Downsizing Blog
NYT Reportage on Government Lands
The recent “occupation” of government-owned lands in Eastern Oregon by disgruntled ranchers’ motivated Quoctrung Bui and Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times (NYT) to produce an edifying essay on January 6th. It was aptly titled “Why the Government Owns So Much Land in the West.” Curiously, the NYT essay fails to mention one of the most significant, recent, and contentious attempts to “dispose” of federal public lands.
Big Government Is Biggest Problem
If you ask just about anyone at Cato what is the biggest problem we face, they will say big government, particularly the vastly overgrown federal government. Gallup finds that many Americans agree with us.
Ben Carson’s Tax Plan
Presidential candidate Ben Carson released a three-page tax plan yesterday. Based on the limited information the plan includes, it looks like the best GOP plan so far.
The GOP's Omnibus Spending Binge Will Undermine the Next President
The $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by both the House and the Senate earlier today caps off a year of dreadful budgeting by Republicans in Congress.
The bill includes a few reforms, but generally fails to block President Obama’s various power grabs. So while the bill lifts the ban on oil exports, it does not block the administration’s dangerous effort to extend environmental regulations over small pools of water on private property.
CAP Study on Federal Land Issues
The federal government owns more than one quarter of the land in the nation, about 640 million acres. The holdings are concentrated in the West, where it owns about half of the 11 westernmost states.
CAP Study on Federal Land Issues
The federal government owns more than one quarter of the land in the nation, about 640 million acres. The holdings are concentrated in the West, where it owns about half of the 11 westernmost states.
CBO Says Federal Workers Overpaid in Two Categories
Federal workers are overpaid on wages by 2%, on average, and overpaid on benefits by a whopping 48%.
Fixing Federal Fumbles Forever
Congratulations to Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma for his new report “Federal Fumbles.” The senator and his staff identify 100 screw-ups in federal programs and agencies, and propose some modest fixes.
Universal Savings Accounts (USAs) Introduced
I have proposed that America adopt a Canadian-British innovation to encourage greater household savings. Canada’s Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) and Britain’s Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are revolutionizing savings for moderate- and middle-income families in those countries.
Richard Nixon’s VAT
With two Republican presidential candidates embracing a value-added tax (VAT), it is worth looking back at the original federal debate over that bad policy idea. Richard Nixon appears to have been the first U.S. leader to push for a VAT, which is not surprising given that he was perhaps the most statist GOP president of the 20th century. With a three-percent VAT in mind, Nixon called for new federal financing of local schools in his 1972 State of the Union address.