USA TODAY May 25, 2015 How Baltimore became Pottersville by James Bovard Trusting federal housing subsidies to help save the city is the ultimate triumph of hope over experience. Baltimore’s recent riots are not surprising in a city that has long been plagued by both police brutality and one of the nation’s highest murder rates […]
Tag Archives | Boondoggle
MP3 of my NPR Debate on Federal Job Training
Marty Nemko had me on his NPR-San Francisco KALW program today to debate federal job training reform with Stephen Baiter, the executive directory of the Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County, California. Marty wanted a civil debate, so we didn’t bust any chairs over each other’s heads. I have been writing […]
FFF: Know-Nothing Democracy on Capitol Hill
Future of Freedom, March 2015 (posted 5/22/15) Know-Nothing Democracy on Capitol Hill by James Bovard “You can lead a man to Congress but you can’t make him think,” quipped Milton Berle in 1950. Last December’s congressional approval of the 1,603-page, $1.1 trillion omnibus bill (known as “Cromnibus,” because it was also a Continuing Resolution) also […]
Latest Iraq Success Story
Cartoonist Tom Toles perfectly captures the latest Iraq fiasco. This is a joint Bush-Obama debacle – and proof that neither party can be trusted to intelligently intervene in the Middle East. But the pro-Iraq war crowd is still yelping for the U.S. to “fix” Syria….
FFF: ObamaCare Racketeering & Intellectual Knavery
From the Future of Freedom Foundation’s February 2015 magazine – ObamaCare Racketeering and Intellectual Knavery by James Bovard Paternalism is a desperate gamble that lying politicians will honestly care for those who fall under their power. This axiom has been made stark with the controversy arising from a video of Jonathan Gruber, one of the […]
USA Today: Scott Walker’s Stadium Socialism
USA TODAY, April 10, 2015 Scott Walker’s stadium socialism by James Bovard Tough on unions, but professional sports teams and ethanol producers? Not so much. Governor Scott Walker has soared to the front of Republican presidential candidates thanks largely to his reputation for fighting wasteful government spending in Wisconsin. Republican faithful across the nation envision […]
Rand Paul’s Early Foreign Policy Wobbles
Many libertarians are justifiably exasperated by Sen. Rand Paul joining the saber-rattling against Iran. But his foreign policy positions have been shaky for a long time. Here’s a review of his 2012 book, Government Bullies, from the American Conservative magazine (perhaps Rand’s biggest supporters in the Washington media). Rand has been getting dreadful foreign policy advise […]