CBO and other government agencies produce huge amounts of data every day. They typically compile them into reports and glean out the important trends that will advise and inform policy makers. Traditionally these reports involve simple line and bar graphs with a few pie charts. However, the explosion in info graphics and interactive data has … Continue reading
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Obamacare’s Medicaid Mandates on States; Oppresive and Wrong on Every Level
There are many unconstitutional elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare). One of these elements, lurking the midst, not getting the attention it should receive in the mainstream, at least not anymore, is unconstitutional Federal mandates on the states (as it relates to Medicaid). Under Obamacare states can choose to either … Continue reading
Economic Daily Outlook
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012 ECONOMICS: Report Says Candidates’ Plans Boost Federal Debt http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204778604577241664250668788.html While Republican presidential candidates are campaigning against President Barack Obama’s deficit-laden budgets, a new report concludes that three of the four contenders’ fiscal proposals would likely increase the federal debt. Only Texas Rep. Ron Paul has offered detailed plans that might … Continue reading
Free but Responsible Markets
Occupy Wall Street started with an emotion: anger. As average Americans dealt with an insecure job market, unemployment, underwater mortgages, and overwhelming increases in the cost of education and healthcare they watched as the financial industry was rescued from its own poor judgment by the federal government. What was perceived was a collusion of massive … Continue reading
Short Memories: Repeating Policy Mistakes for “Positive Externalities”
About a month ago President Obama delivered the State of the Union Address. In it he pandered to the broad interests of teacher’s unions and educational institutions. He framed the issues as educational reform, affordable education, and transitioning priorities. President Obama calls for more resources for teachers, better pay for high quality teachers, and replacing … Continue reading
Freedom to lie? United States v Xavier Alvarez
The Stolen Valor Act was passed by Congress in 2006 to honor and respect the service men and women who have earned military medals. The Act prohibits people from falsely claiming they earned an armed service medal. Depending on the false claim, a person can be punished to up to six months to a year … Continue reading
Economic Daily Outlook
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012 ECONOMICS: Winners and Losers From a Tax Proposal http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/business/tax-break-for-manufacturers-offset-elsewhere.html The Obama administration, seeking to promote domestic manufacturing without increasing the federal deficit, proposed Wednesday to offset new tax breaks for manufacturers by raising taxes on a wide range of other companies. Some of the prospective losers are familiar targets, including … Continue reading
Corporate tax “framework” misses the mark
The President announced his support today for corporate tax reform that reduces the rate to 28 percent by eliminating expenditures in the tax code, deductions, credits and the like. Ostensibly this reduction is a show of goodwill and a step forward. Yet under closer scrutiny, the President’s proposal hypocritically reinforces existing tax expenditures and fails … Continue reading
How About an Afternoon Tea Party?
CATO Institute recently held a book forum reviewing the newly published “Tea Party Patriots: The Second American Revolution.” Authors Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin explained the origins of the Tea Party and what it does and does not stand for. The discussion also included comments by John Fund, a senior editor at the American … Continue reading
No, CNN, Mexico’s drug strategy is not working…
Last week CNN ran a column by Mariano Castillo entitled “Is Mexico’s’ drug war strategy working?” as part of a continuing series about the ongoing conflict in Mexico. My response to that question would be an emphatic “no, Mexico’s drug war strategy is not working!” Castillo’s article begins by noting that “on paper” the Mexican … Continue reading
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