A Guide to the 2012 Social Security Trustees Report
This will be the first of two articles on the 2012 Social Security and Medicare Trustees’ reports. I am one of the six trustees of these two programs, and one of two public trustees along with Dr....
View ArticleGetting Internet Sales Tax Right
Click here for a printer-friendly version of this article.While Amazon has somewhat softened its stance against state-level efforts to collect sales tax on internet sales, the fight over how internet...
View ArticleThe President's Curious Misunderstanding of Market Economies
Certain words in American political discourse lose their meaning and are understood only as epithets. Calling someone a “socialist,” for example, is often understood to be a beyond-the-pale...
View ArticleFraming the Decision on Higher Tax Rates
There are three basic positions one can take on the question of whether Congress should increase tax rates on high income taxpayers:No to higher tax rates – higher tax rates will result in less work,...
View ArticleNew Info Explaining The Government War on Business
The staff on the Republican side of the Joint Economic Committee have been busy, as they’ve produced some great new material. First, an infographic showing the myriad ways Washington uses red tape to...
View ArticleIs it Becoming Too Late to Fix Social Security's Finances?
Click here for a printer-friendly version of this article.One of my duties as a public Social Security trustee is to explain the program’s financial condition, both formally as a signer of the annual...
View ArticleDifficult Tax Scenarios Add to US Recession Risk
Click here for a printer-friendly version of this article.This piece was originally written for Encima Global.With the market-favorable Fed announcement and German court ruling, we’re at the end of the...
View ArticleLet’s Talk Specifics on Itemized Deductions Limitations in Fiscal Cliff...
During the upcoming fiscal cliff negotiations, most of the attention is likely to be paid to two threshold questions: (1) whether or not Congress should agree to new tax revenue, period; and (2) what...
View ArticleIf Taxes Must be Raised, Raise Average Tax Rates
In the debate on how best to resolve the so-called “fiscal cliff” of $600 billion of pending tax increases and spending cuts scheduled for January 1, 2013, President Obama is not only insisting on more...
View ArticleCBO Deficit Forecast Breathes New Life into Deficit Debate
Did you notice how the U.S. economy was suddenly thrown into recession this year when tax increases and spending cuts took effect? If you didn’t, that’s no surprise because the economy actually...
View ArticleRoad Rage: States Get Creative To Fund Highways
This Labor Day, many Americans are enjoying their last summer weekend at the beach or mountains and the traffic jams that accompany these holiday weekends.Yet with cars becoming more fuel efficient,...
View ArticleTime to Fix the Charitable Deduction
Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus and ranking minority member Orrin Hatch have issued a bracing and unusual challenge to their colleagues: make the essential case for any and all tax breaks...
View ArticleBusinesses Should Fear States' Big Pension Debts
In late June the ratings agency Moody’s issued a report recalculating states’ pension debts using more conservative metrics than the states themselves apply. Whereas states claim they’ve funded about...
View ArticleLabor Unions' Latest Problem
Last month, we discussed the stunning turnabout from leaders of prominent labor unions, who stated that "unintended consequences" from Obamacare were "causing nightmare scenarios" that would "shatter...
View ArticleMore of the Same in Chattanooga From a One-Tune President
President Obama visited Chattanooga, Tenn., on Tuesday for another in his series of speeches to fix the economy. Obama is traveling the country, with stops in Illinois, Florida and now Tennessee, to...
View ArticleTax Les Riches—Just Not Soccer Players
France’s Socialist President, François Hollande, is finally getting negative public pushback for his proposed “supertax.” This central tenet of his 2012 campaign slaps a 75 percent marginal tax on all...
View ArticleHow to Grow the Economy and Cut Spending
The good news: America’s deficit is declining, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The bad news: after reaching 2% of GDP in 2015, deficits will start to rise, eventually...
View ArticleCutting Income Taxes Helps States Across-the-Board, Even with Tax Revenue
· From 2000 to 2010, the nine states that did not have an income tax witnessed faster growth in key economic indicators than the nine states with the highest income tax rates.· Non-farm...
View ArticleIn Two Weeks, New York City Will Commit Suicide
In two weeks New York City residents will choose a new mayor. The likely winner is Democrat Bill de Blasio, 40 percentage points ahead of rival Republican Joe Lhota in the polls. To fund more education...
View ArticleLowering Corporate Taxes—the Party America Missed
Over the last 25 years, most industrialized countries have lowered their corporate tax rates. Global capital is increasingly mobile, and corporations seek lower-tax localities.The United States has...
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