“Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.”  --First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution When James Madison set about to draft the Bill of Rights -- the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- he was articulating what lawyers and philosophers and judges call “negative rights.” A positive right grants a privilege, like a driver’s license. A negative right restrains the government from interfering with a preexisting right. In order to emphasize his view that the...

A version of this article first appeared as an exclusive to Ron Paul Institute subscribers. Sign up for free here. On Wednesday, March 13th, a bipartisan group of US Representatives voted to give the US president the power to remove any website, computer or mobile application, or even service provider that the president determines - without due process - is run by "a person subject to the direction of control of a foreign person or entity" as long as that foreign person or entity is declared...