There are a lot of good people who work in government. Police officers. Teachers. Social Workers. Inspectors. They have jobs to do, and many of them do their jobs exceedingly well. The problem is government takes from the private sector in order to fund its operations, and today, it seems government has a say in just about every aspect of our lives. It extends beyond the proper role of government. We could use a good deal fewer people working in government and a good deal fewer government programs.
federal government
Growth in government jobs reveals the crime against the private sector
May 03, 2010 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inLooking ahead: A decade advancing the cause of liberty
December 27, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inIt is human nature to look backward and assess where we’ve been. And, because we’re about to close out the 2000s, it is our nature to offer a ten-year assessment of the decade gone by. From the standpoint of our efforts to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, was it the worst era in American political history? No, but certainly not a happy one, and in case you’re wondering, that’s not a commentary on 2009 alone.
An Idahoan’s unspeakable crime: Working to protect property from flooding
November 24, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inBy Wayne Hoffman
This week, Lynn Moses starts his federally-supervised probation after serving time in prison for a crime only the federal government could dream up.
Moses is an ordinary Idahoan who became a convicted felon after performing flood control work on a creek in order to protect lives and property.
Money from the federal government is taxpayer money, too
November 09, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inA lesson in economics: If you don't buy Fruit Loops, clipping a coupon for a dollar off of Fruit Loops doesn’t actually save money. Sure, the coupon lets you buy cereal for some amount less than you would have, but you’re still spending money you may not have to spend.
State legislators, county commissioners, school board members and city councilmen are coupon clippers, and the federal government is the Sunday newspaper, famous for offering all sorts of great deals to the policymaker in search of a bargain.
Hoffman: Clunkers, Consoles, Couches Castles and other bad ideas from our government
August 31, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inThe federal government says Idahoans have received $11.6 million in rebates through the now-ended Cash for Clunkers program. That’s just 0.4 percent of the neatly $2.9 billion in rebates distributed nationwide. It’s also the equivalent of between 2,600 and 3,000 old Idaho cars being taken off the road and turned to scrap. If you know anything about economics, you know that’s a problem. Remember supply and demand? More supply, lower prices; lower supply, higher prices. With supply constrained, the vehicles that remain on the market are fetching higherprices at auction.
Boulton: Spending billions on things people should do for themselves
August 03, 2009 | posted by Craig P. Boulton inOne of the more hyped items paid for by the humongous stimulus package passed in February 2009 was the weatherization program for the ‘poor’. I doubt that most people gave much thought to what that was since weatherizing the homes of the ‘poor’ has been an ongoing Great Society program for decades. The inference, when pitched to the American public, is that these programs entail a special expertise involving equipment beyond the capabilities of the ‘poor’ and if not done for them, would cause the ‘poor’ to suffer untoward expense in heating their homes during the depths of Yankee winters.
Warped view ahead: Former Idaho student says socialism rules
July 13, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inThis column appeared in the Idaho Falls Post Register newspaper on Sunday. The following views do not reflect the views of the Idaho Freedom Foundation.
By Karin Lund, high school graduate from eastern Idaho
Ever since Barack Obama took office, some conservatives enjoy snarling phrases like, "The liberals are ruining this country with their socialism!" Surprisingly, as a liberal, this doesn't offend me because I'm pretty sure the people wielding this verbal sword have little sense of what socialism really is.
Funding of arts shows idiocy of Fed stimulus
July 13, 2009 | posted by Wayne Hoffman inThe play is the thing that exposes the idiocy of federal stimulus. There are now 14.7 million Americans out of work. The unemployment rate in the Boise metro area is in double digits. In Canyon County, unemployment has climbed to 12.2 percent - the highest in the state and the highest level since 1983. Ah, but at least out-of-work Idahoans will be able to sleep, perchance dream, knowing that their tax dollars will be used to produce a rousing play at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival - next year. The future is unknown. The mortgage is in doubt. But the arts are safe.
Boutlton: Will stimulus result in 'green' jobs? Probably not
May 19, 2009 | posted by Craig P. Boulton inBesides theoretically restoring the economy to a grow track exceeding 3%, something the Bush economic policies succeeded in doing, President Obama’s policies purportedly will create over 5 million new jobs. Good luck for those who are holding out for these high paying jobs concentrated in the ‘green sector’, but the odds are that they won’t materialize because of what I’ll term ‘logistical issues’ and a misbalance between available labor skills and what performing these 5 million fabulous jobs will require.
Boulton: Explaining how Americans became tangled in everyone else's financial mess
May 09, 2009 | posted by Craig P. Boulton inCongress with a three page plan to rescue the American financial system in paw in mid September 2008, everyone suddenly understood that something was wrong and that potentially we faced an economic collapse akin to the demise of the world economy in 1931. What was not adequately explained at the time, while Americans were running around complaining about bailing out greedy Wall Street bankers, as if Wall Street as we’ve historically known it still existed, was how the debacle in the mortgage credit market jeopardized the financial well being of everyone.
