What I've been reading

• I guess it's a tax after all: Commentary on the Obama administration's flip-flop shift in position on the insurance mandate from Damon Root, Matt Welch, and Ilya Shapiro. Michael Cannon provides video evidence of the flip-floppery.

• Robert Samuelson calls health care reform in Massachusetts an ugly preview of ObamaCare. Central planning, further restrictions on markets -- what could go wrong?

• The Inspector General of the Troubled Assets Relief Program has issued a sharp criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the auto bailout, claiming it needlessly cost thousands of jobs. So in addition to health care, it seems government doesn't do a great job of running auto companies either -- who knew?

• Make that intelligence gathering as well: The Washington Post details endless bureaucracy, duplication and waste within the national intelligence community. Amazing and depressing read.

• After reading all of that, it's rather difficult to disagree with Peter Suderman's assessment that financial sector reform is shaping up as another fine mess.

• Perhaps the strangest thing I read today was this wikipedia entry on the Onion Futures Act. Why?