Tag Archives : government stupidity
The Boundless Stupidity of State Governments
I’m an over-protective parent. Even now, with my kids ranging between 18 and 23, I will try to herd them together while skiing so I can follow them down the slopes and watch for potential injuries. And I never got them a jungle gym when they were young, even though I somehow managed to survive […]
read more...
A Pun Contest to Describe a Tax on Toilet Paper?
The greed of the political class is boundless. They have figured out how to tax just about everything, including a tax on tanning salons to finance Obamacare. But for sheer ingenuity (in the philosophically perverted sense), I must tip my proverbial hat to the politicians who want to tax toilet paper. Here’s a blurb from […]
read more...
How Government Condemned Us to Dirty Clothes by Mandating Sub-Standard Washing Machines
Sam Kazman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute has a withering critique of dumb government policies that have taken away our freedom to buy low-cost and effective washing machines and instead forced us to buy expensive machines that don’t do a good job of cleaning our clothes. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that politicians are […]
read more...GOP Congressman Gives Good Speech against New Government-Mandated Toxic Lightbulbs
Regular readers of this blog already know (see here, here, and here) that I’m not a big fan of the new “CFL” light bulbs that we will be forced to use in a couple of years. In a more entertaining fashion, here’s a video from a few years ago, featuring a Republican Congressman railing against […]
read more...Poetic (and Smelly) Justice for San Francisco
Since I believe in federalism and decentralization, I tend to be somewhat tolerant of stupid decisions by local governments – particularly when those choices are made thousands of miles away and I don’t have to deal with the consequences. With this in mind, I find it rather amusing that San Francisco is now plagued by […]
read more...The TSA’s Keystone Cops Strike Again
My New Year’s Resolution was to stop making fun of the Transportation Security Administration. Not because I changed my mind about the bureaucracy and its level of (in)competence, but rather because I felt as if I was taking candy from a baby. Kicking the TSA is just too easy. But I can’t resist low-hanging fruit. […]
read more...Astounding TSA Incompetence
This is really remarkable. We’re supposed to go through porno strip machines at the airport so the bureaucrats can detect firearms. Yet the Keystone Cops at the TSA in Dallas failed when an undercover agent tested their awareness by hiding a gun in her undergarments. They didn’t just fail. They. Failed. Every. Single. Time. Check […]
read more...The IRS: Incompetence on Steroids
The IRS certainly deserves lots of condemnation for its rogue actions, including a $200 fine for a taxpayer who supposedly underpaid his tax bill by 4 pennies. But the tax-collection agency also should be criticized for blundering incompetence. In the past, I’ve mocked the Internal Revenue Service for sending checks to convicts. Now it’s time […]
read more...Two Recent TSA Decisions Will Make Flying a More Miserable Experience in the Future
I’m sick of the TSA and haven’t written about that incompetent bureaucracy since posting a mock press release early last month. But after enduring the slowest-moving line in recorded history at the Miami Airport yesterday, motivation is no longer a problem. So it was serendipitous (in a bad way) to see a story in the […]
read more...Great Moments in Government: The Fight against…umm…errr…Breaking Wind
I’m not really sure what to say about the politicians in Malawi. Is this really a serious problem in the country? Will there be a new government agency to enforce the rule? How do they identify perpetrators if there is…um…no accompanying sound? On the other hand, this is far from the most damaging thing a […]
read more...