About 1.6 million American jobs hang in the balance. That is the clear implication of analysis contained in the annual budget update by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Along with all manner of dire and dreary budget data reflecting President Obama’s budget and economic policies to date, CBO provides its …
Earlier this year, over protests from the country’s communist party, Russia agreed to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Now Congress is considering legislation that essentially says, “We want U.S. companies to benefit from the concessions Russia made to join the WTO.” This would be accomplished by ending application of …
The signs are growing that President Obama may once again trot out his new favorite tool—the executive order—to override the will of the people as represented by Congress. Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D–NV) failed to get the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 passed. Even with the last-minute horse trading that …
This session, Congress has consistently increased criminal penalties through legislation. In what type of bills are they doing it? In appropriations bills, of course. Where else would Congress increase criminal penalties? For example, in the fiscal year (FY) 2013 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, the maximum penalties for violation of Arms …
The RAISE Act would rewrite the National Labor Relations Act to make union rates only a minimum wage. If employers wanted to, they could always pay hard-working union members more. Unions would lose the power to turn down raises on workers’ behalf. The House Education and Workforce Committee held a …
Job training programs created by Congress have resulted in overlap and duplication, according to a new report from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) that focuses on workforce development initiatives in Oklahoma. Coburn used his home state as a case study for the effectiveness of federal job training efforts. His office found numerous …
After weeks of decent progress in advancing the fiscal year (FY) 2013 appropriations bills—the annual spending bills that finance the operations of government agencies—the process, disappointingly, appears to be stalling. According to CQ Budget Tracker: Although both chambers will work on appropriations bills this month, Congress appears unlikely to clear …
Last week, Congressmen Jerrold Nadler (D–NY), Edward Markey (D–MA), and Bennie Thompson (D–MS) publicly chastised the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a New York Times op-ed, claiming that DHS has done little to counter the terrorist threat to maritime cargo security in recent years. While this couldn’t be much …
The Supreme Court on Thursday introduced lawmakers to a new Obamacare. The justices held that Congress does not have the power under the Commerce Clause to force you to buy health insurance, even though that’s what lawmakers and the President thought they were doing when they passed the law. Instead, …
Earlier this week, the Obama White House criticized Members of Congress for examining the effects of the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts scheduled to kick in next year. Instead, the Administration said it would prefer that lawmakers turn their attention to longer-term deficit reduction proposals. But this is not …
