When I last checked, Henry Payne was winning the bronze medal in the contest to identify the best political cartoonist. You can see why by checking out this cartoon about Washington’s reaction to sequestration, which (gasp!) slightly slows the growth of the federal budget so that it is only $2.4 trillion bigger 10 years from […]

Triggered by an appearance on Canadian TV, I asked yesterday why we should believe anti-sequester Keynesians. They want us to think that a very modest reduction in the growth of government spending will hurt the economy, yet Canada enjoyed rapid growth in the mid-1990s during a period of substantial budget restraint. I make a similar […]

In this appearance on Canadian TV, I  debunk anti-sequester hysteria, pointing out that “automatic budget cuts” merely restrain government so that it grows $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years rather than $2.5 trillion. I also point out that we shouldn’t worry about government employees getting a slight haircut since federal bureaucrats are overcompensated. Moreover, […]

The statist agenda of ever-growing government requires more money going to Washington, which is why I think that proponents of limited government should do everything they can to block tax increases. This is the “starve the beast” theory, and I’ve previously explained why I think it is a necessary part of any long-run strategy to […]

Sigh. I feel like a modern-day Sisyphus. Except I’m not pushing a rock up a hill, only to then watch it roll back down. I have a far more frustrating job. I have to read the same nonsense day after day about “deep spending cuts” even though I keep explaining to journalists that a sequester […]

I shared a couple of amusing sequester cartoons the other day, and I’ve previously written about the absurdity of anti-sequester hysteria in Washington when all it means is that the federal budget will grow by $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years rather than $2.5 trillion. This Nate Beeler cartoon effectively captures the mindset of […]

Notwithstanding hysterical rhetoric from the White House, the bureaucracies, and the various pro-spending lobbies in Washington, the sequester does not mean “vicious” or “draconian” spending cuts. I wish that was the case. All it does is restrain spending so that it grows by $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years rather than $2.5 trillion. We […]

The looters and moochers in Washington are increasingly agitated by the prospect of sequestration. Automatic budget cuts, we are told, will indiscriminately slash vital programs and undermine economic growth by reducing government spending. This is utter bunk. I would like to “slash vital programs,” but the chart I prepared earlier this week shows that the […]

To save America from the supposedly “savage” and “draconian” budget cuts caused by sequestration, President Obama has instead asked Congress to approve an alternative fiscal package containing additional tax increases. So why is the sequester so bad? Does it slash the budget by 50 percent? Does it shut down departments, programs, and agencies? Sounds good […]

Much to the horror of various interest groups, it appears that there will be a “sequester” on March 1. This means an automatic reduction in spending authority for selected programs (interest payments are exempt, as are most entitlement outlays). Just about everybody in Washington is frantic about the sequester, which supposedly will mean “savage” and […]