How Obama Got Here and Why He's Failing

Obama as Roman emperor -- the rise and fall of the propaganda master


http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2010/1004/Obama-as-Roman-emperor-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-propaganda-master

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-10-05-column05_ST_N.htm

Does Keynesianism Work

Quite of few datapoints going back to the Great Depression suggesting it does not.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575522351201224286.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

It's the Spending, Stupid.

The simple fact is that deficits are out of control right now because spending is out of control. That's the pretty obvious lesson drawn from looking at the past 60 years of federal budget data.


http://www.aolnews.com/opinion/article/opinion-memo-to-deficit-commission-its-the-spending-stupid/19554758

Government Coercion and Irresponsible Behavior

I just want to add a general comment on one of the contradictions in public policy that is inherent with Social Security. Many people I have spoken with about the need to set up private accounts, or abolish Social Security and Medicare often say something like:" Well, we know you will save for your medical care or retirement, but what are we supposed to do with those who just refuse to behave responsibly? Therefore we must assume that all people will be irresponsible and have the government violate your right to your money and create programs like Social Security."

Okay, let's assume that irresponsible behavior on the part of some requires all of us to surrender our freedom in this area. Let's apply their logic to other areas, like say wiretaps and spying on Americans. "Now we know that you and I would not act in an irresponsible way to commit a crime or a terrorist act, but what are we to do with those that refuse to behave responsibly? Therefore we must assume that all people will behave irresponsibly and have the government violate your right to privacy and allow unlimited unfettered wiretapping and surveillance."

It is funny how many will scream that they do not want their freedoms encroached, unless they are our economic freedoms in which case anything goes.

Do Tax Cuts Pay for Themselves

Quick answer - no.  But they usually cost less than advertised.  Conversely, tax increases generate less revenue than expected.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704518904575365173477277974.html

The Bush Deregulation Fallacy

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/229635/we-didnt-deregulate-veronique-de-rugy

Total real expenditures for finance-and-banking regulation rose 45.5 percent from 1990 to 2010, with a 20 percent increase in the last ten years. That spending rose by 26 percent during the Bush years, and by 7.1 percent in 2009. 

Nice Catalog of AGW Falling Apart

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/03/02/another-american-media-failure/

Missed Opportunity

Holman Jenkins had a good column in the WSJ yesterday:


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704548604575097493017190752.html

Here he talks about a quote from Obama on his objection to “catastrophic” insurance coverage:

"I'm buying that to protect me from some catastrophic situation; otherwise, I'm just paying out of pocket. I don't go to the doctor. I don't get preventive care. There are a whole bunch of things I just do without. But if I get hit by a truck, maybe I don't go bankrupt."


We won't unpack the assumptions in this rant: That the affluent, educated beneficiaries of this tax loophole aren't capable of spending wisely on their own health care.


I think that is a key part of the liberal mindset on healthcare. If we allow people to spend their own money, they will buy TV’s with it and won’t get the care they need. Basically, the government needs to take your money and force you to spend it on what they think is right. That applies to all their economic policies. Liberals think that’s OK, and conservatives don’t. Turns his whole authority concept sideways.

ON why HEalth Care Components Poll Well

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/02/quote-of-the-day/36381/

The Price for Fannie and Freddie Keeps Going Up

Barney Frank's decision to 'roll the dice' 

on subsidized housing is becoming 

an epic disaster for taxpayers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703278604574624681873427574.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinion#articleTabs%3Darticle