Responding to widespread criticism of his AWOL status on the budget fight, President Obama today unveiled a fiscal plan. It already is being criticized for its class warfare approach to tax policy, but the most disturbing feature may be a provision that punishes the…
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.
America’s Fiscal Future and the Battle for the GOP’s Soul
Thanks to demographics and ill-conceived entitlement programs, America is on a path to becoming a bankrupt European-style welfare state. We know how to fix this problem, but whether we make the necessary reforms depends on the heart and soul of the GOP. Are…
An Amusing Look at Whether Obama Is Backing Away from Gun Control
Maybe Obama’s not so bad on Second Amendment issues. His Administration has contracted with the folks at Ruger to produce a special pistol in honor of the government workforce. This new gun will be called “The Bureaucracy Special.” The only downside is that it doesn’t…
Happy Tax Freedom Day!
If you are an average American, today is a great day. According to the Tax Foundation, you have finally worked long enough and earned enough money to satisfy the annual tax demands of federal, state, and local governments. This means you now get to keep any additional…
This Must Be Part of Obama’s Drive for Government Efficiency
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is trying hard to win the “Bureaucracy of the Year Award,” and they have a new motto. But I think the bureaucrats at HUD are cheating. I’m almost sure I saw one of these signs during my last visit to the DMV, though I…
Reckless IRS Regulation Would Put Foreign Tax Law over American Tax Law and Drive Investment out of the United States
I’m not a big fan of the IRS, but usually I blame politicians for America’s corrupt, unfair, and punitive tax system. Sometimes, though, the tax bureaucrats run amok and earn their reputation as America’s most despised bureaucracy. Here’s an example. Earlier this…
The Kiss-Your-Sister Budget Deal Is Finalized, but Claudia Schiffer Still Ain’t Your Sibling
There were reports about 10 days ago that the crowd in Washington reached a budget deal, for the remainder of the 2011 fiscal year, with $33 billion of cuts. That number was disappointingly low. I wrote at the time that if this was a kiss-your-sister deal, we didn’t…
Somebody Tell Michael Gerson that Coercion Isn’t Charity
Michael Gerson is upset that the GOP budget would trim some money from the foreign aid budget. In his Washington Post column, he regurgitates Obama Administration talking points, claiming that less foreign aid will kill tens of thousands of poor children in Africa….
New Budget Plan from Conservative House Members Would Do Best Job of Shrinking the Burden of Federal Spending
Just days after the introduction of a very good plan by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, leaders from the Republican Study Committee in the House of Representatives have introduced an even better plan. In a previous post, I compared spending levels from the…
Politicians May Not Be the Lowest Form of Life, but They Know How to Live the Good Life at Our Expense
I’ve been writing too much about the Ryan budget, the government shutdown, and other fiscal policy issues. Time for some wholesome politician bashing. But I’m not going to pick on the U.S. Congress, which is one of my favorite targets. Instead, we’re going to cross…