It’s time to pull out the boiling-frog analogy again. People who would make your choices for you have scored another victory, as it’s now illegal in Maine to smoke … outside. From the Kennebec Journal: “I’m happy to say that, during beautiful summer days, Maine people will no longer have to make the unfortunate choice of dining inside or choosing to be outside and inhaling smoke.” […]
True North
Tweedledee, Tweedledum? Will Coleman support UAW bailout?
Congress is taking another step towards the nationalization of the American economy as it considers bailing out the United Auto Workers and the U.S.-based automakers. Guess who may be on board? Sen. Norm Coleman, the hope of … Republicans. According to Minnesota Public Radio and the Business Journal, Coleman–who would allegedly be part of the 40-senator filibuster firewall against far-left legislation coming out of the “world’s greatest […]
Cato Institute gives Pawlenty a “B”
The Cato Institute has come out with its biennial report card on the fiscal performance of the nation’s governors. Gov. Tim Pawlenty earned a “B.” Chris Edwards, the institute’s director of tax-policy studies, noted that Pawlenty ran on a no-new-taxes pledge, but “his tax record in office is more mixed than that.” Edwards cites: $200 million in cigarette tax increases (“fee,” my, uhm butt) $109 million […]
Federalism for life
While King Banaian offered up a review of the economic scholarship on economic growth and tax rates, my first response to the “Minnesotans aren’t paying enough in taxes” report was more philosophical. Just because you can afford to buy more government, is it the right thing to do? A healthy society has checks and balances among various institutions, just as it has checks and balances within […]
Sports follies in Minnesota
So how’s that new Twins stadium going to benefit the economy? It won’t. Instead, it’s going to be another transfer of wealth from some people to others. Just what government does the best. Click over to Manktao-based Marketpowerblog.com for a quick review of the empty promises of stadium boosters. There are only two words that you need to understand this edific complex:rent seeking, which “starts with […]
When the Legislature is in session …
There have been so many bad ideas floating around this legislative session. One place that has chronicled them is the Saint Paul Legal Ledger, a place for legal notices (business is doing very well due to bankruptcy filings and foreclosures) and wonky news articles and commentary. What follows are some brief notes on articles published there in the last month. The topics include legislative pay; […]
No Prices, No Progress
Single payer makes health care simple, advocates tell us. How cute and charming. And nonsensical–to try to operate without prices. When I read that under a proposal that draws at least some interest from Minnesota’s Rep. Keith Ellison, “Physicians and other health care staff are reimbursed within 30 days of service ….” my first thought was “And what price do they get reimbursed at?” Before I […]
Adventures in Public Transportation
Following in the tradition of the Bensonhurst Bomber, and wanting to see up close how well mass transit a unionized, government-run transportation enterprise works, I took a slightly different trip home from the airport today. It was a waste of time, but an experiment in transportation policy. On the first leg of this trip, I got to the airport the usual way: I hitched a […]
Strike One, Yer Out
Should public employees be allowed to go on strike? About 17 percent of workers in the University of Minnesota system, or 3,500 people, have decided to go on strike. (The link is to the Washington Post which, unlike the Twin Cities-papers, doesn’t hide its articles behind an archived firewall.) No surprise, the union says that the action may bring the universities “to a standstill.” KARE-11 reminds us […]
Who controls your health insurance?
Health care is the wedge issue for those who would insert more government control over the individual’s life. And why not, given public dissatisfaction with the status quo? But there’s a better way. From Sen. Norm Coleman’s junk mail one page “annual report” comes these encouraging words on health care policy. It’s a start. (I have introduced paragraph breaks to make the text more readable. Text […]