All Posts Tagged With: "Barack Obama"
Scientism and the Great Power Nexus
President Obama wants to create jobs. His political life depends on it. So the President recently used the bully pulpit to propose a “jobs” bill that would include heavy spending on infrastructure. Journalists wanted to know what the bill would do. They turned to economists. These experts, armed with the most sophisticated methods available, gave [...]
30Nov2011 | Max Borders | 5 comments | ContinuedThe Tax-the-Rich Truth Squad
In the end, all that’s left of the argument for taxing the rich more heavily is pure demagoguery and a desire to avoid the real problem, which is reducing the size and cost of government.
22Sep2011 | Steven Horwitz | 25 comments | ContinuedMaking Whistle-Blowing Pay
The federal bureaucracies are hard at work churning out rules to implement the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” act. In May the Securities and Exchange Commission announced rules for its new whistleblower program, which rewards individuals who provide the agency with “high-quality tips that lead to successful enforcement acts.” The minimum amount of recovered funds that can [...]
21Sep2011 | Warren C. Gibson | 2 comments | ContinuedFear-Mongering and Servitude
In his 1776 essay, “Thoughts on Government,” John Adams observed, “Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.” The [...]
22Jun2011 | James Bovard | 33 comments | ContinuedObama’s Economics Lesson
President Obama apparently thinks that until the latest recession, no business realized it might reduce its workforce by substituting machines and other high-tech devices.
17Jun2011 | Sheldon Richman | 19 comments | ContinuedBought and Paid For
Americans who have at least a modicum of political sophistication know that special-interest groups have enormous power to influence the political system, getting favors from government they couldn’t obtain through voluntary means. Informed people know, for example, that many farmers receive subsidies, that labor unions have privileges to employ coercion that no other private organization [...]
21Apr2011 | George C. Leef | 0 comments | ContinuedSaving the Warfare-Welfare State
The problem in Washington isn’t excessive partisanship but excessive unity.
15Apr2011 | Sheldon Richman | 27 comments | ContinuedA Boost for the Managed Economy
Nowhere is it easier to miss the forest for the trees than in discussions of government policy. Late last year the media were saturated with debates over the compromise tax package agreed to by Barack Obama and congressional Republicans. The package that passed the House and Senate included a two-year extension of the Bush-era tax-rate [...]
24Feb2011 | Sheldon Richman | 1 comment | ContinuedObama’s Corporatist Big Plans
We should reject the false choice between corporate statism and stagnation, and say no thank you to the “big things” Obama and his business cronies have in store for us.
28Jan2011 | Sheldon Richman | 22 comments | ContinuedHow Washington Protects Your Privacy and Liberty
Preserving trust in government is the highest good—at least for politicians. To create that trust, government continually spawns façades to make people believe their rights are safe. Few things better illustrate this charade than the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. In 2004, three years after the Patriot Act was enacted, politicians started to worry [...]
22Dec2010 | James Bovard | 7 comments | ContinuedThe Charade
Writing in Forbes recently, Dinesh D’Souza presents the bizarre idea that Barack Obama’s presidency can be best understood by realizing that “Incredibly, the U.S. is being ruled according to the dreams of a Luo tribesman of the 1950s [that is, Obama’s late estranged Kenyan father]. This philandering, inebriated African socialist, who raged against the world [...]
22Dec2010 | Sheldon Richman | 10 comments | ContinuedThe Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal
The Great Depression ranks as one of the most misunderstood periods of history. For that, we can thank biased historians who for generations have favored activist government, along with Keynesian economists who never understood how the economy works. Since the last few months of 2008, the Great Depression has been thrust back into the national debate [...]
22Dec2010 | Raymond J. Keating | 3 comments | ContinuedPresidential Hubris
If we were going to spend $700 billion, it seems it would be wiser having that $700 billion going to folks who would spend that money right away. In October Barack Obama said this in defense of his opposition to extending the 2001 and 2003 tax-rate reductions for people making more than $200,000 a year. [...]
22Dec2010 | Sheldon Richman | 4 comments | ContinuedThere’s Too Little Trust in Government?
There is one point on which I can unequivocally agree with E. J. Dionne, Jr.’s, column “Can We Reverse the Tide on Government Distrust?”: “So far, the Obama administration has missed the opportunity to demonstrate . . . how it is changing the way government works. How is its approach to . . . regulations [...]
22Oct2010 | Charles Johnson | 2 comments | ContinuedWashington’s Lies
During his campaign President Obama and his congressional supporters estimated that overhauling the nation’s health care system would cost $50–$65 billion a year. On June 15 the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that Obama’s overhaul would cost at least $1 trillion. It’s clear that Obama’s cost estimates are untrue, and over ten years, it’s likely [...]
22Sep2010 | Walter E. Williams | 6 comments | ContinuedThe VAT: Not Just Another Tax
Recently there has been a great deal of speculation about how the U.S. government will deal with its massive budget deficits and increasing levels of debt. For readers of The Freeman the answer is rather simple: Since most of what the federal government does goes beyond its “legitimate” role, cut spending. Drastically. Discussions about balancing [...]
25Aug2010 | Roy Cordato | 3 comments | ContinuedUnions Lose Respect
I have often argued that American labor unions enjoy much more respect than they deserve. In February the Pew Research Center released the results of its latest nationwide survey of public opinion regarding labor unions. It seems that, at last, labor unions are suffering significant losses of respect. Table 1 shows the percentage of Americans [...]
29Jun2010 | Charles W. Baird | 8 comments | Continued-
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