Benjamin Zycher
Commentary
Mickey Kaus and Realism
Kaus — normally a sensible guy — seems not to understand that needs, whether medical or other, are infinite, while resources remain limited, always and everywhere. Even in principle, therefore, “universal coverage” must evolve, quickly, into something far less compassionate; and in any event, tax increases, even on the middle ...
Business & Economics
Santa Is a Hoosier
For Barack Claus, if it’s Wednesday, this must be Indiana. The state’s recreational-vehicle industry is hurting badly — the local unemployment rate is around 17 percent — and his empathy knows no bounds, particularly since the land of the Hoosiers is a swing state. But what sort of gifts should ...
Commentary
How Stupid Can They Possibly Be?
So who is it this time? Well, it’s those savvy businessmen, wheeling and dealing inside the Beltway, as if the machinations that they arrange with the politicos are actually enforceable. Consider a New York Times report today, beginning with the following: Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday ...
Agriculture
Clunker Cash and Me
And so I asked the question on the minds of millions of my fellow concerned citizens: How can I get my snout into this trough? Easy: I buy a small car qualifying for the $4,500, and keep it for a few months until the cash-for-clunkers boondoggle has run its course. ...
Business & Economics
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
Business & Economics
California’s ‘Spending Limit’ Is A Sham
The outlook for the California economy is dreadful, driven by a deeply perverse tax and regulatory environment, combined with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s highly successful five-year effort to avoid hard choices. And so the state budget, the utter profligacy of which for years has been papered over with accounting tricks and ...
Mickey Kaus and Realism
Kaus — normally a sensible guy — seems not to understand that needs, whether medical or other, are infinite, while resources remain limited, always and everywhere. Even in principle, therefore, “universal coverage” must evolve, quickly, into something far less compassionate; and in any event, tax increases, even on the middle ...
Santa Is a Hoosier
For Barack Claus, if it’s Wednesday, this must be Indiana. The state’s recreational-vehicle industry is hurting badly — the local unemployment rate is around 17 percent — and his empathy knows no bounds, particularly since the land of the Hoosiers is a swing state. But what sort of gifts should ...
How Stupid Can They Possibly Be?
So who is it this time? Well, it’s those savvy businessmen, wheeling and dealing inside the Beltway, as if the machinations that they arrange with the politicos are actually enforceable. Consider a New York Times report today, beginning with the following: Pressed by industry lobbyists, White House officials on Wednesday ...
Clunker Cash and Me
And so I asked the question on the minds of millions of my fellow concerned citizens: How can I get my snout into this trough? Easy: I buy a small car qualifying for the $4,500, and keep it for a few months until the cash-for-clunkers boondoggle has run its course. ...
An Agenda For California’s Fiscal Reform
The California state budget for years has been “balanced” with heavy borrowing, various kinds of raids on localities and special funds, and transfers from the future to the present. More generally, spending profligacy, high tax rates and onerous regulations have worked their magic: The gap between the ability of the ...
California’s ‘Spending Limit’ Is A Sham
The outlook for the California economy is dreadful, driven by a deeply perverse tax and regulatory environment, combined with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s highly successful five-year effort to avoid hard choices. And so the state budget, the utter profligacy of which for years has been papered over with accounting tricks and ...
