by Dan Mitchell | May 2, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. In theory, that means a long-overdue opportunity to eliminate wasteful programs and cut pork-barrel spending. In reality, it mostly means business as usual. Politicians in Washington just reached a deal...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 25, 2017 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I’m normally a big fan of shutting down the government and I’ve tried to convince timid lawmakers that shutdown fights can be worthwhile. I wrote a day-by-day analysis of new reports during the big shutdown fight that took place in the Clinton years and showed that...
by Dan Mitchell | Apr 2, 2016 | Big Government, Blogs
Does Donald Trump have a consistent and coherent set of economic policies? He sometimes says things indicating that he understands Washington is a cesspool of waste. But on other occasions, he seems to be singing off the same song sheet as Bernie Sanders. Which is...
by Dan Mitchell | Sep 11, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
A new fiscal year starts October 1, and this is terrifying news for Republicans in Washington. They’re scared that if they don’t give Obama everything he wants, they’ll get “blamed” when the President vetoes annual spending bills and shuts down the government. If this...
by Dan Mitchell | Aug 11, 2015 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending
Let’s celebrate some good news. When politicians can be convinced (or pressured) to exercise even a modest bit of spending restraint, it’s remarkably simple to get positive results. Here’s some of what I wrote earlier this year. …one of the few recent victories for...