According to the Hill, policymakers are “scrambling” to do something about the U.S. Postal Service in the current lame-duck session of Congress. The USPS’s recently announced $15.9 billion loss for 2012 apparently inspired policymakers to act.
Downsizing Blog
Hostess Bankruptcy: What Role Did Policy Play?
The demise of Hostess and Twinkies is not a national emergency, but it is certainly sad when a major business goes under and thousands of people lose their jobs.
Fiscal Cliff Solution Should Include Sen. Coburn's $68 Billion in Pentagon Spending Cuts
The fiscal cliff is looming and Washington is scrambling to reach a deal to avoid a Thelma and Louise ending in January. To start, policymakers need to identify spending cuts, and they could begin with Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-OK) just-released report on wasteful and duplicative spending in the Pentagon. The report identifies savings totaling at least $67.9 billion over the next decade in the Department of Defense.
On Veterans Day, Support the Troops by Scrutinizing the Missions
Today is a federal holiday in observance of Veterans Day and we should all pause a moment to reflect on the sacrifices our veterans have made. But today is also an opportunity to reflect on the current state of civil-military relations. In today’s New York Times, Tom Ricks addresses this and notes:
Obamacare is Still Vulnerable
President Obama has won reelection, and his administration has asked state officials to decide by Friday, November 16, whether their state will create one of Obamacare's health-insurance “exchanges.” States also have to decide whether to implement the law's massive expansion of Medicaid. The correct answer to both questions remains a resounding no.
Why a Good Year for Peanut Farmers is Bad for Taxpayers
The NY Times reports on how well peanut growing has gone this year:
Proclaiming Liberty in Central Pennsylvania
Supporters of limited government have little to cheer about today (and Romney winning wouldn’t have changed that in my opinion), so I’m going to point out a small glimmer of hope. In Pennsylvania’s 79th district, voters elected a local finance professor and radio host named John McGinnis to the state House of Representatives. A lot of Republicans talk a good game about liberty and smaller government – “Dr. John” eats it for breakfast.
In Disaster Relief, Bigger Government Isn't Always Better
The wind and rain from Hurricane Sandy hadn't even stopped before some people argued that the storm made the case against reducing the size of the federal government or giving states more say in their affairs. The federal response to a crisis became the proxy for big government in all its bureaucratic glory. Cutting government, we were meant to understand, means letting Sandy's victims fend for themselves.
Cut State Debt; End the Muni-Bond Exemption
Big government programs and special tax-code carve-outs often lead to corrupting ties between government officials and private interests. The Washington Post today discusses the municipal bond industry:
FEMA's Top-Down Approach to Disaster Relief Is Fundamentally Flawed
Proponents of an activist federal government are citing the destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy as evidence of the need for big government to manage and finance disaster relief. Of particular worry are possible cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency's budget and devolution of responsibility to the states.