Management of roads used to be the business of local governments – that is, until the federal government dangled its grant money over the states as leverage. Now, thanks to this usurpation of authority, we have stories like this: …[T]he Federal Highway Administration…
Daily Analysis
This TSA Stupidity Makes Me Want to Go Postal
I hate writing about the TSA and airport security, especially since I fly frequently and despise the pointless “security theater” of the whole process. I keep doing posts about the issue, though, because it seems a day doesn’t go by without some new revelation about…
What Rabid, Hate-the-Poor, Right Wingers Uttered these Spiteful Words?
Here’s a passage from a speech by a well-known political figure, but it wasn’t Ronald Reagan, Ron Paul, or Milton Friedman. The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a…
The Silver Lining to the TSA’s Dark Cloud
Freedom, liberty, and common sense are all good things, which explains why I criticize the TSA’s bureaucratic approach to airport safety. But I’m a glass-half-full guy, so here’s one good argument for the TSA’s new guidelines. And since we’re having some fun at TSA’s…
Two Cheers for John Boehner, but Government Officials Should Not Get a Free Pass on TSA Screening
One of John Boehner’s first announcements after the GOP House takeover was that he would continue to fly commercial. This is in sharp contrast to Nancy Pelosi, who insisted on using luxury jets operated by the military. Boehner deserves praise for that decision, but…
Tax Loopholes Are Corrupt and Inefficient, but They Should only Be Eliminated if Every Penny of New Revenue Is Used to Lower Tax Rates
There’s been a lot of heated discussion about various preferences, deductions, credits, shelters, and other loopholes in the tax code. Some of this debate has revolved around whether it is legitimate to refer to these provisions as “tax expenditures” or “subsidi…
Earmarks are the Gateway Drug to Big Government Addiction
I haven’t commented much on earmarks, but an oped in today’s Washington Post was has goaded me into action. A former Reagan Administration appointee (the Gipper must be spinning in his grave), who now makes a living by selling our money to the highest bidder, made s…
Don’t Blame Ireland’s Mess on Low Corporate Tax Rates
Ireland is in deep fiscal trouble and the Germans and the French apparently want the politicians in Dublin to increase the nation’s 12.5 percent corporate tax rate as the price for being bailed out. This is almost certainly the cause of considerable smugness and joy i…
Column on TSA Wins “Sentence of the Day” Contest
Our airport security system is a giant hassle. It’s very costly. And now we have the incredible privilege of having government bureaucrats grope our private parts.
So are we getting big benefits to offset these high costs? Mark Tapscott of the Washington Examiner h…
Another Tax-Hike Scheme from another “Bipartisan” Group of Washington Insiders
I’ve already commented on the proposal from the Chairmen of President Obama’s Fiscal Commission (including a very clever cartoon, if it’s okay to pat myself on the back). Now we have a similar proposal from the so-called Debt Reduction Task Force. Chaired by former…