Tag Archives | Subsidies

endless-1200x762

Will the Pandemic Promote Political Power in Perpetuity?

American Institute for Economic Research, May 26, 2021 Will the Pandemic Promote Political Power in Perpetuity? James Bovard “It’s like we created another industry in our state. The amount of money is staggering,” Andrew Schaufele, director of Maryland’s Bureau of Revenue Estimates, happily declared last week. The Biden stimulus plan is deluging governments across America […]

Continue Reading
dc good photo subway metro

What the ‘Dumpster Fire’ D.C. Metro Says About Federal Bureaucracy

The American Conservative What the ‘Dumpster Fire’ D.C. Metro Says About Federal Bureaucracy City council just voted to impose a 500 percent tax hike on Uber and Lyft. Really? By James Bovard • July 10, 2018 The Washington D.C. Metro.(Credit: Thomas Hawk/Flickr/Creative Commons The District of Columbia Council voted in June to impose a tax […]

Continue Reading
USA TODAY flood photo from 9 01 2017 article

USA TODAY: Hurricane Harvey Proves Federal Flood Subsidies Must End

USA TODAY Dear Texas, how many times do we have to rebuild the same house? (You’re next Florida) James Bovard, Opinion columnist Sept. 1, 2017 The ‘flood-build-repeat’ model, so popular among re-election-seeking members of Congress, must come to an end. Hurricane Harvey, which battered Texas over the past week, offers the clearest lesson why Congress […]

Continue Reading
counterpunch1

CP: Peanuts Prove Congress is Incorrigible

COUNTERPUNCH, March 29, 2017 Peanuts Prove Congress is Incorrigible by James Bovard The history of federal peanut policy illustrates why Congress could never competently manage a lemonade stand. The feds sabotage farmer productivity, screw consumers, and sow chaos around the world – all for campaign contributions. Federal spending for peanut subsidies has increased eightfold since […]

Continue Reading
JPB-FFF-artwork-peanut-train-crash-peanut-1029804_1280

FFF: The Great Goober Train Wreck

Future of Freedom Foundation The Great Goober Train Wreck of 2016 by James Bovard 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 have risen eightfold between last year and next year — reaching almost […]

Continue Reading
lump-sugar-549096_1280

FEE: Sugar Racketeering Ravages Our Food, Health, and Prosperity

Foundation for Economic Education, March 09, 2017 Why Americans Pay Triple the World Price for Sugar by James Bovard Washington is once again massively screwing up the American sugar market. Because American farmers cannot compete with foreign sugar growers, the federal government has maintained an array of sugar import quotas and/or tariffs for most of […]

Continue Reading
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