Breaking the tax rules to feed the state
One plan Democrats are floating to help pay for their cradle-to-grave government plan is a new, annual tax on the unrealized gains of assets billionaires own, but haven’t sold. As…
Cryptocurrency as an antidote to cancel culture
Regardless of what you think of so-called “cancel culture,” the concept fits within the older concept that those outside the mainstream suffer for their actions and opinions, whether it be…
Governments and law enforcement using online data to beef up surveillance
Law enforcement and government intelligence agencies are big fans of using private sector data to conduct their operations. When such practices have run into constitutional and political barriers, agencies say…
Newsom’s allies turn their ire to the recall process
With California Gov. Gavin Newsom having successfully defeated a recall effort, his allies in the one-party state are exploring ways to make sure future recall efforts never get on the…
A prohibitionist law that’s still on the books
The United States ended its disastrous alcohol prohibition regime in 1933. But the tendrils of prohibition ran so deep that a few still survive today. Among them: a century-old federal…
Cryptocurrencies and ending economic colonialism
Large sections of the global financial world, regulators in particular, see cryptocurrencies as a threat to the established financial order or, if they are in a good mood, the favorite…
Getting Uncle Sam’s books in order
We all know the federal government is in debt, and that pile of IOUs gets bigger every day. All that red ink is embarrassing, even to the most jaded pols….
Lee bill seeks to bring an end to ‘trillion-dollar defense slush funds’
One pricey consequence of the nation’s more than 20 year-long war against terrorism has been the rapid growth of ill-defined, catch-all programs. While items like the “Overseas Contingency Operations” fund…
The debt ceiling kerfuffle hides a much bigger problem
The federal debt ceiling is back in the headlines, and the possibility the U.S. will default on its debt payments has some people ready to panic. As Cato’s David Boaz…
Trading away privacy for a more powerful IRS
The President’s plan to give the IRS more money and greater authority to sniff out tax cheats, chiselers and others the government believes aren’t paying all the tax they owe…