Another Legal Defeat for Obamacare!

I refuse to allow myself to get too excited about the chances of Obamacare ultimately being declared unconstitutional, but I’m definitely semi-psyched that this horrid law has been declared void by another federal judge. Here’s what the Washington Examiner has to say. The full text of the decision from Federal Judge Roger Vinson is not [...]

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Greetings from Italy

I’m in Milan, at the office of the Institute Bruno Leoni, which overlooks the famous Castle Sforza and is almost within shouting distance of the remarkable cathedral. This evening, I’ll be talking about how Italy should balance its budget by limiting the size of government, and my message will be identical to the one I [...]

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Iran’s Utterly Venal Government

While many of my posts mock American politicians for their foolish, short-sighted, and corrupt choices, I’m still very happy to be a citizen of the United States. Or, to be more accurate, I’m glad that I live in a nation that is part of Western civilization. Consider what it would be like to live in [...]

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With Apologies to Dickens, One was the Best of Senators, One was the Worst of Senators.

The title of this post doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” But what can you expect when you compare politicians to the opening line of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. That’s what came to my mind, though, when I noticed [...]

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Clint Eastwood Says “Make My Day” with a Flat Tax

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Clint Eastwood is asked about the new governor of California and uses the opportunity to advocate a simple and fair flat tax. “But I’ll tell you when I liked him—and I wasn’t a registered Democrat—but I liked him when he was running for president [in 1992] on [...]

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Sweden Is a Role Model…but for Free Market Reforms, not Socialism

Johnny Munkhammar is a member of the Swedish Parliament and a committed supporter of economic liberalization. He has a column in the Wall Street Journal Europe that does a great job of explaining how Sweden became rich when it was a small-government, pro-market nation. He then notes that his country veered off track in the [...]

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Greetings from San Marino

Hello from the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, a 24-square mile enclave centered around Monte Titano in eastern Italy. I’m here for a conference on “Competition and Alliances among States.” Like many other so-called tax havens, San Marino has been bludgeoned in recent years by politicians from high-tax nations, who resent the flow of [...]

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My Man-Crush on Chris Cristie Is Getting Ridiculous

I’m not saying he’s the next Ronald Reagan. Some of his views on global warming/climate change are very troubling. And he’s apparently hopelessly bad on 2nd Amendment rights. But I’m incredibly impressed at his ability to fight back against spoiled, pampered, over-compensated government bureaucrats. I wish other Republicans could think and talk on their feet [...]

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Time to Shut Down the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Very few things that happen in Washington are legitimate functions of the federal government. I’ve already posted about the need to dismantle the Department of Transportation and send it back to the states, but some things  shouldn’t even be handled by state and local governments. Housing is a perfect example. There should be no role [...]

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Jimmy Kimmel Zings the GOP

I strongly doubt any Republicans in Congress would qualify as “birthers,” but this one-liner from Jimmy Kimmel about the response to the State-of-the-Union address is still rather amusing. The Republican response was actually somewhat gracious. They said it was a pretty good speech for a foreigner.

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New CBO Numbers Re-Confirm that Balancing the Budget Is Simple with Modest Fiscal Restraint

Many of the politicians in Washington, including President Obama during his State-of-the-Union address, piously tell us that there is no way to balance the budget without tax increases. Trying to get rid of red ink without higher taxes, they tell us, would require “savage” and “draconian” budget cuts. I would like to slash the budget [...]

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Post Office Humor

Here’s a great snarky comment from Jimmy Kimmel. Jokes like this are funny because we’ve all experienced he misery of waiting in a line at the Post Office or DMV while bureaucrats chat with each other and otherwise goof off. The U.S. Postal Service announced plans to close an additional 2,000 branches after losing $8.5 [...]

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The Laffer Curve Works…even in France

I write about the Laffer Curve so often that I’m surprised people don’t run away screaming. But I’ll continue to be a pest because I want people to understand that you can’t just look at changes in tax rates when predicting changes in tax revenue. You also have to consider changes in taxable income. Simply [...]

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Live-Blogging Obama’s State-of-the-Union Address

I’d much rather be watching the Georgia-Florida basketball game, but my oppressive and exploitative overlords at the Cato Institute are making me come back to DC this evening to “live-blog” the President’s speech tonight. Several of my colleagues will be joining me in this exercise. If you want to follow our collective (but not collectivist) [...]

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Obama’s State-of-the-Union Speech: Maybe New Rhetoric, Definitely Old Ideas

I’m disappointed, but not surprised, to read in the Washington Post that President Obama has decided against any changes to restrain Social Security spending. He’ll still probably subject us to pious and insincere rhetoric about fighting red ink in tonight’s State-of-the-Union address, but it is very revealing that the President is rejecting even the recommendations [...]

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If You Want to Understand Why Keynesianism Is Wrong and How Government Mistakes Caused the Great Depression, Learn about Austrian Economics

I’ve written several times about Hoover and Roosevelt causing/deepening/lengthening the Great Depression with their tax-and-spend, interventionist policies (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). But I’ve only once waded into the deeper economic issues. But a new column by Robert Higgs (h/t, Don Boudreaux) has motivated me to give some well-deserved attention to [...]

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All Libertarians and Conservatives Should Agree to End Federal Abortion Subsidies

Regardless of what one thinks about abortion, it is preposterous for the federal government to be subsidizing the procedure. Yet that is what happens thanks to annual subsidies of as much as $363 million for Planned Parenthood. Defenders of Planned Parenthood sometimes claim that federal money doesn’t actually pay for abortions, but that’s a silly [...]

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Obama’s Crony Capitalism Means the Poor Subsidize the Rich

I’ve always rejected coercive redistribution, particularly when imposed by the federal government. But some types of redistribution are worse than others, and when big business and big government get in bed together, ordinary people are the ones who get screwed. This is why Obama’s supposed “move to the center” is a bunch of nonsense. Tim [...]

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English Anti-Tax Haven Ideologues Are Just as Foolish and Ignorant as their American Cousins

There’s a supposed expose in the U.K.-based Daily Mail about how major British companies have subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions. It even includes this table with the ostensibly shocking numbers. This is quite akin to the propaganda issued by American statists. Here’s a table from a report issued by a left-wing group that calls itself “Business [...]

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Even Jesus Faces Challenges When Dealing with the Perverse Incentives of Big Government

I was surprised to receive a joke about unemployment insurance, but the resourceful readers of this blog have surprised me yet again with a joke about disability insurance. ================================================= “An Irishman with a bad leg hobbled into a restaurant one afternoon. He painfully sat down at a booth and asked the waitress for a cup [...]

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The Exodus from Illinois Begins

It may not be very nice to say “I told you so” when the warnings you issue become reality, but I’m not a nice person (at least when it comes to greedy politicians imposing stupid policy). So I’ll openly admit that I’m happy to read that entrepreneurs and job creators already are beginning to escape [...]

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The Extraordinary Life and Insight of Walter Williams

I don’t think I’ve ever promoted a book since starting this blog, but the new autobiography from Walter Williams is too good not to recommend. But don’t believe me. Walter was just interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, and you can get a flavor for his blunt style and crisp analysis. Speaking for myself, I’m [...]

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Where Do I Apply for this Job?

Who knew there was such a thing as an unemployment insurance joke? This gem comes courtesy of the Washington Watch website. ================================== A guy walked into the local unemployment office to pick up his check.  He marched straight up to the counter and said, “Hi. You know, I just HATE drawing unemployment. I’d really rather [...]

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Even Studies from the European Central Bank Show Spending Restraint Is Key to Controlling Red Ink

I’m not a big fan of central banks, and I definitely don’t like multilateral bureaucracies, so I almost feel guilty about publicizing two recent studies published by the European Central Bank. But when such an institution puts out research that unambiguously makes the case for smaller government, it’s time to sit up and take notice. [...]

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A Couple of Very Funny Political Jokes from Conan

These two are worth sharing, especially the one about Schwarzenegger. The Republican-controlled House voted to repeal the healthcare bill. If that goes well, they’ll see what they can do about this whole “women voting” thing. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he’s considering doing a movie in which he would play a Nazi. He says that after being [...]

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Seven Historic Videos to Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s Inauguration

On this day in 1981, a truly great man became President of the United States. To celebrate, here are a few videos. This was Reagan’s coming-out political moment, his speech on behalf of Goldwater in 1964, which includes the great line about the “soup kitchen of the welfare state.” And here’s a clip from his [...]

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Obama’s Column against Over-Regulation: Insincere, Inaccurate, and Hypocritical

The President garnered some attention for his January 18 column in the Wall Street Journal, in which he said we need to control the regulatory burden. Let’s start with the insincere part. He praised capitalism. America’s free market has not only been the source of dazzling ideas and path-breaking products, it has also been the [...]

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Firearms and Civilization

I don’t know if this is a real letter-to-the-editor or if Major Caudill really exists, but this is a very strong statement in favor of the civilizing impact of firearms. And since I like to share good things that arrive in my inbox, it’s now yours to share. I recall hearing saying that went something [...]

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I Loathe Sleazy, Corrupt, Disgusting Republicans Who Get Rich by Selling Out

A former  Cato colleague, Will Wilkinson, made one of the most astute and powerful observations I have ever read when he wrote that, “…the more power the government has to pick winners and losers, the more power rich people will have relative to poor people.”I thought about this statement when I read a column today [...]

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The American Right Asks the Left for a Divorce

Here’s another amusing email that landed in my inbox. Sort of the same theme as our joke about Canada. ======================================================= Dear American liberals, leftists, statists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, etc: We have stuck together since the late 1950′s for the sake of the kids, but this latest election has made me realize [...]

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