Except in Jeopardy!, questions usually come first, followed by answers. Likewise, when criticizing public policy studies and their underlying methodologies, it typically helps to see the policy study and methodology used before one embarks on criticism. Today at 8:37 a.m. ET, Matt Yglesias of the Center for American Progress’ Think Progress blog released a critique of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis (CDA) econometric analysis of the federal budget for FY 2012 proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). Yglesias’ posting preceded Heritage’s public release of the CDA’s study and …
Liberals in America are mad because they have had a difficult time implementing an unpopular far left agenda, especially with regard to Obamacare. One of the results of this rage is for liberals to attack one of the rules in the Senate that protects unlimited debate and amendment – the Filibuster Rule. Rule 22 of the Senate’s rules governs the conduct of a filibuster and requires that a “Cloture Petition” be signed by 16 Senators to commence the process of shutting off debate on a nomination or legislation. The left wants …
Ever since President Barack Obama made a campaign promise to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform early in his presidency, there has been a series of studies aimed at making the economic case for another amnesty. The newest, a study by the Center for American Progress (CAP), claims that legalizing the 11 million illegal immigrants inside the United States would increase GDP by at least $1.5 trillion over 10 years. Touting amnesty as an economic stimulus is weak on several points. First, these studies almost across the board assume that …
This is the second of a four part series. Matthew Spalding’s new book, We Still Hold These Truths, examines the timeless principles and practical wisdom that have been the source of America’s monumental success. In this video segment Spalding discusses the progressive assault on the Founders’ principles that began more than a century ago and that continues—indeed, is accelerating—in our time. Modern political leaders and cultural elites have all too readily abandoned the principles to which America is dedicated; even more troubling is how readily we all let it happen. Progressivism …
The Obama administration’s favorite think tank published a new memo on health care reform yesterday: LGBT Issues in Health Reform. The Center for American Progress goes on to write: Transgender individuals with access to health insurance can rarely find coverage that fully meets their health care needs. Most insurance plans, both private and public, do not cover the costs associated with transitioning, or moving from one gender to another. … Current proposals for health care reform incorporate a council comprised of health experts to determine minimum standards for health insurance …
This past Friday on MSNBC, Center for American Progress researcher Igor Volsky told MSNBC “the House bill is deficit-neutral over ten years” This is flat-out untrue. Here is the CBO letter (PDF) that Volsky was referring to. Click on it. Search for the term “deficit-neutral” … or even just “neutral.” You’ll notice that those terms do not appear anywhere in the document. This is what the CBO letter actually says: According to CBO’s and JCT’s assessment, enacting H.R. 3200 would result in a net increase in the federal budget deficit …
A recent report by Robert Pollin, James Heintz and Heidi Garrett-Peltier of the Political Economy Research Institute purports to study the “economic transformation” the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) will harmoniously bring about. The analysis begins with the three “objectives that will define the entire enterprise” and concludes with the need “to promote an aggressive policy agenda now to defeat global warming.” This tips the reader to the fact that this is not an objective analysis. However, the suspension of …
Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that investment in renewable energies, and the green jobs that go with it, is being stifled by the stimulus. How? No one knows where, when, or if the stimulus money from Washington will arrive, sowing uncertainty among investors and businesses alike: New incentive programs haven’t yet been defined, and uncertainty about program rules has deterred investors from backing companies that also may get government money. At the same time, companies are holding off from accepting private capital because of the possibility of getting it more …
President Obama triumphantly declared on July 1: “The Recovery Act was designed to make sure local school districts didn’t lay off teachers and firefighters and police officers. And its done its job.” Whether the stimulus has actually “done its job” is up for debate. But the release of a Government Accountability Office report today calls into question Obama’s vision for how stimulus funds should be spent. Even the liberal Center for American Progress plays up the fact that “states aren’t using funds as intended.” Citing the GAO report, today’s Progress …
The Center for American Progress recently released report titled New Progressive America claiming “20 Years of Demographic, Geographic, and Attitudinal Change Across the Country Herald a New Progressive Majority.” When analyzing different states, CAP specifically left out California explaining: This paper confines the state discussion to states that have been recently contested between progressives and conservatives, leaving out states such as Illinois and California that have moved so heavily progressive since 1988 that were not seriously contested in recent elections. CAP’s report goes on to make the case that the …
