Our Untransparent President

"This is a lesson in “trust us.” Those in power are always certain that they themselves will act reasonably, and they resist limits on their own discretion. The problem is, “trust us” is no way to run a self-governing society."

Our Untransparent President - NYTimes.com

The Obama Growth Gap

"America is becoming a European-style welfare state and it is unavoidable that we will suffer from European-style economic malaise."

Nobel Prize Winner Analyzes The Obama Growth Gap - Business in The Beltway - Money & Politics - Forbes

Warning to America

"You’re behind us on this road, fortunately from your point of view, but government by decree, trampling on state’s rights, appointment of federal czars, shift in power from elected representatives to the unelected functionaries, you’re doing the same thing."

In the Green Room: British MEP Daniel Hannan on His Warning to America | The Foundry

Scrutinize the President, not Palin

"When is this journalistic scrutiny going to be applied to politicians who wield actual power?"

Scrutinize the president, not Palin - CNN.com

Balkan Free Markets Flower

"Fortunately, these countries have not made the mistake of increasing their debt/gross domestic product ratios to unsustainable levels, unlike the major European countries. The additional good news is that the Balkan countries (i.e., old Yugoslavia plus Bulgaria and Albania) appear to be well on their way to no longer being synonyms for political and economic instability."

RAHN: Free markets flower as war memories fade - Washington Times

David Mamet's Coming Out Party

"Hear him take on the left's sacred cows. Diversity is a 'commodity.' College is nothing more than 'Socialist Camp.' Liberalism is like roulette addiction. Toyota's Prius, he tells me, is an 'anti-chick magnet' and 'ugly as a dogcatcher's butt.' Hollywood liberals—his former crowd—once embraced Communism 'because they hadn't invented Pilates yet.' Oh, and good radio isn't NPR ('National Palestinian Radio') but Dennis Prager, Michael Medved and Hugh Hewitt."

Bari Weiss: David Mamet's Coming Out Party - WSJ.com

The Opinions of Gene Simmons

Not sure where this fits, but for the generation like mine who first knew Kiss, Gene Simmons is surprisingly well-informed. I'm impressed...and a little shocked.

Deceitful and Dull

"Most successful people achieved success with little or nothing from the federal government beyond the national defense and other things the federal government provides to all people. Second, most wealthy people have done things for America by inventing things, creating jobs, providing investment capital, etc. They become wealthy by doing things that benefit millions of people."

Today’s Obama Speech: Nearly as deceitful as it was dull

It's Time to Rethink Everything

"By the time you finish the introduction to Ron Paul's book, you realize that you are going to be treated to a completely new and radical form of thinking about politics, one that reimagines the current world in the same way that Jefferson reimagined his world — and became the real father of this country."

It's Time to Rethink Everything - - Mises Institute

5 Ways the Government Screws Up Housing Finance

"For all the debate surrounding the causes of the financial crisis, one thing is for sure: the government made a huge mistake guaranteeing mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

5 Ways the Government Screws Up Housing Finance - Daniel Indiviglio - Business - The Atlantic

How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine

"The federal government first issued energy standards for washers in the early 1990s. When the Department of Energy ratcheted them up a decade later, it was the beginning of the end for top-loaders. Their costlier and harder-to-use rivals—front-loading washing machines—were poised to dominate."

Sam Kazman: How Washington Ruined Your Washing Machine - WSJ.com

A Run-of-the-Mill Half-Billion-Dollar Corruption Story

"It may be Michael Kinsley who first said that the scandal in Washington is not what's illegal, it's what's legal."

RealClearPolitics - A Run-of-the-Mill Half-Billion-Dollar Corruption Story

The “Great Society”: A Free Market Critique

"LBJ wanted to be remembered for his Great Society legacy. And he has had his wish. His paternalistic and welfare state agenda is the Albatross that has a stranglehold around the fiscal neck of the American people."

Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society”: A Free Market Critique » The Cobden Centre

Two New Versions of the Cold War

"Many Western historians are most reluctant to use the word “totalitarian” with regard to Stalin’s Russia; they believe is a loaded, even propagandistic, term—not to be used by serious, dispassionate analysts. Some Russian historians and commentators have no such compunction; even the president of Russia has not shied away from using this term on occasion. Here’s Dmitri Medvedev in an interview with Izvestia from May 6, 2010: “If we speak honestly, the regime that was built in the Soviet Union cannot be called anything other than totalitarian.”"

World Affairs Journal - West Meets East: Two New Versions of the Cold War

Poll: Cut Taxes

"Americans strongly prefer cutting spending to raising taxes to reduce the federal deficit. While 77 percent prefer to cut spending, just nine percent call for raising taxes."

Poll: Americans Split on What to Cut from Government - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Making the Federal Budget | Mercatus

Making the Federal Budget | Mercatus

Bill Ritter’s ‘New Energy Economy’ Based on Old Fallacies

"If you think corporate welfare “creates jobs,” you might be an outgoing Colorado governor."

Denver Daily - Bill Ritter’s ‘new energy economy’ based on old fallacies

S&P, Moody's Warn On U.S. Credit Rating

"Moody's Investors Service said in a report Thursday that the U.S. will need to reverse an upward trajectory in the debt ratios to support its triple-A rating."

S&P, Moody's Warn On U.S. Credit Rating - WSJ.com

Constitution Is Old, Confusing, and Meaningless

Politics Without Mainstream Opinion