In brief

Effort to Hold Down Student-Loan Rates Hits Wall

“The battle over President Obama’s plan to keep interest rates low on federal student loans escalated Tuesday as Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal to tax higher-income individuals to pay for it.” (Los Angeles Times) Government needs to get out of this entirely. FEE Timely Classic “Why on Earth Do We Have a Student Loan [...]

9May2012 | | 1 comment | Continued

Feds Launch First Solar-Power Project on Government Land

“Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar on Monday cheered on the opening of the first large-scale solar power project on federal property, just three days after his department rolled out new regulations on oil and gas companies doing business on those very same lands.” (Washington Times) Unlimited government. FEE Timely Classic “Government in Business” by Murray [...]

8May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Obama Has a Little List for Congress

“President Obama plans to give Congress a “To Do List” today that he says will create jobs and “help restore middle class security,” the White House said.” (USA Today) How about a “To Undo List”? FEE Timely Classic “Is Anyone Still for Limited Government?” by Doug Bandow

8May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Budget Austerity the Loser at French, Greek Polls

“Voters in France and Greece redrew Europe’s political map Sunday in a powerful backlash against the German-led cure for the region’s debt crisis: painful austerity.” (Washington Post) A preview of things to come here? FEE Timely Classic “Budget-Cutting Resistance” by Sheldon Richman

7May2012 | | 2 comments | Continued

Record Lows for Mortgage Rates

“Average U.S. rates for 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgages fell to fresh record lows this week, offering more incentive for Americans to buy or refinance homes. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan fell to 3.84 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s. That’s below the [...]

7May2012 | | 1 comment | Continued

Job Growth in April Anemic

“The United States had another month of disappointing job growth in April, the Labor Department said Friday. The nation’s employers added 115,000 positions on net, after adding 154,000 in March. April’s job growth was less than what economists had been predicting. The unemployment rate ticked down to 8.1 percent in April, from 8.2 percent, partly [...]

4May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

First-Quarter Productivity Slipped

“Nonfarm productivity fell in the first quarter as companies hired more workers to maintain output, but a moderate rise in wages suggested little pressure on company profits and inflation.” (Reuters) New regulations must be kicking in. FEE Timely Classic “Regulation and Productivity” by John Hospers

3May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Freddie Mac Needs More Taxpayer Money

“Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac is requesting $19 million in additional federal aid after posting a loss for the first quarter of this year.” (Washington Post) Really, this story is getting old. FEE Timely Classic “Bailing Out Statism” by Sheldon Richman

3May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Obama Pushes Infrastructure to Construction Workers

“President Obama told unionized construction workers today that he is pushing for new infrastructure projects, but congressional Republicans keep blocking him.” (USA Today) In politics there’s no more seductive word than “infrastructure.” FEE Timely Classic “The Infrastructure Delusion: Getting Nowhere Faster” by Richard W. Fulmer

2May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

More Young People Smoking Marijuana

“More American teens are smoking marijuana, with nearly 1 in 10 lighting up at least 20 or more times a month, according to a new survey of young people.” (Washington Times ) After a century of drug prohibition. FEE Timely Classic “Drugs, Economics, and Liberty” by Walter E. Williams

2May2012 | | 1 comment | Continued

Bail Is Busted

“If even a fraction of those presumed innocent fought their cases in court, the system would grind to a halt. To keep things moving, judges and prosecutors need defendants to plead guilty to something as early in the process as possible. And the single most powerful tool to extract a guilty plea is the threat [...]

1May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Tasers Pose Risks to Heart, a Study Warns

“But proponents maintain that the devices — which are used by more than 16,700 law enforcement agencies in 107 countries, said Steve Tuttle, a spokesman for Taser — pose less risk to civilians than firearms and are safer for police officers than physically tackling a suspect. The results of studies of the devices’ safety in [...]

1May2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Brennan defends U.S. Drone Attacks Despite Risks to Civilians

“‘Sometimes you have to take life to save lives,’ Brennan added, ‘and that’s what we’ve been able to do to prevent these individual terrorists from carrying out their murderous attacks.’ However, the CIA drone campaign has done more than target specific Al Qaeda figures. In Pakistan and now in Yemen, the agency has authority to [...]

30Apr2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Trying to Shed Student Debt

“‘It’s enslaving,’ Ms. Reynolds-Rogers says of her student debt. ‘At a time I should be looking at the possibility of retirement sometime in the near future, I’m taking on another career if I’m lucky.’ Stories like hers have prompted Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.) to introduce legislation to make it easier for borrowers to shed [...]

30Apr2012 | | 6 comments | Continued

Economic Growth Slowed in First Quarter

“The economic output of the United States grew at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of the year, easing from the prior quarter’s growth rate of 3 percent, as expected, but maintaining what many economists have started to call a ‘sustainable’ pace of recovery.” (New York Times) Well, of course. FEE [...]

27Apr2012 | | 1 comment | Continued

Traffic Stops in Washington State Bring ACLU Suit against Border Patrol

“The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday against the U.S. Border Patrol seeking to bar agents from making traffic stops, saying people are being pulled over and questioned ‘without reasonable suspicion.’ The lawsuit stems from tensions between immigrants and the expanded presence of Border Patrol agents on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, which doesn’t [...]

27Apr2012 | | 0 comments | Continued

Violence Against Woman Act Reauthorized by Senate

“The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act and expand its reach to American Indians and homosexuals, after Republicans opted to sidestep an expected partisan brawl. ” (New York Times) An earlier version was declared unconstitutional. FEE Timely Classic “Does Rape Violate the Commerce Clause?” by Wendy McElroy

27Apr2012 | | 1 comment | Continued
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