Think Tank West

By Justin Logan Recently I spent some time redecorating my office to create room such that there was space for me to work that was physically apart from my computer, because I’ve come to view the internet as a huge time sink. Apparently this endeavor of mine has failed miserably, however, because here I am [...]

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By Chris Moody After live-blogging Obama’s State of the Union Address Wednesday night, Cato experts fact checked the speech, subject by subject. Cato produced a short video that cuts through the rhetoric and explains what the president really meant: Video produced by Caleb Brown and Austin Bragg.

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By Tad DeHaven With President Obama’s repeated attempts to draw distinctions between himself from his predecessor—and a widespread belief that he and Bush are polar opposites in nearly every way—it’s actually startling how similar the two men are. And if the policies match the rhetoric, it’s going to be another very long 4-8 years filled [...]

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By Roger Pilon This morning, Politico Arena invites comments on Obama’s SOTU attack on the Supreme Court. My response: I join my Arena colleagues, Professors Bradley Smith and Randy Barnett, in condemning the president’s remarks last night singling out the Supreme Court for its Citizens United decision last week, which overturned law that the government itself [...]

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By Adam Schaeffer Spend more money on education, the President says? Actually, we should be looking there for savings . . . here are some of the numbers: State governments spent 35 percent of their general funds on K–12 education in 2007, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. In contrast, Medicaid — [...]

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By Tad DeHaven It’s become standard fare for senior government leaders to declare that any and all subsidies are good for economic growth. Two weeks ago it was the Economic Development Administration’s John Fernandez. This week it’s USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in a speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. From GovExec.com: In his speech, [...]

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By Roger Pilon Last night, after the SOTU, Politico Arena asked: State of the Union:  How did he do? My response: If you don’t look behind the stirring rhetoric, this was a fine performance — and many of Obama’s supporters will leave it right there. But behind it all is a single theme: People have [...]

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By Neal McCluskey As I wrote last week, I had a bad feeling that President Obama would turn to education bribe — er — “reform” after last Tuesday’s bombshell election, and it seems I was right to be afraid — very afraid. It’s an area where Republicans have been all too happy over the last [...]

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By Sallie James Via Cato’s Director of Government Affairs, Brandon Arnold, comes this [$] bold claim by the National Journal’s Congress Daily (although, to be fair, they are just quoting a press release): U.S. wheat promotion programs increase sales more than programs for other grains and agricultural products, according to an analysis of wheat export [...]

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By Chris Moody Cato experts will live-blog Obama’s State of the Union Address tonight. Join in, submit questions, and watch the speech right here on Cato@Liberty at 9:00 PM EST. A quick, ten-point libertarian State of the Union Address. One “Great Canard”: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke argues that the Fed’s monetary policy was not [...]

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