Thomas Sowell on the politics of the sequester — http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |Back in my teaching days, many years ago, one of the things I liked to ask the class to consider was this: Imagine a government agency with only two tasks: (1) building statues of Benedict Arnold and (2) providing life-saving medications to children. If this [...]
The following article from Stateline compares the success of the equally divided Oregon House of Representatives to the stalemate in the equally divided Virginia Senate. Everyone in the Oregon House deserves credit, but without the leadership of Co-Speakers Bruce Hanna and Arnie Roblan, little would have been accomplished. – CONTENTION AND COMPROMISE IN VIRGINIA, OREGON [...]
JOHN LUDLOW RAISES STAKES IN BID FOR CLACKAMAS COUNTY CHAIR: Northwest Connection Interview by Mark Ellis: With Multnomah County irrevocably under the jurisdiction of a Euro-Socialist voting bloc that resoundingly elected Tiger-Dad David Wu enabler Susan Bonamici, it increasingly falls to free-market, limited-government activists in surrounding precincts to draw battle lines aimed at keeping Portland’s [...]
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 [...]
In his State of the Union address President Obama insisted that those who claim new government regulations are slowing the economic recover are just plain wrong. Obama’s red tape czar, Cass Sunstein, insists that “the costs are not out of line by historical standards.” Not quite, conclude the Heritage Foundation researchers. “The rise in regulatory [...]
Chris Telfer, State Senator and former candidate for State Treasurer, writes in today’s Oregonian that state agency fund balances total $680 million. Leave it to a trained accountant to think that this might have some relevance to a legislature faced with making serious cuts to balance the state’s budget. Not only does the state have [...]
Here’s an example of how California arguably over-regulates. California Proposition 65 requires businesses to post a sign warning customers about the potential presence of significant amounts of toxic chemicals in their locations. That sounds like a good idea! But the devil is in the details. During our winter break trip to southern California, the place we were [...]
For those depressed about the looming demise of the incandescent light bulb, this video rap might lift your spirits.
Dave Lister reminds us, in his latest column for The Oregonian, that government bureaucrats sometimes get it right, even after they have been fired. Dean Marriott, head of Portland’s environmental services, brought the Big Pipe project in “on time and on budget, something rarely achieved in public works, . . . [while ensuring] a dramatically [...]
The U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on the Regulatory Accountability Act designed to give Congress greater control over the vast federal bureaucracy. The New York Times doesn’t like it [see here], so there are probably some good things in the Act. For a description of the key elements of the Act, see this [...]
Writing in City Journal (reprinted here by AEI), Ian Murray observes that “in the seemingly endless debate about how to put Americans back to work, one solution dare not speak its name: deregulation.” In the same piece, Professor David Schoenbrod explains that the problem is not that Congress writes too many regulations, but that Congress sits [...]
Editor’s Note: This article is the first of a series of 6 that will be written by Judy Trego focused on strategies to decrease the government’s role in philanthropic ventures and reengage the community as a leader in these efforts. The series will run through April. By Judy Trego, Part 1 of 6 The American [...]
Cass Sunstein, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, wrote in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal that significant savings would result form the regulatory review ordered by the President. Today it was announced that total savings would be $10 billion. That’s real money, though only a tiny fraction of the massive federal budget. The [...]
Governments now own approximately 80% of Malheur County. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would like to make that figure just a little higher. ODFW is negotiating to purchase an 1100 acre operating cattle ranch near Warmsprings Reservoir. The Department will be making its case before the Malheur County Court tomorrow (Wednesday, August 24) [...]
Does it really require more hours of instruction to become a licensed manicurist than a licensed lawyer in Oregon? According to Chip Mellor and Dick Carperter, writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, it does. Hard to believe, but if true, it’s little wonder the unemployment rate remains high.
As governments face growing costs and declining revenues, there is a renewed interest in consolidation of local governments. The consolidation effort, according to reporter Kate Linebaugh writing in the Wall Street Journal, has encountered significant resistance from people who value the autonomy and access that comes with local governments of all kinds. The United States [...]
Cass Sunstein, Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the White House Office of Management and Budget provided an update on the Administration’s regulatory reforms in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute and in an editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal. Sunstein wrote that “the reforms being released today . . [...]
With the economy showing signs of recovery and Congress looking to the challenges of agreeing to a budget that does not contribute further to the rapidly growing national deficit, news and commentary about last year’s financial regulation reforms have been relegated to the back pages, if not disappeared altogether. In a commentary for Politico, Yale [...]
