A Comedian Gives Us a Halloween Tax Video

A good lesson for all children, though I tried to indoctrinate my kids throughout the year by explaining that we couldn’t buy certain things because the government stole too much of our money.

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Would You Rather Your Country Grow like France or Hong Kong?

A paper posted on the Social Science Research Network looks at nations that are prospering compared to those that are stagnating. Not surprisingly, limited government and free enterprise policies are associated with better economic performance. Here’s an excerpt from this new research. What can we conclude about the effect of various policies on economic growth? [...]

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Should We Blame Obama, Rangel, and Baucus if People Die to Escape the Death Tax?

The death tax is a punitive levy that discourages saving and investment and causes substantial economic inefficiency. But it’s also an immoral tax that seizes assets from grieving families solely because someone dies. The good news is that this odious tax no longer exists. It disappeared on January 1, 2010, thanks to the 2001 tax cut legislation. [...]

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Is Voting a Waste of Time?

The “good government” crowd tells us that voting is a “civic duty.” When I hear that type of nonsense, it makes me want to deliberately stay home. But I did actually vote today, in part to avoid lines on Tuesday and in part because I leave that morning for a speech in Florida. But why [...]

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Some Risque Political Humor

At least this form of stimulus might work.

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A Joke that Will Be Very Meaningful Next Tuesday

HEAVEN OR HELL While walking down the street one day a Corrupt Senator was tragically hit by a car and died. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance. “Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a [...]

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Is the FAIR Tax a Political Liability?

In the past 15 years, I’ve debated in favor of a national sales tax, testified before Congress on the merits of a national sales tax, gone on TV to advocate for the national sales tax, and spoken with dozens of reporters to explain why the national sales tax is a good idea. Even though I [...]

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Why Have Money Laundering Laws if They Impose High Costs and Yield No Benefits?

It was only a few decades ago that there was no such thing as money-laundering laws. Instead, the focus of law enforcement was on the underlying criminal behavior (such as robbery) that generated ill-gotten gains. In recent decades, however, politicians around the world have passed hundreds of laws, created hundreds of agencies, and spawned several international [...]

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Boehner Endorses More Medicare Spending: Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss?

While flipping through the radio on my way to pick my son up from school yesterday afternoon, I was dumbfounded to hear Congressman John Boehner talk about repealing Obama’s Medicare cuts on Sean Hannity’s show. I wasn’t shocked that Boehner was referring to non-existent cuts (Medicare spending is projected to jump from $519 billion in 2010 to [...]

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White House TARP Lies Add Insult to Injury

I commented on the Obama Administration’s TARP dishonesty yesterday, which made me feel better, but it was even more cathartic to vent on national TV about the corruption, dishonesty, and economic damage associated with the Wall Street bailout.

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Nine Key Ballot Initiatives to Watch

While everyone is focused on whether Republicans will win control of the House and/or Senate, there are several issues that voters will directly decide that deserve close attention. Here are the nine initiatives that have caught my attention. I’m probably missing some important ones, so feel free to add suggestions in the comment section. 1. [...]

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What Gets You Most Upset about the TARP Bailout, the Lying, the Corruption, or the Economic Damage?

I’m an economist, so I should probably be most agitated about the economic consequences of TARP, such as moral hazard and capital malinvestment. But when I read stories about how political insiders (both in government and on Wall Street) manipulate the system for personal advantage, I want to go postal. Yes, TARP was economically misguided. But [...]

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Winner of the Biden Caption Contest

This entry was submitted by email. While several of the posted comments made me chuckle, this one earned a laugh. And the person (who wishes to remain anonymous) clearly put in a bit of effort.

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Taxpayers vs Bureaucrats: The Looters Fight Back

I’m not sure what to make of the Stewart/Colbert rally this weekend, but one of the sideshow events that definitely cries out for some verbal abuse is the “Government Doesn’t Suck” march that has been organized by overpaid federal bureaucrats. I wonder what signs they’ll carry? Perhaps “Lazy People Have Rights!”? Or how about, “We [...]

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Can a Weak Dollar Lead to a Strong Economy?

Two CNBC stories are linked on the Drudge Report this morning, and they both highlight the growing risk of the Fed’s easy-money policy. The first story discusses whether the dollar will continue to depreciate. Since the “optimist” argument is based on global instability, this is hardly encouraging regardless of what you think will happen to [...]

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Joe Biden Caption Contest

I have no idea if this is a faked photo, but let’s have some fun with it. Whoever comes up with the funniest/most clever caption wins a very valuable prize.* *Okay, there’s no real prize, but you’ll at least have the satisfaction of being…um…funny and clever.

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The Agony of Defeat in Phoenix

Our AA 50+ softball team made it to the final day of the World Series tournament in Phoenix, but we lost 15-14 to a team from Alaska and missed out shot at the title. We had the tying run on second and I was on deck when the game ended, so I missed my chance [...]

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Can We Trade Obama for Castro?

I’m not serious , of course, but it is rather ironic that Raul Castro is cutting the tax burden on small business at the same time that Obama is pushing for higher tax rates on small business. Reuters reports on the latest in supply-side communism. Cuba unveiled on Friday a new tax code it said [...]

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France Increases Retirement Age to 62, Solves 1.94 Percent of Its Fiscal Problem

I’m just making up the 1.94 percent number, but the International Herald Tribune reported last year that unfunded liabilities in France are nearly 550 percent of GDP. The news reports don’t include any estimates of what Sarkozy’s reform will mean, but I would be surprised if it had a big impact on France’s long-run fiscal [...]

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The Political Class vs the American People

According to a new poll from Rasmussen, almost two-thirds of the American people want smaller government and lower taxes while only one-fourth want bigger government and higher taxes. Not surprisingly, the moochers and looters of the governing elite are wildly out of touch with the American people, with 70 percent of the political class favoring [...]

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The IRS’s Tax Rate on Google’s Foreign-Source Income Is 2.4 Percentage Points Too High

There’s been considerable attention to the news that the IRS has only managed to grab 2.4 percent of Google’s overseas income. As this Bloomberg article indicates, many statists act as if this is a scandal (including a morally bankrupt quote from a Baruch College professor who thinks a company’s lawful efforts to lower its tax liability [...]

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Has the Tea Party Saved the GOP?

Peggy Noonan makes a compelling case in the Wall Street Journal that the Tea Party has rescued the GOP by allowing Republicans to escape the statist legacy of George W. Bush and forcing them to re-focus on the need to restrain big government. I’m not sure that she’s right. After all, the establishment wing of the [...]

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Republicans and Democrats Should Be Especially Concerned about the Threat of Government When Their Party Is in Charge

Gallup just released a poll showing that 46 percent of Americans view the federal government as an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary Americans. My first reaction was to wonder why the number was so low. After all, we have a political elite that wants to do everything from control our health [...]

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Taxpayers vs Bureaucrats: The $320K-per-Year New Jersey Turnpike Employee

This definitely belongs in the OMG category. Bureaucrats at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority are ripping off taxpayer is a spectacular fashion. Here are some stunning details. Auditors say the New Jersey Turnpike Authority wasted $43 million on unneeded perks and bonuses.  In one case, an employee with a base salary of $73,469 earned $321,985 [...]

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Taxpayers vs Bureaucrats, Part XLII: United Kingdom to Get Rid of 500,000 Government Jobs?

I want to believe. No, I’m not talking about the X-Files movie from 2008. I’m referring to the BBC’s report that the U.K. government will cut spending and eliminate 500,000 government positions. Unfortunately, I can’t accept this story at face value. As I’ve noted before, the United Kingdom has the same dishonest fiscal system we [...]

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The False Choice Between a VAT and Impossible Spending Cuts

Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana has triggered a spat among policy wonks with his recent comments expressing sympathy for a value-added tax (VAT). Kevin Williamson of National Review is arguing that a VAT will probably be necessary because there is no hope of restraining spending. Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform jumped on Williamson for [...]

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Why Is It Okay for Rich Democrats to Use Tax Havens, but It’s Not Okay for the Little People?

Senator John Kerry is enriched by tax havens. Former Democratic Senator (and professional slug) John Edwards got to use tax havens. Former President Bill Clinton got to benefit from tax havens. Connecticut’s Attorney General (and Senate candidate), Richard Blumenthal, saves money with tax havens. Now we find out that a major Democratic donor and significant [...]

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Taxpayers vs Bureaucrats, Part XLII: The Serfs Are Getting Angry

Time for some much-needed positive news. Ordinary taxpayers are slowly but surely figuring out that federal workers are overpaid and underworked. Here are some of the details from the story in the Washington Post. More than half of Americans say they think that federal workers are overpaid for the work they do…according to a Washington Post poll. [...]

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The Alaska Version of Big Government Means Big Corruption

Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner is an expert on corruption and sleaze inside the beltway, and his column this morning is a perfect example. He shows how corrupt insiders in Alaska use something known as the “Rent-an-Eskimo” scam to pull in hundreds of millions of tax dollars from no-bid federal contracts. These insiders, meanwhile, [...]

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Australia: A Great Country with a Bad Government

 I’m finally back in Washington after a week in Australia for the Mont Pelerin Society general meeting. Aussies are great people, but their government is just as misguided as the one we’re burdened with here in America. A friend took this pic of me on a visit to Manly Beach. You may notice a similarity [...]

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