The Obama campaign’s “Life of Julia” ad is a disturbing sign. It suggests that political strategists, pollsters, and campaign advisers must think that the people living off government are getting to the point where they can out-vote the people paying for government….
I wrote about Julia the Moocher earlier this month, linking the Obama campaign’s make-believe leech with a real-world Greek woman who thought the government should take care of her. I also shared an amusing parody of Julia by Iowahawk (the creator of the famous Pelosi…
Back in 2010, I declared that Olga Stefou was a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the Greek welfare state. She was one of the protesters and – if the story captured her thoughts accurately – she displayed an unlimited entitlement mentality. Sort of helps one…
There are two serious problems with America’s Social Security system. Almost everyone knows about the first problem, which is that the system is bankrupt, with huge unfunded liabilities of about $30 trillion. The other crisis is that the system gives workers a lousy…
I’ve occasionally commented on foolish public policy in the United Kingdom, including analysis on how the welfare state destroys lives and turns people into despicable moochers. But if you really want to understand the horrifying absurdity of the welfare state, check…
Why is big government bad for an economy? The easy answer is that big government usually means high tax rates, and this penalizes work, saving, investment, and entrepreneurship. And perhaps some of the spending is financed by borrowing, and this diverts money from…
I’m not a big fan of welfare programs, in part because I sympathize with taxpayers (check out these outrageous examples of waste) but mostly because redistribution programs subsidize poverty and trap people in lives of despair. But as I wrote in 2010, the most…
I like to think people in the United States still believe in liberty, and I’ve cited some polling data in support of American Exceptionalism. And it seems like that philosophical belief in individualism and limited government sometimes has an impact in the polling…
Last year, I narrated a CF&P video making the case for Medicaid reform. The proposal is very simple: Replicate the success of the welfare reform of the 1990s by block granting the program and giving states full autonomy to figure out how best to provide health…
Early last year, CF&P released this video, narrated by yours truly, making the case that the United States and other nations should shift from a tax-and-transfer entitlement scheme to a system of personal retirement accounts. Some left wingers criticized the idea,…