It worked so well with Solyndra. The Energy Department on Wednesday approved two loan guarantees worth more than $1 billion for solar energy projects in Nevada and Arizona, two days before the expiration date of a program that has become a rallying cry for Republican critics of the Obama administration's green energy program. Energy Secretary Steven Chu ... MORE
Raising Cain within the GOP. With apologies to headline writers, the shock of Herman Cain routing the field in the Florida Straw poll and scoring first in the latest Zogby poll simply eludes me. If this result -- which is no doubt tied to the mixed performances during the last debate -- moves him into or near the top tier, I will not be shocked about that, either. ... MORE
Wastes dollars, threatens civil liberties. Two years ago this month, the federal government broke ground on what was supposed to be a massive new headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security. Situated on the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Southeast Washington, the $3.4 billion project was designed to bring together some 15,000 employees of our newest ... MORE
The stench of money laundering. Among the roughly 5,000 creditors named by Solyndra, a bankrupt solar energy company that is under investigation for losing a half billion dollars in federal loans, is the California Democratic Party, which says it doesn't know why. The bankruptcy filing doesn't say why the organization is listed as one of the creditors or ... MORE
by Yaron Brook and Don Watson. After Rick Perry called Social Security a Ponzi scheme, pundits everywhere smugly assured the world that Perry is crazy because, after all, the government can never really go bankrupt: it can always print money to pay its debts. Of course, that’s hardly a comfort to those who know what hyperinflation can do to an economy. In any case ... MORE
More corporatism or socialism is not the answer. Today's messed up medical system is a result of 40 years of government interference in the process. Regulations, inflation, tax laws, federal mandates to provide care through corporate-run HMOs, interference in providing insurance, massive subsidies and licensing have all played a negative role in the delivery ... MORE
Time to wean the people off government. What's the common thread between Europe's financial mess, particularly among the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain), and the financial mess in the U.S.? That question could be more easily answered if we asked instead: What's necessary to cure the financial mess in Europe and the U.S.? If European governments and ... MORE
An immediate threat to freedoms of ordinary citizens. Americans’ views of their government’s job performance have reached a critical level of negativity. The Gallup poll found a record-high 81 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the United States is being governed. The poll showed majorities of both Republicans (92 percent) and Democrats ... MORE
Our kids deserve a free market in education. School spending has doubled over the past 30 years. Yet what do we get? More buildings and more assistant principals—but student learning? No improvement. If you graph the numbers, the spending line slopes steeply, while the lines for reading, math, and science scores are as flat as a dead man's EKG. Why no ... MORE