Under the Government’s Wing

Big Business v. Big Government on Healthcare

By Marc Comtois | March 30, 2010 |

Big Business learns that Big Government giveth and taketh away: On Capitol Hill and in the White House on Monday, Democrats were fuming over a series of announcements that started Friday from Fortune 500 firms saying their bottom lines will take huge negative hits because of changes in tax law mandated by Obamacare. That hit…

What Profiteth a Non-Profit to Advocate Big Government?

By Justin Katz | March 25, 2010 |

I concur with Marc that seeking to compensate for horrendous government spending, taxing, and economic policies by squeezing money from non-profits would be shameful. We shouldn’t let the news cycle revolve, however, without noting the significant overlap between the non-profit community and the segment of the population that advocates for the very policies that are…

Feeding the Beast: General Assembly Looks to Take a Bite Out of Non-Profits

By Marc Comtois | March 25, 2010 |

“Desperate times call for desperate measures”, right? So now we learn that the RI General Assembly is looking at taxing non-profits to earn more “revenue.” The method will be via suspension of the tax-exempt status by removing the sales tax waiver that non-profits receive (the GA isn’t considering property taxes or taxing donations…yet). According to…

Owing Uncle Sam

By Justin Katz | March 24, 2010 |

It seems like such a small step, and obvious, too: Students and families who borrow money to help pay for college will see sweeping changes as a result of federal legislation approved by the House on Sunday night. Although the bill was focused mainly on health care, it contains key provisions involving loans for higher…

The Fly Trap’s Lure

By Justin Katz | March 22, 2010 |

This thought, from a review of a posthumous book by Jean-Francois Revel by David Pryce-Jones (subscription required), strikes me as particularly timely, today: A couple of years after Furet’s book, six equally reputable scholars published The Black Book of Communism, detailing how the experiment of Communism had cost about a hundred million helpless people their…

Government Keeps Its Fingers Clean, but Collects Junk

By Justin Katz | March 20, 2010 |

Undaunted by Monique’s earlier quotation of the happy right-wing scribe, I’m proceeding with plans to not a recent essay by Mark Steyn, highlighting the peculiar way in which politicians manage too often to remain blameless for the damage that their policies cause. After describing a government program to install electrically dangerous foil insulation technology that…

The Unwelcome Job Creation that Would be Engendered by Healthcare Reform

By Monique Chartier | March 20, 2010 |

… points out Mark Steyn. Meanwhile, Obamacare will result in the creation of at least 16,500 new jobs. Doctors? Nurses? Ha! Dream on, suckers. That’s 16,500 new IRS agents, who’ll be needed to check whether you – yes, you, Mr and Mrs Hopendope of 27 Hopeychangey Gardens – are in compliance with the 15 tax…

The Bucks Are in Busing

By Justin Katz | March 19, 2010 |

And for today’s Astonishing but True: The highest-paid municipal employee in Madison, Wis., is bus driver John E. Nelson, whose salary last year totaled more than $159,000. Half a dozen of his fellow drivers also earned in six figures. How is this possible? The Wisconsin State Journal explains: “A high base salary and other benefits…

Government Can’t Just Dictate Reality

By Justin Katz | February 19, 2010 |

I certainly don’t want any of my family’s regular expenses going up. Indeed, if I were able to dictate terms to companies who provide me services, I’d lower my rates. But that’s not how the world works. Of course, one doesn’t get the impression that government officials comprehend such mundane observations of reality. Rhode Island’s…

Asserting Humanity by Little Steps (Literally)

By Justin Katz | February 16, 2010 |

Even apart from the political point, Mark Steyn’s most recent last-page essay for National Review is worth a read for the scene that the anecdote presents.