Subway Hijinks

February 11, 2009 8:09 AM by Gregory Bresiger

One of the projects that President Obama's close to trillion dollar stimulus package is designed to pay for will be a much delayed subway line in New York City. The line has been authorized and paid for by taxpayers time and again through bond issues and federal aid over more than 60 years. Yet the line is years away because of cost overruns and various public sector problems.

Given the porkish nature of all these federal and state make-work programs, it is unlikely the subway line will be operating any time soon, yet riders are already being told of the marvels of public-sector projects. FULL ARTICLE

The Non-Issue that Should Be an Issue

July 3, 2008 7:57 AM by Gregory Bresiger

Republicans used to talk about reducing the welfare state. I remember when candidate Ronald Reagan in 1980 promised to end the Energy and Education departments. Some Republicans, who themselves have caught the entitlement-spending/social-engineering bug, now propose the creation of a federal department of families.

Indeed many Republicans, who once said they were against the welfare state, now brag they are better at running the welfare state than the Democrats. FULL ARTICLE

Clogging Capital Markets

June 9, 2006 7:23 AM by Gregory Bresiger

Did you hear the recent giant sigh of collective relief from the securities industry? It was the sound of those securities professionals who, for now, dodged a regulatory bullet. Regulation National Market System's June 29th trade-through rule mandate had become a dead letter. But the regulatory state — massive, expensive, and Byzantine — survives. FULL ARTICLE