Less than two weeks after the first person with Ebola in the United States was admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital on September 30, 2014, Democrats and their allies began blaming Republicans for his plight and everything else connected with preventing and treating the disease.
Past Porker Cordray Crimps Car Dealers
So, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is at it again! According to the September 17th, 2014 edition of the Wall Street Journal, the agency announced its intention to regulate the automobile dealers and the finance companies that service them. In prepared remarks, CFPB Director Richard Cordray (named August 2014 “Porker of the Month” by […]
Schoolhouse Crock
On September 7, 2014, ABC television asked viewers to rank the best songs from the bygone “Schoolhouse Rock” series of educational vignettes. At first, this might sound like a fun diversion from daily realities. But for adults in the public policy arena, catchy lyrics like “I am only a bill… sitting here on Capitol Hill” remind us instead of gridlock in Congress, where a conservative House passes bills that an obstructionist Senate sits on, for fear of forcing tough votes by endangered Democratic incumbents. Meanwhile, the mention of “Conjunction Junction” is less likely to conjure up nostalgic memories of clever grammar lessons than the battle over diminished highway infrastructure funding. And the slick spiel by “Tax Man Max” is not nearly as likely to convince us of our “patriotic duty” (to pay ever higher taxes) as it might have been when it first aired some 40 years ago.
Bringing Home the Davis-Bacon
“Bringing home the bacon” describes earning money for a job performed (i.e., providing the means to purchase basic sustenance). Therefore, it seems fitting that a lingering example of federally-mandated wage supports is named, in part, for Rep. Robert L. Bacon (R-N.Y.): The Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 was also co-sponsored by Sen. James J. Davis (R-Pa.), a former Secretary of Labor.
The Consumer Financial Protection Racket – er, Bureau
The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “protection racket” as “a situation in which a criminal group demands money from a store owner, company, etc. in exchange for agreeing not to harm them: run a protection racket [:] These thugs ran a vast protection racket with which all property-owners had to co-operate if they hoped to survive.”
Wheeler’s UTOPIA: This Emperor Has No Case
In his April 30 remarks at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s conference in Los Angeles, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler imperiously decreed: “I believe the FCC has the power – and I intend to exercise that power – to preempt state laws that ban competition from community broadband.”
Too Big To Bail Out: The Trouble with Johnson-Crapo
There is a theory about the naming of legislation. Some titles are straight out of George Orwell’s “double-speak” dictionary. In other words (literally), whatever word is in the title usually means exactly the opposite of what the bill will do. Remember the “Affordable Care Act” (ACA)? Despite the promises of President Obama and his administration that this milestone legislation would reduce the cost of healthcare for most Americans, the ACA is on track to explode those costs for all but the poorest Americans.
Eight Dirty Words… and the Mother of All Debt Bombs!
The April 16, 2014 article, “Senators Miss Sperling at Key Point for Housing Bill,” by Jon Prior, Kevin Cirilli and MJ Lee, probably should have appeared on “Page 6” of the New York Post – renowned for its gossipy tidbits about the Big Apple’s glitterati – instead of p. 10 of Politico, since it was […]
Obamaloans: The Bank of ACORN
After the public humiliation of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in late 2009 and its subsequent dissolution (at least at the national level) by early 2010, one might have thought that the national shakedown group was dead and buried. But like a decapitated hydra, another beastly head has already taken its […]
Inspect What You Expect
During my previous career in the Marine Corps, one of my superiors offered the following advice when supervising subordinates: “Inspect what you expect.” In other words, do more than just assign a task and then assume it will be accomplished without any follow-up. After all, Marines are trained that a leader is ultimately responsible for whatever happens – or fails to happen – under his or her watch. Therefore, while the proverbial ball may be dropped by a lower-level assignee, the proverbial buck stops at the corner office.