Should Americans be forced into mandatory participation in a government-run long-term care Ponzi scheme? Or is a taxpayer bailout of another congressional misadventure a better idea? These may be the choices confronting a future Congress if the Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Program is left intact. CLASS is …
Last month, we highlighted wasteful spending in Bell, Calif., that resulted in paying the City Manager nearly $800,000 a year. There is a silver lining for Bell residents. This gross misuse of public funds prompted an investigation by prosecutors and what they found was amazing. They found that not only …
Congress must soon reach a consensus on whether, and on whom, they will raise taxes in 2011. With the economy at the forefront of Americans’ concerns, the effects of raising taxes for any income bracket are a serious matter. Proponents of tax hikes argue that reducing the deficit through increasing …
For the second time in a week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D–MT) has called for the suspension of pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget rules to pass necessary and vital tax policies. First, Baucus suggested waiving PAYGO as it pertains to the death tax. Now he’s calling for the Senate to …
A Washington Post article today reports that letting the Bush tax cuts expire would nearly close the fiscal gap. This static logic misses two key dynamic aspects of the economy: (1) the political incentives that higher taxes bring about, and (2) the economic incentives of such policy. 1. Political Incentives. …
Obama Tax Hikes Chat with Bill Beach
In today’s Wall Street Journal, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) identifies two justifications for his unequivocal opposition to any impending tax increases: “The first concerns the pain that tax increases threaten to inflict on our economy over the short term. The second is to stop the slide under our …
