At the Democratic candidate debate last week, Bernie Sanders was asked how big government should be. His response was illuminating, as was Hillary Clinton’s response to Sanders’ answer. Here is part of what he said: WOODRUFF: “And, welcome back to this PBS Newshour debate, Democratic debate, here in Milwaukee. Let’s get right to the questions. Senator […]
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Yesterday the Heritage Foundation released the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom. This annual publication is produced by the Heritage Foundation in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal. In addition to the 2016 Index the foundation also published Economic Freedom in America, a supplement outlining trends in economic freedom in the United States. Figure 1 illustrates the overall composite […]
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Have we reached a critical mass of voters? On what issue you might ask. On whether big government is bad on the whole. I have read a couple of articles recently, addressing that question. I don’t honestly know whether or to what extent people may believe big government is basically good. But here is a […]
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They Are Singing the Blues, Maybe
09 Jul 2015
Here is a summary of a study by the Mercatus Center of George Mason University on the fiscal situation of liberal states. It looks like liberal states are predominantly profligate. And how well are their citizens faring? Take a look—and read the entire study. Maybe these states might want to consult Greece (?). This summary […]
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States Limit Local Regulation: Finally
19 May 2015
An interesting development has arisen on the issue of regulation. It seems that some state legislatures have moved to limit how much local governments will be allowed to regulate businesses and people. This is quite a development. In the past usually the states were only too happy not only to regulate directly themselves but to […]
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We often lament the ever burgeoning national debt ($18T+), and especially so when we consider the unfunded liabilities (some estimates well north of $100T). Yet while the national debt captures the public’s attention periodically, the disastrous condition of state finances is seldom discussed. There are few good states, albeit red states are typically much better […]
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Another Historical Distortion, by Bill Maher
09 Feb 2015
Bill Maher tells authoritatively that capitalism did not produce a middle class. It was actually worse than that. I quote extensively from his statements on “Real Time” on HBO because you have to read it to believe someone said it: “so what’s happening is, the Democrats are proposing to nibble around the edges of our […]
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Federal Employment
06 Feb 2015
I posted several days ago saying that I thought President Obama’s budget indicated that he had a vision for increasing the scope and reach of our federal government in our lives. A reader was critical of the post. One of his points was that federal government employment is at an all-time low with President Obama’s administration. […]
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Groundhog Day Budget
04 Feb 2015
The Administration’s Budget, released February 2, 2015, saw its shadow and is predicting at least 12 more years of ever encroaching federal government, rising taxes, and a more well defined Nanny State. Based on Table S-4 “Adjusted Baseline by Category”, outlays are expected to increase by more than 80% from 2012 to 2025. This diagram simply illustrates […]
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Spending and the debt. Are we winning or losing?
05 Jan 2015
As the new Republican congress gets set to tackle the Obama agenda, its pertinent to ask if we’re winning or losing on spending. After all, this is supposedly the reason for the rise of the tea party–out of control spending on the part of the Obama administration. This past fall the U.S. government reported the […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach