The more power government has to make up rules the harder rent seekers will lobby.

I came upon your Newsweek letter at The Austrian Economists' blog, of Peter Boettke and Steve Horwitz, and also the challenge to make the case for the free market in 800 or fewer words.

Here's my attempt at it:

Taking from the rich to give to the poor makes the poor poorer. For it doesn't just draw money but manpower downward upon the hierarchy of production, and the manpower faster than the money. For it doesn't merely follow money but anticipates it. And with manpower and competition among the poor increasing faster than the redistributed money, they'll be poorer than they would have been without it.

Not 800 words, not even 80.

With the understanding that no suggestion made here has a shred of chance of ever being implemented in the foreseeable future. (God I hope I am being overly pessimistic)

Congress is not accountable to the people who elect it. Congresspersons are accountable solely to the system, each other.

The only way to impose accountability is to change the wording of Art 1, Sec 5, 2nd paragraph of the Constitution and impose working rules and standards upon Congress. This flaw in the Constitution is what makes all the corruption and waste possible.

Government's modus operandi today is to bestow goodies on politically powerful interest groups, and to pay for these goodies by taxing politically unpopular groups (e.g., oil companies) and politically impotent groups (most notably, future taxpayers).

According to the AP:

She also successfully took on the oil industry, leading to a tax increase on oil company profits that now has the state's treasury swelling.

So we have a presidential hopeful who knows nothing about economics selecting a vice presidential hopeful who knows nothing about economics….and we can now say that about either party.