Dec 01
Nothing illustrates the failure of government like the recent wildfire casualties in northern California. Residents fled helplessly while overpaid government bureaucrats failed–or refused–to protect their lives and property. Meanwhile some very wealthy individuals paid for private fire protection. Now The Hollywood Reporter is out with an interesting article about the allure of gated communities. More …
Nov 08
No group of Americans are more privileged than government “workers” and former government employees. Now another decorated former government combat veteran has opened fire on innocent private-sector Americans, killing 12. The former Marine Corps corporal, 28-year-old Ian David Long, was likely on permanent disability checks for PTSD. On November 7, he reportedly walked into a …
Sep 18
An astounding Reason Magazine article reports that a majority of LAPD cops and LA City firefighters are “retiring” at a young age as “disabled” millionaires. The City’s “Defined Retirement Option Plan” (DROP), allows police and firefighters, eligible for a pension equaling 90 percent of the average of their final years’ pay at age 50, to …
Jun 08
The Soviet Union crumbled in 1989 under the weight of its own widespread socialist poverty, darkness and misery. The Guardian is reporting that workers at the Gulag History Museum in Moscow have discovered that certain evidence of the darkest days of government control have disappeared. Further inspection has uncovered a secret government order–apparently implemented by …
May 23
Illinois was once an international flagship of capitalism, freedom, commerce and manufacturing. Today the bloated government of Illinois has raised taxes so high that tens of thousands have fled for freer pastures in each of the past several years. See here. One couple is quoted saying that by moving to Tennessee, they managed to take …
May 19
Over half the witnesses testifying before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives [are] funded directly by the federal taxpayer. In 1995, 35 percent of witnesses were federal employees; of the remaining “public” witnesses, one of every three was a government grant recipient. Grant recipients testified during the 104th Congress roughly 6,000 times: …
May 16
Scott Peterson, the 55-year-old deputy who reportedly cowered outside while an alleged school shooter allegedly murdered dozens inside a Parkland, Florida school, will reportedly receive a six-figure pension for the rest of his life. See here. Peterson retired in disgrace but is due to collect more than $104,000 a year plus benefits. Peterson is typical …
Apr 19
Every inspection of U.S. Postal facilities has found stamped mail illegally destroyed, thrown in trashcans or hidden in workers’ vehicles or personal spaces. The U.S. Postal Service charges more than twice what a private sector business would charge for the same services, but maintains its monopoly on letter delivery by acts of Congress. The government …
Apr 16
Kentucky’s school teachers are on strike, and the governor of Kentucky recently revealed what he thinks of their true purpose and value. Governor Matt Blevin said that without the government teachers, children may be drawn into drug use, assaulted, or raped. Nothing about children missing out on education. See here.
Mar 29
Has the entire American experiment been for the benefit of one cohort of people: 21st-century government workers? In the 240 years since the American Revolution, the U.S. prospered like no other nation in world history–due to the Bill of Rights and low levels of government interference and regulation. But now government programs and regulations are …
