I know I promised extra political humor this week, but here’s some extra policy pain. Not only does government-run healthcare mean more spending, more regulation,and more taxes, but it also means more power for the internal revenue service. A new report reveals…
Daily Analysis
A Bad Use of Resources.
According to the Sacramento Fox Network affiliate, a car wash in Sacramento recently came under investigation by the IRS and even received a visit from federal agents. The cause: The car wash owed a whopping four cents in backed taxes. Certainly there is a valid…
Texas Thumps California.
Texas has a small state government and no state income tax. California has a bloated state government and a punitive state income tax. Here’s a simple quiz: Which state is doing better? The answer is obvious, as Michael Barone explains: Democratic majorities…
Government Math: 2 + 2 = 10
The geniuses in Washington have come up with a great idea to attract more tourists to the United States. Yes, you guessed correctly. The politicians are going to impose a tax! Normal readers are probably scratching their heads about the logic of attracting visitors by…
Real World Evidence for the Laffer Curve from the Government of Washington, DC.
President Obama is proposing a series of major tax increases. His budget envisions higher tax rates on personal income, increased double taxation of dividends and capital gains, and a big increase in the death tax. And his health care plan includes significant tax…
Bush's Minimum Wage Increase Killed Jobs.
In addition to being in favor of more spending, increased regulation, bailouts, and protectionism, President Bush also saddled the economy with a big minimum wage increase. A new study shows that this pernicious policy has destroyed more than 500,000 part-time jobs….
The Fox Butterfield Effect and the Laffer Curve.
A former reporter for the New York Times, Fox Butterfield, became a bit of a laughingstock in the 1990s for publishing a series of articles addressing the supposed quandary of how crime rates could be falling during periods when prison populations were expanding. A…
Say No to a VAT.
With the VAT becoming an ever-bigger issue, Dan Mitchell discusses the issue on CNBC. Dan’s opponent winds up agreeing with him:
A Value-Added Tax Is Not the Answer…Unless the Question is How to Finance Bigger Government.
While admitting that spending restraint is the ideal approach, Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution asks whether a value-added tax (VAT) might be the most desirable of all realistic options for dealing with an unsustainable budget situation. Read his post for yourself,…
Bureaucrats vs. Taxpayers, Part X.
Saw something very interesting on the National Review blog. We finally have some good news in the battle between government workers and the serfs who support them (i.e., taxpayers). A Rhode Island town, frustrated by the intransigence of the teacher union, decided to…