In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama had the following to say about the “success” achieved during his tenure in office in reining in the federal government’s spending: Over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion – mostly through spending…
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To all but the willfully blind Obamacare is a bust on health care, but it works much better as a way to expand government. Obamacare and its state subsidiaries also function as a cushy landing spot for former government officials. As this report notes, Covered California has hired Ana Matosantos, California’s former director of…
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The new eastern span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge cost $6.4 billion, with cost overruns of some $5 billion, and its opening was delayed 10 years. That amounts to waste on a colossal scale, but according to testimony in a State Transportation and Housing Committee hearing last Friday, other concerns remain for all…
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At the end of its 2013 fiscal year on September 30, 2013, the total public debt outstanding for the United States federal government was $16.738 trillion. The following chart shows the preliminary percentage breakdown for the major holders of that debt (the data for the foreign holders of U.S. debt as of that date…
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Californians imposes some of the highest taxes in the nation but its economic recovery remains sluggish. Politicians back boondoggles like the Grand Bunk Railroad and are fond of wasting taxpayers’ money on sinecures for their friends. Consider a recent case the Sacramento Bee called an “ethical crime.” Senate boss Darrell Steinberg has appointed John…
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The Telegraph has a cool interactive graphic that shows how much social welfare spending has increased since 2000 in each of the nations that make up the OECD – the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The U.S. came in third with a 38.2% increase, behind Ireland (61.1%) and Portugal (39.6%). The average for…
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Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, the new book by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, is getting a lot of attention for what the author says about Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and vice president Joe Biden. Most of it has been apparent for some time but, fortunately, the memoir also reveals the…
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By law, the U.S. President is supposed to present a budget proposal for the federal government no later than the first Monday in February each year. In 2014, it would be due on Monday, February 3. President Obama has failed to comply with that legal requirement in four of the five years he has…
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This week California is marking the 150th anniversary of the first train service between San Francisco and San Jose. The Southern Pacific Peninsula train began in 1863 as a private for-profit business to meet transportation needs. It cut the travel time between San Francisco and San Jose from eight or nine hours to 31/2…
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Millions of Americans who have lost their health plans, and millions of others who are going to lose their plans this year and next, are wondering if Obamacare can get any worse. A look at the Spanish version of the federal health website might answer that question. According to this Associated Press report, those…
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