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  • Entitlements, Taxes & Spending

    Replace the culture of entitlement with the culture of mutual responsibility.

    Boston Bombers Received Welfare Benefits

    According to the Boston Herald and other news sources, the family of the Boston Marathon bombers received large amounts of welfare benefits. This calls attention to the policy principle that immigrants should be net contributors to the government and society and should not be a fiscal burden on American society. … More

    Morning Bell: 5 Ways the Immigration Bill Is Like Obamacare

    Congress rammed Obamacare through without many Members even reading the bill. Now it’s applying that same frantic, complex, pie-in-the-sky legislating to immigration. The similarities are frightening. 1. Extreme Costs The Government Accountability Office now projects that under the most realistic scenario, Obamacare will add $6.2 trillion to the primary deficit … More

    Temporary Debt Paydown Just a Drop in the Bucket

    Reports that the federal government will put a little bit of money toward the massive federal debt for the first time in six years make for an interesting tidbit, but Washington’s spending and debt problem is only getting bigger. The Wall Street Journal reports, “The Treasury Department said that it … More

    DeMint: Gang of Eight Immigration Plan Unfair, Costs Too Much (VIDEO)

    What’s wrong with the Gang of Eight’s immigration plan? Heritage President Jim DeMint said, “It’s unfair, it costs too much, and it’s going to make the problem worse.” On “The Kudlow Report” April 30, DeMint told host Larry Kudlow that it’s important to focus on what we know about the … More

    Morning Bell: Remember the Economy? It’s Still Bad

    According to a poll earlier this year, voters have a higher opinion of cockroaches than Congressmen. President Obama’s personal popularity remains solid, but his job approval rating is going down. Why are our elected officials unpopular? It might just be because they are not listening. In poll after poll, the … More

    Reid Suggests Exploiting Budget Gimmicks for Sequestration

    Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) is proposing not one but two old budget gimmicks to spend $85 billion more in 2013 than allowed under sequestration. Contrary to Senator Reid’s claim that “it wouldn’t add a penny to the deficit,” this spending would in fact add every single penny in … More

    Morning Bell: American Families Cannot Afford the Cost of Amnesty

    Our nation is going broke, and now is not the time to increase burdens on American families. The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744)—commonly called the “Gang of Eight bill” after the eight Senators who came up with it, Charles Schumer (D-NY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Robert … More

    How Heritage Is Studying the Costs of Immigration

    In discussing comprehensive immigration reform in recent days, some commentators have discussed The Heritage Foundation’s previous and anticipated work looking at the costs of unlawful immigration and amnesty. Heritage’s Robert Rector, who helped spearhead welfare reform in the 1990s and is one of the nation’s top experts on government assistance … More

    VIDEO: Sen. Mike Lee on Gun Control, Immigration and Internet Sales Tax

    Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) spoke at Heritage yesterday about winning public support for a conservative agenda for government. He joined Heritage’s Jackie Anderson afterward to talk about legislative battles in Congress: gun control, immigration reform, and the Internet sales tax. With two Senate immigration hearings having just concluded, Lee urged … More

    DeMint: Taxpayers Would Pay for Amnesty

    Now that the “Gang of Eight” has introduced a comprehensive immigration bill in the U.S. Senate, the cost to taxpayers of implementing amnesty for an estimated 11 million unlawful immigrants has come into focus. The core problem with amnesty is clear: It encourages more unlawful immigration in hopes of future … More