by Dan Mitchell | Jan 26, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
When I think about social welfare spending, I mostly worry about recipients getting trapped in dependency. But I also feel sorry for taxpayers, who are bearing ever-higher costs to finance redistribution programs. Today’s column won’t focus on those issues. Instead,...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 21, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation, Welfare and Entitlements
If nothing else, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gives me a lot to write about…and to laugh about. I recently pontificated about her crazy idea to impose a top tax rate of 70 percent, which would reverse the very successful experiment we had in the 1980s (and presumably have...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 11, 2019 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation, Welfare and Entitlements
Bernie Sanders is yesterday’s news. Yes, he’s still lovable ol’ Crazy Bernie, but he’s now being overshadowed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another out-of-the-closet socialist who somehow thinks America should be more like Greece or Venezuela. Brian Riedl...
by Dan Mitchell | Dec 10, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
There was a book last decade by Thomas Frank, What’s the Matter with Kansas?, that asked why lower-income voters in the state didn’t vote for greater levels of redistribution. The author claimed these voters were sidetracked by cultural issues, which may very well be...
by Dan Mitchell | Nov 8, 2018 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
When I argue with my statist friends about the proper size and scope of government, they accuse me of not wanting public services. My typical response is to explain that I am a strong supporter of markets as the method to get high-quality roads, schools,...