For some in the Tea Party, and for just about everyone with the Occupy Wall Street movement, there’s a problem with capitalism. I’ve not the slightest problem with either of these groups protesting, and doing so in large numbers. (Congressional Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s correct about wanting to cut spending; he’s wrong to worry about…
Government Spending
Animals, Government Spending, Police
Update 4: On Edgerton, Wisconsin’s Former Police Dog
by JOHN ADAMS •
There was a follow-up story in the Janesville Gazette about Edgerton’s former police dog, an animal that bit two people (one a police officer from another department, the other an office worker) before it was finally sent away. The cost of settling injuries to the police officer (apparently the lesser of the two injuries) was…
Government Spending
How’s that new Congress doing?
by JOHN ADAMS •
If the question is how well it’s controlling spending, the answer is that it’s doing great work a terrible job: Republicans took over the U.S. House last November, and as a result, government spending finally dropped. Whoops….Government spending actually increased! They haven’t reported the final numbers yet, but FY 2010 spending was $3.456 trillion, and…
Cars, Free Markets, Government Spending
Ford Slams GM, Chrysler Over Government Bailouts
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s not a real press conference, but it’s a real, unscripted message: a buyer says he bought a Ford because he didn’t want a car from a company that took a taxpayer-funded bailout. The commercial doesn’t address the merits of any given Ford, GM, or Chrysler car: it impugns the two latter automakers generally. It’s…
Government Spending, Planning, Science/Nature
NASA’s Amazing New Rocket to … Somewhere
by JOHN ADAMS •
One sees that NASA has a proposal for a new, powerful rocket. It’s a design that’s impressive, expensive, and oddly aimless. NASA’s problems are the problem of many government plans – the plan offers a Next Big Thing without a clear goal. NASA once built rockets to send Americans to the moon and back; now…
Government Spending, Planning, Politics
How Politicians, Bureaucrats Pretend They’re Offering Competitive Solutions
by JOHN ADAMS •
A cunning bureaucrat, or a Texas politician, may tell his constituents that he’ll propose charging user fees, rather than using general tax funds, for basic services. He’s sure to contend that this approach makes the services offered more competitive. That’s nonsense, of course. The same government monopoly would exist as before, with the same lack…
City, Government Spending
The Libertarian Party’s Right on Target on Municipal Debt
by JOHN ADAMS •
A portion of yesterday’s Monday message from the LP appears below, from that party’s executive director. I’ve included the portion that would stand out even if not posted by itself: the role of municipal governments in profligately issuing public debt (as bonds) for local projects. It’s true that increased indebtedness occurs under Republicans as much…
Government Spending
About the S&P Downgrade of the US Credit Rating to AA+
by JOHN ADAMS •
First, from ABC News, see Five Easy-to-Understand Effects of a Downgrade. Second, more generally (and good for classroom use), the Cato Institute has a short video on the importance of the federal credit rating (embedded below). Third, although the change in rating is important, that hardly says the rating agencies are correct now, or in other…
Government Spending, Libertarians
Mark Grannis on Federal Debt
by JOHN ADAMS •
Government Spending
Spenditol
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Government Spending, Taxes/Taxation
The Cost and Camouflage of Grants
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s an item in the Whitewater city manager’s July 15th Weekly Report that shows how deceptive grants — supposedly free money — can be. First, the cost. Grants for bridges, etc., aren’t free — someone had to earn that grant money, money that found its way to one public or quasi-public organization or another. When…
City, Government Spending
If Wisconsin can do it, then so can Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Economy, Government Spending, Open Government
The Fed’s Secret Lending Program
by JOHN ADAMS •
One doesn’t have to be a libertarian critic of the Federal Reserve (Ron Paul being the exemplar) to see that billions in secret loans to financiers represents another example of government over-reach and (as they were at the time secret loans) unaccountability. Here, from Reason.tv, is a segment of Andrew Napolitano’s Freedom Watch, where guests…
City, Development, Government Spending
Meanwhile, at our business park…
by JOHN ADAMS •
I regularly read the Weekly Report of Whitewater’s city manager. I feel that I’m being helpful by doing so; if I stopped, average readership would likely fall by a third. In the July 8th edition, there’s mention of a new business, Simonswerk, that’s bringing a few jobs to our business park. A few are better…