by Dan Mitchell | Apr 16, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Welfare and Entitlements
What’s America’s main fiscal policy challenge, particularly in the long run? Most sensible people will agree that our greatest threat is the rising burden of entitlement spending. More specifically, demographic changes and ill-designed programs will combine to...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 17, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
I feel a bit schizophrenic when people ask me my opinion of Republicans on Capitol Hill. When I’m in a good mood (or being naively optimistic, some might argue), I applaud them for blocking Obama’s spending agenda. The fights over sequestration, debt limits, and...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 6, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Welfare and Entitlements
Bad ideas definitely have the ability to cross borders. The income tax first appeared in England, on a temporary basis during the Napoleanic wars and then permanently in 1842. It then spread like a cancer to other parts of the world, eventuallyreaching – and plaguing...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 24, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Europe, Welfare and Entitlements
Since I’m in the United Kingdom, it’s appropriate to announce that another Briton has been elected to the Moocher Hall of Fame. Ms. Kay Bird deserves this “honor” because it takes a very reprehensible entitlement mentality to brag about taking a global holiday with...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 8, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Last month, I posted “the cartoon argument” for Social Security reform. My main goal, as an American, is to achieve this important reform in the United States. And I’ve tried to bolster the argument by citing lots of hard data, including the fact that “funded”...