The fiscal fight on Capitol Hill has triggered a firestorm of lobbying, as greedy special interests are squealing about a potential loss of handouts. This USA Today story focuses on funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Planned Parenthood, both of…
Daily Analysis
GOP Congressman Gives Good Speech against New Government-Mandated Toxic Lightbulbs
Regular readers of this blog already know (see here, here, and here) that I’m not a big fan of the new “CFL” light bulbs that we will be forced to use in a couple of years. In a more entertaining fashion, here’s a video from a few years ago, featuring a Republican…
Poetic (and Smelly) Justice for San Francisco
Since I believe in federalism and decentralization, I tend to be somewhat tolerant of stupid decisions by local governments – particularly when those choices are made thousands of miles away and I don’t have to deal with the consequences. With this in mind, I find it…
Republicans Are Right to Cut the IRS Budget
One of my many frustrations of working in Washington is dealing with perpetual-motion-machine assertions. The classic example is Keynesian economics, which is based on the notion that you magically create additional economic activity by having the government spend…
The TSA’s Keystone Cops Strike Again
My New Year’s Resolution was to stop making fun of the Transportation Security Administration. Not because I changed my mind about the bureaucracy and its level of (in)competence, but rather because I felt as if I was taking candy from a baby. Kicking the TSA is just…
How Appropriate: Politicians and Statists Celebrate Charles Ponzi’s Birthday by Demanding No Changes to Social Security
Yesterday was the 129th anniversary of Charles Ponzi’s birthday. Normal people don’t celebrate the birth of con artists, but a tediously left-wing columnist at the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson, must be a big admirer of Charles Ponzi, because he seems very happy…
Guess Who Profits from Inflation?
As I’ve noted on previous occasions, I’m not a fan of Ben Bernanke and his actions at the Federal Reserve, though it is possible that QE2 may be the right policy (albeit for different reasons than publicly stated by the Fed Chairman). I’ve had several people say to…
Bernanke’s Soft-Core Keynesianism Is Even Worse than the Nonsensical Analysis of Hard-Core Keynesians
Earlier this week, the Washington Post predictably gave some publicity to the Keynesian analysis of Mark Zandi, even though his track record is worse than a sports analyst who every year predicts a Super Bowl for the Detroit Lions. The story also cited similar…
GOP Wins First Skirmish in Budget Fight, but Shutdown Battle Still Looms
A large number of Democrats voted with Republicans in the House yesterday to pass a two-week spending bill that includes $4 billion in cuts compared to what Obama requested. This is a modest victory for the GOP since they can truthfully claim that they are on target…
Should Congress Say No to Increasing the Debt Limit?
The Tea Party doesn’t mince words. In a bold editorial posted at Foxnews.com, the leaders of the Tea Party Patriots, along with Andy Quinlan of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and a private investor named Steve Baer, make the case for cutting up the government’s…