Canton, Institute for Global Futures founder, says the future will bring us many wonderful things, like robot doctors, and Elon Musk's Hyperloop- the high-speed train that promises to get you from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes. SOCIAL MEDIA: Matt Kibbe runs Freedomworks and uses social media to spread liberty online. Freedomworks runs Facebook posts like this one, showing that Congress passes bills without reading them, and exempts its own staffers from laws. 24-year-old Julie Borowski posts YouTube videos about liberty. They are viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.

From John Stossel's blog: This week my show comes from Las Vegas, Nevada, amidst FreedomFest, "the world's largest gathering of free minds." Over a thousand libertarian-minded people debate the question: "Are We Rome?" Matt Kibbe, Freedomworks CEO, says America is following in the footsteps of Rome. Carl Richard, University of Louisiana History Professor, cites America's blatant disregard for the Constitution. Steve Forbes, Forbes Media Editor-in-Chief, believes that Americans are now more aware and involved, and things like the tea party movement may prevent us from collapsing like Rome. Welfare: Larry Reed, Foundation for Economic Education President, explains that Rome became a welfare state. Emperors tried bribe the angry masses by giving away free or subsidized grain, salt, pork and olive oil. Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute says why he wants to get rid of the entire Welfare bureaucracy. Taxes: In Rome, taxes steadily rose. Citizens who did not pay might be sold into slavery. Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform President, says, "Property taxes were so rough that people were actually abandoning their property." Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal argues for a flat tax. Inflation: Roman emperors devalued their currency by putting less silver in their coins. A bushel of wheat that once cost 8 Roman dollars cost 120,000 Roman dollars by the next century. Ben Powell, Independent Institute Senior Fellow and Jeffrey Tucker, Laissez Faire Books Executive Editor, make comparisons to the American dollar. Spectacle: Rome's rulers also bribed the people with "bread and circuses." Kennesaw State University Economist, J.C. Bradbury, says that bribes continue in the form of subsidies for sports stadiums. Is America Rome? I don't think so. Rome's rulers were even more arrogant than ours: The emperor Elagabalus set up a brothel in the palace. Tiberius established an office of imperial pleasures, which gathered "beautiful boys and girls from all corners of the world" so, as Tacitus put it, the emperor "could defile them". Nero never wore the same clothes twice. And when he traveled, he traveled with 1,000 carriages. Free and prosperous is not the natural state of things. In human history, it's rare. With our debt, rising taxes, regulation, foreign wars, welfare state, and politicians' arrogant expansion of power, we become more like Rome.

From John Stossel's blog: America is not a police state. But: SWAT Raids: There are an estimated 150 SWAT raids in America every day. "Rise of the Warrior Cop" author, Radley Balko, says America's police have been militarized. Ohio Sheriff Russ Martin disagrees. He says its useful specialization. Boston Bombing: After the Boston marathon bombing, police virtually shut down Boston. James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation says local officials and police were right to make that decision. Jim Harper of the Cato Institute says the shut down went too far. Police Ticket Quotas: Police officers in Auburn, Alabama were told they must write 100 tickets every month. But the department denied that it had ticket quotas. Officer Justin Hanner was fired after he secretly recorded his boss giving the 100 ticket command. Mandatory Minimum Jail Sentences: Greg Newburn, Families against Mandatory Minimum's director in Florida, says one-size-fits-all jail sentences are expensive and cruel.

From John Stossel's blog: Often... what we think we know... is not so. WEATHER MYTHS: It's hurricane season and I'm told that because of global warming there are more hurricanes and that hurricanes are stronger, but that's just not true. Meteorologist Maria Molina debunks more weather myths. Then, Oceanographer John Englander, author of "High Tide on Main Street: Rising Sea Level and the Coming Coastal Crisis," and CATO Institute climatologist Pat Michaels debate global warming and the effect of rising sea levels. SHARK MYTH: Movies like Jaws taught me that when I swim, I should worry about sharks. Andy Dehart, from the Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto, says you are more likely to die driving to the beach. BEE MYTHS: If the sharks don't get you, the bees might. The media warns that killer bees are invading America. Bee removal specialist Mike Mollica says killer bees are very aggressive and more dangerous but they only kill 1 or 2 people a year.

From John Stossel's blog: In 1950, when I was three-years-old, Detroit was the richest city in America. Now it's the biggest U.S. city ever to declare bankruptcy. FOX2 Detroit Reporter, Charlie LeDuff, says excessive spending will land other cities in the same position. Andrew Rodney, "Deforce" Filmmaker, says government central planning displaced neighborhoods taking ownership of their communities. Waste and Abuse: Shikha Dalmia, Reason Foundation senior policy analyst, says crony capitalism and union demands for increased benefits left the city bankrupt. Darcy Olsen, Goldwater Institute President, says Detroit's decline could have been avoided with privatized public services. Sandy Springs, Georgia, did that. Big Spending: Ken Sikkema, Former Michigan Majority leader, says politicians spent too much and expected bailouts to fix their mistakes. A Tour of Detroit's Ruins: About two thirds of its population have left town. The city is a mess. Whole neighborhoods have crumbled.

From John Stossel's blog: This week my show comes from Las Vegas, Nevada, amidst FreedomFest, "the world's largest gathering of free minds." Over a thousand libertarian-minded people debate the question: "Are We Rome?" Matt Kibbe, Freedomworks CEO, says America is following in the footsteps of Rome. Carl Richard, University of Louisiana History Professor, cites America's blatant disregard for the Constitution. Steve Forbes, Forbes Media Editor-in-Chief, believes that Americans are now more aware and involved, and things like the tea party movement may prevent us from collapsing like Rome. Welfare: Larry Reed, Foundation for Economic Education President, explains that Rome became a welfare state. Emperors tried bribe the angry masses by giving away free or subsidized grain, salt, pork and olive oil. Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute says why he wants to get rid of the entire Welfare bureaucracy. Taxes: In Rome, taxes steadily rose.

From John Stossel's blog: 65 years ago, the novel 1984 suggested the future would bring government spying through telescreens that were even in bedrooms. Big brother would be watching. Some believe recent revelations about the NSA tracks on our phone calls, and some emails, mark the start of that. Michigan Congressman Justin Amash says the NSA's actions are a threat to liberty. Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo supports NSA spying. I've taken heat from libertarians because I'm sympathetic to the congressman's arguments. I'm not yet angry about data mining for two reasons: 1. It might prevent terrorism 2. I can think of at least 100 other things that government does that enrage me as much, or more. Judge Andrew Napolitano tries to educate me on why I should be much more upset about the NSA. The IRS bias against conservative groups... that's a scandal clearly worth getting angry about. Brooke Rollins runs the Texas Public Policy Foundation, one group that was targeted.

From John Stossel's blog: America is said to be a "free" country. But what if you want to have a drink? A cigarette? Make a bet? government wants to stop you, to protect you from yourself. DRINKING AND DRIVING: MADD vice president for public policy, JT Griffin, says we need stronger drunk driving laws but Radley Balko argues that the law should be based on "reckless driving," not blood alcohol levels. Special Correspondent Kennedy got drunk and then drove to test the test. GAMBLING: I love to gamble, but University of Illinois business professor, John Kindt, says gambling, especially internet gambling, should be banned. VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association CEO, Franklin Graham, says violent video games are murder simulators that lead to real murder. He wants to tax those games to protect kids. NUDGE LAWS: Michael Thomas, co-author of this Mercatus Center "sin tax" study, says taxing sinful behavior just drives markets underground.

From John Stossel's blog: My parents were born in Germany. They couldn't find work in Europe so they came here to pursue the American Dream. As a libertarian I say ... let people come! There should be free trade in labor as well as goods and services, that way everyone is freer and richer. But it's hard to have open borders when some people want to kill us. It's also foolish now that we are a welfare state, and some people want to come here to freeload. Former Colorado congressman, Tom Tancredo, wants to deter illegal immigration by forcing employers to use E-Verify to identify lawbreakers, while added more security to our southern border. When Special Correspondent Kennedy went to the border, she found the fence riddled with holes. Consumer Electronics Association CEO, Gary Shapiro, says it's not true that skilled immigrants take American jobs... they actually create them. 40% of America's biggest companies were founded by immigrants or their kids.

From John Stossel's blog: The American government is at war. We have the War on Terror, the War on Drugs, and also wars against business, "hate" and food. WAR ON TERROR We now spend almost $800 billion on defense, about 1/5th of our budget. Former CIA Director James Woolsey says we should bankrupt terrorists by mandating that cars be flex-fuel vehicles . Chris Preble, Cato Institute's vice president for defense and foreign policy, says the U.S. military is so large, our allies free-ride off American taxpayers--instead of making their own militaries stronger. WAR ON BUSINESS When senators went to war against Apple for their efforts to avoid taxes, Senator Rand Paul told them, "you should have brought in a giant mirror, so we could look at the reflection of Congress because this problem is solely and completely created by the awful tax code." Good for Senator Paul. WAR ON "HATE" Jimmy LaSalvia, the co-founder of Go Proud-- a republican gay advocacy group, and Paul LeGendre, director of the Fighting Discrimination" Program at Human Rights First debate whether "hate crime" laws work. Kyle from South Park weighs in too. WAR ON DRUGS Dr. Carl Hart, the author of "High Price" says drugs are not as addictive or as dangerous as government and anti-drug groups make them out to be. WAR ON FOOD GMO stands for genetically modified food, and that does sound scary. What you might not know is that you already eat genetically modified foods. You think today's corn is natural?: No, this is a product of years of selective breeding. Corn used to be much smaller and much less juicy says Jayson Lusk, author of "The Food Police." Lusk debates Jeffrey Smith, who runs the Institute for Responsible Technology and says GMOs need to be banned. We have big government because when there's a problem, people instinctively say "yes, we can!" That's why I wrote, "No, They Can't." Government cannot and it shouldn't try. The more things it goes to war against, the more it grows and the worse off we are.

From John Stossel's blog: "Austerity." The word means "self-denial" but politicians rarely "deny" themselves anything. Despite the media wailing about "austerity," there have been few real cuts. Few in Congress actually want to cut spending. Senator Rand Paul explains why he is one of the few who does. Leftists say Europe's poor economy proves that "austerity" fails. But Cato Institute economist, Dan Mitchell, says Europe didn't even give "austerity" a chance to fail. There have been no spending cuts. As the data shows, spending increased (except finally in Greece, where they had to cut). Bob Kuttner, author of "Debtor's Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility", says government can spend its way to prosperity. He debates economist Mark Skousen. Radio host Dave Ramsey says debt is a behavioral problem and government must learn self-control. EconStories co-founders, John Papola and Russ Roberts, say the intellectual debate on "austerity" really began about 80 years ago.

From John Stossel's blog: I peer into my crystal ball on this week's show to predict what President Obama's next term will bring. The media says we must obsess about a fiscal cliff! But Congressman Ron Paul says, "So what?" The cliff is trivial compared to America's unsustainable debt. Economist Russ Roberts agrees. Contrary to what most politicians say, sequestration cuts wouldn't be so bad. Even a defense budget reduction wouldn't put us in danger, according to Benjamin Friedman of the CATO Institute. More regulations! The economy has grown slowly under the weight of thousands of pages of rules added by the Bush and Obama administrations. Entrepreneur Bob Luddy and the former Lt. Governor of New York, Betsy McCaughey, explain how the rules kill economic growth. A Supreme Court upheaval! With four justices over the age of 70, how many replacements will President Obama nominate? Who he appoints will serve for as long as 40 years.

John Stossel takes on global warming in the debut of his new show, "Stossel."

From John Stossel's blog: The future looks bleak. Government grows bigger, debt grows, and politicians constantly pass new regulations. But there is good news. Technology helps us avoid clumsy government. Developments like the Internet bring us what I call "Freedom 2.0." Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales - who cites Hayek as an inspiration for creating Wikipedia - tells me about how the fewer rules he imposed on the site, the better it did. Economist Ed Stringham argues that the Internet proves we don't need much government regulation. The Internet will also make it easier for us to keep an eye on what government does, although Chris Horner says that our government uses every trick it can to avoid scrutiny. "Hating Breitbart" producers Maura Flynn and Evan Coyne Maloney say cell phone cameras create "Freedom 2.0" by empowering citizen journalists to expose groups like ACORN. And Instapundit.

From John Stossel's blog: When tragedy strikes, what do you do if your company is at the center of it? What if you manufacture the Bushmaster rifle? What if you run BP when it spills oil? On this week's show, Rohit Bhargava and Fraser Seitel explain crisis management strategy, like how Apple handled Steve Jobs' illness, and how the company that makes Skittles reacted after Trayvon Martin was killed holding them. The media exaggerate bad news. "The Skeptical Environmentalist" author, Bjorn Lomborg, addresses claims about genetically modified food, and global warming, as in this Newsweek article about "The End of Pasta." Julie Gunlock of the Independent Women's Forum points out how the danger of BPA products has been overblown by activists. Some people earn money thanks to people's (often irrational) fear of bad news.

From John Stossel's blog: President Obama told John Boehner that America does not have a spending problem. But we do! I was astonished to learn that in 2006, when George W. Bush was President, then-Senator Obama was actually upset about our national debt. From the Congressional Record: "I rise today to talk about America's debt problem... Our federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is ‘trillion' with a ‘T'...It took 42 Presidents 224 years to run up only $1 trillion of foreign-held debt. This administration did more than that in just 5 years." That's true. But Obama's administration ran up another $6 Trillion in debt! Government now spends $3.5 trillion every year. How is that not a spending problem?! On tonight's show, we bring in comedian Reggie Brown to re-enact parts of that speech by President Obama. Our special correspondent, Kennedy, went to the Inauguration Monday to talk to the President's excited supporters.

From John Stossel's blog: Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest gambling day of the year. Have you placed your bets? Be careful, even friendly bets between friends are illegal in about half the states. Former professional poker player, Annie Duke, joins the show to argue that it's not the government's job to police decisions between consenting adults. Patrick Basham, author of Gambling: A Healthy Bet, says gambling is actually good for you. Big money is made in college sports, but the athletes don't get a cut. Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University Professor, says they should. Lance Armstrong is an evil jerk because he bullied and threatened weaker people, not because he used performance enhancing drugs. I say, if he used performance enhancers, so what? These drugs are similar to Lasik eye surgery and other ways people seek competitive advantages. Reason's Nick Gillespie argues that they make sports more interesting. Politicians like Chuck Schumer want to ban ticket scalping.

From John Stossel's blog: Exciting things are happening in education suddenly. In some places, charter schools bucked the unions, and got results. Inner-city kids do well on benchmark tests. They are excited to learn! When I told fourth graders that school is boring, they yelled, "No, it's not!" Says one boy: "Reading is rockin' awesome!" I report on the innovations at the Success Charter Network and Harlem Village Academy in New York, and at the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland, California. "Let's destroy the system... create a system that serves kids," says charter school director Deborah Kenny. Hurricane Katrina made that experiment possible by destroying much of New Orleans. Now most of New Orleans students attend charters, and they're learning more. Aside from such bright spots, most of education in America is still a mess. The cost has skyrocketed, but performance is flat. Why? One big reason is that the government monopoly - the "BLOB"- makes it nearly impossible to fire a bad teacher. Former Washington DC school chancellor Michelle Rhee talks about her attempt to change that, including firing her own daughters' principal, and the backlash that led to her losing her job. I confront union leaders, like DC union boss Nathan Saunders, who opposes judging teachers by student test results. "I know my kids are learning when I look in their eyes," says Saunders. New Jersey union leader Joseph Del Grosso opposes charter schools: "Over my dead body, they're gonna come here." When Saunders and Del Grosso were kids, they attended private schools, but now they oppose vouchers. This is a common phenomenon amongst members of the BLOB: choice for ME, but not for THEE. Virtual education innovator Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, is on the right track. He's a great teacher who now reaches millions of kids via the internet. Some fifth graders who watch his videos do high school level math. Before radio and TV, every big town had a best teacher and a best singer. Mass media changed that, so now Lady Gaga sings to the whole world. But education has stayed local and stagnant -- until now, when the web allows the world's best teachers to reach into every classroom. Why don't we have more innovation? Why don't we have a vibrant market in education? Are we still Stupid in America?

Tonight’s show is about government’s promises. The “reformers” say they will improve American health care, and slow the growth in costs. To believe that Congress will do this is magical thinking.

From John Stossel's blog: This week, a showdown between the 2 states. Their differences reflect the battle for America's future. Moving to California was once the dream for many Americans. Its population grew at more than double the national average--until 1990. Last decade, 2 million more Americans moved out of California than moved in. They moved to states like Texas. In the last decade, Texas' total population grew at double the national rate. Why? Reason Magazine's Matt Welch and Chuck Devore of the TX Public Policy Foundation give a few reasons: Texans pay less in taxes. There's more job creation. And government takes less of your paycheck. Both states have too many government workers--in fact, Texas has more than California. But California pays them so much more that California's pensions are bleeding the state dry, says Dan Mitchell of the CATO Institute. Kevin James, a mayoral candidate in Los Angeles, says L.A.

John Stossel explores Ayn Rand's classic novel, Atlas Shrugged.

John Stossel takes on the cozy relationship between Big Business and Big Government.

John Stossel takes on the issue of whether we need the government to spur innovation in the energy industry, and asks if energy independence is unrealistic.

John Stossel takes on the "obesity crisis" in America.

John Stossel reports that the media have missed one of the biggest trends of the century - nearly everything has been getting better.

John Stossel asks if the growth of Big Government is leading us down the "road to serfdom."

Stossel looks at America's public education system and asks, "Are we imprisoning our kids?"

Stossel asks who owns your body and why should the FDA control what you put in your body?

Stossel asks if government prohibitions on drugs, sex, kidney sales, and polygamy do more harm than good.