When a business is inefficient or too expensive-- it fails. But not the post office. This week in my syndicated column, I look at why private businesses could run it better.

Reality is at odds with the proud claim on the post office's website that "Since Ben Franklin ... the Postal Service has grown and changed with America." But it's barely changed. You don't tend to see change in "quasi-governmental entities." You see stagnation... continue reading »

Columnist Deroy Murdock has a new piece out that's filled with examples of the tax code's insane complexity (which is also the subject of my show tonight that airs on Fox News at 10pm ET.) Here's one example: An IRS formula to calculate what the government calls "the valuation of a remainder interest following two lives":

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Liberals are fond of quoting Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who said, "taxes are what we pay for a civilized society"---but at the time taxes were just 10% of GDP. Now they are triple that. Is that civilization or theft?

Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert says the current tax code is just too complicated. He wants the current code scraped---and replaced with a flat tax... continue reading »

When the government tries to "fix" the economy, we lose. Politicians' cronies often win. In this week's syndicated column, I take a look at crony capitalism (crapitalism) and "The Great Deformation"--which is what former Reagan budget director, David Stockman, calls what the Fed and the Treasury has done to our economy.

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In No, They Can't, I write about a contest I ran. Six think tanks, two conservative (the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation), three liberal (Center for American Progress, Economic Policy Institute, and Roosevelt Institute Campus Network), and the Bipartisan Policy Center spent $1.2 million writing budget proposals. Five pitched their plan to my studio audience. I promised the winner one of the Emmys I'd won during my days as a consumer reporter... continue reading »

"The Chosen Ones" are people selected by government to get perks... special favors, tax breaks, cronyism... what I call crapitalism... continue reading »

I love trees and animals. But I don't love the excessive regulations environmentalists force on us to protect them, as I write in my syndicated column this week:

Originally, environmental rules were a good thing. I love the free market, but it doesn't offer a practical remedy to pollution. I could sue polluters for violating my property rights, but under our legal system, that's not even close to practical... continue reading »

On my show last week, I criticized Mayor Bloomberg's plan to ban Styrofoam cups and trays.

But could I have been wrong to criticize? Bloomberg says the ban will save the city money. After all, Styrofoam is not easily recyclable, whereas its replacements -- paper, plastic, and aluminum -- are. And the AP reports that NYC makes money on recycling:

...the city nets a payment of at least $10 a ton for recycling paper and about $14 a ton for recycling glass and plastic, [New York City's head of recycling, Ron] Gonen said... continue reading »

What you think you know... is often wrong. Saturday I look at seven MYTHS... LIES... AND COMPLETE STUPIDITIES:

• FOOD... MYTH: Government should help people make healthy choices for themselves. TRUTH: The nanny state reduces your freedom while accomplishing little.

• MAIL... MYTH: The post office should deliver the mail. TRUTH: The private sector does it better... continue reading »

Tyranny is the stuff of dictatorships. We call this week's show "Green Tyranny" because government's regulations always go too far. At first, the EPA did good things. Environmental standards brought us cleaner air and water. Then government should have said, "stick a fork in it! It's done." But government never does. It just spends more and more... continue reading »