Most commentators and pundits explain the defeat of Nicolas Sarkozy in France and the rise of far left Syriza in Greece as popular rejections of austerity policies as the solution to escalating government debt. Writing in today’s Washington Examiner, Veronique de Rugy points out that government spending on social services and welfare in most European [...]
Iowa Republican Steve King and his colleague Dave Reichert of Washington announce support for more federal subsidies of wind energy. The Wall Street Journal editorial board takes exception (here).
Originally published in The Daily Caller — May 4, 2012 – About a week ago, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman pronounced April “the month the confidence fairy died.” The confidence fairy is the idea that economic revival will come when people have confidence that regulations will be predictable, taxes low and stable, and government [...]
Writing in today’s Wall Street Journal, Columbia University Business School Dean Glenn Hubbard explains that President Obama’s proposed tax increases will not come close to covering his proposed expenses. Here is a summary: Buffet Rule (minimum 30% tax on those making $1 million or more) nets $4.7 billion per year Increase capital gains tax from [...]
The Washington Examiner reported on Monday that Solar Trust for America has declared bankruptcy despite the prospect of $2.1 billion in loans from the U.S. government. According to the Examiner, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar attended the groundbreaking and said it was “a historic moment in America’s new energy frontier.” Oops. Read the full story [...]
The Wall Street Journal editorial board observes in today’s edition that while the United States has been adding to its debt and suffering continued high unemployment and weak economic growth, our neighbors to the north have been quietly putting their affairs in order. As the editors say, it seems the Canadians are good at more [...]
Congressman Paul Ryan is again leading an effort to bring some reason and sanity to the federal budget. In an election year, that effort is likely to be distorted by his opposition even more than last year’s proposal, but as Ryan notes in an oped in today’s Wall Street Journal, he has some bipartisan support [...]
Writing in Investor’s Business Daily, Vern McKinley, research fellow at the Independent Institute and author of the new book, “Financing Failure: A Century of Bailouts,” reaches the following conclusion about Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner’s bailout of Bear Stearns: “Ultimately, the final judgment about Secretary Geithner’s bailout strategies will be inexorably tied to the political [...]
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Alan Blinder explains how the United States government will reach a fiscal cliff on January 1, 2013, and why nothing will be done to avoid it beyond kicking the can down the road another few months. Nothing will be done between now and November because of the pending election, and [...]
Originally published in The Hill — 3/16/12 – President Obama’s 2013 budget would add $3.5 trillion to annual deficits through 2022, according to a new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). It also would raise the deficit next year by $365 billion, according to the nonpartisan office. The CBO estimate is in sharp contrast to White [...]
The Tax Man Cometh – Grover Norquist, writing on Human Events catalogues numerous ways in which taxes will rise beginning in 2013 without Congress doing a thing. According to Norquist the increase could total $6 to $7 trillion over the next decade. Read Norquist’s article here.
President Obama is set on making the presidential election a class war between the rich and everybody else. If he succeeds there is no way the Republicans can win. But if a Democratic victory means higher tax rates on the rich and no significant spending cuts, the federal debt will continue to spiral upward. The [...]
Having just elected Suzanne Bonamici to Congress in what can only be called a landslide, voters in Oregon’s CD#1 might be interested in taking a look at The EnterpriseBlog’s “5 scariest debt and unemployment charts from the new CBO report.” The author, James Pethokoukis, notes that CBO charts two different futures depending on whether or [...]
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that federal employees make 16% more, on average, than comparable private sector employees. Read story in The Washington Times here. Meanwhile, the Senate voted to again raise the federal debt ceiling.
Take a look at this satirical short film about the national debt and how it applies to just one family. Starring Brian Stepanek & Eddie Jemison.
Earlier this week the Daily Caller published my critique of “The Story of Stuff”, a widely circulated video that badly distorts the realities of natural resource use, environmental harm and consumer choice. Another video produced by the same person (Annie Leonard) argues that our government can afford to provide all manner of “good” things if [...]
The Daily Caller reports on the top ten stupid federal expenditures last year. The list is drawn from Senator Tom Coburn’s Wastebook 2011. A sample: $764,825 for a study on how college students use cell phones and social media. And that’s number ten on the list.
Economics Professor Steven E. Landsburg explains in today’s Wall Street Journal why raising taxes is not the same as earning more income. Rather it’s like taking money from your savings account.
