I don’t blame the Democrats for wanting to seduce Republicans into a tax-increase trap. Indeed, I completely understand why some Democrats said their top political goal was getting the GOP to surrender the no-tax-hike position. I’m mystified, though, why some Republicans are willing to walk into such a trap. If you were playing chess against […]

When I read the story from England about needing photo ID to buy teaspoons, I thought British bureaucrats built an insurmountable lead in the U.S. vs. U.K. contest for stupidest government action. But I should have had more faith in the hare-brained politicians of Illinois. When they’re not busy driving businesses from the state with […]

I’ve already commented on some of the sleazy behavior that infects Chicago politics. Now we have a jaw-dropping example of what’s wrong with the state of Illinois, as explained by Bill McGurn of the Wall Street Journal. Soon the Illinois state legislature will meet in special session to consider the Chicago machine’s latest favor: legislation […]

Now that the debt-limit fight is basically over (the Senate will join the House in approving it later today), we need to immediately prepare for the next stage in the fight to stop big government and restore economic liberty. President Obama and other leftists clearly have signaled that they want the new “super committee” – […]

It may not be very nice to say “I told you so” when the warnings you issue become reality, but I’m not a nice person (at least when it comes to greedy politicians imposing stupid policy). So I’ll openly admit that I’m happy to read that entrepreneurs and job creators already are beginning to escape […]

There is a very bizarre race happening in Illinois. The Governor and the leaders of the State Senate and General Assembly are trying to figure out how to ram through a massive tax increase, but they’re trying to make it happen before new state lawmakers take office tomorrow. The Democrats will still control the state […]

The mid-term elections were a rejection of President Obama’s big-government agenda, but those results don’t necessarily mean better policy. We should not forget, after all, that Democrats rammed through Obamacare even after losing the special election to replace Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts.

Similarly, GOP control of the House of Representatives does not automatically mean less government and more freedom. Here are five possible bad policies for 2011, most of which the Obama White House can implement by using executive power.

This blog repeatedly has chronicled the huge discrepancy between the gold-plated compensation for government employees and the meager salaries and benefits of people in the productive sector of the economy, including a video conclusively demonstrating that bureaucrats are overpaid. This message is now resonating all across the nation. Even the New York Times, as shown […]

Here are a few predictions for next year. It will be hot in Dallas in July, it will be cold in Stockholm in February, and Governor Jerry Brown of California will ask Uncle Sam for some sort of bailout. I’m actually not sure about the first two predictions, but I think the last one is […]

I ran across two interesting lists showing how politicians at the state and local level are often just as bad as the ones in Washington, DC. First, Forbes has an article identifying the 10 states with the highest income tax rates. The top rate is a big deterrent to entrepreneurs and investors, but it’s also […]