I’m never guilty of being an optimist, but two items caught my attention today that suggest the tide may be turning on entitlement reform. We’ll start with something from the New York Times. Regular readers know that I’ve criticized that paper on a few occasions….
Daily Analysis
Repealing Obamacare Won’t Solve the Healthcare Mess (but It’s a Good Start)
I’ve often complained that government-created third-party payer is the main problem with America’s healthcare system, and I was making that point well before Obamacare was imposed upon the country. Simply stated, people won’t be smart consumers and providers won’t…
Obamacare’s Corrupt Conception, Sleazy Gestation, and Tawdry Birth
One of my very first blog posts was about the link between big government and big corruption. For the rest of my life, I can now cite the Obamacare travesty as an example. Here’s some of what Tim Carney wrote for the Washington Examiner. Chief Justice John Roberts’…
Yes, the Federal Government Has a Broad Power to Tax, but that’s Different from Having a Green Light to Spend
’m not a lawyer, or an expert on the Constitution, though I sometimes play one on TV. But I can read, and I’ll agree with my friends on the left that the federal government has a broad power to tax. I wish the 16th Amendment had never been ratified, but its language…
Anti-Obesity Efforts Mean More Bloated Government, not Better Health
Back in 2009, I wrote about various schemes to impose taxes on unhealthy food. At the time, I was primarily concerned about the risks of giving politicians a new source of revenue that would be used to increase the burden of government spending. The folks at Reason TV…
If Obamacare Is Constitutional, then Why Did the Founding Fathers Bother with a List of Enumerated Powers?
I think Obamacare is bad policy because it exacerbates the main problem with the current healthcare system, which is third-party payer. And as a public finance economist, I’m obviously not happy about the new taxes and additional spending in Obamacare. But those…
New Research Shows Obamacare Resulted in 25 Additional Democratic Losses in 2010 Elections, but Was It a Long-Term Victory for the Left?
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…
In the Entire World, Is there Anybody Who Is Surprised that Obamacare Is Turning Out to Be Far More Expensive than the President Promised?
Washington is filled with people who exaggerate, prevaricate, dissemble, and obfuscate. And those are the people I like. The ones I don’t like are much worse. That’s why, during the Obamacare debate, I warned that the numbers were utterly dishonest. We were told, if…
The Higher-Education Bubble and Third-Party Payer
Taxes and spending are two of the most obvious burdens imposed by government, and I’m glad that many people are fighting against a political class that seems to have a limitless appetite for a bigger public sector. But politicians also can do great damage to an…
New Studies Show the Middle Class Is Held Back by Government-Distorted Healthcare, not Income Inequality
I did a debate on income inequality for PBS, but haven’t written much about the issue because I think it is a misguided diversion. One frustrating aspect of this debate is that folks on the left genuinely seem to think the economy is a fixed pie and that rich people…