The Washington Post magazine has a lengthy piece on American Indian policy, focusing on the challenges faced by people living on reservations.

The federal government spends $750 billion a year on 1,386 different subsidy programs for state and local governments. The number of aid programs has tripled since the 1980s.

Despite rising federal deficits, Congress is set to pass another budget-busting spending bill. This time it is a $19 billion package of disaster-related subsidies.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) is a small agency within the Department of Commerce. Its purpose is to give money to governments and businesses to fund local activities, such as $2 million to “repurpose the West Frankfort Mall” in Illinois and $150,000 for the Brick River Cider company in St. Louis to make “authentic hard cider.”

Former Ohio Governor John Kasich paves the way for sound thinking on highways in his new Wall Street Journal op-ed.

The U.S. Postal Service has been losing money for more than a decade. Its financial outlook is bleak, with $110 billion in unfunded retirement costs and more liabilities accruing every year.

Presidential candidates are proposing ideas to expand government, including a Green New Deal and Medicare for All. One flaw with such schemes is that they would give government officials large new powers to be exercised not by angels but often by very shady characters.

The Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 created 8,700 “opportunity zones” across the country which receive special capital gains tax breaks.

The U.S. Postal Service is in a growing financial crisis as mail volume continues to plunge. The Government Accountability Office says that a “comprehensive package of actions is needed to improve USPS’s financial viability.”

As the 2020 presidential election campaign heats up, get ready for a torrent of claims about incomes, wealth, and inequality.