by Dan Mitchell | Jul 25, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
I’ve pointed out on several occasions that the burden of federal spending fell significantly during the Clinton years. Indeed, if we did nothing other than bring federal spending back down to 18.2 percent of GDP (where it was when Clinton left office), we’d have a...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 25, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
As a Washington policy wonk somewhat involved in the current debt-limit fight, I will confess that it is very frustrating that the White House has never produced a deficit-reduction plan. I’d much prefer a spending-restraint plan, of course, but I’m flummoxed that...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 24, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Keynesian, Taxation
That seems like a joke question, but it’s an apparently serious belief of Bruce Bartlett, a former supply-sider and Bush Administration official who has flipped sides and joined the left. I’ve known Bruce for decades and he’s a fun guy to hang out with, but he’s gone...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 23, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Government Waste
Last week, we compared a bone-headed display tpqof incompetence by the German government with a perverse form of harassment by a local government in the United States. We have another America-v-Europe contest, but the roles are reversed. This time, the buffoons in...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 22, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
There are rumors that Obama may do a bit Clinton-era triangulation and agree to a GOP-friendly increase in the debt limit. That means no tax increases and as much as $3 trillion of so-called spending cuts. I’m skeptical, and even if it happens, I suspect that most of...
