Vermont legislature working hard to maximize recession’s negative impact

Not content with the ravages of the already-deep recession, the Vermont legislature is considering a raft of legislation that will make things worse. I will mention several of the measures here, but I’d like to point out from the very beginning that no matter how horribly these initiatives scar the state’s economy, no matter how [...]

Obama hypocritically embraces “trickle-down” economics

It’s now official. After decades of trying to deny the fact that fiscally healthy and profitable corporations create jobs and sustainable economic growth, the Democrats have finally embraced the so-called “trickle-down” effect. The only problem is that they recognize it only when they themselves are directly controlling the spending, and the fates of the companies [...]

A quick word on the auto industry bailout

Every once in a while, a columnist summarizes a political situation so succinctly that it’s a shining gem in the gravel-pit of rhetoric. Reason columnist Steve Chapman’s recent commentary on the auto bailout hit the nail on the head:
And what about the automakers that have not run themselves into the ground? They get nothing. Actually, [...]

The liberal willingness to watch poor people die

I often point out that liberal policies kill people. In part, of course, the way I present it is stark hyperbole to grab people’s attention, but for the most part, it’s true; liberal willingness to allocate society’s resources to fit their view of what’s “fair,” “safe,” or “compassionate” necessarily result in societal ills, including unnecessary [...]

Secret meetings charting the course to government healthcare

With leftists dominating Congress and holding the White House, we must conclude that the American people are gung-ho about having the government make their decisions for them on a host of issues, healthcare among them. And, as further evidence of our abdication of personal responsibility, we have now gotten to the point in our political [...]

Obama works to divide and conquer

The strategy of the Democratic party – and of leftists in general – is to continually push policies that centralize control of citizens’ lives at the federal level. This is where they – the elite who have much better ideas than we, the benighted rabble – can have the most impact on us while remaining [...]

The intelligence of the free market shines in foreclosures

Even if we are inclined to ignore the gross injustice of bailing out homeowners who find themselves unable to afford their mortgages (which I’m not inclined to do), there are other reasons to oppose the Obama administration’s appallingly irresponsible bailout measure. One of the best reasons is that the free market, when left to its [...]

Obama threatens to strike at the heart of free society

I have been dismayed by the Obama administration’s willingness – nay, even its eagerness – to use the coercive power of government to warp and distort the free market in the name of “fairness,” or of “addressing our national crisis.” But the latest news is truly chilling:
One possibility is a stepped-up effort to enact legislation [...]

Brainlessness behind the “stimulus”

I couldn’t have said it any better than this brilliant column in Reason magazine. The core of its brilliance:
The theory of economic stimuli suffers from several serious problems. First, it assumes people are stupid. Tax rebates, for example, presume that if people get money to increase their consumption, businesses will expand their production and hire [...]

New York Times editorial calls for a return of the real estate bubble

A New York Times editorial today advocates a “stimulus” idea that’s so foolish, it makes me wonder if their editorial board has a fully functioning brain among the lot of them. The first sentence of the editorial reads:
The stimulus package taking shape in Congress does little to provide affordable housing for the country’s poorest families.
And [...]