Secret Watchdogs
You won't find WikiLeaks' biggest impact in any specific story the site has exposed. You'll find it in the bracing fear of what the place might publish next. That anxiety, more than anything else,...
View ArticleThe Vanity Tax
Last December, on Christmas Eve, any Republicans in the Senate who had actually read the latest version of the healthcare reform bill they were voting on must have thanked the Democrats for one...
View ArticleAs the Spill Expands, So Does Presidential Power
The other day, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked what will happen if the people running BP decline to go along with everything the administration demands of it. "The president," he...
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The Post-Housing Tax Credit Slump Begins
Applications for the thrice-extended First-time Homebuyer Credit (FTHBC) ended in April 30, with the construction to be completed by June 30. At the end of each previous credit, we saw a slump in...
View ArticleGeopolitics and the Pill
America + The Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation, by Elaine Tyler May, Basic Books, 199 pages, $25.95When the Food and Drug Administration approved oral contraception in 1960, everybody...
View ArticlePeople of the Book
After gifting us with such lists as the top 50 conservative rock songs, this year National Review offered, under the guidance of political reporter John J. Miller, the “Ten Great Conservative Novels”...
View ArticleTARP Jr. a Wave of Contradictions
Rep. Frank introduced a bill in the House last month, now has 20 additional sponsors, that would give Treasury authority to begin investing in small banks and businesses around the country. The Small...
View ArticleVideo: Interview on Why Another Jobs Bill Would Hurt the Recovery
Last night I appeared on RT to discuss the Senate's job bill, which was voted down on Wednesday, but will likely resurface in some other form. (Concluding notes below the video.)Note: at the end of the...
View ArticleThe FCCs Fools Crusade
Choose your analogy: He pushed the button. He turned the key. He cried havoc and let slip the dogs of war.FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Thursday launched what could end up being a decade-long court...
View ArticleAn End to Spending Excess
One of the reasons the federal budget is chronically in the red is that most people, historically, couldn't care less. The national debt is an unfathomable abstraction that doesn't show up on your 1040...
View ArticleWhos Afraid of Subliminal Advertising?
The concept of subliminal advertising has long terrified America. When the 1950s adman James Vicary claimed to have boosted concession sales at a New Jersey theater by briefly flashing phrases like...
View ArticleAnother Marylander Arrested for Recording the Police
The city of Annapolis, Maryland recently received a Homeland Security grant for 20 new surveillance cameras in the downtown area. The city of Baltimore already has nearly 500. According to the watchdog...
View ArticleChinese Currency Reform
The Chinese government announced this weekend that they would move towards a greater degree of flexibility in the exchange rate. As stated by by the People’s Bank of China:“In view of the recent...
View ArticleAmid Fiscal Pressures, States Move to Privatize Workers Compensation Programs
Governing.com's "Better, Faster, Cheaper" blog Ongoing fiscal pressures are prompting policymakers to pursue a wide variety of government streamlining strategies to cut costs. One of the less visible...
View ArticleSpain's Emerging Banking Crisis
Spain was hit hard by the financial crisis. Like the U.S. and the UK, Spain experienced high capital inflows and rapidly rising housing prices in the years leading up to the crisis. And like the U.S....
View ArticleThe Slow Fade of Meatspace
When the New York Police Department revealed last year that it had spent nearly $1 million on typewriters over the course of a year, commentators mocked the two-fingered flatfoots for wasting scarce...
View ArticleA Feminist Flare-Up
Perhaps all the talk of the "Year of the Conservative Woman," sparked by the crop of fairly conservative Republican women running for office, has slightly unhinged some feminists on the left. Or maybe...
View ArticleOrszag Out at OMB
Rumored to be leaving for months, the political news lines are hopping today on news that Office of Management and Budget director Peter R. Orszag will be leaving in July. He will be the first cabinet...
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Extra Taxes From Each Taxpayer to Erase the Deficit
Vernonique over at Mercatus created this depressing graph. "This year alone, taxes would have to increase by an average of $10,000per taxpayer in order to pay for all of the federal government’s...
View ArticleSan Diego Must End Delays and Implement Managed Competition Now
The following are remarks delivered on June 14, 2010, at a press conference organized by San Diego Councilmember Carl DeMaio to promote a ballot initiative, The Competition and Transparency in City...
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