I’ve argued that Obama’s not a socialist. I wasn’t trying to defend him. I was simply making the point that it’s technically more accurate to refer to him as a statist or a corporatist. But he may be even worse than that, at least according to a must-read Kevin…
Dan Mitchell
Daniel J. Mitchell is the President of the Center for Freedom and Prosperity and the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation. Dr. Mitchell advocates limited government and fundamental tax reform, and is the nation’s leading opponent of tax harmonization schemes developed by the Brussels-based European Union, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations.
In addition to fiscal policy, Dr. Mitchell is a trenchant observer of economic developments and an expert on Social Security reform – particularly the fiscal policy impact of reform and what the US can learn from other nations that have created personal retirement accounts.
Why Do Bureaucrats Hate Bambi?
The bad news is that governments do a lot of things they shouldn’t do. The good news is that I never run out of material. I’ve even created some sub-categories, such as my U.S. vs U.K. government stupidity contest and my great-moments-in-local-government series. But I…
America Is a Tax Haven…and That’s a Very Good Thing
I like tax havens for the simple reason that we need some ways of restraining the greed of the political class. Simply stated, if profligate politicians think that we are “captive customers,” they are much more likely to impose (even) higher tax rates (as we’ve seen…
Americans Are Far More Compassionate than “Socially Conscious” Europeans
When I’m in Europe giving speeches and participating in conferences, it’s quite common that folks on the left will attempt to discredit my views by asserting that Americans are selfish and greedy. Since I’m generally sympathetic to Ayn Rand’s writings, I don’t see…
Four Charts Showing How Obama’s Statist Agenda Is Hurting Jobs and Growth
President Obama made a much-hyped pivot-to-the-economy speech yesterday in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I already explained, immediately following the speech, why his “grand bargain” on corporate taxes was not a good deal because of all the hidden taxes on new investment…
Beware the President’s Bait-and-Switch on Corporate Tax Reform
In his latest pivot to jobs and the economy, the President spoke earlier today in Tennessee. Much of his speech was tax-spend-and-regulate boilerplate, but he did repackage some of his ideas into a so-called grand bargain. He said he’s willing to cut the corporate tax…
Should Detroit’s Bankruptcy Be an Early-Warning Sign for Washington?
In an interview last week about Detroit’s bankruptcy, I explained that the city got in trouble because of growing dependency and an ever-rising burden of government spending. I also warned that the federal government faces the same challenge. Washington is in trouble…
The IRS Wants to Be Exempt from Obamacare While also Being in Charge of Making the Rest of Us Comply
There are lots of despicable people in Washington engaged in a lot of unsavory behavior, so it would be very difficult to get agreement if you asked regular people to select the most odious feature of the political class. Many people would probably choose corruption…
President Obama Threatens America: “We’re Not Done Yet”
I suggested last year that President Obama adopt “my work here is done” as a campaign slogan. Admittedly, that was merely an excuse to share this rather amusing poster (and you can see the same hands-on-hips pose, by the way, in this clever Michael Ramirez cartoon)….
Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Which State Is Headed in the Wrong Direction at the Fastest Rate of All?
There are all sorts of ways to measure the burden of government spending. The most obvious approach is to look at the share of economic output consumed by the public sector. That’s what I did, for instance, when comparing fiscal policy in France and Switzerland. And…