Chris Edwards, a friend of mine from the Cato Institute, has written a condemnation of the “grants-in-aid” programs the federal government uses to impose its own regulations on the states. He notes that President Calvin Coolidge predicted that government would encroach on the states, and it has. The federal government has especially intruded into the areas of education, housing and transportation. Those are all local issues that could be handled better at the state level. Chris explains why federal mandate policies don't work well, and how states could do a better job. He writes … [Read more...]
Search Results for: coolidge
BREAKING: November RAGE Gauge, Walmart, and YOUR MONEY
OK, let’s get this out of the way. My proprietary RAGE Gauge is not a prediction tool. It’s a way for me to look at the current landscape and draw my own conclusions. I share it with you because you’re my valued reader and because the best things in life are FREE. As I write to you this morning, I’m thinking about the piece I wrote to you yesterday on one of my favorite rags-to-riches stories. Yes, I love Dave Portnoy’s success with Barstool Sports, but it’s hard not to think about Sam Walton (RIP) and what he did with Walmart, which has been paying dividends for 48 years with 45 … [Read more...]
FORBES 400: One Bite Everybody Knows the Rules
You’re familiar with the phrase “One bite everybody knows the rules,” if you watch Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy’s pizza reviews. Fast forward from his days distributing flyers on the streets of Boston to today, where his media empire is worth hundreds of millions, if not billions. Portnoy connects with his followers. Portnoy’s frozen pizza, One Bite, is now carried by Walmart. If you want to get a feel for just how big Walmart is, check out the list of stores where you can pick up one of his frozen pies at the end of this piece. As an aside, we’re hearing a lot about the Forbes … [Read more...]
Secession: Elected Officials Are Protecting Themselves From You
How much information do you want big tech to have on you? With big data forming a virtual Panopticon, how much of your life is for sale? Probably not any of it as far as you’re concerned. Isn’t the foundation of our Republic all about keeping big government and others out of our lives? Of course, it is. Leave us alone. But, when you see the steel walls surrounding the Capitol building in D.C., you realize your elected officials are protecting themselves from you. They’re scared of you. They want to control you to protect their power. And it’s not getting any better. There has to be a way … [Read more...]
Are You OK with Election Fraud? I’m Not. Here’s Why
The U.S. Constitution is working. President Trump is right to fight. Because among other crimes, there’re too many dead Americans voting. Basement Joe stole the election Saturday by declaring victory. He’s declaring victory in the middle of the game he fears he’s losing. The final score isn’t known. Not yet. There’s more time on the clock, but Joe’s been trying to run it out all summer long. And why is Joe jumping to conclusions? Because 71 million Americans voted against him or for President Trump. They don’t believe in Joe’s healing ways when the salve currently occupies the White … [Read more...]
Private Opportunity is Better than Public Subsidy
You wouldn't know it by listening to the arguments in any of the recent Democratic primary debates, but tax cuts, and smaller government in general, have been good for the American economy every time they've been tried. Daniel Henninger, writing at The Wall Street Journal, explains that like his forbears, Reagan and Coolidge, President Trump understands "that private opportunity is better than public subsidy." He writes (abridged): As he starts his re-election campaign, Mr. Trump is putting Hoover behind him, preferring instead to run on Coolidge’s record of an expanding economy whose job and … [Read more...]
The Creative Destruction of America’s Business Cycle
Business is a cyclical phenomenon. The ups and downs of the business cycle serve to raise men and women up to the peak of prosperity, but also to destroy wealth in shocking fashion. Federal policies play a major part in the duration and regularity of these cycles. As you can see on the chart below of America's Business Booms and Depressions from 1775 to 1944, many of the business booms and busts have labels attached to them. Some were created by wars, embargoes, trust building and busting, monetary policy, etc. It's interesting to notice that the longest period of prosperity (green blocks) was … [Read more...]
Survive & Thrive June: Your Survival Guy Goes to College
Dear Survivor, Your Survival Guy went to college recently. Actually, I went on a college tour. Our daughter is a Junior in high school and that’s what you do, right? Driving with her for a couple hours in the car was a real eye-opener, because we not only talked about college in general, but she actually asked me questions. Questions from a teenager? It was an amazing feeling. She was relying on me for the answers, and not on social media. The college search is like the 800-pound gorilla in the room, or in this case our kitchen. Have you seen the books? The “best colleges in the … [Read more...]
Tucker Explains: Earning $1 a Year
If America has learned one thing from Tucker Carlson of late, it is that too many citizens are not being heard. They love their country. But have no voice. At the core of Tucker’s message is that in order to change the country, politicians need to understand the individuality/self-interest that makes America great. The simple fix is Americans need less government in their lives. They need politicians who go to Washington not to “fix” things, but to get government out of their lives. Running on a platform of taking no salary or promising to leave after a term or two would be a good … [Read more...]
Get to Work: It’s a Dirty Job Being We the People
You may know the name Mike Rowe from his apprentice work on his television show “Dirty Jobs” or his witty, on the money guest appearances, on The Tucker Carlson Show. Mike Rowe is a busy guy. His foundation, the Mike Rowe Works Foundation, is "a public charity that rewards people with a passion to get trained for skilled jobs that actually exist. As CEO of the Foundation, Mike Rowe spends a significant amount of time speaking about the country’s dysfunctional relationship with work, highlighting the widening skills gap, and challenging the persistent belief that a four-year degree is … [Read more...]
Buchanan: Economic Patriotism Put America First, and Made America First
Writing at The American Conservative, Pat Buchanan extols the virtues of tariffs and their history as a cornerstone of American economic policy. He writes: William McKinley, the veteran of Antietam who gave his name to the McKinley Tariff, declared four years before being elected president: “Free trade results in our giving our money…our manufactures and our markets to other nations. …It will bring widespread discontent. It will revolutionize our values.” Campaigning in 1892, McKinley said, “Open competition between high-paid American labor and poorly paid European labor will either drive … [Read more...]
Do We Really Need to Convert to a Roth IRA?
So you’ve created a Roth IRA because: “My accountant suggested I convert to a Roth IRA.” I get it. Sure it could make sense long-term if the growth of the portfolio is good, and if the law remains the same. That’s too many ifs for me. To feel more comfortable I’d prefer you didn’t have to deal with the issue all together as I pointed out here: Chris [Edwards] is Cato Institute’s Director of Tax Policy Studies and editor of DownsizingGovernment.org. If you’re looking for a way to help advance the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace, you’ve found it in … [Read more...]