Archives for July 2011

If you believe in the democratic system and want to be a serious part of it in this country, you can be a Democrat or a Republican. That’s it. Most of those who want small government join Team GOP, believing they’re pursuing small government. Sadly, they’re mistaken.

I have lots of friends who are still active in the Republican Party, as I once was. Many of them are very sincere believers in cutting the size of government. I certainly know some who are social conservatives and neo-conservatives, but most among my friends are fiscally conservative and fairly socially tolerant people who are opposed to big government. They honestly believe supporting the Republican Party is going to cut the size of government.

There’s absolutely no evidence to support that fairy tale.

I was reminded of that again today when I saw this story about Texas Gov. Rick Perry — a wannabe Republican presidential candidate — blasting the Obama administration for cutting jobs in NASA now that the space shuttle program is winding down. (The link comes via The Agitator, a site which is worth your daily perusal.)

Keep Reading

If a private company had the right to legally force you to turn over personal information about yourself and then it sold that information to other companies, any state attorney general would be camped out in front of that company’s door holding a news conference about the legal action he’s taking against the company. But if it’s the state itself doing that, well, it’s OK. The rules are different for Big Brother than they are for us.

In Florida — as in every state — you’re required to hand over various information about yourself if you’d like to drive or own a car (or do just about anything). Now it turns out that the state is selling the information that it forces people to hand over. According to a Miami TV station’s report, the state is selling people’s names, addresses, dates of birth and lists of the vehicles they drive.

The state is selling this information to companies such as Lexus Nexus and Shadow Soft, which resell that information to other companies. But the state says it requires those companies to sign documents saying that they won’t harass people. That’s comforting, isn’t it?

Keep Reading

For years, pretty much everything about the U.S. Postal Service has been a political nightmare. Decisions at the failing service are made because different political players demand things, not because they’re in line with market reality.

Earlier this week, the postmaster general — which is a fancy state title for CEO — said that continuing losses are going to doom Saturday delivery and cut service to three days per week.

I don’t have an opinion about whether there’s a market for mail that’s delivered six days a week. I doubt anyone else has a realistic assessment, either, because the market for mail services has never been submitted to private competition in this country to see what people want and are willing to pay for.

Keep Reading