Professional golfer Phil Mickelson, one of California’s many but dwindling wealthy, apparently carded a bogey when he intimated over the weekend that the near 60 percent marginal tax rate on the state’s millionaires may be enough to make him flee to a lower tax burden state. In November, the state …
What happens when a government program simply does not do what it is supposed to do? Head Start, the federal preschool program, says it “promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to 5 from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development.” But the government’s own evaluations …
Transparency in government took a huge step forward on January 3. On that day, President Obama signed into law the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act as an amendment to the 2013 Defense Authorization Bill. With the new revision, State Department foreign programming may be broadcast in the United States, though it may …
New Year’s Day was tough for taxpayers. Thirteen tax increases kicked in. The deal that Congress and President Obama struck that finally—but only partially—avoided the fiscal cliff resulted in seven tax increases. Those hikes combined with six tax increases from Obamacare that also began on New Year’s Day. 13 Tax …
While you were sleeping—or ringing in 2013—the Senate voted to raise taxes. After missing the midnight deadline, Congress and the President have technically sent the nation over the fiscal cliff, meaning higher tax rates are already in effect for all income tax brackets. But the Senate’s deal, brokered by Senate …
Senator Tom Coburn (R–OK) and others in Congress have repeatedly expressed concerns about “fragmentation, overlap, and duplication” in non-emergency food aid programs administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). But a study released this month by the United States Government …
Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing to discuss the implementation of Obamacare’s exchanges and Medicaid expansion, both of which are slated to begin in 2014. Exchanges Two officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expressed confidence that exchange implementation was on schedule, stating, “All …
It seems that every day now brings another business owner in the news talking about cutting workers’ hours or making other cost-cutting moves in anticipation of Obamacare’s impact in 2013. Here are just a few of the business owners’ comments on the health care law: “We’ve calculated it will [cost] …
With just a few weeks left in 2012, all eyes in Washington are on Capitol Hill and the “fiscal cliff” negotiations. As usual, Congress and the President are taking highly contentious issues down to the wire before cutting a deal—never a situation that ends well for taxpayers. Federal Reserve Chairman …
