I feel like a broken record when I write about European fiscal policy. In almost all cases, I cite OECD data showing that countries are in fiscal trouble because of excessive spending rather than inadequate tax revenue. I then show that the politicians are using the…
Daily Analysis
Terminating Welfare in California?
It’s probably just a insincere negotiating ploy, but Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed to eliminate a major welfare program in California. This article from the Sacramento Bee notes that the Governator also wants to cut bureaucrat pay and impose other…
Obama Seeking Less Competent Bureaucrats.
Here’s some grim news I saw linked to on NRO. Obama wants to lower the bar and reduce the competency of people working in the federal bureaucracy. To be sure, I doubt the “knowledge skills and ability essays” actually produced quality bureaucrats,…
Should the United Nations Get to Tax the Internet, ATM Withdrawals, and Air Travel?
Here’s a very disturbing report from FoxNews.com about a scheme at the United Nations to impose global taxes. This has been a long-time dream of the bureaucrats, who (naturally) are exempt from paying tax themselves. Here’s a link to a report I wrote on a…
The Next Ronald Reagan?
Very rarely does one find a politician with the moral clarity to provide the blunt and necessary truth about a controversial issue, but that has finally happened. But this is a good news/bad news situation for American taxpayers. The good news is that a politician has…
Shocking News: People Are Less Likely to Work When Government Subsidizes Joblessness.
Kudos to the Detroit News for a great story revealing that people are refusing to accept jobs because of government unemployment benefits. In a perverse way, I admire the one guy who admits that he doesn’t plan to find work until the government stops sending him…
Why Do I Hate Republicans? Let Me Count the Ways.
Apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but I had to paraphrase her famous line after reading this Bill McGurn column in the Wall Street Journal about how Republican poliitcal hacks in the Illinois state legislature voted to kill a voucher bill that would have…
Great Moments in Local Government.
We should always remember that the federal government may be the biggest problem, but that does not mean that state and local governments should be exempt from scrutiny. A good (or perhaps I should say bad) example of bone-headed stupidity by bureaucrats and…
I Hate the Greeks (and the French, and the Brits, and the Americans).
Actually, that’s too broad of a brush, but I do despise people of any nationality who think that they are entitled to mooch off the labor and capital of others. I also fear for my country because of such people. Benjamin Franklin is rumored to have said that,…
Europe's Über Bailout.
I’m semi-impressed with the Europeans for choosing the hog-wild approach to bailouts. Not because it is good policy, but rather because it will be a useful demonstration of the old rule that bad policy begets more bad policy (which begets God knows what, but it…