Looking for a raise during these tough economic times? You may want to try working for a larger company. Though largely unpublicized, the fact that wages rise with firm size is a well established result in labor economics. We might call this the “Big Business wage premium,” which exists even when we compare workers with the same observable skills and experience. Imagine that you work at a tiny business that employs fewer than 10 people. Now imagine a veritable clone of yourself—someone of the same race, gender, and marital status …
Today is tax day, the day when taxes are due and Americans send in their money to the federal government. These taxes go to fund a government that is addicted to spending and borrowing and is in desperate need of reform. Our latest video reveals some of the numbers behind our tax policy to make the case for fundamental change. More and more people are becoming aware of the burden these taxes place on them and many Americans have had enough. Today tea parties across the country will be holding …
Americans always deserve a fully transparent and deliberative legislative process. The current Congress has thoroughly abused Senate and House rules. Furthermore, Congress breached the trust of the American people by passing Obamacare, which the American people vigorously opposed. Let us all hope that the ratification of the new START treaty follows a different path. Americans ought to have an opportunity to participate in the ratification debate, including open Congressional hearings, amendments and extended debate. Many Americans are rightly concerned the new START treaty will undermine our national security and, in …
The argument that constitutionalists should not object if President Obama replaces a liberal justice with another liberal (for 30 more years?) is absurd for several reasons, including that such simple political labels don’t fit what most judges do. More to the point, while Justice Stevens’s decisions frequently disappointed those who understand that the original meaning of the Constitution is the only legitimate guide to its interpretation, there are some areas of law in which Justice Stevens departed from the more predictably activist views of Justices Brennan, Marshall, Souter and Ginsburg. …
April 15th is Tax Day, the day that our tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service. As we perform this annual ritual it is important to take a look at how much we are paying to the government and what it is being spent on. Our nation has been struggling to recover from a severe recession and the solution proposed by liberal Democrats is to increase federal spending to staggering levels and have the government take over the private sector. It’s amazing how little regard the Administration and …
For just over half of all Americans today is Tax Day. But for the other half it is just another day on the calendar. That’s because they pay no federal income taxes. The old saying goes “you can’t get something for nothing.” But these “non-payers” receive government services and benefits without chipping in. If more taxpayers continue to drop off the tax rolls, we will soon pass the dangerous tipping point where more than half of taxpayers are non-payers. The individual income tax is the main revenue raiser for federal …
While Chinese President Hu Jintao’s decision to attend the Nuclear Security Summit is being hailed as a sign of improving Sino-US relations, President Hu’s speech at the summit suggests that rough times still lie ahead. In his speech at the summit, President Hu apparently focused on the importance of honoring national commitments towards nuclear security, strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation, helping developing countries improve nuclear security, consolidating existing international legal measures, and demarcating the relationship between nuclear security and nuclear energy. None of these measures, in and of themselves, are …
The day after the House voted to pass Obamacare, the New York Times declared “a triumph.” A few days later, President Obama told Iowa liberals that Obamacare is a “victory” and said the left has prevailed “after a century of trying.” But how can a policy that buries the nation further into debt, strengthens the federal government, and undermines the very essence of our national character be labeled anything other than a dismal failure? It cannot. Obamacare fails the American people. And it won’t end with health care. The left …
President Obama met today with members of Congress to jawbone them on the pending financial reform bill. A key part of his message: “we must end taxpayer bailouts.” Few statements are less controversial than that. Nobody wants to see more bailouts. But wait a second. Doesn’t the very legislation he’s plumping for — and which will soon be voted on in the Senate — itself provides for bailouts. When asked that by a reporter just before the meeting, the President hedged, saying only “…I am absolutely confident that the bill …
Professor Stephen Bainbridge, who is the William D. Warren Professor of Law at UCLA, shares the following insight on economic freedom: I’m happy to acknowledge that the free market economy has produced profound blessings. But I’m not willing to swap my birthright of economic freedom for a “PDA” (how technologically quaint). Nor am I willing to stand by without protest while ever larger chunks of the American economy are turned over to the Obamabots–the very definition of “Social Engineers, who seek to adjust mankind to conform with scientific utopias.” After …
