Miscellany, Potpourri, and Other Stuff That Comes to Mind

* Taxes and regulations drain almost half of the output of the U.S. economy. Where's the outrage?

* Truth is to government as daylight is to vampires.

* Democrats -- having embraced balanced budgets as a sign of "fiscal responsibility" -- must keep taxes high to keep the welfare state intact. They know where their votes come from.

* Remember "urban sprawl"? Of course there's urban sprawl. Not everyone wants to live in the hot, crowded, noisy, filthy confines of downtown Washington, D.C., and other centers of urban elegance.

* Remember the budget surplus? Sorry it has vanished? Well, just remember that the surplus was your money. When politicians were arguing about what to do with the surplus they sounded just like thieves arguing about how to split the loot from a bank heist.

* If the President is responsible for the state of the economy, he must be responsible for the state of the weather as well.

* Those who say that the era of big government is over he must be talking about the Soviet Union.

* Here's a success strategy for the Republicans: Drive the religious right out of the party and into the arms of the Democrats.