Free Republic

Give him credit. Most elected officials are content to tinker at the edges, but Governor Jindal of Louisiana actually wants to solve problems. Look what he’s done, for instance, on fiscal policy. He sought to abolish his state’s personal income tax, a step that would have dramatically boosted the states competitiveness. That effort stalled, but he actually has been successful in curtailing state spending. He’s amassed one of the best records for frugality of all governors seeking the GOP presidential nomination. And he’s now joined the list of presidential candidates seeking to rewrite the internal revenue code. Since we’ve already reviewed...

I’m a huge fan of Switzerland, largely because its voters approved a spending cap that should be a role model for other nations.It’s called the “debt brake” and it has helped reduce the burden of government spending in Switzerland at a time when most nations in Europe have been moving in the wrong direction.But that’s not the only reason I like Switzerland.I also appreciate the fact that Swiss voters seem to be much more sensible than voters in other nations.Every so often I see polls, for instance, suggesting that French voters overwhelmingly want less government spending. But then they go...

You won’t know whether to laugh or cry after perusing these stories that will be added to our “great moments in government” collection. For instance, did you realize that American taxpayers were saddled with the responsibility to micro-manage agriculture in Afghanistan? You’re probably surprised the answer is yes. But I bet you’re not surprised that the money was flushed down a toilet. Here are some excerpts from a report on how $34 million was wasted. American agricultural experts who consider soybeans a superfood…have invested tens of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to try to change the way Afghans eat. The...

It’s easy to get discouraged if you believe in small government and individual liberty. It seems that the burden of the public sector is always expanding and that politicians and bureaucrats are always figuring out new ways to restrict our freedoms. But let’s not lose hope. We still have a lot of economic liberty, particularly if you count non-fiscal policy factors. And we still have the Second Amendment. Heck, we don’t just have the right to keep and bear arms, we exercise that right in massive numbers. Take a look at this impressive graphic. We’re #1 in some bad ways,...

As much as I condemn American politicians for bad policy, things could be worse. We could be Greek citizens, which would be very depressing. Indeed, you’ll understand why I put Obamaland in the title after you read today’s column. Simply stated, Greece is a cesspool of statism. The people seem to be wonderful (at least outside of polling booths), but government intervention is pervasive and atrocious. Here’s an example. As I was coming in a taxi from the airport to the city yesterday, we passed some sort of protest. There were a couple of hundred people at the rally and...

I’ve already shared some analysis of Mark Steyn’s libertarian-leaning views on foreign policy, so it’s very timely to see what he just wrote about Syria. Here’s some of his new article in National Review. His humor is sharp, but he makes a very important point. The administration’s ingenious plan is to lose this war in far less time than we usually take. In the unimprovable formulation of an unnamed official speaking to the Los Angeles Times, the White House is carefully calibrating a military action “just muscular enough not to get mocked.” That would make a great caption for a Vanity Fair photo shoot...

I’ve already speculated that Jay Leno is a closet libertarian. If nothing else, the latest batch of jokes, courtesy of News-max, shows that he’s willing to go after Obama. Which is more than can be said for some of his competitors. Jay Leno Al-Qaida’s No. 2 man in Yemen was killed this week by a drone strike. He was doing a cover shoot for Rolling Stone and they were able to pinpoint him. President Obama told a group of school children that broccoli was his favorite food, and they believed him. Then he told them Obamacare would reduce the deficit and the kids...

One of history’s worst butchers, Josef Stalin, is rumored to have said that, “The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic.”Sadly, there’s probably some truth in that statement.I’ve shared a bunch of horror stories about the U.K.’s government-run healthcare system (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here) and I challenge you to read them without feeling some mix of anger, sadness, despair, and disgust.Now read these passages from a story earlier this year in the UK-based Daily Mail. As many as 1,165 people starved to death in NHS hospitals over the...

I’ve never figured out why soccer is so popular in some parts of the world. What’s the point of watching people run up and down a field for 90 minutes when the result is usually a 0-0 tie? But non-Americans generally don’t get the point of baseball, so I guess it’s all a matter of background and taste. I mention soccer because it’s an excuse to write about competitiveness and taxation. Except I’m not going to write about low tax rates and job creation, orlow tax rates and capital formation. Instead, today’s topic is tax competitiveness and French soccer. And since...

Although he implemented a flat tax in Russia, I don’t think of Vladimir Putin as a supporter of free markets. Heck, he was head of the KGB during the communist era, and he presides over a country that is more known for cronyism rather than competitive markets. So if he criticizes European nations for having excessive welfare states, it’s like being called ugly by a frog. Here are some of the amusing details from Euractiv.com. He’s no Milton Friedman, but he’s right about the welfare state Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking ahead of the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland on...

Two of my favorite things in life are the Laffer Curve and the Georgia Bulldogs. So you know I’m going to approve when an economics professor from the University of Georgia writes a column about the power of the Laffer Curve. And since I’m a libertarian and the specific issue is about curtailing the foolish Drug War, it goes without saying that this is something that belongs on this blog. Especially when we get to celebrate some evidence that statists are acknowledging that tax rates matter! Here are some excerpts from Jeffrey Dorfman’s column at Real Clear Markets. Now that...