by Jerry Shenk. Government costs us more than the taxes we pay (and the money we borrow), because taxes do not include the cost of regulatory compliance. Compliance costs are built into the price of goods and services purchased by American consumers and businesses. If we are to emerge from recession, American business regulatory burden must be reassessed. In a 2008 review of the cost of government regulations ... MORERegulatory Dysfunction
by Jerry Shenk. Government costs us more than the taxes we pay (and the money we borrow), because taxes do not include the cost of regulatory compliance. Compliance costs are built into the price of goods and services purchased by American consumers and businesses. If we are to emerge from recession, American business regulatory burden must be reassessed. In a 2008 review of the cost of government regulations ... MOREThomas Sowell: Political Statistics
When someone gives you a check and the bank informs you that there are insufficient funds, who do you get mad at? In your own life, you get mad at the guy who gave you a check that bounced, not at the bank. But, in politics, you get mad at whoever tells you that there is no money. One of the secrets of the growth of the welfare state is that politicians get a lot of mileage out of making promises, without ... MOREWhy Are People So Forgiving Of Government Failure?
by Christopher Westley. Once upon a time, I developed a theory that we have much lower expectations for public-sector performance than we do for private-sector performance. We saw this in accounting standards that — when applied to Enron — resulted in market forces shutting that firm down, while the Department of Defense loses billions of dollars ... MOREJohn Stossel: Gun Owners Have A Right To Privacy
If you own a gun in Illinois, take precautions. The state attorney general, Lisa Madigan, wants to release the names of guns owners in response to an Associated Press request. Publication of that list would tell the criminal class where the guns are, which could be useful to two different sorts of lawbreakers: gun thieves who want to know where the guns are and burglars who want to know where they are not. ... MOREThe False Promises Of Obama Regulators
Many companies complain that the Obama administration has increased the cost of doing business by issuing loads of new regulations. The administration does not deny being aggressive in issuing new rules or that compliance costs may ultimately total in the billions of dollars. Instead, it has rejected logic and common sense and argues that increasing the costs of doing business benefits the economy. ... MOREWalter E Williams: Diversity Perversity
The terms affirmative action, equal representation, preferential treatment and quotas just don't sell well. The intellectual elite and their media, government and corporate enthusiasts have come up with diversity, a seemingly benign term that's a cover for racially discriminatory policy. They call for college campuses, corporate offices and government agencies to "look like America." Part of looking like America ... MOREThe Constitution and Property Rights
It is sometimes suggested that the Founders did not consider property rights important because the term “property” was mentioned only once in the Constitution. The truth is that the Founders were concerned about a range of human values, but property rights were high on their list. Their Constitution and Bill of Rights protected property in many ways ... MOREClinton: Obama Will Ignore Congress On Libya War
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a classified congressional hearing that the Obama regime would ignore Congress if it tried to rein in the unconstitutional war in Libya, but that the administration would send press releases to lawmakers, according to news reports. When Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) asked Clinton during the briefing what the regime’s response would be to Congress exercising its constitutional ... MOREEthical Limbo: How Low Can Government Go?
Texas cops are ticketing thousands of school children to raise revenue.With the rise of get-tough juvenile crime policies across Texas, the municipal courthouse has become the new principal’s office for thousands of students who get in fights, curse their teachers or are generally “disorderly” on school campuses — even in elementary schools, according to data collected from school systems by Texas Appleseed, ... MORE
Thomas Sowell: Measuring Force
You don't just walk up to the local bully and slap him across the face. If you are determined to confront him, then you try to knock the living daylights out of him. Otherwise, you are better off to leave him alone. Anyone who grew up in my old neighborhood in Harlem could have told you that. But Barack Obama didn't grow up in my old neighborhood. He had a much more genteel upbringing, including a fancy private school, ... MOREQuin Hillyer: Atlas Needs Help
Conservatives should not shrug at this movie.True confessions: Dagny Taggart is the only fictional character I ever fell in love with -- or at least, when reading the first third of Ayn Rand's book Atlas Shrugged some two decades ago, I was so smitten with the heroine that I wished somebody like her would show up in real life. All of which explains how high was the hurdle standing ... MORE
Steve Chapman: Unconcealed Truth About Carrying Guns
"Experience is a dear teacher," said Benjamin Franklin, "but fools will learn at no other." Give some credit to fools: At least they eventually learn from experience. What would Franklin say about people who don't? By that, I refer to gun control advocates alarmed that the Illinois legislature may vote to let licensed individuals carry concealed handguns. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence calls the ... MOREHousing Decline: Only Halfway Home
When Reuters and CNBC.com announced the awful housing numbers from February, most observers were surprised. The housing market appeared to have found a bottom last fall, and many economists were expecting small but predictable improvements every month.The Commerce Department, however, doused whatever positive expectations there were when they announced that new home ... MOREJohn Stossel: Students Who Get It!
I went to Princeton in 1969, where they taught me that government could solve the world's problems. Put the smartest people in a room, give them enough taxpayer money, and they will fix most everything. During those years, I heard nothing about an alternative. How things have changed! I recently spent time with several hundred college-aged people at a Students for Liberty conference in Washington ... MORE
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