Which Department of the Federal Government Should Be the First to Be Abolished?

by Dan Mitchell | Jan 27, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Government Waste

A reader sent an email to ask “Which federal department should be abolished first?” I guess this is what is meant when people talk about a target-rich environment. We have an abundance of candidates, including the Department of Education, Department of Agriculture,...

Time to Get Rid of Tax Preferences for Housing in the Internal Revenue Code

by Dan Mitchell | Dec 24, 2012 | Blogs, Economics, Taxation

Even though I knew some people would call me Scrooge, I wrote a few days ago about why we should get rid of the tax deduction for charitable contributions in exchange for lower tax rates. Simply stated, I’m a big advocate of fundamental tax reform, and I would like to...

Middle-Class and Poor People Shouldn’t Subsidize the Mortgages of Rich People

by Dan Mitchell | Sep 17, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs

I don’t like coercive redistribution. But I really hate redistribution from ordinary people to rich and powerful vested interests, and I even developed an “ethical bleeding heart” rule to express my disdain for this approach. Especially since programs that...

Despicable and Corrupt Republicans Vote for More Housing Subsidies

by Dan Mitchell | Nov 26, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending

Remember my post from a week ago when I said I was not a Republican even though Ronald Reagan and Calvin Coolidge are two of my heroes? Well, now I have another reason to despise the GOP. Those reprehensible statists just voted to expand federal housing subsidies....

Should Washington Re-Inflate the Housing Bubble?

by Dan Mitchell | Oct 22, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs

I have no idea whether George Santayana was a good philosopher, but he certainly was right when he wrote, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Consider the fools in the U.S. Senate. They just voted to expand Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...