When I started writing about public policy, I never realized that …um…human waste would be a frequent topic. *But we examined (not too closely!) the story of a Postal Service employee who defecated in someone’s yard and got to keep his job. *We wondered why the Greek government wanted stool samples from entrepreneurs starting online companies. *We mocked the […]

Since I’ve already created a Moocher Hall of Fame to acknowledge the strangest and most reprehensible examples of government dependency, it’s occurred to me that there also should be a Bureaucrat Hall of Fame to highlight the government employees that have figured out how to most successfully rip off taxpayers (and here are some good candidates for charter membership). […]

I’ve complained many times about government intervention in the financial sector. The financial and housing crisis, for instance, was largely a consequence of the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policy, combined with the system of corrupt subsidies put in place by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But there’s another government-imposed cost that burdens the financial sector. Writing for the […]

The headline of this post might not be completely honest. Indeed, if you asked me to grade the accuracy of my title, I’ll admit right away that it falls into the “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan” category of mendacity. But I’m only prevaricating to set the stage for some satire […]

There’s an old joke that a quandary exists when your mother-in-law drives off a cliff in your new Porsche. Are you more happy about losing her or more unhappy about losing your sports car? I’m not clever enough to come up with humorous quandaries, but I have shared policy quandaries. I’ve asked, for instance, whether […]

I don’t like government bureaucrats. Actually, let me re-phrase that statement. I know lots of people who work for different agencies in Washington and most of them seem like decent people. So maybe what I really want to say is that I’m not a big fan of government bureaucracies and the results they generate. Why? […]

One of my most widely read – but also most depressing – articles was from about two years ago and it exposed the fact that Washington, DC, is now the nation’s richest region. I explained that Washington is rich because of unearned wealth. Almost all of the loot that winds up in the pockets of highly paid lobbyists, […]

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane…no it’s Super Bureaucrat! Actually, look to New Jersey, because you’re going to see a taxpayer ripoff that will get your blood boiling. Depending on your perspective, this may be worse than the toll collector on the New Jersey Turnpike who pocketed more than $300,000 […]

One of my first blog posts, way back in 2009, was about bureaucrats from the Social Security Administration squandering more than $700,000 on a boondoggle conference at a fancy Arizona resort. To pick a more recent example, taxpayers have plenty of reasons to be upset about IRS bureaucrats partying at their fancy conferences (including line […]

It’s no secret that I think we have too many government bureaucrats and I’ve shared very strong evidence that most of them are grossly overpaid. I also have shown some data suggesting that they don’t work very hard, though I confess to mixed feelings about that factoid since I’d rather have some bureaucrats goofing off […]