An AP article today explains that tax revenues this year are projected to be the lowest since 1950. Chalk this one up as a dog-bites-man story. Our income tax system is highly progressive. Taxpayers pay higher rates as they earn more income. During recessions, incomes contract sharply, so there is less income to tax and the remaining income is taxed at lower rates. As a result, tax revenues dry up by design during recessions. The recent “Great Recession” caused incomes to plummet at a historic rate. Hence tax revenues dropped …
Last Friday, British newspapers reported that the U.S. had agreed to supply Russia with sensitive information on Britain’s nuclear deterrent in order to win Russian agreement to New START. Over the weekend, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley described this claim as “bunk” and asserted that New START simply “carried forward and updated this notification procedure to the new treaty” from the 1991 START. The WikiLeaks document on which the original story was based—and the treaties of 1991 and 2011—tell a different story. The 1991 treaty requires notification of the transfer …
Next week, President Obama will release his budget proposal for fiscal year 2012. Though the President’s budget carries no real legislative weight, it will showcase his financial priorities and the seriousness of his rhetorical commitment to rein in federal spending. A recent New York Times article by Jacob Lew, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, provides a snapshot of what Americans can expect from the President’s proposal. He describes the coming budget as “a comprehensive and responsible plan that will put us on a path toward financial …
Americans saved more than $16 million on roses last year thanks to U.S. trade policy toward Colombia. Under the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA), many products from Colombia are exempt from U.S. import tariffs. Colombia is the biggest supplier of cut flowers to U.S. consumers, and the ATPA exempts Colombian roses from the 6.8 percent U.S. tariff. This import-tax cut saved American rose buyers $16.6 million last year. The current ATPA requires periodic reauthorization by Congress. This introduces an element of political uncertainty that hurts both Colombia and the United …
Last week, House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) outlined $58 billion in non-security domestic spending cuts. Within hours, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) attacked the proposal calling it “unworkable” and “even more draconian than we originally anticipated.” But these outcries were hardly unexpected considering Washington’s spending addiction. As National Review’s Rich Lowry commented in his column this morning, “There is a complicated mathematical symbol practically unknown to the House Appropriations Committee. It’s called the minus sign.” In response to these outcries, Matthias Shapiro, the creator of Obama Budget Cuts Visualization and The National …
This Sunday while defending charges that he was a “man who wants to redistribute wealth,” President Barack Obama told Fox News‘ Bill O’Reilly: “I didn’t raise taxes once.” As PolitiFact points out, not only is this completely false, but President Obama began raising taxes almost immediately upon taking office: The idea that Obama did not raise taxes is just plain wrong. He signed legislation raising taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products soon after taking office; that money goes to pay for children’s health insurance programs. The law went into …
In what Politico is calling “the first whiff of the desperation inside the White House about the slowness of the economic recovery,” President Barack Obama spoke to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce yesterday, claiming: “I understand the challenges you face. I understand you are under incredible pressure to cut costs and keep your margins up. I understand the significance of your obligations to your shareholders and the pressures that are created by quarterly reports. I get it.” No. No, he doesn’t. President Obama went on to say, “Even as we …
Each week, The Heritage Foundation highlights one of its nearly 300,000 Facebook Fans on its “Featured Fan” page. This week’s fan is Jeet Guram, a student at Harvard Medical School. Read his story below, and be sure to become a fan of Heritage on Facebook! When Jeet Guram arrived at the University of South Carolina, he had two primary interests: medicine and public policy. Through hard work and intellectual curiosity, he was able to delve into both. One of his undergraduate highlights was a summer internship at The Heritage Foundation’s Center …
While the Senate failed last week to pass a full repeal of Obamacare, the negative effects of the health care overhaul continue to build the case for scrapping it and starting over. Americans were told that Obamacare would open the door to medical coverage for all children. Those with preexisting conditions would become newly protected by a requirement that health insurance companies “guarantee issue” to all children 19 years old and under. No child would be denied coverage. But being able to get child-only coverage depends on the existence of …
On February 4, the Cuban government announced it will demand a 20-year prison sentence for U.S. citizen Alan Gross. The 61-year-old Maryland resident was arrested in December 2009 in Havana after visiting Cuba to distribute satellite phones to Jewish and other civil society groups. Although details of his activities remain sketchy, Gross was employed by Development Alternatives, Inc., a U.S. State Department contractor, rendering democracy support work in the field. Gross was helping deliver technologies of freedom that Cuba’s leaders greatly fear. After over a year in jail, Gross, who …
