Supply Side economics school godfather Arthur Laffer penned an op-ed column for the Wall Street Journal August 6 that claims increases in government spending inhibited economic growth during the recession, as indicated by a study showing "increases in government spending from 2007 to 2009 and subsequent changes in GDP growth rates. Of the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] nations, those with the largest spending spurts from 2007 to 2009 saw the least growth in GDP rates before and after the stimulus."

Reindeer farmer and high school teacher Kerry Bentivolio easily prevailed in a Michigan GOP congressional primary August 7 to replace U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter against a well-funded establishment insurgency by former state senator Nancy Cassis, 66-34. 

Bentivolio did have a significant advantage in the race: he was the only one on the ballot after the incumbent McCotter failed to submit enough signatures to get on the ballot this year. McCotter later dropped out of the race. When the high school teacher became the likely GOP nominee, the GOP establishment rallied against the Ron Paul fan and Federal Reserve critic, eventually settling on Cassis, who put up $200,000 of her own money in what turned out to be a failed write-in campaign. While Cassis had the endorsement of much of the GOP establishment, Bentivolio had won the endorsement of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, his son Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, and Michigan Congressman Justin Amash.

President Barack Obama and presidential hopeful Mitt Romney are in the public eye almost every day, but few Americans can tell where they differ and where they're alike. The New American has put the differences and similarities together for you.

WikiLeaks' “Syria Files,” 2.4 million emails purloined from anonymous Syrian government sources, seem destined to have a greater impact on the West than on Syria. The headlines thus far have left a black mark on the U.S.-based Vogue magazine as well as the New York City-based public relations firm Brown Lloyd James.

Michigan congressional candidate Kerry Bentivolio will get a leg up in his battle against the GOP establishment in next week's Republican primary election, courtesy of the Ron Paul movement-aligned Liberty For All Super-PAC. The SuperPAC — headed by 21-year-old Texas financial heir John Ramsey — has committed an estimated $300,000 (already spending some $130,000, according to OpenSecrets.org) to support Bentivolio in his primary race over establishment write-in candidate Nancy Cassis.

The Internet-based whistleblower website WikiLeaks appears to have won some battles to recover its financial infrastructure in the past few weeks, winning the first stage of a legal battle in Iceland with Visa Corporation and gaining a French source for accepting donations in the Fund for Defense of Net Neutrality (FDN²). But a WikiLeaks satire of former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller — admitted as a phony by WikiLeaks July 29 on its Twitter feed — threatens to undo much of the organization's credibility. FDN² claims that banks and credit card companies are legally bound to honor the French-based “Carte Bleue” transfer system. 

The Australian government folded a civil case against former Guantanamo Bay prison inmate David Hicks after former Guantanamo guard Brandon Neely pledged to testify under oath to conditions at that prison. The move prompted leftists in Australia to charge that the government was “suppressing evidence” of the Guantanamo cover-up, a claim that some former Guantanamo guards have affirmed. 

The month-long United Nations conference to draw up a global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) failed to achieve consensus after the United States, Russia, and China requested more time to consider a draft treaty, according to the United Nations. 

Stewart M. Patrick of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations says that gun owners' concerns about a United Nations small arms treaty, the so-called Arms Trade Treaty(ATT) being drafted in New York this month, “are not only inflammatory, they are completely unfounded.” The CFR pronounces that “Your Guns Are in Safe Hands” with the United Nations.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve Bank easily passed the House of Representatives July 25 by a vote of 327-98. Every House Republican voted for the bill except freshman Rep. Bob Turner of New York, while Democrats were about evenly split.