In early June, a coalition of urban and rural politicians in the Senate banded together to pass the Farm bill, a legislative piece that distributes welfare benefits to an unlikely pair: wealthy agro-businesses and the inner-city poor. Although widely popular among constituents, a common sense look at the bill reveals serious flaws. The Senate’s version … Continue reading
Naptime, wooden blocks, and finger paint have returned to Capitol Hill as politicians debate the fate of Head Start – a kindergarten readiness program that targets children from low-income families. Due to sequester spending cuts, 70,000 young children will be denied access to Head Start. Additionally, 14,000 staff members will lose their jobs, causing an … Continue reading
Last week was a big week on the hill, with many high profile hearings. One such hearing that was followed closely was the investigation of Apple. Apple has been accused of evading taxes, but they have apparently found a loophole in the corporate tax code. Apple set up subsidiary accounts in Ireland for its international … Continue reading
Last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) unveiled her first piece of legislation on the Senate floor — a proposal to allow students to borrow at the same rates as banks. While this move galvanizes the populist movement, the economics behind it does not quite add up. The interest rate on direct subsidized loans for undergrads … Continue reading
On Wednesday, April 10th, President Obama released his $3.77 trillion budget, as the president begins the arduous process of getting it passed through the Republican controlled House of Representatives. In regards to education, the new budget contains very similar rhetoric used by the president during his 2013 State of the Union Address. For example, the … Continue reading
This week, half of the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises celebrated their Opening Days, marking the first day of baseball season. Opening Day attendance can tell us a lot of things. For example, attendance at the Washington Nationals’ home opener was up 11% this year, due to high hopes for the team this season. But … Continue reading
Last Friday, among the flurry of amendments that the Senate passed before it adjourned for a two-week recess, the Brown-Vitter amendment, which pledged to end funding advantages to banks with more than $500 billion in assets, passed in a 99-0 vote. Great, right? Senator Vitter, one of the co-authors of the amendment, stated afterwards, “This … Continue reading
Have you ever taken a close look at where your taxpayer dollars go? If not, maybe you should start. The government spends its money in some pretty ridiculous ways. Money is often wasted through silly use of grants, and legislatively through earmarks. Also known as “pork barrel” spending, earmark spending is funding added to the … Continue reading
It’s budget season! Last week, the House Budget Committee released its annual budget proposal for FY 2014, the third iteration of the Ryan budget. But this year, for the first time since 2009, the Senate Budget Committee released its own proposal too. The release of both budgets last week was exciting not just for budget … Continue reading
There has been some political buzz lately on how a carbon tax would affect the U.S. economy. Some of this is due to the recent introduction of climate legislation by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment, on February 14th. Provisions of this two-part bill, the Climate … Continue reading
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