I Don’t Care if You Wear Diapers as a 30-Year Old, but Don’t Ask Me to Subsidize Your Lifestyle

by Dan Mitchell | May 19, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Waste, Welfare and Entitlements

I wrote yesterday about the shocking case of a millionaire collecting food stamps. Today, I have an equally disgusting story of government waste. The Social Security program is actuarially bankrupt, with unfunded liabilities of several trillion dollars. Our topic...

Growing Dependency Is a Terrible Indicator for America’s Future

by Dan Mitchell | May 11, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending

I’m often torn between optimism and pessimism about the future. In my cheerful moments, I marvel at the American system and cheer the private sector’s ability to adapt and survive even the stupidest government interventions. But at other times, I fret that those...

New York Leads the List of the Five Biggest Moocher States…and Utah Tops the List of the Five Most Self-Reliant States

by Dan Mitchell | Apr 26, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements

I may have to stop being a New York Yankees fan. The state of my birth is a national embarrassment. People in the Empire State are national champions in the contest to rip off their fellow citizens according to analysis from USA Today. West Virginia, however, is the...

A Rather Depressing Article about the Human Cost of the Welfare State

by Dan Mitchell | Feb 22, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements

This story from the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal makes the point, excerpted below, that the welfare state subsidizes dysfunctional behavior. But read the story to understand how big government destroys lives, ruins families, and creates inter-generational...

Beware of Greeks Accepting Gifts

by Dan Mitchell | Feb 16, 2011 | Bailouts, Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements

On rare occasions, I dream about being a politician or high-level international bureaucrat. Not because I want to be a moocher (please put me out of my misery if that ever happens), but because I periodically read about some sleazy interest group making petulant...