The Census Bureau has just released the 2010 poverty numbers, and the new data is terrible. There are now a record number of poor people in America, and the poverty rate has jumped to 15.1 percent. But I don’t really blame President Obama for these grim numbers. Yes,…
Daily Analysis
Social Security Demagoguery from Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann: Economically Wrong, Politically Wrong
Governor Rick Perry of Texas is being attacked by two rivals in the GOP presidential race. His sin, if you can believe it, is that he told the truth (as acknowledged by everyone from Paul Krugman to Milton Friedman) about Social Security being a Ponzi scheme. Here’s…
Bloomberg’s Flawed Response to Social Security Shortfall: Americans Should Pay More and Get Less
The editors at Bloomberg have decided that condemning younger workers to a more dismal future is the best way to deal with the Social Security program’s giant long-run shortfall. They want workers to pay higher taxes to prop up the bankrupt system. And, in exchange…
Is the USA or UK Home to the World’s Most Disgusting Welfare Bum?
Last week, I wrote about an utterly reprehensible welfare mom in the United Kingdom who had the gall to blame the government when one of her 11 kids was arrested for rioting. Surely, I thought, she was the perfect symbol of the moral depravity caused by welfare state…
A Despicable Human Being Created by the British Welfare State?
Every so often, I can’t resist condemning someone for grossly immoral behavior. I beat up on Robert Murphy for stealing the value of someone else’s property. I attacked Olga Stefou for symbolizing the looter-class mentality of Greece. And I mocked Michael Wolfensohn…
To Be Fair, Obama’s Responsibility for the Downgrade Is only 15 Percent
It was a strange experience to read the comments and emails generated by yesterday’s post on the “Obama downgrade.” Democrats and liberals were upset that I blamed Obama for the downgrade, as you might expect. Republicans and conservatives, however, were agitated that…
The Cause of Our Present Predicament
As the national debate shifts away from the immediate issues surrounding the debt ceiling, members of Congress should focus now on the fundamental purpose of government in a free society. Current excesses in federal spending have resulted largely due to the continued…
Exaggerating Poverty for Political Gain
Is America filled with tens of millions of people suffering from harsh material deprivation? That’s what the pro-redistribution crowd wants you to think, but a new report from the Heritage Foundation demolishes that stereotype. Here are some of the most remarkable…
Two Pictures that Perfectly Capture the Rise and Fall of the Welfare State
In my speeches, especially when talking about the fiscal crisis in Europe (or the future fiscal crisis in America), I often warn that the welfare state reaches a point-of-no-return when the number of people riding in the wagon begins to outnumber the number of people…
The Government Fraud Racket
With politicians like Barack Obama demanding higher taxes, this is a good moment to ask what we’re getting in exchange for the buckets of money we send to a federal overlords in Washington. The answer is disappointing, but not surprising. We get lots of waste, fraud…