Tag Archives : big government
What Will You do to Celebrate “Cost of Government Day”?
Tomorrow, August 12, will be a wonderful day. Based on calculations from Americans for Tax Reform, we will have finally worked long enough to finance the total cost of government for 2011. This means the money we earn for the rest of the year will be for the benefit of our families – rather than […]
read more...English Riots, Moral Relativism, Gun Control, and the Welfare State
I wrote earlier this year about the connection between a morally corrupt welfare state and the riots in the United Kingdom. But what’s happening now is not just some left-wing punks engaging in political street theater. Instead, the U.K. is dealing with a bigger problem of societal decay caused in part by a government’s failure […]
read more...Debt, Entitlements, Downgrades, Unfunded Liabilities, and the Europeanization of America
I cover a wide range of issues in this interview for Bloomberg Asia. My main theme, not surprisingly, is that government is too big. And I specifically warn about the looming explosion of entitlement spending as the baby boom generation retires.
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Obama’s Failed Response to the Downgrade and the Outlook for Fixing America’s Spending Crisis
President Obama just spoke about the downgrade and his remarks were very disappointing. He uttered some empty platitudes, offered no plan, (amazingly) called for more government spending, and continued his advocacy of class-warfare taxation. So what does this mean? Other than expecting volatility, I have no idea what will happen in financial markets over the […]
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What Are the Consequencs of the Obama Downgrade?
Even though I predicted it had to happen at some point because of the Bush-Obama spending binge and America’s giant long-run entitlement crisis, I confess that I’m somewhat surprised that the United States has suffered a debt downgrade for the first time. That being said, I don’t think the downgrade will matter. Everyone knew the […]
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The Two Obama Job Disasters
We all know about the wretched failure of Obama’s stimulus, and we can update the chart showing that the joblessness rate is two-and-one-half percentage points higher than the White House claimed it would be at this point if we flushed $800 billion down the Washington rat-hole. But we also should pay attention to the second […]
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2.8 Cheers for House Republicans
Before we get wrapped up in the next fiscal fights, it’s time to step back and give House Republicans a bit of love and affection. While I criticize them for some tactical blunders and needless compromises, the most important thing is whether they are willing – when it counts – to vote for smaller government. […]
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The Clown Prince of Europe
If Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama are neck-and-neck competitors in the contest to be the public face of incompetent statism in America, then the competition in Europe is between Herman van Rompuy and Olga Stefou. But since I’ve already crowned Ms. Stefou as the Queen of Greece, then Mr Rompuy (a.k.a., President of the Euorpean Council) […]
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Spending Is Nuts, the Debt Deal’s a Joke, and Some Big Fights Remain
Here’s the video that won the lucrative Powerline prize. Perhaps not as catchy as the entry I posted a couple of days ago, but very well done, with a proper focus on excessive government. And here’s a video just released by Cato on why the debt deal – at best – is a holding action […]
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Where Are the Spending Cuts?
Considering the Democrats control the Senate and the White House, I actually think the Republican leadership did a decent job in the debt negotiations. Of course, I had low expectations, but did anybody expect miracles with Obama in the White House? As you might expect, this means the agreement is – at best – a […]
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