In his final State of the Union, President Obama declared his belief that “a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy,” which he paired with the assertion that “there are outdated regulations that need to be changed and there’s red tape that needs to be cut.” Hearing these words was less a cause […]
The EPA’s Illegal Propaganda
The Environmental Protection Agency misused tax dollars in the service of public propaganda, according to a legal opinion just handed down by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The misdeeds came during the agency’s public-relations blitz to drum up support for its new Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation. First proposed in April 2014, the […]
Illegal P.R.: The EPA’s Propaganda Machi
A little over a century ago, Rep. Frederick Gillett (R-Mass.) read something in the New York Times that vexed him. The Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Roads advertised that it was seeking to hire a publicity expert. Gillett could not understand why a government agency needed someone to “advertise” its work…. (Read more at the […]
Postal Banking Is an Idea Whose Time Has...
From 1911 through 1967, the old U.S. Post Office offered savings accounts. The enterprise started because private banks seldom insured deposits. The establishment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 removed the raison d’être for postal banking. By the time Congress ended it, deposits had dwindled, as the public greatly preferred private banking. In […]
In Fact, It Really Is Nearly Impossible ...
I was a federal employee for 11 years. Many of my friends are federal employees. Civil servants too often are given a bum rap by mindless critics who disparage them as ‘bureaucrats who love red tape.’ But facts are facts, and the current federal system makes it nearly impossible to fire a federal employee after […]
Review of John DiIulio’s Bring Back the
The May 4 copy of the Weekly Standard carries my review of John DiIulio’s Bring Back the Bureaucrats: Why More Federal Workers Will Lead To Better (And Smaller!) Government. The federal government now spends $3.5 trillion annually, much of which is transferred to state and local governments and private organizations. In 2012, for example, the Department […]