by Dan Mitchell | Jul 16, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Republicans say (and do) lots of stupid things, but the current fiscal debate has me focused on two specific statements. Both get me very agitated. Indeed, I’m so irritated that all Republican politicians should be fitted with shock collars and then zapped when they...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 15, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
At his press conference today, President Obama repeatedly said that a “balanced approach” is needed to deal with the fiscal situation. The White House has obviously poll-tested and focus-grouped that phrase. But just because it’s gimmicky, that doesn’t mean balance is...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 15, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
In my speeches, especially when talking about the fiscal crisis in Europe (or the future fiscal crisis in America), I often warn that the welfare state reaches a point-of-no-return when the number of people riding in the wagon begins to outnumber the number of people...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 14, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
The United States has been on a decade-long spending binge. Thanks to the profligate policies of both Bush and Obama, the burden of federal spending has climbed to about 25 percent of economic output, up from 18.2 percent of GDP when Bill Clinton left office. The...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 13, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
One of the first things I learned when coming to Washington is that there is pervasive institutional dishonesty. A classic example is the way politicians have rigged the system so a “spending cut” takes place if the budget grows by, say, 6 percent instead of 8...
