“Free” federal money always has costs. In the case of some families in Dakota County, Minnesota, it could cost them their property. They own land that is surrounded by a park that the county has been assembling for a while, along the Mississippi River. Spurred by the lure of an offer of funds from the federal government (an offer that will expire soon), the county wants […]
John LaPlante
About John LaPlante
Posts by John LaPlante:
Is Minnesota really #8?
There’s a lot of bipartisan self-congratulatory talk going on about how Minnesota ranks #8 in the latest edition of The Best States for Business and Careers, an index from Forbes. MinnPost, for example, includes quotes from the current governor, as well as a man who would like to challenge him for the office next year. Of course, everything must become political. But the quality of a state […]
Trying to limit what you want
It’s easy, but wrong, to think of today’s governing philosophy as socialism. Rather, it’s control, including constraining demand in a number of areas of life. For example, transportation planners such as Minnesota’s Metropolitan Council want to minimize the demand for miles of roads. We can’t build our way out of congestion, they say. So they seek to constrain the demand for roads by nudging people into living in […]
Hooray for cuteness capitalism
Along the curbs of many residential streets this summer, you’ll find a classic piece of Americana as well as free enterprise–the lemonade stand. Stop and drop a couple of quarters, please. The other day, I was driving back home when three children caught my eye. They were all girls, roughly ages 9-12, standing at a corner, waving signs and yelling out “Lemonade! Lemonade for sale!” […]
If they can’t even get a bridge repair right …
In its recent session, the Minnesota Legislature doled out $250 million in favors to a mega-famous retail center that doesn’t pay property taxes. Thanks to the insistence of one legislator, it also allocated $9 million to please birders and bicyclists. The Star Tribune’s Rochelle Olson reported on this in a story called “Mall of America expansion funding has $9 million bridge to cross.” Both the […]
Childcare Unionization: Using the Power of Government to Enrich Partisan Advantage
Introduction: As I write this, the Minnesota House is set to vote on a proposal to unionize independent, self-employed business owners who heretofore worked primarily for families of small children (home health care aides are also included). Some of these business owners have customers who receive public subsidies. AFSCME, the powerful union of state and local workers, has been seeking to unionize, and enrich its coffers with […]
Do tax rates matter? Ask the calendar
Politicians may say that tax rates don’t matter, but the number of people who move away from Minnesota to low-tax states suggest otherwise. So do the actions of politicians who offer selective tax breaks. But today, I’d like to tell a story about one person whose life choices suggest that tax rates do affect personal behavior–sometimes to the detriment of the taxing authority. Earlier this month, I […]
Two school models, two ethical models of financing
As I left the church-based preschool my daughter attends, the director drew my attention to the nearby countertop. On it was a class photo of my girl and all her classmates. Would I like to buy this photo, she asked, for only $10? “Another revenue stream?,” I asked. “Oh yes,” she said, with a mixture of delight and good cheer. “We try to squeeze everything […]
Republicans for special tax breaks
Corporate cronyism isn’t just for Democrats. The “fiscal cliff averter” includes an extension of a special tax treatment for NASCAR. We’re loading up the nation in public debt, but at least the entertainment lobby will be happy! From The Detroit News: http://apps.detnews.com/apps/blogs/watercooler/index.php#ixzz2HggH5zMb
Nothing as permanent as a government regulation
If you’d like to see tedious, irrelevant government policy in action, you could start by looking at the world of aviation. Consider, for example, the ban on electronic devices during certain times of your next flight. From a commentary in the New York Times: “The agency has no proof that electronic devices can harm a plane’s avionics, but it still perpetuates such claims, spreading irrational […]