I am pleasantly stunned that GOP leaders have increased the level of cuts in the bill that will fund the government for the final seven months of fiscal year 2011. Kudos to the freshman members, the Tea Party, and the conservatives who have led the charge and achieved…
Daily Analysis
The IRS: Incompetence on Steroids
The IRS certainly deserves lots of condemnation for its rogue actions, including a $200 fine for a taxpayer who supposedly underpaid his tax bill by 4 pennies. But the tax-collection agency also should be criticized for blundering incompetence. In the past, I’ve…
No More Taxpayer Subsidies for Republicans (or Democrats)
This is the type of story that makes me sick to my stomach. I’ve already commented on how I don’t like redistribution from rich to poor, but I really, really hate redistribution from poor to rich. And that’s exactly what happens when taxpayers subsidize the…
What’s Worse, Hillary Clinton’s Economic Illiteracy or Her Support for Prohibition?
We have another great video from Reason TV, which mocks Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for stating that drug legalization is a bad idea because “there is just too much money in it.” The video explains that government-imposed prohibition is what makes the drug…
The 1993 Clinton Tax Increase Did Not Lead to the Budget Surpluses of the Late 1990s
Proponents of higher taxes are fond of claiming that Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax increase was a big success because of budget surpluses that began in 1998. That’s certainly a plausible hypothesis, and I’m already on record arguing that Clinton’s economic record was much…
Living in New Jersey May Be Bad, but Dying in New Jersey Is Worse
New Jersey gets abused by comedians as being some sort of dump, but there are some scenic parts of the state. So it actually can be a nice place to live. That being said, it’s not a good place to die. Here’s a chart from the American Family Business Foundation that…
If Obama’s Allowed to Lie, I’m Allowed to Be Snarky
I didn’t watch President Obama’s interview with Bill O’Reilly a couple of days ago, and that’s probably a good thing since I probably would have suffered a stroke if I actually heard Obama state, “I didn’t raise taxes once.” This was such an absurd display of…
Requiring a Permit to Be a Bum?!? Great Moments in Government Stupidity
Since I’ve spent the past 25 years analyzing government, I’m used to spectacular levels of waste and incompetence. Examples of pork such as “$27 light bulbs” and the “turtle tunnel” barely cause me to raise an eyebrow. It takes something really amazing to grab my…
Four Reasons Why Big Government Is Bad Government
A new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity gives four reasons why big government is bad fiscal policy. I particularly like the explanation of how government spending undermines growth by diverting labor and capital from the productive sector of the…
The Best Super Bowl Commercial of 2011
I don’t know if this commercial was broadcast nationally, but I saw it in northern Virginia. A very smart, anti-politician message. The worst commercial (this is a no-brainer) was from Chrysler. Not because the advertising was bad, but because the company is mooching…