Land Use and Transportation Policy Analyst Marc Scribner takes a close look at an eminent domain reform bill just passed by the Texas State Senate. As written, the bill would do little to actually solve the problem of government seizing private property from one private party and giving it to another private party with better political connections. Marc suggests some fixes and notes that many people are not fooled by this weak effort at reform.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast for February 10, 2011: How Not to Stop Eminent Domain Abuse
Posted in CEI Podcast, Law, Political Animals, regulation
Tagged blight, eminent domain, eminent domain abuse, land use policy, marc scribner, texas, texas state senate, urban planning
President Obama’s policies are remarkably similar to President Bush’s. Most of their differences are in matters of degree, not principle. Both presidents believe in expanding federal involvement in health care, education, energy, you name it. Both grew regulation, spending and deficits at tremendous rates. Even their foreign policy is almost identical.
Over at the Daily Caller, I analyze last night’s State of the Union address (I also live-blogged it here) and find it wanting. There are some real stretches of logic:
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched a satellite into space. Therefore, taxpayers should give more money to politically favored corporations. This is not a rigorous line of thought. But it was typical of yesterday’s State of the Union address.
It wasn’t all bad, though:
There was some good in yesterday’s speech. The president would like to lower corporate tax rates. After Japan’s recent rate cuts, America now has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world — nearly 40 percent in most states. This is not the way to encourage businesses to invest in America.
I wish the president had spent a little more time on the rate cut. He could have explained to the country and his party that businesses don’t actually pay corporate taxes. That’s because businesses pass on their costs. Consumers — you and I — foot the bill.
Read the whole thing here.
Comments Off on Bush’s Third Term Continues
Posted in Economics, Political Animals, Spending
Tagged barack obama, bush, corporate tax rate, daily caller, deficits, obama, regulation, sotu, spending, state of the union
As promised, here is my live-blog of last night’s State of the Union address:
8:17 In line with recent tradition, the full text of President Obama’s speech leaked early. National Journal is hosting it – http://nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/exclusive-obama-to-declare-the-rules-have-changed–20110125
8:18 Here are excerpts from Rep. Paul Ryan’s response – http://budget.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=221278
8:41 Here comes Biden. Introduced as President of the Senate, not as Vice President.
8:42 Just turned on the tv. Curious to see which Ds and Rs will be sitting together. I hear Pelosi declined Cantor’s offer.
8:47 CNN is using the music from the John Adams miniseries. Inappropriate?
8:48 If you’re bored while waiting for the speech to start, you can read last year’s State of the Union live-blog here – http://www.openmarket.org/2010/01/27/state-of-the-union-live-blog/
8:53 CNN poll – Which is more important? 78% say not cutting social security is more important than reducing the deficit. 21% say the reverse.
Remember, in a democracy, the people get what they want in the long run. This is why neither party is willing to take on entitlement reform.
8:53 Wolf Blitzer looks like he just got out of a wind tunnel.
9:00 Important People continue to file in.
9:01 The Supreme Court is front-and-center. I’m guessing there will not be a repeat of Scalia’s mouthing “that’s not true.”
9:05 There sure are a lot of Important People in Washington. They’re still arriving.
9:05 Here he is.
9:06 Much applause.
9:08 I’m guessing this is as much “face time” as most of these Congress-critters will get.
9:08 Nice acknowledgment of Coburn’s missing beard.
9:10 CNN is debating the political significance of the color of Obama’s tie. It’s not news, it’s CNN.
9:11 Here we go!
9:11 But first, much applause and many thank yous.
9:12 That’s two standing ovations already.
9:12 Hearts to you, Rep. Giffords.
9:13 Please recover quickly.
9:14 Oh, dear. He’s blaming the Tucson tragedy on partisan bickering. But it wasn’t that. It was the act of a crazy person. Tone had nothing to do with it.
9:15 “We need to work together tomorrow.”
Somehow, I don’t see this happening.
9:16 “We will move forward together, or not at all.”
Given how politicians move, let’s hope for the latter.
9:16 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
Hello from Elyria Ohio !
9:17 Congress didn’t actually pass tax cuts in December. Tax cuts are when rates go down. Congress voted to keep them the same.
9:18 People don’t have the same job for life, anymore. A reference to the decline of American manufacturing.
9:19 One problem with that is that U.S. manufacturing output is near an all-time high.
9:19 Another is that few people want their children to grow up to be factory workers.
9:19 India! China! Scary!
9:20 “The competition for jobs is real.”
Except there isn’t a fixed number of jobs to be fought over between different countries.
9:21 Lots of talk about the future. A way of avoiding talking about the present?
9:22 “We need to out-innovate the rest of the world.” Get out of the way, then!
9:22 Curious to hear his thoughts about how he wants to make America a better place to do business.
9:23 Needs to encourage innovation. Sounds to me like an open invitation to rent-seeking and lobbying for politically popular industries.
9:23 First mention of Facebook in a State of the Union address?
9:23 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
Blah Blah stop the bs
9:24 Ah, Sputnik.
9:24 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
yes stop the spending Obama !
9:25 The Soviet Union launched a satellite in 1957. Therefore the federal government needs to invest in green jobs.
9:26 Yes, take money out of the economy, waste some of it on bureaucracy, then put it back into the economy. Maybe that’ll work!
9:26 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
We need less goverment !
9:26 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
didnt he cut NASA money ?
9:27 Kevin — don’t believe so. The shuttle program is ending soon, but budget remains the same
9:28 End oil subsidies — good! Government-sponsored innovation — yeesh.
9:28 How about ending all energy subsidies, period?
9:29 If it’s commercially viable, it doesn’t need a subsidy. If it isn’t commercially viable, no amount of subsidy will make it so.
9:29 Education.
9:30 Family rhetoric. Trying to appeal to Republicans, no doubt.
9:30 Much applause.
9:31 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
not teachers ?
9:31 Race to the Top as meaningful reform.
9:32 Do people in Washington really know how to educate kids in California, Texas, Maine, and beyond? This is properly a state and local issue. Get the feds out of it.
9:33 Is anyone against good schools across the country?
9:33 Teachers unions have to be loving this.
9:33 Merit pay! maybe not.
9:34 100,000 new teachers, in the fields of his choice. Echoes of Clinton, except not in a good way.
9:35 Student debt for all!
9:36 I like that he’s giving two-year colleges some respect. But they are also properly state and local issues, not federal.
9:36 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
Yes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9:36 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
NO jobs for teachers ! local schools are broke
9:37 Much applause.
9:37 Immigration.
9:37 Sounds good so far…
9:38 “Protect our borders.” Yeesh. Sounds like a Republican.
9:39 The best way to end the problem of illegal immigration is to make the legal channels easier, faster, and cheaper.
9:39 Prohibition doesn’t work.
9:39 Infrastructure.
9:40 Paid for by…
9:40 Good luck keeping politics out of this!
9:40 Especially with high-speed rail.
9:41 Nice pat-down joke. Please do something about those, Mr. President. They don’t make the country safer.
9:41 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
Yes I need the votes !
9:41 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
taxes !
9:41 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
get the shovels its getting thick
9:42 If the government spends more on education, innovation, and infrastructure, good things will happen.
9:43 Lower corporate tax rate, with an allusion to the Laffer Curve.
9:43 Makes sense — who knows about the revenue, but U.S. corporate tax rates are now the highest in the developed world.
9:44 Not the way to encourage businesses to locate in the U.S.
9:44 Korea FTA – no specifics
9:44 I hear it may implemented by July. Let’s hope.
9:45 Increase exports! Fewer goods and less direct foreign investment for all!
9:45 Ah, regulation.
9:45 They are why food is safe and air is clean. I’d wager that wealth has more to do with it.
9:46 Child labor laws didn’t hit the books until that vile practice was well in decline.
9:46 Ditto with Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, etc.
9:46 The health care bill. The elephant in the room.
9:47 The reactions are very partisan.
9:47 Anecdote!
9:47 Another anecdote!
9:47 How about some data?
9:48 “Fix what needs fixing, let’s move forward.” Curious as to his definition of what needs fixing.
9:48 National debt.
9:48 Blames Bush for beginning the spending binge. Right on.
9:49 Not sustainable. Quit sustaining it, then! His presidency has been Bush’s third term in almost every respect.
9:49 Spending freeze.
9:49 $40 billion per year. That’s roughly 1 percent of federal spending.
9:50 Deficit is something like 25%+ of federal spending. Try harder, please.
9:50 Curious to see how fast people spin this into spending cuts.
9:50 Oh wait, he just did.
9:51 A cut is when spending goes down. He is proposing that 12% of the budget stay the same, while the rest continues to increase.
9:51 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
never going to happen
9:51 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
Lip service !!!!!!!!!!!!
9:51 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
more TAXES !!!!!!!!!!!!! lost jobs!!!!!!!
9:51 Taxes.
9:52 Reduce Medicare and Medicaid? Don’t see this happening in the current political environment.
9:52 Medical malpractice reform to rein in frivolous lawsuits. Much applause. Rightfully so!
9:53 Bi-partisan solution to Social Security reform. In other words, punt it down the road.
9:53 Distrusts IRAs, apparently.
9:53 Not just personal accounts.
9:54 Millionaire tax break equals taking scholarships away from children. How about reducing spending on frivolities?
9:54 Simplify the tax code. Yes! If only either party had any interest in this.
9:55 Government should be affordable, competent, and efficient.
9:55 Brave stance.
9:55 Nice job poking fun at salmon regulations!
9:55 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
how many jobs is the health care reform making ?
9:56 Sell off unused federal real estate.
9:56 “I will send a vague proposal to Congress in the near future.”
9:57 People need to believe in their government.
9:57 Good transparency rhetoric. Put it online.
9:57 Earmark ban! I’m guessing the definition of ‘earmark” will change, or else Congress will be, shall we say, less than cooperative.
9:58 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
BLAH BLAH !!!!!!!!!!!
9:58 Foreign policy. New threats could emerge at some point! EVERYBODY PANIC
9:59 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
God bless the troops !
9:59 [Comment From KevinKevin: ]
get them HOME !!!!!!
9:59 Right on, Kevin.
10:00 Armies can fight wars. but they can’t build nations.
10:01 Don’t hate Muslims. Blame the individual, not the ideology. Hopefully this is widely heeded. Sound advice.
10:02 Congress likes it when he gets belligerent towards foreigners.
10:03 [Comment From ChrisChris: ]
I’ll believe the part about N Korea abandoning nukes when I see it.
10:04 South American tour. Hopefully this means action on the Colombia and Panama free trade agreements?
10:06 Democracy for all! I hope he realizes that freedom and democracy are not the same thing. They often correlate. But they are not the same thing.
10:07 Sounds like he wants to spend more on defense.
10:09 Franken looks bored.
10:09 He is not alone.
10:10 Constitutional rhetoric.
10:11 Biden and Boehner are quite the pair.
10:11 Anecdote!
10:11 [Comment From GuestGuest: ]
McCain applauds like there is no tomorrow.
10:12 [Comment From ChrisChris: ]
This seems like it’s falling flat.
10:14 Just like last year, this was a long one. Much applause.
10:15 On to Rep. Paul Ryan’s response.
10:21 This will be an important speech for Paul Ryan.
10:24 His style is policy-heavy. I don’t always agree with his voting record, but here’s hoping he stays true to form. Policy is far more important than rhetoric, even if it is less glamorous.
10:25 It also helps that President Obama takes him seriously, even when they disagree.
10:25 Here he is.
10:25 Oops, they cut out his first few words.
10:26 Nice words about Tucson.
10:26 Necessary. But get on with it.
10:27 House as cut its own budget. Nice symbolism,but small potatoes.
10:27 Debt is growing.
10:27 “No economy can sustain such levels of spending and taxation.”
10:28 It’s a bipartisan problem. Yes. See the Bush years as well the Obama years.
10:28 Obama has increased domestic spending by 25%, added $3 trillion to the debt.
10:29 Doesn’t like the health care bill. It will increase costs.
10:29 Washington should not pick winners and losers.
10:29 Regulatory reform. CEI has many, many ideas for that.
10:30 What was a challenge is now crisis. Hyperbole, but with a grain of truth.
10:30 Unlike last year, Congress will actually propose a budget.
10:31 I like his ambition, but I doubt he’ll get all he wants.
10:31 Founders rhetoric alert.
10:31 Definitely trying to appeal to conservatives.
10:32 “Individual liberty requires limited government.”
10:32 Dems want to increase government, even though it’s already at an all-time high.
10:33 But not just over the last two years. His own party is just as guilty when they hold the reins.
10:33 Transform the social safety net into a hammock.
10:33 We still have time, but not much. Cf. Greece, et al.
10:34 Day of reckoning?
10:35 Spirit of initiative should triumph over political clout. hear, hear. Too bad two major political parties disagree with him.
10:36 American exceptionalism. no, it’s actually institutional exceptionalism that has made America great.
10:36 Nice and brief!
10:36 Sometimes it’s good to be the opposition. You can be more honest, less flowery, and mercifully brief.
10:38 Well, that’s all for tonight. Thanks for following along, and thanks for your comments. My CEI colleagues will have more in-depth analysis for you tomorrow. Good night!
Comments Off on State of the Union Live-Blog
Posted in Political Animals, Spending, Taxation
Tim’s latest column, “Bail them out, regulate them, then work for them,” is a must-read.
Amy Friend, a former staffer for Sen. Chris Dodd, played a large role in writing the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. And she just got a new job at a lobbying firm. Tim explains:
There are two types of people on K Street: access people, who can get you in the door; and policy people, who know what’s on every page of every relevant bill and regulation. Friend is the latter. While business will dry up for other Dodd alumni on K Street, Friend is valuable because — to quote one Republican lobbyist — “she knows what’s on page twenty-three-[bleep]ing-hundred of that bill,” and every other page, too.
In other words, Friend didn’t just write a landmark piece of legislation — she wrote her meal ticket.
Tim doubts that Friend is corrupt. But her story is very common in Washington. Lobbying wouldn’t be such a booming business if regulation wasn’t, too. And the revolving door between the Hill and K Street can be very profitable, even when no corruption is involved. Most people forget that regulators act just as self-interestedly as the people they regulate.
Comments Off on Tim Carney Knows How Washington Works
Posted in Bailouts, Economics, Political Animals, regulation
Tagged amy friend, chris dodd, dodd-frank, financial regulation, how washington works, k street, lobbying, rent seeking, senator chris dodd, tim carney
2 down, 533 to go.
Comments Off on Sens. Lieberman, Conrad to Retire
Posted in Political Animals
A new poll finds that Congress has an 83 percent disapproval rating.
Comments Off on What Are the Other 17 Percent Thinking?
Posted in Political Animals
Vice President Joe Biden recently said that every great idea of the last two-plus centuries came from government. My colleague Alex Schibuola and I rebut him over at The Daily Caller using Adam Smith’s book The Theory of Moral Sentiments as our weapon of choice. Biden, it turns out, is an almost perfect example of what Adam Smith described as the “man of system.” This is not a good thing.
As Smith put it:
The man of system … is often so enamored with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government, that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it … He seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board.
The problem, of course, is that human beings are not chess pieces. They have their own wants and desires. They move on their own. The man of system does not take this into account. This is why his plans fail time after time, even if he has the best of intentions.
Read our whole article here.
For those of you interested in learning more about Adam Smith, I couldn’t recommend him more highly. Don’t be scared off by his 18th-century prose style. Sit down with either of his books for less than an hour and you’ll develop an ear for it.
I don’t agree with everything Smith said; he invented the labor theory of value. But he was a keen observer of human nature. He was also a kindly soul, who wanted man to be free, happy, and prosperous. The overarching theme of his thought is mankind as social creature. Our social instincts color how we form our notions of morality (the impartial spectator theory), and explain why economies function the way they do (peaceful exchange, as opposed to simple theft).
The Theory of Moral Sentiments is available for free at the Online Library of Economics and Liberty. You can also get a hard copy or a Kindle edition from Amazon.
For help wading through and digesting Smith’s arguments, I recommend Russ Roberts and Dan Klein’s six-part podcast series about the book, and D. D. Raphael’s short and readable The Impartial Spectator: Adam Smith’s Moral Philosophy.
Other quality secondary sources on Smith include E.G. West’s short-yet-thorough biography, and P.J. O’Rourke’s On the Wealth of Nations, which pairs Smith’s economic theories with O’Rourke’s mordant wit.
Over at the AmSpec blog, I look at the just-wrapped House ethics trial against Charlie Rangel. Worth noting: while that Damoclean sword was hanging over Rangel’s head, 80 percent of his district’s voters though him worthy of another term.
Nothing against Rangel; he has his problems, but he’s good on some issues, such as wanting to end the Cuban embargo. But the ease with which even ethically-challenged incumbents get re-elected is a sign that our democracy is not healthy.
Comments Off on The Power of Incumbency: Charlie Rangel Edition
Posted in Elections, Political Animals
Tagged american spectator, amspec blog, charlie rangel, congress, damoclean sword, ethics, house, incumbency, rangel ethics trial, re-election, sword of damocles
Myron Ebell, the Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, talks about the 2010 midterm election, what will happen in the lame-duck session, and the implications of two years of divided government.
Comments Off on CEI Podcast – November 4, 2010: Election Dissection
Posted in CEI Podcast, Elections, Political Animals
I wasn’t all that surprised by the overwhelmingly negative reaction to my article on voting. But I was surprised at its ferocity. I must have been insufficiently clear that I am not categorically against voting. Just that I gave the matter careful thought and decided against it this year.
Different people weighing the same arguments I did can easily come to a different conclusion. And that’s exactly why I put them out there. Not so people will do as I do, but to help them think for themselves and make the choice that’s right for them.
Then again, people do have an ingrained straw-man reflex. It often pops up when one’s sensibilities are offended. This easily happens with issues concerning democracy. Instead of taking seriously an idea you don’t like, just build a man out of straw that looks kind of like that idea, then knock it down and feel good about it.
That’s all well and good, but it’s hardly conducive to a civil exchange. It’s also a way to avoid having to take on the arguments that were actually made. I’ll just have to keep making them, then.
The math argument speaks for itself. Rep. Moran won re-election by 45,169 votes. I have one vote.
The expressive voting model provides a powerful reason for voting — for many people, much more powerful than the math. If I do vote in a future election, it will be for expressive purposes. After all, I’m not a categorical non-voter.
But I am mindful of alternative uses of my time. Voting is far from the only form of political participation. If I feel like I could be doing more good with the time I spend voting by doing something else, well then I’m going to do something else. If not, then I’ll vote. Different people will come up with different answers to that question. But one can’t assume it away, no matter how much one would like to.
There is only one argument people have lobbed at me that bothers me. It is that people who don’t vote lose the right to criticize government policies. That argument holds less water than a thimble. It also violates any reasonable notion of free speech, which is actually more important for democracy’s health than voting. As John Carney writes:
I’ve never understood this weird part of pseudo-democratic theory. It certainly isn’t part of the Constitution of the United States, which preserves the rights of free speech, free press and petitioning the government even for non-voters. If anything, the opposite should be true: by voting you are tacitly agreeing to abide by the outcome of the vote. By not voting, you are doing no such thing.
Posted in Elections, Political Animals
Inertia Wins! 