Shrink the State. End the Fed. Balance the budget. Make a profit. Leave an inheritance.
Gary North
Solyndra was a boondoggle. The Department of Energy put taxpayers on the hook for half a billion dollars in loan guarantees. The company made solar panels. It went belly-up in September 2011. (How time flies!) Taxpayers will pay off its creditors. It was all part of green energy, which is energy that produces mostly red [...]
Continue reading →For over 200 years, the U.S. government has imposed quotas on the import of sugar into the United States. This has allowed domestic sugar producers the ability to charge more for sugar. Americans consume less sugar. Don’t think of this as cronyism. Don’t think of this as crony capitalism. Think of this as a government [...]
Continue reading →Why does the federal government support “green energy”? Because the free market won’t. Why does the free market reject “green energy”? Because it costs more to generate than it brings in as revenues. Why is this the case? Because “green energy” is labor-intensive. Why do politicians support this? Because employed workers vote. Does the public [...]
Continue reading →The U.S. government provides millions of dollars a year to large agricultural-export companies that do not need the money. The taxpayers pay for these subsidies. U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn does the nation a favor with his Treasure Map report. It shows which companies got how much money. It does not get the publicity it deserves. [...]
Continue reading →One of the oldest and most entrenched boondoggles is the crop insurance program. The federal government pays the premiums for privately sold, highly profitable insurance to farmers. If crop prices fall, farmers get paid. Why pays them? Taxpayers who live in cities. So, if food prices are high, taxpayers lose. But if food prices fall, [...]
Continue reading →The U.S. Senate has its own barbershop. It charges $20 a haircut. It cuts the hair of anyone who wants a haircut, but Senators get in line first. This costs the taxpayers $300,000 a year. When I was on Ron Paul’s staff, I used to get my haircut in the House barber shop. It cost [...]
Continue reading →Obama trumpets green energy. Green energy will make us energy independent and pollution-free. He puts his money where his mouth is. Well, he puts our money where his mouth is. He believes in green energy, and his policy is costing plenty of green. The money going to subsidize nuclear power. Private nuclear power. Good Old [...]
Continue reading →Congressman Cleaver borrowed $1.35 million a decade ago. It was for a car wash. He got a Small Business Administration loan guarantee. If he defaults, taxpayers pick up the tab. The venture has not worked out. He has paid Bank of America for ten years, and he still owes $1.2 million, plus $300,000 in late [...]
Continue reading →Amtrak has absorbed $40 billion in federal subsidies over the last 40 years. It has never earned a profit. How many people ride the trains? They account for one-tenth of one percent. This is a boondoggle. It has been since day one. Then there is fraud. In a report released last year, the Office of the Inspector [...]
Continue reading →This does not happen often. Abut $500 million in unspent funds was returned to the U.S. Treasury. The reason why all of the authorized money is usually spend is because the bureaucrats know that the budget will be cut next year if all of the money is not spent this year. The money was half [...]
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