I’ve pointed out on several occasions that the burden of federal spending fell significantly during the Clinton years. Indeed, if we did nothing other than bring federal spending back down to 18.2 percent of GDP (where it was when Clinton left office), we’d have a…

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.
The Short-Term Problem Is Obama’s Ideological Stubborness, the Long-Term Problem Is American Decline
As a Washington policy wonk somewhat involved in the current debt-limit fight, I will confess that it is very frustrating that the White House has never produced a deficit-reduction plan. I’d much prefer a spending-restraint plan, of course, but I’m flummoxed that…
Is Obama a Conservative?
That seems like a joke question, but it’s an apparently serious belief of Bruce Bartlett, a former supply-sider and Bush Administration official who has flipped sides and joined the left. I’ve known Bruce for decades and he’s a fun guy to hang out with, but he’s gone…
Inside the Debt-Limit Negotiations, a Love Song from Obama to Boehner
I hope the Speaker resists this siren song and says no to higher taxes.
The Transatlantic Government-Incompetence-and-Stupidity Contest: The U.S v. U.K.
Last week, we compared a bone-headed display tpqof incompetence by the German government with a perverse form of harassment by a local government in the United States. We have another America-v-Europe contest, but the roles are reversed. This time, the buffoons in…
Republicans May Win the Debt-Limit Fight? I Won’t Believe It ’til I See It…and I’m Not Sure It Would Matter
There are rumors that Obama may do a bit Clinton-era triangulation and agree to a GOP-friendly increase in the debt limit. That means no tax increases and as much as $3 trillion of so-called spending cuts. I’m skeptical, and even if it happens, I suspect that most of…
Senator Kent Conrad: Is He a Clown, Hack, or Demagogue?
Actually, the answer is all of the above. He pontificates about debt, but he voted for the fake stimulus and budget-busting Obamacare legislation. He’s a preening self-styled deficit hawk, but the nation’s four largest deficits have occurred since he became Chairman…
A New Miracle Drug – Better than Viagra According to Politicians
Kudos to the Concerned Women for America, not only for this clever video, but also for putting the focus on the burden of government spending rather than the symptom of too much red ink.
The Never-Ending Government Fraud Racket
Here’s a great example of family values, but only if you think it’s noble for a husband, wife, and daughter to conspire together to rip off taxpayers. I guess the family that steals together, stays together. Here are some of the details from the Daily Caller expose. A…
Looking at Europe’s Self-Inflicted Economic Disaster (and Getting a Glimpse of America’s Obamanian Future)
llister Heath is one of the best economic columnists in Europe and his analysis of Europe’s fiscal situation is rather grim. But Americans can’t be smug. This is where the Bush-Obama policies, combined with demographics, are leading America. Here’s Allister’s analysis…
