Should We Really Leave it to the Experts?
A Budget Worthy of Greece
Lincoln Warned Us
WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE
Politics and the Supreme Court
Another Well Intended but Failed Regulation
Cascade Policy Institute’s Steve Buckstein writes in today’s Oregonian on the many costs of Oregon’s failed regulation of over the counter cold and sinus medications.
Who Needs Congress?
Not the President, obviously. cnsnews.com reports [here] Obama’s latest thumbing of his nose to the Constitution. “When Congress refuses to act,” said the President, “Joe and I are going to act.”
Campaign Finance Regulation Will Never Work
Writing in yesterday’s Investor’s Business Daily, Robert Samuelson explains why 40 years of campaign finance regulation has achieved none of its objectives. Why have we persisted in the face of repeated failure? Because of three myths that Samuelson dispels: Myth One: The rich and corporate interests rule government through campaign contributions and lobbying. Myth Two: [...]
Earn Top Income — Work for the Federal Government
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study finds that the average federal worker receives wages that are 2% higher land a similarly skilled private sector worker and benefits that are 48% higher. When the two are combined, the CBO concludes, federal workers receive total compensation (wages plus benefits) 16% higher than market levels. Not surprisingly, it’s [...]
Job Holder as Job Creator
Walter Russell Mead, blogging for The American Interest, argues [here] that we need a whole new understanding of jobs, employment and employers. The future, he says, is about entrepreneurs and innovation. “In order to create the kind of job and service explosion that can provide better incomes for more Americans going forward, the government needs [...]
Some Facts about American Manufacturing
The Wall Street Journal editorial board argues [here] that both Obama on the left and Santorum on the right are twisting the truth about the state of American manufacturing and the impacts of political intervention. The bottom line? Things are better than you think and consumers have benefited enormously.
Voodoo Environomics and Keystone XL
In today’s Washington Times, H. Leighton Steward writes: President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline wasn’t, as he claimed, based on science or the environment. It certainly wasn’t based on sound economic policy, either. The decision was, in fact, the product of voodoo environomics: a destructive blend of bad science based on fear-mongering and [...]
Negative Ads Are Bringing Us Down
Political campaigns are no more negative than they have ever been. In fact they were sometimes worse than what we have seen in the Republican presidential primaries. But according to Peggy Noonan, writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, the impacts on our politics and culture are far worse because today’s ads are ubiquitous. No one [...]
Europe Rising?
While everyone worries about China’s rise relative to the United States, Donald Luskin and Lorcan Roche Kelly suggest that Europe is actually rising as an economic competitor, even including Italy, Spain and Portugal. (Greek is a basket case but of little economic consequence in the grand scheme of things.) The reason, the two authors suggest [...]
Give Wyden His Due
Is there a war on Wyden, or is he just being ignored? Kimberly Strassel reports in today’s Wall Street Journal that Wyden has introduced roughly 150 bipartisan bills during his 16 years in the Senate. She does not report how many have been enacted, but we can rest assured it’s a very small number. Is [...]
People Take Charge in Clackamas County
When Occupiers across the country and here in Portland were whining about unfairness, while camping out in public parks and celebrating their leaderlessness, a grassroots movement in Clackamas County, Oregon, actually got some things done. Writing in yesterday’s Oregonian, Dave Lister describes how ordinary folks have reminded the elite about the basic premise of democracy [...]
