So, When Do the Confidence Fairies Arrive? « Rortybo mb

Image giving an economics undergraduate the following question: “Unemployment is high. Inflation is low. Borrowing costs are cheap. What should the government do?” and they responded “cut the short-term deficit immediately to show strength!” You’d have to give them a bad grade, right? But that’s what our government, Democrats and Republicans, are doing. But there’s… Continue reading So, When Do the Confidence Fairies Arrive? « Rortybo mb

Insincerely Yours

Look, we’ve been here before. The obvious parallel in my mind is what happened after 9/11, when more or less the same people declared themselves totally focused on fighting terrorism — but unwilling to give up anything they wanted, and in fact eagerly using the terrorist threat as an excuse to grab even more goodies.… Continue reading Insincerely Yours

Barber Licensing Rules Harm Prisoner Re-entry

Nobody comes out and says “I want to establish an occupational licensing regime for my profession in order to create an arbitrary barrier to entry” but the system works, in practice, to create arbitrary barriers to entry. Consequently, there’s a need to find barriers that don’t seem totally arbitrary, From Barber Licensing Rules Harm Prisoner… Continue reading Barber Licensing Rules Harm Prisoner Re-entry

Evangelical Liberty University received half a billion dollars in federal aid money – War Room – Salon.com

Liberty University, the evangelical private Christian school founded by dead apartheid-supporting bigot Jerry Falwell, received $445 million in federal financial aid money last year. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, by the way, received $420 million from the federal government. From War Room – Salon.com Any tea party members going after money that goes to unaccredited bible colleges? 

Ludicrous and Cruel

the Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2030 the value of a voucher would cover only a third of the cost of a private insurance policy equivalent to Medicare as we know it. So the plan would deprive many and probably most seniors of adequate health care. And that neither should nor will happen. Mr.… Continue reading Ludicrous and Cruel

Ryan and Taxes

The Ryan plan calls for cutting the top marginal rate to 25 percent — lower than it has been at any time in the past 80 years. That in itself should tell you that this is a deeply unserious proposal: anyone who tells you that we have to face hard truths, that everyone must sacrifice,… Continue reading Ryan and Taxes

David Brooks: Democrats unwilling to ask voters to pay for popular programs

Democrats seem to believe that most Americans want to preserve the 20th-century welfare state programs. But they are unwilling to ask voters to pay for them, and they are unwilling to describe the tax increases that would be required to cover their exploding future costs. Raising taxes on the rich will not do it. There… Continue reading David Brooks: Democrats unwilling to ask voters to pay for popular programs