FreedomTalks

I’ve got to run to a briefing, but the quick version is this:
Conservatives and free marketers have many disagreements with McCain, and they’re right to. McCain-Feingold, McCain-Lieberman, the votes against the Bush tax cuts — these are not exactly small matters. But what he said today should get some attention from advocates of limited-government.
On [...]

We all knew what was coming, and we all gathered round next to the TV here at the end of Blogger’s Row to watch Romney bow out of the GOP race. I stood next to Julian Sanchez, who’s blogging the convention for The Economist, and in front of Flip Romney — the guy in [...]

I think George Will hits pretty much exactly the right note today in his column on sovereign wealth funds.
Many countries exporting oil, toys or underwear to America are running trade surpluses. These countries need to do something with their dollars — it is better that they invest them than buy weapons with them — [...]

The Wall Street Journal points out how the stimulus package recently negotiated between Bush and Democratic leadership in the House will quickly be used against Bush’s tax cuts:
Let’s hope Republicans appreciate the irony, because no doubt Democrats do. By signing on to a bigger deficit for the sake of election-year stimulus, Mr. Bush is making [...]

Over the American Spectator, Jim Antle is none too happy with the new budget:
President Bush is sending Congress the first $3 trillion federal budget. This is not many years after proposing the first $2 trillion budget. We passed the $1 trillion mark for the first time back in 1987.
Boy, it’s a good thing we have Republican presidents [...]

Always good to know that, in Congress, the secret to making any plan better is to spend even more taxpayer money on it. What’s a few billion dollars (before interest) between Congressmen?

Quick links for the morning:

Andrew Roth at the Club for Growth puts together the full list of legislators who’ve sworn off earmarks.
Steve Forbes on the economic stimulus package.
Florida residents say the economy and insurance are their top issues.
Amity Shlaes argues that, in the midst of a shaky economy, even JFK “punched through the Keynesian fog” [...]

I’m busy working on some other projects, so posting may be light again today, but in the meantime, I’ve got an op-ed on the stimulus package in today’s American Spectator:
Ah, bipartisanship. What would Washington be without it? It’s a lovely word that gives politicians the opportunity to link arms and claim [...]

Here’s FreedomWorks chairman Dick Armey reacting to a proposed change in bankruptcy law that’s intended to calm subprime fears in the Wall Street Journal this morning:
Politicians are always willing — if not quite qualified — to play the role of economic savior. And with fresh bad news about the economy coming out regularly, there are [...]

Over at Reason, Steve Chapman has a devastating piece on the stimulus package. The whole thing is worth a read, but this passage is especially worth noting:
The alleged problem is a recession. From the sounds of panic, you would assume we are already in a deep downturn. In fact, that does not appear to be [...]