By Will Portman Winston Churchill once said, “Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing… after they have exhausted all other possibilities.” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) cited the late British Prime Minister’s famous quote this week as he unveiled The Path to Prosperity, his budget for fiscal year 2013, arguing … Continue reading
As the debate over income equality in the US continues to build, economists and policy makers are focusing on the large amount of new and old studies that attempt to quantify the rising disparage of incomes. However, many of these studies and statistics can be misleading because they do not take several important factors into … Continue reading
Is our Constitution a “Living Breathing Document?” Well, what is a “Living Breathing Document?” In The American Constitution and The Debate over Originalism, Dennis Goldford defines the concept of a living breathing document. He quotes Harlold Koh, legal expert, as defining the concept as a “flexible pragmatism that views the Constitution as a living document … Continue reading
By Will Portman On Monday, I went to a talk at the Brookings Institution entitled “America’s Dysfunctional Politics: Is the Constitution to Blame?” Professor Sanford Levinson of the University of Texas School of Law discussed his new book, Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Government, which argues that the 225-year-old U.S. Constitution is … Continue reading
Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sebelius is given the responsibly to fund a Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program in every state or expand CO-OPs in states that do not have one. A CO-OP is a non-profit, consumer owned and governed health insurance organization.[1] … Continue reading
The fight over income inequality and a fair tax code has dominated the recent political debate. The White House, along with all the GOP presidential candidates, and every think tank in Washington has submitted their blueprint of what a reformed tax code should look like. Obama’s tax plan focuses on eliminating distortions and loopholes and … Continue reading
By Will Portman According to a recent Gallup poll, 76% of Americans think that most members of Congress don’t deserve to be re-elected. The same poll, however, showed that a majority of Americans, 53%, think that their representative does deserve to be re-elected. The mentality seems to be something along the lines of, “Throw the bums out! Just not … Continue reading
According to various news outlets, Mitt Romney’s campaign is quite confident that Romney will be the eventual GOP nominee. However, if I were in their position I am not sure I would be quite so optimistic. While Romney does have a sizeable advantage at the moment, he has not yet won the nomination. Let us … Continue reading
With the recent announcement of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s endorsement of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, things are about to get really interesting concerning the GOP’s relationship with America’s fastest growing demographic group (i.e. Hispanics). As a darling of the tea-party, Gov. Jan Brewer’s latest political move is clearly meant to shore up and consolidate Gov. … Continue reading
At the Fulcrum of Change Last week Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum came under fire for comments he made about higher education in the United States. “President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college. What a snob.”[1] In the heat of a campaign, his comments unfortunately were entirely of a … Continue reading
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