“We’ll Need To Raise Taxes Soon” opines Roger Altman, a former Deputy Treasury Secretary under President Clinton, in a Wall Street Journal editorial today. Of course, he comes to this conclusion because deficits are high, excessive entitlement spending continues to darken the budget outlook, and, well, that’s the solution he …
Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has suggested that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the now bankrupt housing finance giants, should relax their lending standards. This suggestion is farcical. One’s immediate reaction after the laughter has subsided might well be, “will we never learn?” For many years, …
On June 15, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a study suggesting national tax policies contributed to, but did not cause, the credit boom and bust that caused the global recession. The IMF noted that countries with income taxes tend to impose heavier tax burdens on equity than debt, thereby …
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus’ recent off-the-cuff remarks to CBO Director Elmendorf highlight the critical role the CBO will play in the coming health care debate as it evaluates and scores the various proposals. Senator Baucus also demonstrated the pressures the CBO is under, and the ease with which Members …
President Obama has made health care reform among his very top priorities. Good. The health care system is deeply troubled from soup to nuts. Cost, access, availability, insurance, budget pressures are all very serious issues. It is therefore disconcerting to learn over the weekend through the President’s health care reform …
President Obama has appointed yet another czar. This time it’s a pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, to monitor the compensation paid to seven companies currently under the opiate influence of federal bailout money. We’re long past czar fatigue. The political usefulness of a czar is that it allows the President to …
