Hmm, I guess we can see once again that our Congress is not in any way trying to manage our car companies (and their unions) for political gain: The latest example is the $10 billion taxpayers will be asked to shell out to prop up the United Auto Workers’ retiree health insurance program. That provision [...]

This follows quite a few themes I’ve discussed at length here: The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requires third-party testing of nearly every object intended for a child’s use, and was passed in response to several toy recalls in 2007 for lead and other chemicals. Six of those recalls were on toys made by [...]

Via Jason Pye via Doug Mataconis (via AEI): The problems of our economy have occurred not as an outgrowth of laissez-faire, unbridled competition. They have occurred under the guidance of federal agencies, and under the umbrella of federal regulations. -Sen. Ted Kennedy (1979) Sadly, he only seemed to apply this logic to transportation, not to [...]

Here in California, our state decided to offer a tax credit to buyers of new housing construction. Unsurprisingly, $10K in free money gave the housing market a bit of a kick in the pants, particularly new construction. Now they’ve run out of money. And in a complete and utter coincidence, which nobody could possibly have [...]

Well, that didn’t take long at all: US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed Wednesday to push through embattled health reform legislation this year following the death of Senator Ted Kennedy, who called the effort “the cause of my life”. “Ted Kennedy?s dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year [...]

The spike in car buying has caused automakers to ramp up production (via John Stossel): Many auto industry analysts and dealers expect sales volumes to fall now that the program is over. They worry that many people who took advantage of the program were merely accelerating purchases they would have made later in the year. [...]

This is possibly the single best business document I have ever read; and I mean that with no hyperbole. It is also the single most libertarian document I have ever seen applied to a large corporate environment. You HAVE TO read this. Culture View more presentations from Reed Hastings.

Continuing his George Costanzaesque presidency, Obama has decided to reappoint Ben “Helicopter” Bernanke to another term on the Fed. Here’s what Obama had to say: Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and outside-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall [...]

Why is Obama having so much trouble getting cap’n’tax, health care reform, and his other policies through? Apparently, it’s because he’s just too good at solving problems (emphasis added): Rahm Emanuel famously said that you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. But the Obama administration made the mistake of effectively managing the [...]

There’s the oft-repeated factoid that the Indians used every part of a buffalo when they killed it. The Danes are learning from their example: But in one area, greenery might be taken to excess. Denmark’s crematorium association has revealed its profitable sideline in recycling metal parts salvaged from the dead. Burnt bodies leave knee or [...]

One of my personal bits of curiousity about the world is related to cultural “ways of thinking”. While I don’t believe that Americans are innately different than Europeans, or Chinese, or Russians, there are certainly differences in average thought borne of the different cultural histories of each place. Dale Franks at QandO recently posted about [...]

Earlier today, I provided one more reason why corn-based ethanol mandates/subsidies might be the dumbest government program ever. Chris Edwards of Cato@Liberty suggests that Cash for Clunkers might win that honor. I have to hand it to him, he provides a few good reasons supporting his case. All good reasons, but I’ll stick with ethanol, [...]

Proving yet again that there is no limit to the extent to which the Federal Government will intrude upon our lives, the Feds are now turning their attention to that staple of American Suburbia, the garage sale: WASHINGTON — If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could [...]

Crossposting something my wife wrote, from here: I’ve been in an incredibly foul mood the last couple of days, and until this morning I did not understand why. We’re planning on moving to where we actually want to be. We’re constantly being asked why we want to move to the middle of nowhere. I tell [...]

I’ve not been kind to the forces for ethanol. I’ve pointed out that demand for ethanol raises the price of food for poor people, how I’ve felt the pinch personally in increased prices for homebrew supplies, how the use of ethanol is wasting scarce water resources. Finally, I pointed out that ethanol actually increases pollution, [...]

“This court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent. Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim [...]

This must be why we need reform: Americans are living about two months longer, with the U.S. life expectancy reaching a record 77.9 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. During the past decade, life expectancy has increased 1½ years. Death rates are down for major killers, including heart disease, cancer and HIV. [...]

Michael Shermer had an interesting piece over at The Huffington Post last week in which he posits that libertarian ideas can be the basis on which conservatives and liberals find common political ground: Libertarianism is grounded in the Principle of Freedom: All people are free to think, believe, and act as they choose, as long [...]

The War On (Some) Drugs has reached the ridiculous stage: KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A man is suing the Kissimmee Police Department for an arrest over mints. When officers pulled Donald May over for an expired tag, they thought the mints he was chewing were crack and arrested him. May told Eyewitness News they wouldn’t let [...]