By taking advantage of “must-pass” pieces of legislation, Republicans have three chances this year to restrain the burden of government. They didn’t do very well with the ‘CR fight” over appropriated spending for the rest of FY2011, which was their first…
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.
Obama’s Budget Plan: Class-Warfare Tax Policy and Bureaucrat-Controlled Health Care
President Obama didn’t offer a budget plan yesterday. The White House hasn’t released anything beyond a set of talking points. But that’s not terribly surprising since his speech was really the opening salvo of his 2012 reelection fight. And it’s clear that a central…
I Wish I Had Been Wrong about the Budget Deal
Some people thought I was being unfair when I referred to the budget deal as a kiss-your-sister agreement. But as more information is revealed, it looks like the GOP got the short end of the stick – largely because they were afraid of a government shutdown (even…
Obama’s Tax Increase Trigger: Punishing Taxpayers with Automatic Tax Hikes When Politicians Overspend
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…
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…