Even though the American people don’t want government-run healthcare, and even though Democrats are very nervous after losing a supposedly-safe Senate seat in Massachusetts, Obamacare is not dead. The Democrats still have huge majorities in the House and Senate…
Daily Analysis
Super Waste at the Super Bowl.
The Union Leader newspaper in New Hampshire has a correct view of the absurd $130 million “census awareness budget,” including the reprehensible decision to squander $2.5 million on an ad during the Super Bowl. It’s bad enough that the Census has…
Bureaucrats vs. Taxpayers, Part IX.
According to a new article from the Mackinac Center, Michigan has below-average income compared to other states. But even though it is in 37th place for per-capita income, the politicians in the state are currying favor with union bosses by paying the 8th-highest…
The European Superstate Continues to Metastasize.
Insanity is sometimes defined as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. On this basis the Euro-statists are clinically over the edge. They keep centralizing more power in Brussels and then they complain that European economies…
If the So-Called Stimulus Was an Unsung Hero, I'd Hate to Meet a Singing Enemy.
The White House recently released the Economic Report of the President. In a post at the White House blog, Christina Romer brags that the stimulus legislation was a big success. This Act is the great unsung hero of the past year. It has provided a tax cut to 95…
Bureaucrats vs. Taxpayers, Part VIII.
Arizona was hit hard by the housing bubble and that is causing considerable headaches for politicians – particularly since they allowed spending to explode during the boom years. Phoenix could be a poster child for fiscal excess. The city budget grew by nearly…
Switzerland's Strong Human Rights Laws Should be Emulated, not Persecuted.
In a rational world, Switzerland would be a role model for other nations. It is quite prosperous thanks largely to a modest burden of government. There is remarkable ethnic and religious diversity, but virtually no tension because power is decentralized (sort of what…
Where's PETA When You Need Them?
I’m not sure if this is better or worse than the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, but the U.K. government has been spending millions of dollars in a futile effort to exterminate a duck. And because they are relying on government bureaucrats to kill the ducks, the…
Great Moments in Local Government.
Since we’ve been talking about the snow, here’s a story about city that must have no real crime. At least, that’s the only sensible thing to conclude after reading that cops in Harrisonburg, VA, arrested two college kids for the horrific offense of…
Maybe Greece Should Go Bankrupt.
The fiscal crisis in Greece is fascinating political theater, in part because the Balkan nation is a leading indicator for what will probably happen in many other countries. The most puzzling feature of the crisis is the assumption in other European capitals,…