Recovered from the Memory Hole: Inaugural Rhetoric vs. Reality
Expect more of the same.
Government Waste
January 21, 2013
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January 17, 2013
“Common Sense” Legislation to Curb Gun Violence?
Like most people who value individual liberty, I listened to President Obama’s speech about reducing gun violence with a great deal of trepidation. He presented several ideas such as limiting the size of magazines to 10 rounds, banning “military-style assault weapons” (i.e. any gun that looks scary to progressives who know almost nothing about firearms), […]
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January 15, 2013
Fiscally Conservative Republicans To Spend $3M In Tax Dollars To Defend DOMA
Ugh. House Republican leaders have signed on to spend up to $3 million to keep defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court, according to a copy of their newly revised legal contract obtained by The Huffington Post. House Republican leaders took over the legal defense of DOMA in the spring of 2011, when Attorney […]
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October 11, 2012
Atlas Shrugged Part II in Theaters This Weekend
Atlas Shrugged Part II is opening this weekend. Want to check it out? Follow this link to find a theater near you. And now, the official Atlas Shrugged Part II trailer:
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October 10, 2012
Quote of the Day: Small Things Edition
[I]f you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things. And you know what? It’s worked before, because it feeds into the […]
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September 17, 2012
Why The Big, Dumb Spending Cuts Nobody Wants Are A Good Idea
Ezra Klein’s believes that it’s a horrible thing that the big, dumb spending cuts that nobody wants might actually happen: The initial idea was that if the supercommittee failed, there would be automatic spending cuts and automatic tax increases. This way, both parties would have an incentive to reach a deal. But Republicans refused the […]
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August 1, 2012
Farming in an Equilibrium Trap
JayG wrote something today about how this summers drought is hitting farmers very hard; which is absolutely true. And it’s already having an impact on food prices, and that impact is just going to grow. The crop that’s being impacted worst is dent corn, which makes up the majority of livestock feed in this country; […]
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July 11, 2012
Gov. Deval Patrick Vetoes Bipartisan Bill that Would Prohibit EBT Card Fraud and Abuse
In Massachusetts people can purchase guns, porn, jewelry, get a manicure, or get a tattoo with an EBT card (i.e. food stamps). Understandably, this upsets some Massachusetts residents and the state legislature passed a bipartisan bill which would prohibit use of EBT cards for these non-food related items. You would think that such a common […]
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June 14, 2012
Doug Stanhope – Liberty (Re) Defined
Brad has posted a version of this comedy routine by Doug Stanhope before. This version has been edited to include images and video by Fr33 Agent Beau Davis with a more honest than the traditional “pledge of allegiance” at the close. I thought that since today happens to be Flag Day, this video would be […]
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March 14, 2012
TSA Cost/Benefit “Grope & Pillage” Graphic
Some food for thought regarding the TSA. Created by: OnlineCriminalJusticeDegree.com Hat Tip: United Liberty
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March 6, 2012
We’re Here! We’re Gluttons! Get Used To It!
Over at Megan McArdle’s place, she’s on a leave of absence for some as-yet-unnamed project. In her stead, Katherine Mangu-Ward picks up one of Megan’s common refrains about Americans and obesity: Fat people know they’re fat. They know why they’re fat. And they know that being fat kinda sucks. This may seem obvious, but think […]
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October 27, 2011
The Challenge of Creating an Economically Sound, Simpler, and More Just Tax Code (Part 1 of 3)
If there is one positive thing Herman Cain has contributed to the national debate it would be this renewed discussion about tax reform. While I am skeptical of some of the specifics of his 9-9-9 plan, if nothing else, Cain has forced the other candidates to come out with proposals of their own. Gov. Rick […]
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September 28, 2011
Solyndra: Delusions Of Grandeur, Or Just Colossal Balls?
Wow. It’s one thing to carry the necessary delusion that comes with most people in a startup… That self-delusion, the belief that you can’t fail (despite the high proportions of startups that fail), is what is required to overcome the often monumental odds most startups face. But is it merely delusion to submit THIS* to […]
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July 23, 2011
Sorry Steny…
…but California is living proof that a supermajority requirement doesn’t “make it virtually impossible to raise revenue,” it only encourages stupid politician tricks.
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July 20, 2011
Government: Shows A Loss While Selling Money
I was passed this story by a relative, and thought it was absolutely genius: Would you take advantage of a federal loophole that gives you a free first-class flight anywhere on Earth? That’s what hundreds — possibly thousands — of shrewd travel enthusiasts are doing, in light of a 2005 law that unwittingly created a […]
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Too big to fail: Washington edition
From Megan McArdle, a list of reasons why the Federal Government is too big to fail (or even pause): The nation’s nuclear arsenal is no longer being watched or maintained The doors of federal prisons have been thrown open, because none of the guards will work without being paid, and the vendors will not deliver […]
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July 15, 2011
Ron Paul’s First 2012 Political Ad Warns Republicans to Avoid Repeating the Mistake of Trusting Democrats on Taxes and Spending
Can the Republicans trust Democrats and compromise by raising taxes in exchange for spending cuts in this debt ceiling debate? Ron Paul says “no” in his first 2012 political ad. Why not trust Democrats? Ask former President George H.W. Bush what happened to him when he broke his infamous “Read my lips” promise that he […]
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June 27, 2011
Wrangling Long-Term Costs
Ezra Klein, on education & health care costs: I’m not going to end this post with some wan paragraph explaining how to transform these two industries into something closer to their potential. My ideas on health-care reform are available elsewhere on the blog and I don’t know enough about education to say anything worthwhile. But […]
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June 9, 2011
Auto Bailout; Can’t Prove A Counterfactual, But You Can Infer
So the big debate is whether the gov’t should sell their post-IPO shares in GM. At current prices, they’d [unsurprisingly] be losing money on the sale, compared to the amount put up in the bailout. So we have to ask — was it worth it? To determine that, we can’t base our entire calculation on […]
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January 25, 2011
Use “YouCut” to Encourage Fiscal Sanity and Restore Liberty
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has set up a website called YouCut to solicit ideas from regular people for suggestions on specific programs and policies that should be cut or eliminated. From the website: YouCut – a first-of-its-kind project – is designed to defeat the permissive culture of runaway spending in Congress. It allows you […]
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