It appears more and more likely with each passing day that we’ll wind up with an Obama administration. If Obama is elected, we will face a lengthy list of policy proposals that are supposed to help the less fortunate but in fact just kill economic growth. He would expand the welfare roles through tax credits to those who pay no taxes, restrict the freedom of employers to pay workers what they are worth, grant unions and government officials power over workers and business, and put government in the business of …
To the NYT, the Well-Off Do Not Work and Vice Versa – Shopfloor.org The New York Times publishes the most tedious major editorial page in the country, so predictable that actually reading it is an unnecessary exercise. Making an exception today to review its endorsement of Senator Obama (a shocker, yeah), we see this comment on tax policies… A Sunny Future for Capitalism? – OpenMarket.org Strangely, Hudson Institute scholar Irwin Stelzer seems to forecast a sunny future for capitalism in a DC Examiner op-ed today. Stelzer writes about the current …
Bad energy policy usually involves repeating the mistakes made from 1970 to 1980 — windfall profits taxes, federally subsidized alternative energy sources, price controls, and others. All of these old ideas are back in play, even though their track record for worsening rather than solving the nation’s energy problems is there for all to see. But when it comes to the green jobs argument — that new federal energy and environmental requirements will create jobs and spur economic growth — we’re also repeating the blunders of another decade, the 1930s. …
According to the Associated Press, in order to combat “one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Europe,” the British government is about to mandate sex education for all students, “including kindergarten-age children.” The AP reports: The government hasn’t detailed what the new curriculum will look like, but schools will be asked to provide lessons on relationships and contraception, topics not previously required. Lessons will become more sophisticated as kids get older. Elementary schools can offer lessons in naming body parts, preparing for puberty and relationship feelings, [Schools Minister Jim …
When the Supreme Court vacated the stay that had been issued in Ohio Republican Party v. Brunner last week, it did so based on the view that the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) does not authorize a lawsuit by a private party. The stay had ordered the Ohio Secretary of State to comply with the requirement in HAVA to verify the accuracy of the information provided on voter registration applications. The Supreme Court took some pains to make clear it was not disputing the district court and the …
In his 2004 book, “What’s the Matter with Kansas,” social critic Thomas Frank accuses conservatives of distracting blue-collar Americans from economic issues that matter to them with “the illusory threat of gay marriage.” Let’s stipulate for right now that Frank is right and that the issue of gay marriage is largely irrelevant to the lives of blue-collar workers. Why then, may we ask, is the California Teachers Association (CTA), one of the state’s largest unions, spending $1.25 million of its members’ dues to defeat Proposition 8, an initiative on the …
If our country is going learn anything from the financial meltdown, there’s only one way to do it. Heritage’s Dave Mason says the Bush administration should appoint an independent commission to aid Congress before it rushes to legislate. Lawmakers simply can’t be trusted. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0PQ_9lpBwU[/youtube]
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) went on the Jim Villanucci Show on Tuesday and lauded the “more intelligent level” of public discussion that the Fairness Doctrine fostered in decades past. Bingaman obviously doesn’t believe the Fairness Doctrine gives Americans a raw deal. Hear it for yourself below. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veF2KNlHW6w[/youtube]
Buried deep in this Slate article Jack Shafer finally gets around to explaining why ACORN’s indisputably proven record of voter registration fraud matters: As [University of Kentucky professor Tracy Campbell] notes in his book, compromising an election’s integrity in any way qualifies as fraud, whether it changes the outcome or not. So when John McCain shouts fraud in response to the sham voter-registration forms submitted by ACORN for “Mickey Mouse,” “Donald Duck,” and the Dallas Cowboys starting lineup, he’s right. Just because these registrations might have been purged before a …
Under normal circumstances, the very concept of direct government purchase of bank stock of any type would be unthinkable and unacceptable. But it seems that to large extent the hand of U.S. policymakers was forced by overseas governments that provided similar capital programs to their banks. If the U.S. government had not established this program, foreign banks would have been seen as safer, and ours would have been at a disadvantage. Subsequently, large depositors and investors would have moved their money to the foreign banks. Now that the U.S. Treasury …
