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Cato Dispatch for April 16, 2010

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(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)

Exiled Iranian Journalist Receives 2010 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty

Akbar Ganji, an Iranian writer and journalist who spent six years in a Tehran prison for advocating a secular democracy and exposing government involvement in the assassination of individuals who opposed Iran's theocratic regime, has been named the 2010 winner of the Cato Institute's Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty.

Ganji may be best known for a 1999 series of articles investigating the Chain Murders of Iran, which left five dissident intellectuals dead. Later published in the book, The Dungeon of Ghosts, his articles tied the killings to senior clerics and other officials in the Iran government, including former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Ganji was arrested for spreading propaganda against the Islamic system and "damaging national security." He was eventually sentenced to six years in prison, much of it spent in solitary confinement.

He was released from prison in March of 2006 and left Iran shortly thereafter. Many countries around the world offered him honorary citizenship, and he traveled extensively, giving talks promoting democracy in Iran and exposing major human rights abuses by the Iranian government. Despite his battle with Iran's theocracy, Ganji remains steadfastly opposed to military action by the United States in both Iran and Iraq, saying "you cannot bring democracy to a country by attacking it."

Established in 2002 and presented every two years, the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty is the leading international award for significant contributions to advancing individual liberty. The Friedman Prize biennial dinner and award presentation will be held at the Hilton Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C, on May 13, 2010. Make your reservation now.

Many Unhappy Returns

Over the past week, those Americans frantically filling out their returns have been reminded of the tax system's increasing complexity and inefficiency. But it is also important to remember that the root cause of this woe is out-of-control government spending. And what's worse, all the spending planned by the Obama administration will result in added pressure for tax increases. Cato Institute scholars have long been pushing for cuts in spending and a renewed commitment to fiscal responsibility

At DownsizingGovernment.org, Cato scholars have outlined detailed plans for reducing major departments of the federal government. Chris Edwards has appeared on the Glenn Beck Program each night this week to discuss ways to downsize the president's budget, and will join him again tonight on Fox News at 5:00 PM EST.

Cato Budget Analyst Tad DeHaven writes:

Today is that unofficial American holiday where we mourn the loss of a year's worth of productive private resources to our bloated federal government. And it's not just the actual dollars paid to Uncle Sam — it's also the economic loss due to all the time and money wasted trying to comply with an increasingly complex tax code. …But on this Tax Day we shouldn't just mourn what we lost to Uncle Sam, nor should we celebrate what the federal government allowed us to gain from others. The federal budget is on an unsustainable trajectory that, if not reined in, will mean reduced living standards for future generations — whether they are effective taxpayers or not.

Beyond the cost of taxes, the tax system is so complicated that Americans pay billions of dollars each year just to file the documents, a cost that could be eliminated with a flat tax.

Justice Stevens to Retire

Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement from the Supreme Court last week after 34 years of service. Justice Stevens will step down in June at the end of the Court's current term. Cato scholar Ilya Shapiro comments on his legacy: "Justice Stevens is to be commended for his record of service in a variety of positions in the public and private sector. Unfortunately, the jurisprudential legacy he leaves behind is much more checkered than his personal integrity and professionalism."

President Obama is expected to nominate Stevens' replacement this summer, which could lead to a showdown in Congress. Writes Shapiro:

Each of the candidates on the "short list" to replace Stevens — most notably Elana Kagan, Diane Wood, and Merrick Garland — has pluses and minuses in terms of their approach to the law (not to mention politically). But in any case this summer's confirmation hearings will again show the American people the different approaches to the judicial role. At a time when the constitutional interpretation looms large in an electoral context — not least with the growing discomfort over the massive new health reform — voters will be able to see the dangerous consequences of following the errant jurisprudential path that Justice Stevens blazed so honorably.

Cato Legal Scholar Roger Pilon has more on Stevens in Thursday's Cato Daily Podcast.

Chris Moody, editor, cmoody@cato.org