One Of The All Time Worst Political Liars

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  • The big news in political lies at the moment comes from a guy named George Santos.

  • Santos has been newly-elected to Congress from New York’s 3rd District, a competitive seat covering parts of Queens and Nassau Counties. Although the districts got re-drawn for this election, most of Santos’s district was previously held by Democrats, Tom Suozzi and Steve Israel, for the last decade. So Santos became part of the mini-wave of Republican pickups that will lead to the takeover of Congress by a thin margin come January 3.

  • On December 19, several weeks after the election, the New York Times published a story exposing Santos as having lied extensively about his background during the campaign. . . .

  • Let’s face it — Santos’s fabrications are pretty bad. But are they really “unprecedented,” or even unusual, among the lies told by politicians to advance their careers and gain office, including among current office-holders?

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Student Loan Update: Free Government Money In Action

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Student Loan Update: Free Government Money In Action

  • The federal student loan program has been back in the news lately. On April 6 the Biden Administration announced the extension of the “pause” on payments of principal or interest federal student loans through August 31.

  • Does anybody believe that when August 31 comes the “pause” will not be then extended yet again at least through Election Day in November? Supposedly this is a matter of Covid “emergency.” Is this particular branch of the Covid “emergency” ever likely to end?

  • Federally-guaranteed student loans seemed like such a good idea when the program got started. Many of the best and brightest would benefit from college, but could not afford the cost. With federal support via guaranteed student loans, the young people could maximize their potential, and society would benefit at the same time from their increased productivity. The cost to the taxpayers would be minimal because the borrowers would have to repay. What’s not to like?

  • And then it all turned into a gigantic honeypot to be used for vote buying.

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How To Be A Conservative Student On A University Campus Today

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How To Be A Conservative Student On A University Campus Today

  • It gets harder and harder to be an independent thinker in the midst of one of those indoctrination and groupthink factories known as a university. Step out of line, and at any moment someone can claim to be offended or “triggered” by something completely bland that you may have said. Next thing you know, someone will have tattled on you to the administration.

  • And you know exactly what the administration will do: They will simultaneously mouth platitudes about “free speech” while making every kind of threat, veiled or not, to bring you into line.

  • Is there any way for you to come out ahead? Within the last few days, a small number of students — one at Yale and two at Arizona State — have given tutorials on how to win at this game.

  • To be fair, these students got a big assist from the fact that the crazy leftists who run these places have gotten so confident of never facing any pushback that they no longer hesitate to engage in conduct that is completely indefensible.

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If You Can't Articulate A Limiting Principle On Government Expansion, You Get Bernie Sanders

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  • Bernie Sanders has now scored a decisive victory in the Nevada caucuses, and is leading in the RealClearPolitics average of polls in almost every upcoming state. The RCP betting odds section gives Sanders a 55.6% chance of winning the nomination. It’s looking increasingly like the nomination is his to lose.

  • Well, if you’re the party of free stuff, why shouldn’t the guy who offers the most free stuff win? Bernie is clearly willing to outbid all of his rivals in the free stuff auction. What makes you think anybody can beat him by just bidding less?

  • At some point, if another candidate is going to prevail with a lesser bid, that candidate needs to articulate a limiting principle in some shape or form.

  • By a limiting principle, I mean a reasoned argument that provides some sort of rationale as to why government programs and expenditures to solve all human wants and needs can’t just be infinite; and that provides some basis for drawing a line beyond which government growth should not occur. . . .

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The Ascendency Of Magical Economic Thinking In The Democratic Contest

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  • It is not difficult for me to articulate an honest argument for the progressive position. In brief summary, it goes something like this: The government is the right vehicle to provide enhanced social services to the less fortunate, and therefore the government must impose an appropriate amount of increased costs on the productive sector of society in order to fund a more generous level of government services than we currently have.

  • And then there is the dishonest argument, which can be summarized as: Costs? What costs? Vast new taxes and corresponding government spending will create a gusher of economic growth and new wealth out of thin air.

  • With all the leading Democratic candidates for President proposing greatly increased federal taxing and spending, it was only a question of time until this magical thinking came front and center into the political debate. And sure enough, it’s now here in full force.

  • But that’s not how this works. Which brings me once again to Elizabeth Warren. She’s the one with the endless list of some 50+ “Plans,” each one of them promising some large new government spending and bureaucracy and/or taxation to grow the compulsory sector of the economy. There will be vast new spending . . . . Clearly, the costs will be large. How could they not be?

  • The answer is simple: You simply announce that each of your new programs will “grow the economy.” And of course you then find that there is an extensive network of left-side journalists, intellectuals and pundits who will buy into this idea and repeat it endlessly, no matter how ridiculous it may be. . . .

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Contrast Of Climate And Energy Policies, And Economic Results, In The U.S. And Germany

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  • If you are reading your normal diet of “mainstream” press, you are getting hit with a constant barrage of climate alarm, together with a near total boycott on any good economic news for as long as Trump remains President.

  • As a result, it is very easy to lose track of the widening chasm in the climate and energy policies, and also in the economic results, between the U.S. and its major European competitors. When you put some easily-available numbers together in one place, the contrast becomes very striking.

  • And then there are the positions on these subjects of the candidates for the Democratic nomination for President. I find those positions beyond belief.

  • You probably know that the so-called “fracking” revolution in oil and gas production has led to a large increase in U.S. production of those fuels over the last ten or so years. The actual numbers are quite remarkable.

  • Over in the economic news category, the U.S. continues to thrive.

  • And then there’s Germany. . . .

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