The Obama administration has consistently sought to eliminate education choices and reduce opportunities, particular for the poor. The president has repeatedly tried to eliminate funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, despite the fact that the limited school-choice program costs less per pupil than public schools and has seen positive results for poor students. His […]

I’ve already suggested that subsidies for the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are the most wasteful and counterproductive item in the federal budget. At least on a per-dollar-spent basis. But what about a similar exercise for government red tape? How would we come up with the worst regulation or the most counterproductive regulatory agency? […]

I’ve complained many times about government intervention in the financial sector. The financial and housing crisis, for instance, was largely a consequence of the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policy, combined with the system of corrupt subsidies put in place by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But there’s another government-imposed cost that burdens the financial sector. Writing for the […]

Two years ago, I shared a video about the Environmental Protection Agency’s brutal and thuggish tactics against an Idaho family. That story had a very happy ending because the Supreme Court struck a blow for property rights and unanimously ruled against the EPA (too bad that similarly sound analysis was absent when the Justices decided the Kelo case). […]

The headline of this post might not be completely honest. Indeed, if you asked me to grade the accuracy of my title, I’ll admit right away that it falls into the “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan” category of mendacity. But I’m only prevaricating to set the stage for some satire […]

I wish there was a magic wand that somebody could wave and all of us would have more money. Or maybe Santa Claus could play that role, or some version of the Tooth Fairy. And if that magic person only had limited powers, I would want more money specifically for those with modest incomes. Unfortunately, we […]

Time for another great moment in red tape. I wrote a couple of weeks ago that banks treat customers poorly in part because of bad laws and regulations from Washington. Money laundering laws were adopted beginning about 30 years ago based on the theory that we could lower crime rates by making it more difficult for crooks […]

Every so often, I share stories about the ridiculous and outrageous way in which the federal government squanders our money. So when I saw this New York Post story about the feds pissing away a six-figure sum on condom research, I figured this would be a perfect addition to my collection of government waste stories. The federal government is […]