I’ve had several reasons to mock California in the past couple of years (see here, here, here, and here). But I never thought state politicians would be crazy enough to impose harsh regulations on babysitting. Filling out a time card for your babysitter sounds absurd,…
Daily Analysis
The Futile Stupidity of Laws Against “Short Selling”
The governments of Spain, Italy, Belgium and (of course) France recently imposed 15-day bans on “short selling,” which means they are prohibiting people from making investments that would be profitable if certain stocks fall in value. According to the politicians, the…
Senator Rubio vs. Rogue IRS Bureaucrats
Senator Rubio continues to impress with his Reagan-like efforts to restrain government and promote growth. His latest initiative is legislation to curtail rogue IRS bureaucrats who are seeking to use regulatory edicts to overturn 90 years of law. Here are excerpts…
A Message from Soros: Regulation for Thee, but Not for Me
I think it may be time to update the dictionary definition of irony. George Soros, the billionaire who finances statist organizations and causes in order to promote more government, has decided that he doesn’t want to deal with some of the new regulatory burdens…
Taking on FATCA and Proposed Section 911 Elimination
Sound tax policy is hard to find these days. As CF&P has extensively covered, Congress included the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act as part of the HIRE Act, passed in March 2010. FATCA takes a fundamentally wrong-headed approach to tax policy. Rather than…
Is This an Example of the Nanny State Run Amok, Government Stupidity, or the Overlawyered Society?
Or is it another example of the “wussification of America?” I don’t know how to classify this story, other than it is a sad commentary on what is happening to America. Bureaucrats in Maryland, who obviously have too much time on their hands, are issuing rules…
The Continuing Wussification of America
Life is filled with risk. We can deal with that two ways. The first option is to allow people to make educated choices, thus promoting individual responsibility. The second option is to have politicians micro-manage our decisions, thus promoting passivity. Not…
In Symbol of Government Stupidity, the Nanny State Meets the Quota Cops
Here’s the kind of story that makes me fear for the future of the nation. It is a disturbing example of both government stupidity and soft tyranny. The police may not be ticketing for smoking in the parks, but they are still ticketing parker visitors for crimes…
What Caused the Financial Crisis: Private Greed and Criminality or Government Stupidity and Incompetence?
Here are two superb articles on the financial crisis. First, from Peter Wallison at the American Enterprise Institute, we have a piece on the role of government housing subsidies. Since he warned, in advance, that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were ticking time bombs,…
Robert Murphy of San Francisco Is a Despicable Thief
I’ve never met Robert Murphy, but he is a reprehensible person. I don’t know if he’s as bad as Michael Wolfensohn, but he’s definitely a sorry excuse for a human being. For all I know, Mr. Murphy goes to church every day, volunteers at a homeless shelter, reads books…