Articles by Alison Acosta Fraser

Economy 

Green Light for Detroit Bankruptcy: Time for Unions to Come to the Table

Alison Acosta Fraser | December 03, 2013

Federal Judge Steven Rhodes’s ruling to allow the City of Detroit to proceed with its bankruptcy filing is a welcome—even momentous—occasion for Detroit. It means… Read More

Economy

As Detroit Goes, So Goes the Nation

Alison Acosta Fraser | August 05, 2013

Detroit is the poster child for economic decline. The city’s policies and politics over the past half-century should serve as a “do not” guide for… Read More

Economy

Detroit Today, Illinois Tomorrow

Alison Acosta Fraser | July 31, 2013

Detroit’s bankruptcy petition last week was far from a surprise, but what should be noted is that it is the first of what will likely… Read More

Economy

Detroit Bankruptcy Is No Time for Federal Bailouts

Alison Acosta Fraser | July 19, 2013

The city of Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection yesterday with some $18 billion in debt, making it the largest municipal bankruptcy in the… Read More

Economy

Equal Pay Act: No Need for a Next Generation

Alison Acosta Fraser | June 10, 2013

Today, the Equal Pay Act becomes middle aged. This law made it unlawful to pay women lower wages based on sex. It was passed in… Read More

Economy

House Appropriations Plan Delivers Sequestration Cuts and Protects Defense

Alison Acosta Fraser | May 22, 2013

In a refreshing break from tradition, the House Appropriations Committee approved a $967 billion discretionary spending plan that would stay within the fiscal year 2014… Read More

Health Care

Budgets in Comparison: Will President Obama’s Budget Save the American Dream?

Alison Acosta Fraser | April 09, 2013

When the President’s budget comes out Wednesday, it will complete the last piece of the budget puzzle, as the House and Senate have each duly… Read More

Health Care

Morning Bell: First Look at the 2014 Ryan Budget

Alison Acosta Fraser | March 12, 2013

At first look, the budget unveiled today by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) advances much-needed reforms and importantly accomplishes the crucial goal… Read More

Economy

Will Debt Ceiling Baby Step Lead Toward a Balanced Budget?

Alison Acosta Fraser | January 18, 2013

The debt ceiling is bearing down on Washington. As with most such momentous occasions, plenty of partisan potshots have been exchanged, like this whopper from… Read More

 

Obama’s “Lucy Move the Football” Fiscal Cliff Plan Still Not Balanced

Alison Acosta Fraser | December 18, 2012

Volleys of negotiating counter-offers are coming in faster now that Christmas break and the looming fiscal cliff are just around the corner. While there is… Read More

 News

Too Eager for a Fiscal Cliff Deal: Republican Leadership’s $1 Trillion Tax Hike

Alison Acosta Fraser | December 17, 2012

The latest fiscal cliff proposal by Speaker of the House John Boehner (R–OH) is infuriatingly frustrating to conservatives, again. In exchange for $1 trillion in… Read More

 

White House Speeds Toward Fiscal Cliff, Declining House Republicans’ Request for Terms

Alison Acosta Fraser | December 04, 2012

Late Monday afternoon, the House Republican leadership lofted its latest offering to address the fiscal cliff. The kindest conservative response possible to this proposal is… Read More

Economy

Fiscal Cliff: House Republican Proposal Abandons Core Principles, Gains Little

Alison Acosta Fraser | December 03, 2012

The House Republican leadership has offered a substantive counteroffer to President Obama’s frivolous fiscal cliff proposal of last week. At first blush, it appears little… Read More

Economy

Morning Bell: 4 Reasons Warren Buffett Is Wrong on Tax Hikes

Alison Acosta Fraser | November 27, 2012

Let’s talk taxes. In a New York Times op-ed yesterday, famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett once again argued that the wealthy should… Read More

 

Boehner’s Olive Branch: More Revenues, but Only Through Growth

Alison Acosta Fraser | November 09, 2012

Sometimes in post-election America, there is excitement about what the future will bring. This time around, the prospect is rather horrifying. America is racing, pedal… Read More

Economy

Romney’s “60 Minutes” Fix For Social Security and Medicare

Alison Acosta Fraser | September 24, 2012

President Obama’s and Governor Romney’s appearances on “60 Minutes” Sunday revealed an interesting contrast. The President punted on a serious question about the nation’s concern… Read More

Economy

Dependence on Government vs. the American Dream

Alison Acosta Fraser | September 18, 2012

Mother Jones has opened a broad debate about the role of government in our society. In a clandestine tape recorded in May and obtained by… Read More

 

Budget Battle Made Simple

Alison Acosta Fraser | July 26, 2012

Understanding what Washington is up to is as simple as one-two-three: 1. Unacceptable Choices Under President Obama’s leadership, Americans have been presented two unacceptable choices…. Read More

 

Obama’s Summer Jobs Rerun

Alison Acosta Fraser | June 08, 2012

President Obama’s latest speech laid out some policy retreads for tackling the tepid recovery, while he lectured Europe to get its act together. He is… Read More

Economy

Setting Obama’s “Great Fiscal Restraint Record” Straight

Alison Acosta Fraser | May 24, 2012

The Obama Administration is piggybacking on claims made by MarketWatch’s Rex Nutting that Obama has not gone on the spending spree everyone thinks he has… Read More

Economy

President Obama’s Curious Paul Ryan Speech

Alison Acosta Fraser | April 03, 2012

Why would the President, elected to the highest office in the land, stoop to attack a plan authored by the Chairman of the House Budget… Read More

Economy

First Reactions to Ryan’s Path to Prosperity Budget

Alison Acosta Fraser | March 20, 2012

There are six key elements to a successful federal government budget, including the plan released today by House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R—WI): Does… Read More

 

Senate Chairman’s Mark – and Transportation Bill – off Target

Alison Acosta Fraser | February 08, 2012

Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus (D–MT) released a modified chairman’s mark on the Highway Investment, Job Creation and Economic Growth Act of 2012… Read More

Economy

Obama’s Trade Agency Consolidation Proposal: Hope and Caution

Alison Acosta Fraser | January 18, 2012

Clearly, the impact of President Obama’s proposal to consolidate parts of six trade agencies is tiny in comparison to the government’s $3.5 trillion in spending… Read More

Economy

Enough Political Theater – Time for Congress to Get the Job Done

Alison Acosta Fraser | December 20, 2011

As the clock counts down toward Christmas, Congress still has major unfinished business to attend to.  Not that we should be surprised.  Emblematic of a… Read More

 

Supercommittee Dithers on Tax Hikes – But Where are the Spending Cuts?

Alison Acosta Fraser | November 17, 2011

What’s a supercommittee to do? Total national debt just hit a new record at $15 trillion, an increase of approximately $700 billion since the Supercommittee’s… Read More

 News

Super Committee Proposal: Tax Hikes Should Be a Nonstarter

Alison Acosta Fraser | October 28, 2011

For months now the so-called super committee has been meeting in secret, tasked with delivering a budget-cutting (er… make that deficit-cutting) plan. Many have doubted… Read More

 

Yes, Real Cuts in Continuing Resolution, But Still Far Short of House Budget

Alison Acosta Fraser | September 21, 2011

One of the most crucial issues confronting the nation is the debt and spending crisis. Standard & Poor’s downgraded the nation’s credit rating in August,… Read More

Economy

Harry Reid and the Chamber of No

Alison Acosta Fraser | July 27, 2011

Washington is boiling, and it’s not just the temperature. Dueling debt ceiling proposals, presidential veto threats, and heated rhetoric between and among parties have political… Read More

Economy

Dueling Debt Ceiling Proposals vs. the Rating Agencies

Alison Acosta Fraser | July 25, 2011

As the day debt ceiling of reckoning fast approaches, dueling proposals are flurrying around Washington fast and furious.  The latest two are from House Speaker… Read More