It’s never a good idea to display weakness during negotiations. Your opponent will sense your fear and up his demands. That’s certainly what we’re seeing in Washington. The cartoon at this link captures the GOP’s wobbly attitude on taxes, and this interview is about…
Daily Analysis
The Link Between High Tax Rates and Corruption
I’ve been very critical of Obama’s class-warfare ideology because it leads to bad fiscal policy. But perhaps it is time to give some attention to other arguments against high tax rates. Robert Samuelson, a columnist for the Washington Post, has a very important…
Learning from the European Experience: Do Higher Tax Burdens Lead to Less Red Ink?
I’ve been arguing against higher taxes because of my concerns that more revenue will simply lead to a bigger burden of government spending. Yes, I realize it is theoretically possible that a tax hike could be part of a political deal that produces a good outcome, such…
Hong Kong Stands Up to FATCA Menace
The chief executive of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission is warning against allowing US and European fiscal imperialism in Asia. The boss of Hong Kong’s financial watchdog has called for the authorities to take a greater role in global regulatory…
Don’t Get Bamboozled by the Fiscal Cliff: Five Policy Reasons and Five Political Reasons Why Republicans Should Keep their No-Tax-Hike Promises
The politicians claim that they are negotiating about how best to reduce the deficit. That irks me because our fiscal problem is excessive government spending. Red ink is merely a symptom of that underlying problem. But that’s a rhetorical gripe. My bigger concern is…
Exposing Washington’s Dishonest Budget Math
I’ve repeatedly tried to expose pervasive fiscal dishonesty in Washington. In these John Stossel and Judge Napolitano interviews, for instance, I explain that the crooks in DC have created a system that allows them to claim they’re cutting the budget when the burden…
Will Obama Learn from England’s Laffer Curve Mistake?
Obama’s main goal in the fiscal cliff negotiations is to impose a class-warfare tax hike. He presumably thinks this will give the government more money to spend, but recent evidence from the United Kingdom suggests that he won’t get nearly as much money as he thinks….
White House Agrees with Me, Admits Tax Revenues Will Climb above Long-Run Average Even if All Tax Cuts Are Made Permanent
Earlier this year, I explained that tax revenues would soon climb above their long-run average of 18 percent of GDP, even if the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts were made permanent. In other words, the nation’s fiscal challenge is entirely the result of a rising burden of…
The Sadistic Brutality of England’s Government-Run Healthcare
I’m not easily grossed out or nauseated. Heck, I’m on email lists for a half-dozen softball teams and you can only imagine the strange/filthy/nasty things that guys send to each other. But I read a story about the death panels in the United Kingdom that left me…
Obama’s Fiscal Plan: Real Tax Hikes and Fake Spending Cuts
If done well, an image can say a thousand words. The Heritage Foundation shows us what Obama has in mind when he talks about a “balanced” plan. This chart, while horrifying and visually powerful, actually understates the case against Obama. The President is not…