Want Less Corruption? Try Having Smaller Government.
People can never be made incorruptible. We can, however, design governmental systems filled with checks and balances that limit the temptations.
Bureaucracy
L.A. Plans To Scrap Its Genuinely Good Outdoor Dining Program and Replace It With Rules, Fees, and Paperwork
The L.A. City Council saw a good thing happening and decided government wasn't involved enough.
PredictIt Helps Forecast Election Results. Bureaucrats Are Trying To Kill It.
Election betting markets are often more reliable than pundits. Did the site steal user funds? No. Did they lie to people? No. Harm anyone? No.
Homeland Security Wants To Protect Us From Foreign Bands
A new proposal to more than triple visa entry fees for performers will harm American audiences and culture.
Pentagon Can't Account for $220 Billion of Gear Given to Contractors
The actual total is probably higher according to the Government Accountability Office's new report.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's Housing Plan Avoids Common Mistake of Other YIMBY Reforms
The governor would let developers route around local zoning codes and get housing projects approved directly by state officials.
Charity and Capitalism Are Better Than Government
When I was young, I assumed government would lift people out of poverty. But those policies often do more harm than good.
Why Take Responsibility When You Can Blame Somebody Else?
The year’s highlights in buck passing feature petulant politicians, brazen bureaucrats, careless cops, loony lawyers, and junky journalists.
One Foot off the Grid, Where We Don't Have To Deal With the City Water Department
Living without government services isn't necessarily cheaper or easier, but it sure beats putting up with municipal bureaucracies.
TSA Gets $400 Million for Pay Raises in Omnibus Spending Bill
The bill also gives TSA employees the power to collectively bargain, which means more pay raises are likely in the future.
A New FBI Building Would Cost Billions. Do We Even Need One?
Congress' end-of-the-year omnibus bill was delayed by arguments over where to build the new facility.
'MyPlate,' the USDA's 'Food Pyramid' Replacement, Is Also a Dud
The federal government continues to be very bad at telling people what and how to eat.
Students at Yale Faced Mental Health Crises. Instead of Helping Them, Yale Forced Them Out.
Administrative bloat leads to increased indifference to struggling students.
Electric Cars Are Good, but We Still Need Fossil Fuels
"Engineers are really good at making things better, but they can't make them better than the laws of physics permit."
ATF, Enforcer of Gun Laws, Lost 'Thousands of Firearms, Firearm Parts' to Thieves
The agency should be abolished and its employees sent to seek jobs in the private sector.
Biden Is Pushing 'Equity' and 'Environmental Justice' Into Every Corner of the Regulatory State
Will a new commission at the U.S. Department of Agriculture solve racism? We're going to find out.
That Fuzzy Blob Is Not a UFO
Science writer Mick West examines alleged UFO sightings. He finds that they almost always have far more obvious explanations.
D.C. Rehired Cops and Paid Them $14 Million in Back Pay.
Out of 37 officers who were terminated and later reinstated, 17 had committed acts deemed a "threat to safety."
Napa Valley Winery Sues Napa County Over Arcane Environmental Rules
Hundred Acre's lawsuit alleges heavy-handed and extralegal enforcement by county environmental regulators.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Why the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Funding Structure Is Unconstitutional
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is right to notice that the CFPB is unique even among federal agencies that don't get their funding from Congress.
Netflix Teams Up With the Obamas To Produce Big Government Propaganda
The G Word, a new documentary, only occasionally covers serious issues. But it opts not to do honest reporting.
Federal Bureaucrats Say We Can't Reschedule Marijuana Because of How It's Scheduled
Cannabis has long been classified as having "high potential for abuse" and "no currently accepted medical use." That makes it harder to study and, therefore, harder to reclassify.
Millions of PPP Loans Were Flagged as Potentially Fraudulent. Many Were Never Investigated.
A new report takes an illustrative look inside the Small Business Administration, which was clearly overwhelmed by the obligation to push unprecedented piles of money out the door quickly.
Here's What the Media Get Wrong About Hurricanes
No, a big storm does not require big government.
School Choice Is Winning in Arizona—and Beyond
"There's a new special interest group in town: parents."
He Didn't Break Any Rules. New York City Is Demanding He Pay a Fine Anyway
The Big Apple's building regulations are almost impossible to navigate, and officials like it that way.
Review: Slow Horses Thriller Displays the Dangers of Bureaucracy
The British spy series shows the lengths to which government overseers will go to protect themselves.
Community Fridges Are Facing Vandalism and Regulatory Challenges
The community fridge is a civic model that regulators should encourage, not seek to shut down.
Tiny Homes for Las Vegas Homeless Demolished Over Code Violations
Plus: Trump sues over Mar-a-Lago raid, why people vote to "dismantle democracy," how Ireland ruined its rental market, and more...
Make the CDC an Infectious Disease Epidemic Fighter Again
Dr. Walensky's proposed bureaucratic reshuffling is too timid.
Volunteers in Ukraine Are Stepping Up Where the Government Is Failing
"It was learning by doing," says one ambulance driver. "Most things that happen here are done by volunteers, not government officials."
Why Do Travelers to the U.S. Have To Wait an Average of 247 Days for Their Visa Interviews?
The State Department's network of consulates are keeping tourists and business travelers in limbo.
Doctors Say Federal Bureaucracy Is Keeping Them From Adequately Treating Monkeypox
One vaccination requires 100 pages of government paperwork to be processed before treatment.
Pete Buttigieg Is Moving to Michigan. He Should Take the Transportation Department With Him.
It would signal that the transportation future involves decentralization and rapid change rather than Washington-style command-and-control.
Blundering Into Escalation in Ukraine?
Plus: A listener asks if it’s possible for bureaucracy ever to be good.
Former FDA Official: The Prohibition on European Baby Formula Isn't About Safety
"The knot in getting that product into the U.S. isn't safety, it's a regulatory issue," says Peter Pitts.
Tax Day Is Here, Because Government Bungling Won't Pay for Itself
If you resent government incompetence and malice, maybe your devalued dollars will buy less of it.
In Afghanistan, Private Aid Fills Void Left by Bureaucratic Failure
Small, private groups are working to feed the hungry and evacuate the endangered.
Can the FDA's New Commissioner Save the Agency From Itself?
Robert Califf must demand transparency and accountability from the bureaucrats.
Leave Goat Yoga Alone!
"We can't even do the things we want to on our own property that aren't even hurting anyone."
Health Insurers Forced To Cover Rapid COVID-19 Tests Even Though They Don't Know How
While the rule is set to go into effect this weekend, companies are scrambling to figure out how to cover or reimburse people for the tests.
'We' Didn't Increase the Debt. Politicians, Congress, and Bureaucrats Did.
Using "we" implies a collective responsibility, creates the false impression that most people are on board, and hints that we'll share equally in the benefits.
California Promised Street Vendors More Freedom. Instead They Got More Rules.
The state’s “reforms” have saddled merchants with oppressively expensive permitting demands.
Will Massachusetts Make Life Sweeter for Home-Cook Entrepreneurs?
It's oppressively hard, if not impossible, to sell homemade food in the Bay State. One lawmaker proposes massive regulatory reform.
After 20 Years of Failure, Kill the TSA
The agency is far more of a threat than the dangers from which it supposedly protects us.
Government Keeps Trying To Censor This Brewery. The Owner Isn't Having It.
"Do you really want to live in a country where government bureaucrats, based on whim and personal preference, can censor whatever they don't like?"