Tag Archives | boondoggles

WallStreetJournal-logo

Wall Street Journal Publishes Retorts to My USDA Subsidy Bash

The Wall Street Journal today published several testy letters responding to my December 11 article, “Living Off the Fat of Washington.”  Here they are: Land-Rich Farmers Still Struggle to Survive Dec. 21, 2016 4:40 p.m. ET James Bovard is correct in several of his observations relating to the Agricultural Department’s outdated farm-subsidy programs, but off the […]

Continue Reading
denver ross kaminsky

Thumping Boondoggles on Denver Radio with Ross Kaminsky

Ross Kaminsky, morning host on Denver’s 630 AM KHOW,  had me on his show this morning to pay disrespect to farm subsidies (spurred by Monday’s Wall Street Journal article).   We had fun talking about the cotton program payoff to Brazilian farmers, how the sugar program destroys jobs, and why politicians sabotage the public interest. Ross is […]

Continue Reading

FFF: Bipartisan Battering of Freedom in Congress

Future of Freedom Foundation Bipartisan Battering of Freedom by James Bovard For more than 40 years, Republicans have been promising to cut federal spending. In the same period, federal outlays have inched up by a few trillion dollars. But the Grand Old Party continues singing the same song — though voters may finally be losing […]

Continue Reading
jpb WTimes peanut illusration 8 26 2016 8_252016_b1bovarlgpeanuts8201_s878x1207

Wash. Times: Politicians & Peanut Pilfering

Washington Times, August 26, 2016 Politicians and Peanut Pilfering by James Bovard The peanut program is typical of the train wreck of farm subsidies The history of federal peanut policy is the perfect antidote to anyone who still believes that Congress could competently manage a lemonade stand. Federal spending for peanut subsidies will rise eight-fold […]

Continue Reading
JPB article WT VEIP artwork by Alexander Hunter 7_7_2016_b3-bovard8201_s878x393

Wash. Times: My Blowup at the Bogus Checkpoint

  Washington Times, July 8, 2016 Blowup at the bogus checkpoint Improved technology has done more to reduce environmental harm than government emissions tests By James Bovard As I recently sat in a seemingly endless line of cars at the Maryland vehicle emissions checkpoint, the engine in my 1999 Ford suddenly growled, shuttered and conked […]

Continue Reading
texas radio unnamed

MP3 – Texas Radio Interview on Government Waste

I had fun today with Brian Wade and Mark Cope, the early morning hosts on KXYL Radio in Brownwood, Texas discussing my U.S. News article on government waste.  I started out pretty slow but after a couple minutes I remembered how to speak English.  My Southern twang pops up a few times in the interview. They were […]

Continue Reading
Mises Inst newsletter illustration The%20Absurdity%20of%20Reform%20in%20DC%20Bovard

Mises Institute: The Illusion of Reform

  Mises Institute “The Austrian” Newsletter, Issue #1, 2015 The Absurdity of “Reform” in DC by James Bovard In the 1930s, peasants who were starving because of the Soviet regime’s brutal farm collectivization policy lamented, “If only Stalin knew!” Nowadays, American social scientists look at floundering federal programs and lament: “If only Congress knew!” And […]

Continue Reading