War as the enemy of liberty

War allows governments to increase spending, taxes, and regulations in order to feed the war machine. War also enables the government to violate personal liberty. Wars can justify measures that remain in place long after the wars end.

War Abroad and Authoritarianism at Home | Ron Paul Institute } Ron Paul:

March 23, 2026 - “'War is the health of the state.' That phrase, coined by Randolph Bourne, explains why opposition to war is a priority of many libertarians. War allows governments to increase spending, taxes, and regulations in order to feed the war machine. Wars can justify measures that remain in place long after the wars end. An example of this is income tax withholding that was created to fund World War Two.

"The use of war as a justification for increased interference in the market is reason enough for libertarians to oppose war. However, war also enables the government to violate liberty. During the Civil War, President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, shut down newspapers, and instituted a military draft. The draft was also used in World Wars One and Two, as well as Korea and Vietnam. During World War One, Congress passed the Sedition Act, outlawing criticism of the government. Widespread violations of liberty are a hallmark of the ongoing 'war on terror.' An infamous example of war being used to justify violations of liberty is the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two.

"Given this history, it is not surprising that the Iran War may lead to crackdowns on free speech. Following criticisms of the media’s coverage of the Iran War by President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr made a post on Twitter telling broadcast networks that the FCC has the power to revoke their broadcast licenses if they do not fulfill their responsibility to act in the 'public interest.' This was clearly a threat to revoke the license of any broadcast network whose coverage of the war displeases the Trump administration.

"Threatening to use the FCC’s power to shut down broadcast networks that the president dislikes is a blatant violation of the First Amendment by Chairman Carr. Chairman Carr may think that he can get a court to approve revoking a broadcaster’s license for its war coverage by claiming it is endangering national security. This would hardly be the first time the government used national security as an excuse to censor its critics.

"Since the US is waging the Iran War in collaboration with Israel and the Trump Administration supports defining criticism of Israel as antisemitism, it is not out of the realm of possibility that opposition to the war will be labeled as antisemitic hate speech and be banned.

"Thousands of American troops are being deployed to the Middle East. With no end to the war in sight and the US military taking on the task of ensuring oil tankers have safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the US military may soon need a major increase in troops. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has refused to rule out the possibility that President Trump may reinstate the draft.

"The Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) makes implementing the draft easer then ever by automatically registering every 18-year-old man with the Selective Service. The draft assumes rights are gifts from government that can be revoked at the whim of government officials. Violations of liberty come along with wars. Therefore, opposition to wars unrelated to the legitimate security needs of the country must be a priority for all who value liberty."

Copyright © 2026 The Ron Paul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/war-abroad-and-authoritarianism-at-home/

CBC gave out $25M in raises & bonuses in 2023

During 2023 Canada's state broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC), warned of a $125 million deficit, announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce, was bailed out with an extra $95 million from the Liberal government – and (it turns out) also handed out more than $25 million in raises and bonuses. 

CBC hands out $15 million in bonuses despite laying off hundreds of staff | Western Standard | Western Standard News Services:

March 12, 2024 - "According to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), the CBC distributed a staggering $14.9 million in bonuses throughout 2023. This revelation has drawn sharp criticism, particularly in light of the broadcaster's announcement just weeks before Christmas, 2023 that it planned to lay off hundreds of employees. Since 2015, the CBC has issued a total of $114 million in bonuses.

"'CBC President Catherine Tait is wrong to hand out bonuses while announcing hundreds of job losses and begging the government for more taxpayer cash,' said Franco Terrazzano, CTF [Canadian Taxpayers Federation] Federal Director, condemning the actions of CBC leadership. Terrazzano further urged Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge to intervene and halt the distribution of bonuses in the face of ongoing layoffs.

"The disclosure indicates that 1,143 CBC staffers received bonuses in 2023, with costs to taxpayers totaling nearly $15 million. However, this number could potentially rise, as the data provided is current only up to October 26, 2023....

"Tait defended the bonuses, citing them as a crucial component of the total compensation package for non-union staff. Tait's remarks came during her appearance before a parliamentary committee in January 2024, where she faced questioning on executive bonuses and the planned workforce reductions.

"Further scrutiny revealed additional financial expenditures at the CBC, including $11.5 million in raises for the 2023/24 fiscal year, benefiting 6,575 employees, representing 87% of its workforce. These raises, obtained through separate access-to-information records, bring the total sum of pay raises since 2015 to $97 million. Moreover, data indicates that the number of CBC staffers earning six-figure salaries has surged by 231% since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assumed office in 2015.

"Despite Tait's assertions of 'chronic underfunding,' the federal government recently announced a substantial increase in funding for the CBC, totaling $96.1 million. This boost brings the broadcaster's taxpayer funding for the 2024/25 fiscal year to $1.4 billion....

"Tait's annual pay, which includes salary, bonus, and other benefits, falls between $472,900 and $623,900, according to CBC's senior management compensation summary."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/cbc-hands-out-15-million-in-bonuses-despite-laying-off-hundreds-of-staff/53043

CBC paying out millions in bonuses while laying off staff | True North | March 12, 2024:

CBC president picks fight with Opposition Leader

CBC president Catherine Tait has publicly attacked Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre (who claims the state broadcaster is politically biased, and has pledged to defund it), accusing him of 'CBC-bashing' just to raise funds.

CBC president bashes Poilievre for making people hate the network | Western Standard - Jonathan Bradley 

February 7, 2023 - "CBC President Catherine Tait denounced Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for inciting attacks on the news outlet. 'There’s a lot of CBC bashing going on — somewhat stoked by the leader of the Opposition,' said Tait in a Tuesday interview with the Globe and Mail. 'I think they feel CBC is a mouthpiece for the Liberal government.' Poilievre said in March [2022] at his Axe the Carbon Tax Rally in Ottawa he would defund the CBC, which received thunderous applause.... 

"Tait hit back at the Conservative campaign to defund the CBC, saying it's a tactic to solicit donations. The Conservatives set up a fundraising initiative which says they will save people $1 billion by defunding the CBC, so they should send in $20. The CBC received about $1.2 billion from the Canadian government in 2022, which was two-thirds of its funding. 

"Tait said it's working with the same budget as 30 years ago. It did linear television and radio 30 years ago. Now it does those two mediums, CBC Gem, streaming radio, and digital platforms. She said it has 'completely tripled our output, yet we’re doing it with less money'.... Tait said it is the one broadcaster in the system which has the obligation to serve all Canadians. She added rural audiences might be limited to their television, so it is not going to abandon them."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/cbc-president-bashes-poilievre-for-making-people-hate-the-network/article_0421c88e-a70b-11ed-a237-338919707b33.html

To delight of Conservatives, CBC’s president bad mouths Poilievre | Toronto Sun - Lorrie Goldstein:

February 8, 2023 - "Within hours of Tait accusing Poilievre of 'CBC bashing,' inciting attacks on the public broadcaster and calling his campaign to defund the CBC a fundraising slogan (which it is, along with an election promise), the Conservatives were out with a fundraising email giving Poilievre’s response.... 'The President and CEO of Trudeau’s $1.2 billion propaganda arm, the CBC, is now openly attacking me. They’re not even pretending to be unbiased.' 

"No doubt the CBC’s supporters agreed with what [Tait] said and no doubt similar views are expressed in CBC boardrooms and newsrooms every day. But for the CBC president and CEO to say it explicitly, in public, is manna from heaven for the Conservatives. They aren’t trying to convince people who support the CBC to change their minds. They’re re-enforcing the perception of bias that many Conservative supporters have about the CBC, now using its most senior executive to do so.

"Asked later by a CBC reporter whether she was concerned her comments about Poilievre would undermine working journalists at the CBC by pitting the public broadcaster against one political party, Tait said she wasn’t because she’s not a journalist (which is obvious) but the CEO. As the CEO, Tait said, she has a responsibility to communicate to Canadians, including politicians, the value of the public broadcaste.... The problem is, she walked into what a newspaper publisher rightly described to me years ago as, 'six minutes of satisfaction, followed by six miles of bad road,' in this case for CBC journalists, particularly on Parliament Hill.

"While many Canadians — present company included — believe the state-funded broadcaster is culturally more sympathetic to Liberal policies than Conservative ones (just as Postmedia, the company I work for, is the reverse) it’s also true that CBC journalists have done many investigations and produced many series and articles critical of the Trudeau government, exposing things the Liberals didn’t want the public to know. If Tait wanted to defend the CBC from allegations of pro-Liberal bias, she could have highlighted many examples, instead of attacking Poilievre.

"But, as she says, she’s not a journalist. She’s a CBC executive heading a government-funded corporation that at times makes bone-headed moves such as suing the Conservative Party 11 days before the 2019 federal election, alleging copyright infringement for using some short CBC news clips in an online political ad and tweets. Anyone who understands the defence of 'fair dealing' for copyright infringement knew the CBC would lose, which it did, while re-enforcing the perception of anti-Conservative bias."
Read more: https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-to-delight-of-conservatives-cbcs-president-bad-mouths-poilievre

Canada's CRTC wants a 'not a tax' on internet

 CRTC Wants to Tax Internet Users to Subsidize Content Creators | Frontier Centre For Public Policy:

November 17, 2018 - "Ian Scott, chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), told a conference of international regulators last month that he wants to add a one per cent surcharge on stand-alone Internet subscriptions and have the money go to those who create Canadian programming. Claiming it’s 'not a tax,' he insists that Internet service providers benefit from the nation’s beloved Canadian content and therefore should contribute to the cost of its creation.

"Noting that the average monthly Internet bill in the country is a mere $46 a month (yes, who knew?), he told the Financial Post: 'Is 46 cents worth it per month in order to support the future of viable Canadian programming? The answer is yes.'

"Actually, the answer is no.... What does and doesn’t stream over the Internet is none of the CRTC’s business. Its job should be upholding and not violating the principle of net neutrality that insists upon regulators and providers remaining agnostic regarding its content. This, and not taxing it based on its content, is what should be enshrined in any new legislation.

"The Federal Court of Canada has already determined that the Internet doesn’t constitute broadcasting. The fact that carrying video is among its numerous utilities doesn’t make it television any more than carrying audio makes it radio or disseminating the printed word makes it a newspaper or posting images of art makes it a gallery. It’s the Internet – an actual thing that money-grubbers incapable of weaning themselves from the succour structures of the 1980s need to keep their lips off.

"Then of course there’s the fact that the entire world has changed due to the current technological revolution.... The Internet has disrupted everything. Entire businesses and companies (think Blockbuster) have disappeared. Others such as newspapers that were once robust and healthy are now emaciated waifs as their revenue streams have been swept away. So why not another 'not a tax' for them?

"Yes and one to help those bankrupt video store operators.... And another over here for my friends in the travel agency business. Oh, and one for that fella over there? Yeah – the musician who can’t make money selling music anymore and has to hit the road constantly. How about funds for everyone – each supported by just a teeny weeny 'not a tax' – who has had their business model disrupted by the Internet?

"Apart from music, the CRTC is unlikely to get involved in most of these areas – although others will certainly be tempted. That it’s going down this road at all, however, and at a time of robust investment in Canadian film and television, displays an unseemly willingness to kowtow to the creative lobby."

Read more: https://fcpp.org/2018/11/17/crtc-wants-to-tax-internet-users-to-subsidize-content-creators/
'via Blog this'

Amash: NPR Defunding ‘Does Not Actually Save Taxpayer Dollars’

ThinkProgress » GOP Congressman: NPR Defunding ‘Does Not Actually Save Taxpayer Dollars’ - Alex Seitz-Wald:

March 18, 2011 - "Yesterday, the House narrowly voted to defund NPR by prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used by local radio stations to purchase NPR content.... Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), who voted “present” ... explained his opposition in a statement to Fox News by noting that the bill voted on yesterday would not save a dime of taxpayer money:...

"'The funds CPB does not send to NPR under the bill are returned to CPB to be spent subsidizing other private radio producers. I offered an amendment in the Rules Committee to require that any funds not sent to NPR be redirected to pay down the deficit, but the amendment was ruled out of order. Therefore, public broadcasting will not see any reduction in federal funding even if this bill becomes law.'

"Republicans have claimed stripping taxpayer dollars from NPR is about the need to cut spending and rein in the deficit.... But as Amash and many Democrats have correctly pointed out, the bill doesn’t actually save taxpayer money — it merely moves around money already allocated to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, away from NPR and to other public broadcasting operations."

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/18/gop-rep-npr-defunding-does-not-save-money/