More tax hikers not paying taxes.

Medicare’s fiscal black hole, and why Jonathan Gruber got at least one thing right.

I’m very worried about the burden of government spending. Moreover, I’m quite concerned that poorly designed entitlement programs will lead to fiscal disaster. And I’m especially irked that Obama made the problem worse by ramming through yet another misguided and costly health care entitlement. Given this background, you can imagine that I was very interested (and depressed) to see […]

Since I primarily work on fiscal policy, I normally look at the budgetary impact of entitlement programs. And the numbers are very grim. But I’m also an economist, so I periodically comment on how government intervention undermines the efficient functioning of markets in the healthcare field. Last but not least, I’m also a taxpayer, so I can’t resist occasionally […]

When government suppresses the free market and takes over the healthcare sector, you get some really odd results. Consider these stories from Sweden:  A man sewing up his own leg after getting frustrated with a long wait. The government denying a wheelchair to a double amputee because the bureaucrats decided his impairment might not be permanent. Speaking of amputations, […]

I had a very bad lunch today. But not because of what I ate. My lunch was unpleasant because I moderated anoontime panel on Capitol Hill featuring Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and my Cato colleague Chris Edwards. And I should hasten to add that they were splendid company. The unpleasant part of the lunch was […]

Last month, I nailed Bill and Hillary Clinton for their gross hypocrisy on the death tax. But that’s just one example. Today, we’re going to experience a festival of statist hypocrisy. We have six different nauseating examples of political elitists wanting to subject ordinary people to bad policy while self-exempting themselves from similar burdens. Our first three […]

Let’s enjoy some semi-good news today. We’ve discussed many times why Obamacare is bad news, whether we’re looking at it from the perspective of the healthcare system, taxpayers, or workers. But it could be worse. Writing in the Washington Post, Robert Samuelson explains that two-dozen states have refused the lure of expanding Medicaid (the means-tested health care program) in exchange for “free” federal […]

What’s the worst economic development during Obama’s reign? Some would say it’s the higher tax burden. Some would say it’s the wasteful faux stimulus. Others would say it’s the fiscal nightmare of Obamacare. And others would say it’s the loss of millions of workers from the labor force. I suppose there’s no objective way to pick the most ill-conceived policy, […]