I'd rate Murray's new book at the very top of all political science books I have read in the past ten years! Excellently organized, argued, and written, documenting the tactics and the motivation of the runaway Administrative State while setting forth a premise for responding to it that can actually be implemented, could actually work, and should find the economic support needed from individuals and industries being targeted by the IRS, EPA, F&W, BLM, Interior, and the rest of the usual suspects. While this goal was also superbly achieved by Silverman's wonderful Three Fellonies a Day, Murray's book starts from that point and proposes workable tactics to fight back. Up to this point, too many of us have been willing to pay the equivalent of "protection money" to keep the regulators off our backs since it’s obvious that few possess the resources to persist through the rigged Administrative Court system run by the agencies, staffed by the agencies, and applying penalties set by the agencies in the absence of any Congressional direction or authority beyond sloppily worded legislation to achieve vague ideals and wishes for things like clean water and breathable air while totally abdicating to Federal agencies when it comes to how Congressional intent is implemented.

Since the U.S. vs Chevron decision the Judiciary has also totally ignored regulatory overreach triggered by such shoddy legislation that sets no limiting principles and fails to protect freedoms--and especially property rights. Until our courts are forced to look into the actual fairness or Constitutionality of actual Federal agency decisions that punish people but achieve nothing, little will change. Currently, the courts wrongly presume unelected but very political agency bureaucrats had some "rational basis" for making decisions when, in fact, far too many are totally arbitrary and capricious and intended to punish specific individuals, groups, or industries who refuse to respond to agency desires with sufficient obsequiousness to the wisdom or agenda of the Federal agencies. What have the courts done about IRS targeting of specific conservative groups? Nothing. What has Congress done to punish the agency involved or to curb such abuses in the future? Nothing.

By the People; Rebuilding Liberty Without Permission’s time has come. While Mark Levin's Liberty Amendments laid out specific Constitutional Amendments that would, indeed, roll back government excesses and reclaim much of the liberty that the Congress and the Judiciary have ceded to the Executive Branch, our government ignores the Constitution already and the chances of any of those Amendments being ratified by three-quarters of the States in my lifetime seem slight, especially given the distortion the media will undoubtedly add to reporting of any such initiative. But Murray’s concept could start being implemented in a relatively short time. The People could claw back some of the freedoms lost simply by refusing to be compliant when it comes to arbitrary and capricious regulations that should not exist but the courts—up to now—have refused to strike down and the agencies implementing them have not been held accountable!

Charles Murray has the right ideas about our representative and constitutional republic, which the country has strayed from dramatically over the past century and a half. The transformation to a social welfare and entitlement state has taken awhile, but like an insidious cancer, it has nearly consumed our once exceptional country and great system of government. I agree with the author's prescription for civil disobedience through the courts but believe we should also continue to use the congressional process to effect change and force a return to government by the people through Constitutionalists who still believe in the system that has served us well, in spite of the venture into the Social welfare wilderness. Every patriot who is interested in returning the country to greatness should read this very easy to read book by one of the premiere writers and Libertarians of the day. Murray Rothbard would be proud of Charles Murray as he carries forward the message of government BY THE PEOPLE. Cheers for Charles!!

I'll start by confessing that I have long been a fan of Murray who seems to be one of the writers who combines throought research with ideas of which I approve. What could be better ?

The first half of this book is right in this mold, providing a clear, coherent discussion of how the dream of limited government slowly succeumbed to the inexorable tendency of governments to increase their power, and the well meaning "Philosopher King" type belief of the Progressive movement that we would all be better off if the world were run by a few really smart people--including ME. .All, as he so ably describes, aided and abetted by a Supreme Court which must have felt that the ruling body would certainly include its members. As I had come to expect from Dr. Murray, a well worth-while journey through the modern era.

But then he offered his solution, which is a pumped-up version of some of the Right wing groups that provide lawyers to help those caught in the toils of the regulatory state. A corporate version of Legal Aid or Public Defenders. Basically, a fund will be created to pay for the lawyers who will defend good people who elect to defy bad laws, and pay their fines if the lawyers fail to get the miscreant acquitted. The idea is scarcely novel, although usually associated with the fringe Left--the Weathermen, or Occupy Wall Street. Get enough people rioting, and the cops won't have the time or the energy to arrest any of them, and the DA won't want to devote any of his precious resources to a lot of difficult cases that are most likely to result in the judge's applauding the courage of the rioters, or slapping their wrist

Given my respect for Dr. Murray, I continued to wade through this portion of the book, but I will admit that I frequently found myself skimming pages of day-dreaming about how the law could be turned on the laws. Then, towards the end, there appeared to b e a rehash of some of the earlier arguments. An excellent cure for insomnia, but not much of an ad for the book.

Overall, I think the sections before his proposed solutions ar excellent. After that, I would recommend turning to something lese.