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Obama State of the Union Flunks Fact Check; More Wasteful Spending and “A Million Points of Trite”
The Associated Press fact-checked Obama’s State of the Union address last night, and found it to be misleading in many ways: “The ledger…
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Thoughts on the State of the Union and Education in America
In the Washington Examiner, I discuss some of the president’s anticipated proposals in his State of the Union address today. The president is…
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Obama Policies Fuel Global Food Crisis Through Ethanol Mandates, While Fostering Obesity in America
Food prices are soaring all over the world. The global food chain is reportedly stretched to the limit, fueled by the fact…
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Andrew Sullivan Blames Tea Party for Budget-Busting Deal That He, Not It, Supported
The deficit is largely the result of “feel-good” bipartisan policies supported by the political establishment. But rather than taking credit for the deficit it…
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Students Learn Less in College, Even As Education Spending Skyrockets
“Nearly half of the nation’s undergraduates show almost no gains in learning in their first two years of college, in large part because colleges don’t…
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Yes, Obamacare is a Government Takeover of the Health Care System
In Tuesday’s Washington Post, Glenn Kessler looked at Republican claims about Obamacare, such as the claim that it “is a ‘government takeover’ of the health…
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How the President Can Foster the “Civil and Honest” Debate He Called For
In his speech in Tucson, where federal Judge John Roll was murdered, President Obama said that “only a more civil and honest public discourse can…
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Smears and Hypocritical Calls for “Civility” Follow Tucson Shooting
Even though the Tucson shooter was mentally unbalanced, did not listen to talk radio or Fox News, and liked The Communist Manifesto, several…
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WikiLeaks Backs Censorship in Response to Tucson Shootings
In a press release, WikiLeaks has blamed Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and other conservatives for the Tucson shootings, and called for them to…
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The Meaning of Civility in the Aftermath of the Tucson Shootings
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The Political Climate is Too Dull and Conformist Already
There is a lot of cynical and dishonest blather right now about the need to dial down America’s political rhetoric because of the shootings…
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Thoughts on the Tucson Shootings
In the Washington Examiner, I have a commentary entitled “Shootings Obscure America’s Generally Bland and Timid Political Culture.” In The Wall Street Journal, law…
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Dodd-Frank Financial “Reform” Violates Property Rights and Equal-Protection Guarantees
Last week, I described how the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” law passed last summer violates constitutional separation-of-powers safeguards by giving unaccountable bureaucrats the…
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Four Radicals Renominated to Federal Judgeships
On Wednesday, President Obama renominated four radicals to federal judgeships, even though their nominations previously died in the Senate. A week earlier, he made six controversial recess…
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Dodd-Frank Violates Separation of Powers and Constitutional Checks and Balances
In a recent edition of the Washington Post, former White House counsel C. Boyden Gray noted that the sweeping Dodd-Frank financial “reform” law passed…
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More Signs of Incompetence in Washington, D.C. Transit System
In the latest sign of dysfunction at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“Metro”), the struggling subway system has appointed a supervisor of escalators…
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The College Diploma Fraud and Its Consequences
Retired professor Robert Weissberg has a fascinating article at The American Thinker called “The College Diploma Fraud.” It describes how worthless many college degrees have…
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Potato Diet Improves Man’s Health; Obama Administration Bans Potatoes from WIC Program
Chris Voigt lost 21 pounds and improved his health by living on a potato-only diet for 60 days. Potatoes are more nutritious…
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Time for Big Cuts in Education Spending?
America spends far more on education than countries like Germany, Japan, Australia, Ireland, and Italy, both as a percentage of its economy, and in absolute…
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The Obama Administration’s Misguided War on For-Profit Colleges
In Forbes, economist Richard Vedder of Ohio University documents the blunders behind the Obama administration’s war on for-profit colleges that wiped out $8 billion…
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Obamacare Makes State Budget Problems Worse
Obamacare is making state budget problems much worse, as governors now lament. Earlier, CEI filed an amicus brief in Florida v. HHS on…
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Food Safety Modernization Act Passes; Unconstitutional Provision Supposedly Removed
The Food Safety Modernization Act was passed again by Congress on Sunday, apparently without a provision that earlier drew criticism for violating the Constitution by having a…
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Rip-Off: College Tuition Bubble and Debt Burdens Grow Worse
Forbes magazine recently blew the whistle on how skyrocketing college tuition is ripping off the public. Thanks to some colleges’ greed, and the federal and state financial…
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Judicial Hellholes Kill Jobs and Redistribute Wealth
The most recent list of judicial hellholes has just been released by the American Tort Reform Association. It lists “courts in Philadelphia; California’s Los Angeles…
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Nanny-Statist CSPI Sues to Ban Happy Meals at McDonald’s
An ill-informed left-wing group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is suing McDonald’s in California to ban toys from Happy…
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Should Obamacare Be Struck Down In Its Entirety Rather Than Just Having Its Unconstitutional Parts Severed?
In his ruling striking down Obamacare’s individual mandate (requirement that people buy health insurance), Judge Hudson in Richmond declined to strike down the rest…
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Useless College Degrees Proliferate; Millions Waste Lives in Academic Bubble
“Do we need more college grads?,” asks John Leo in Minding the Campus. The answer is surely no: a study highlighted in the Chronicle…
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Is Obamacare’s Government Healthcare Takeover a “Civil Right”?
Doug Powers takes aim at the silly argument by the Obama administration that opposing Obamacare is analogous to opposing basic civil rights. As he…
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Unemployment Benefits Keep People from Working
Wintery Knight has an interesting discussion of how unemployment benefits keep people from working, drawing on coverage from The New York Times and academic…
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Reactions to Court Ruling Striking Down Part of Obamacare in Virginia v. Sebelius
Yesterday, a federal judge in Richmond struck down Obamacare’s requirement that individuals buy health insurance. Cato Institute’s Ilya Shapiro reacts to the decision…
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Ruling in Virginia’s Challenge to Obamacare Individual Mandate Expected Today
A ruling in Virginia’s constitutional challenge to Obamacare’s individual mandate is expected later today. The Competitive Enterprise Institute joined in an amicus brief filed…
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More Disincentives to Work, Thanks to the Federal Government and the Stimulus Package
Thanks to food stamps, Medicaid, and housing subsidies, and other welfare benefits, many “poor” people have far more disposable income than self-supporting households earning $40,000…
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New Fast Food Restaurants Banned in South Los Angeles
New fast-food restaurants are now banned in South Los Angeles. Say goodbye to many entry-level jobs in that poor urban area. The cockamamie idea behind this ban is…
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Court Rejects Obesity Class-Action Against McDonald’s
A New York court has refused to certify a class-action lawsuit against McDonald’s by people claiming it made them obese. As Ted Frank notes,…
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Child-Snatching to Reap Federal Funds: The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997
An article called “The 7 Most Horrifying Cost-Cutting Measures of All Time” decries the role of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997…
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Stimulus Impact: Zero, or Less Than Zero?
In The Wall Street Journal, economists John F. Cogan and John B. Taylor argue that the impact of the $800 billion “Obama stimulus” was…
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17 Million Unnecessary College Degrees; Obama Administration Seeks to Increase the Number
In America today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees. Over 18,000 parking lot attendants have college degrees. So do thousands of janitors.
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Supreme Court to Hear Wal-Mart v. Dukes
The Supreme Court voted to hear Wal-Mart v. Dukes, granting Wal-Mart’s petition for certiorari. The Supreme Court will decide whether a class-action rule…
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Deal to Explode Deficits by $900 Billion Will Burden States and Employers With More Unemployment Costs
President Obama and Republican leaders reached a deal to extend the Bush tax cuts for two years — and temporarily reduce social security payroll taxes…
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Unemployment Jumps to 9.8 Percent; Stimulus and New Regulations Wipe Out Jobs
Unemployment has jumped to 9.8 percent. The population has grown recently, but the number of jobs has remained virtually flat. The White House…
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The College Debt Bubble: Is It Ready to Explode?
“Is the College Debt Bubble Ready to Explode?,” asks Laura Rowley at Yahoo! Finance. College tuition has skyrocketed much more than housing did during…
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Senate Leaders Violate Constitution in Pushing Through Costly Food Safety Modernization Act
The House and Senate passed different versions of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which would ratchet up costly regulations of farms and food processing. (Greg…
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Homeland Security Violating Due Process and Free Speech In Internet Power Grab?
Law professor David Post notes that the Department of Homeland Security is seizing entire domain names, not to protect national security, but to enforce…
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$7 Billion or More in New Taxes for Virginians Under EPA Mandate
The EPA told Virginia earlier that it would impose costly measures on Virginia Counties, measures so costly that they would result in record property…
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An Intrusive, Ineffective, Unionized TSA?
Much has been written about the backlash against the TSA’s intrusive new screening methods. Law professor Jeff Rosen has argued that they violate…
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America’s Wealthiest County Used Bailout Money to Give Teachers a Paid Vacation
The richest county in America, Loudoun County, Virginia, used money from the Obama administration’s $10 billion teacher-bailout program to give teachers a…
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More Burdensome to Pay Rent Than to Be a Mortgage Deadbeat
Under government mortgage bailout/modification programs, the mortgage payments of many delinquent borrowers were cut to 31 percent of income, even for borrowers with high incomes and big…
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Federal Government Subsidizes Obesity and Wealthy Urbanites
In the Washington Examiner, David Freddoso explains how the federal Department of Health and Human Services spent $766,000 of your tax dollars to help…
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How Property Rights Saved the Pilgrims After the First Thanksgiving
In Reason Magazine, Nick Gillespie and Meredith Bragg write about how the establishment of property rights among the pilgrims made them more “industrious” and…
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“Model” Foreign Aid Recipient Uses Foreign Aid to Repress Its Citizens
Ethiopia is considered a model recipient of foreign aid by international aid agencies, since it uses much of the aid on its people, rather than…
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GM IPO Raises Billions, But Company Faces Hidden Challenges; Bailout Still Not Repaid
General Motors raised more than $20 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) this week, selling millions of shares owned by the federal government,…
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Massive Property Tax Increases Coming for Homeowners in Northern Virginia
Homeowners in Northern Virginia may face massive, record-setting property tax increases of 20 percent or more in the upcoming year. One reason is the EPA’s…
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Tea Party Express Hands Control of Senate to Democrats?
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Many Republican Campaign Signs Disappear or are Stolen
Enraged Democrats in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District attacked GOP activists and yanked signs for candidate Rob Hurt (R) off of private property. Hurt is…
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Touting Government Failures As Successes: Chris Zimmerman and Metro
Arlington County Board member Chris Zimmerman is touting “his experience on the Metro Board of Directors, of which he is the longest-serving member.” This…
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Administration Allies Float Trillion Dollar Bailout to Offset Rising Savings Rate
Alarmed by the rising savings rate, which liberal Keynesian economic theory views as potentially bad in a weak economy, intellectuals with close ties to…
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Harvard’s Jeffrey Miron Explains Why the Stimulus Package Failed
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Civil Rights Commission: Administration Lied About Who Dropped Voter Intimidation Case
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has found that political appointees, not career Justice Department lawyers, made the decision to drop a voter intimidation…
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Obamacare to Wipe Out 800,000 Jobs Through Work Disincentives
Obamacare is going to wipe out 800,000 jobs through its disincentives to work. That contrasts sharply with false claims by House Speaker Nancy…
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Ignorant Food Snobbery: Judge Orders McDonald’s to Pay Obese Employee $17,500
From The New York Times: A Brazilian court ruled this week that McDonald’s must pay a former franchise manager $17,500 because he gained 65…
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Washington Subway Terrorist Bomb Plot Leads to Arrest
Federal authorities arrested Farooque Ahmed for plotting to bomb the Washington Metro subway system. Ahmed, who immigrated from Pakistan, “conspired with people he thought…
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CBO: Obamacare Discourages Work
Even the Congressional Budget Office, which allowed supporters of Obamacare to hide its costs through gimmicks and dodges, admitted last “Friday that…
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Increase in American Corruption May Have Been Understated
Earlier, I wrote about how America had slipped to a historic low on the Global Corruption Index, becoming more corrupt. In retrospect, I think…
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Foreclosure Moratorium Would Impose Huge Losses on Taxpayers
“Taxpayers and the federal government would be among the biggest losers if officials heed calls from some legislators and homeowners rights groups to stop millions…
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U.S. Slips to Historic Low in Global Corruption Index
America has slipped to a historic low in the global corruption index, Reuters reports, and it is no longer one of the 20 least…
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Global Food Crisis Forecast; Aggravated by Biofuels and Global Warming Legislation
A global food crisis is “forecast as prices reach record highs.” “Rising food prices and shortages could cause instability in many countries as the…
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Mysteries of the Liberal Mind: Inmate Voting Good, Soldiers Voting Bad
Liberal judges insist that it’s racist to keep prison inmates from voting, because inmates are disproportionately members of minority groups. See the dissents of liberal…
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Unemployment Jumps Under Obama, Pelosi, and Reid
Unemployment averaged about 5.2 percent under both Clinton and Bush, but rose to an average of 9.43 percent under Obama (the current rate…
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Obamacare: More Broken Promises, More Premium Hikes, More Lost Health Insurance
In The Washington Times, Dr. Milton R. Wolf debunks six “unkeepable Obamacare promises” that have already been shown to be false. For example, President…
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Bureaucrats Disenfranchise Overseas Troops
Illinois officials missed the deadline to mail ballots to U.S. troops overseas, but they hand-delivered ballots to inmates, without even waiting for inmates…
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Bailout of Fannie and Freddie Will Cost Double Earlier Estimates
The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will cost double earlier estimates, and could cost $363 billion over the next three years, report…
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General Motors’ Losses Hidden by Deferral of Union Pension Obligations
Any General Motors bonds issued this year will be classified as junk by a key ratings agency. Why? There’s some risk GM will go…
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More Stimulus Money Wasted
A lot of money was wasted in weatherization projects paid for by the stimulus package, note The New York Times Green Blog and Professor…
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Obamacare Will Spawn Crowded Waiting Rooms and Pointless Busywork for Doctors
Health care costs will go up under Obamacare for many reasons, such as the wasteful red tape it imposes on health savings accounts (HSAs). Max…
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Say Goodbye to Free Checking
“Say goodbye to traditional free checking, as banks feel squeeze from new regulations,” reads the AP headline. “Free checking, a mainstay of American banking…
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Your Shriveling 401(K): Thank Financial Red Tape and the Foreclosure Furor
If your 401(K) has shrunken recently, it may be due to falling bank stocks, like Bank of America stock, which has fallen from over $19…
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Obama’s Nativist Scare Tactics May Backfire on Him
President Obama has made the baseless claim that the Chamber of Commerce is spending foreign money on political campaigns. This claim was widely disseminated…
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Meager Part-Time Work Masks Unemployment
Unemployment is often masked by part-time work, since people who would prefer to work full-time are not treated as unemployed by government statistics if they…
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Democrats Took the Most Foreign Money
It turns out that Democrats have taken twice as much foreign money in this election cycle as Republicans. They’ve taken “more than $1 million…
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Restricting What People Eat, Based on the Ignorance of Food Snobs
There are increasing calls for the government to restrict salty food and fast-food restaurants, and tax fast food, to curb obesity. This is especially true…
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Obamacare Results in 47 Percent Premium Hike
Obamacare has just led to a 47 percent increase in some health insurance premium rates in Connecticut: The state’s largest insurer has been approved to…
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Judge Rejects Obama Administration’s Motion to Dismiss Challenge to Obamacare
A judge in Florida has rejected the Obama administration’s motion to dismiss challenges to Obamacare brought by 20 state attorneys general and the…
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New Jobless Claims Rise to 462,000
New applications for unemployment benefits rose last week to 462,000, and unemployment is at 9.6 percent. Employers are reluctant to hire because of…
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Stop Coddling Mortgage Deadbeats
Right now, there’s a big manufactured outrage over the fact that at a few banks, paperwork errors occurred in foreclosures. The Wall Street Journal…
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Obama Administration Slowed Response to BP Oil Spill By Keeping Public In the Dark
The Obama administration initially downplayed the seriousness of the Gulf oil spill, “slowing response efforts and keeping the American people in the dark…
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Ignorance at the New York Times: Kate Zernike and the “Rule of Law”
The New York Times doesn’t know what the “rule of law” means. In a story on the Tea Parties, reporter Kate Zernike claims that the…
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Stimulus Money Went to Prisoners and Dead People
17,000 prison inmates received checks courtesy of the $800 billion stimulus package, notes the Associated Press. $18 million in checks went to dead…
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Private Employers Cut 39,000 Jobs in September
The private sector shed 39,000 jobs in September. Liberal journalists claim this was “unexpected.” This reveals their shaky grasp of economics. If you…
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If You Like Your Health Plan, You May Lose It Anyway
Another major employer, 3M, has decided to “eventually stop offering its health insurance plan to retirees, citing the federal health overhaul as a factor.”…
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Supreme Court Is Neither Pro-Business Nor Conservative
The Supreme Court is not a particularly conservative court. It rules against businesses more than the lower federal courts do, and its rulings have overturned…
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Obamacare May Force McDonald’s to Drop Health Coverage for Employees
Michelle Malkin points out that “McDonald’s has notified the feds that it may be forced to drop health insurance for some 30,000 workers due…
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22,000 Lose Their Health Insurance Due to Obamacare
Approximately 22,000 senior citizens just lost their health plan with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, which dropped its Medicare Advantage Program due to “cuts in…
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New EPA Rules Will Cost More than 800,000 Jobs
New EPA rules will cost more than 800,000 jobs, probably far more, according to a newly released congressional report. That includes the EPA’s…
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Five Radicals Approved for Judgeships by Senate Judiciary Committee
Five radicals have been approved for judgeships by the Senate Judiciary Committee, voting along party lines. The committee held over for…
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Obama Financial Czar Appointment Is Unconstitutional, Liberal Law Professor Says
Obama has appointed controversial Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren to informally run the powerful, newly-created Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection that will regulate the…
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Many Free Checking Accounts Disappearing Due to Dodd-Frank Financial “Reform” Law
The so-called financial “reform” bill that passed Congress — the Dodd-Frank Act — is wiping out many free checking accounts, since…
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Unfair ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ Shafts Workers With Hazardous Jobs
We wrote earlier about the Paycheck Fairness Act, a bill of Orwellian deception that would result in employees unfairly receiving equal pay…
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Insurers Drop Children’s Health Insurance Due to Obamacare
Insurers have stopped writing children-only health insurance policies due to mandates in Obamacare that ignored basic principles of economics. So if…
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General Motors Now Admits It Didn’t Repay Bailout Money
Contrary to its claims in TV ads earlier this year, General Motors has now admitted that it did not repay…
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Insurance Regulators Approve Increases Based on Obamacare
In Connecticut, insurance rate regulators have approved hikes in insurance premiums of up to 20 percent, agreeing with insurers that…