by Dan Mitchell | Apr 4, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation
This Thursday, April 7, Senator Corker of Tennessee will be the opening speaker at the Cato Institute’s conference on “The Economic Impact of Government Spending” (an event that is free and open to the public, so register here if you want to attend). The Senator will...
by Dan Mitchell | Mar 25, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Taxation
I commented yesterday about the silly idea, being promoted by a few politicians, to impose a tax on toilet paper. That post mostly was an opportunity to have some fun mocking greedy government because even a dour pessimist like me doesn’t expect that idea to get very...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 20, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Economics, Government Spending, Taxation, Welfare and Entitlements
One of my presentations at CPAC addressed America’s long-term entitlement crisis. I was part of a panel organized by the National Taxpayers Union, and I discussed how to solve the long-run fiscal problems caused by Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The lighting...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 15, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
I looked yesterday at the spending side of Obama’s budget and found some good news and bad news. The good news was the absence of any big new initiative to expand the burden of government. That’s a welcome relief since the past couple of years have featured budget...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 10, 2011 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending, Taxation
Proponents of higher taxes are fond of claiming that Bill Clinton’s 1993 tax increase was a big success because of budget surpluses that began in 1998. That’s certainly a plausible hypothesis, and I’m already on record arguing that Clinton’s economic record was much...