Must-Reads for November 9

Newgeography: The biggest losers in the 2012 elections: entrepreneurs

The real losers are small business owners, or what might be called the aspirational middle class. All this is troubling, as American start-up rates are already falling. Much of what happens now occurs not from a great hunger to succeed as a desire to maintain.

The Motley Fool: Why the next recession will hurt more

Because the current Federal Reserve policy could make any future recession less like falling off a cliff and more like falling down an up escalator, where the country will find it hard to stop tumbling, stand up, and reach prosperity.

Chicago Sun-Times: A quack at reform

Maybe now, during a rare seven-day window of opportunity, the Illinois General Assembly can fix the single biggest threat to our state’s financial well-being — the enormous burden of public employee pensions.

Must-Reads for Novermber 8

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Democrats and their realm

Nothing in Tuesday's numbers reduced the nearly $200 billion in debts and unfunded obligations that state government has laid in the laps of those 12.8 million citizens.

State Journal-Register: Quinn plays down rejection of pension amendment

Gov. Pat Quinn played down voters' rejection of a proposed amendment to the Illinois constitution that would have made it harder to expand public employee retirement benefits.

Chicago Tribune: Your countdown to the cliff

Each day, our entitlement programs edge closer to insolvency. And each day, the need for tax reform that lowers rates but cuts loopholes, deductions and wrongheaded incentives comes clearer: Even revenue-neutral reform would mean new growth, new jobs.

Must-Reads for November 7

The Wall Street Journal: All storm politics is not local

What did people do before FEMA? They built in Lower Manhattan and on the Jersey shore, but they built cheap wooden structures that could quickly be replaced after a storm. They built permanent structures that would not be troubled by a grade-level flooding (the new World Trade Center has such a design).

CNBC: Dow Below 13,000, All key S&P sectors lower

Stocks eased off their lows but remained deeply in the red in a post-election selloff Wednesday, triggered by worries over the looming "fiscal cliff" and as fears over Europe's economy reemerged.

RealClearMarkets: Forget elections, we suffer an anonymous governing class

The concentration of day-to-day regulatory power at the staff level is an inevitable consequence of choices we have made in our society. Our reliance on rules to govern every facet of our lives means that we need large agency staffs to process applications for approval under those rules, requests for exemption from those rules, and enforcement cases against violators of those rules.

Must-Reads for November 6

Bloomberg Businessweek: Illinois moves ahead on health insurance exchange

Illinois officials are reviewing five bids to build the state's health insurance exchange — a required component of the federal health care overhaul that Gov. Pat Quinn intends to implement regardless of who wins the presidency on Election Day.

US News & World Report: State pensions could be the next big government bailout

The bailout not mentioned? A bailout of state pension systems, which is on the horizon unless politicians up-and-down the government food chain get their act in order. A bailout would reward irresponsible states at the expense of responsible ones while setting a massive and destructive transfer of wealth in motion.

Chicago Tribune: CPS, level with parents now

Yes, CPS needs to explain the difficult financial situation to the community. CPS faces a $1 billion budget gap each of the next two years. There are roughly 100,000 empty seats in schools because CPS badly mismanaged its real estate portfolio over the past decade.

RealClearPolicy: Cronyism is destroying the public's trust

If so, the lesson that needs to be learned is that government should nurture the public’s trust and cooperation. Big government is often viewed as a solution to numerous problems. But a smaller, narrowly focused government – allowing few opportunities for cronyism – is the best prospect for regaining the public’s trust and ensuring the effectiveness of government.

Must-Reads for November 5

The Wall Street Journal: New York's economics blackout

Public jobs would be so much easier if politicians could repeal the laws of economics, and some of the more obtuse keep trying. Today's lesson comes from New York and New Jersey, both of which are suffering from severe gasoline shortages a week after superstorm Sandy.

Chicago Tribune: Death threats for the Quinncome tax

The $7 billion in new annual revenue from taxpayers didn't retire the state's old bills, pay down interest on debt or deliver most of the other shiny toys that legislative leaders promised that night.

City Journal: The kindest cuts

The evidence speaks loud and clear: when governments reduce deficits by raising taxes, they are indeed likely to witness deep, prolonged recessions. But when governments attack deficits by cutting spending, the results are very different.