Tag Archives : boondoggle
Another Magnificent Moment in the World of Government Stimulus
Most of my work on government stimulus focuses on economic theory and evidence. But every so often it’s a good idea to remind ourselves of the ridiculous ways that government wastes money. Here are some details from a boondoggle in West Virginia. Nobody told Hurricane librarian Rebecca Elliot that the $22,600 Internet router in the […]
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California’s Train to Nowhere
I’ve explained before that “high-speed rail” is a boondoggle, and I’ve also posted a thorough presentation on the topic from the folks at Reason about this issue. But some politicians can’t resist throwing good money after bad on these money-losing schemes. The latest example is from the People’s Republic of California, where Governor Jerry Brown […]
read more...A Test for the GOP: Shutting Down the Spigot of Corporate Welfare at the Export-Import Bank
Republicans are telling voters that they’ve learned the hard lessons from the 2006 and 2008 elections and that they are back on the side of taxpayers. I’m not convinced, which is why I’ve outlined some key tests that will demonstrate whether the GOP genuinely supports limited government. o No tax increases, since more money for […]
read more...Government Stupidity Defies Satire When a $50 Light Bulb Wins an Affordability Prize
I’ve written about the government’s war on consumer-friendly light bulbs (and also similar attacks on working toilets and washing machines that actually clean), so I’m generally not surprised by bureaucratic nonsense. But even I’m shocked the federal government gave an affordability award for a light bulb that costs $50. I’m not making this up. Here’s […]
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Should the IRS Be Squandering $15 Million on P.R. Flacks to Improve its Image?
The overwhelming fiscal policy challenge for America is entitlement programs, as I explain in this set of videos. To protect America from becoming another Greece, we need personal retirement accounts for Social Security. We need vouchers for Medicare. And we need to block-grant Medicaid back to the states. Real reform can give people more security […]
read more...Thanks to these Horror Stories of Stupidity and Incompetence, Prepare to Downgrade Your Opinion of Big Government
While I’m obviously not a fan of big government, I have mixed feelings about why the public sector is so blindly wasteful. Is it because politicians and bureaucrats are well-intentioned morons who accidentally do damage (as illustrated by this cartoon), or is it that they are venal vultures looking to grab as much loot as […]
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Notwithstanding Tea Party Election in 2010, Republicans on Capitol Hill Still Susceptible to Big-Government Virus
I’ve written before about the importance of getting rid of the Department of Transportation, and I’ve also written about Republicans getting in bed with big government. So you can imagine how agitated I was to read this article about transportation spending at National Review. Written by Andrew McCarthy, it shows that the GOP still has […]
read more...Newt Gingrich Wants to Send Our Wallets and Purses into Outer Space
I was nauseated when Newt Gingrich did the infamous global warming ad with Nancy Pelosi. I was disgusted when he criticized Paul Ryan’s entitlement reforms. But I’m not sure what my reaction is to Newt’s latest brain fart. For lack of anything clever, let’s just say I’m bemused by his proposed galactic boondoggle. Here are […]
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Government Insiders Rip Off Taxpayers…Again
I’ve written many times about politicians and bureaucrats screwing taxpayers with lavish compensation packages, but this story from Philadelphia is jaw dropping. Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco is retiring Friday, but only so she can collect a $478,057 pension check and return to work Monday, when she will be sworn in for her seventh term. Tasco […]
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Can You Identify the Most Egregious Example of Wasteful Spending by the Welfare State?
I’ve commented many times about wasteful government spending, including Social Security bureaucrats spending $700 thousand to party at a luxury resort, HUD bureaucrats giving huge subsidies for welfare recipients to live in upscale neighborhoods, rampant fraud in the unemployment insurance program, and tax dollars being used to subsidize a grown man wearing diapers and living […]
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