Economic Policy News

President Joe Biden, 78, has a 7-year-old’s grasp of basic math.  “My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars,” Biden claimed via Twitter on Sept. 25. Regarding this multitrillion-dollar budget, he continued: “And it adds zero dollars to the national debt.”  One can imagine a second grader named Joey Biden showing off his new train set and telling his playmates,…

There was a time not very long ago when political parties never would have entertained the idea of jamming through any massive, generational reform without some form of buy-in from the other party. Today, Democrats argue that the filibuster’s imaginary threat of “minority rule” has compelled them to use (really, abuse) the budgetary reconciliation process…

America’s national debt has topped $28.4 trillion, but Democrats want to raise the debt limit and keep on spending.  For months, Democrats have been pushing a $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend bill, but they may have hit a roadblock Thursday.  Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he can’t support the social welfare spending package.  “My top line has…

This week, President Joe Biden made the incredible statement—sycophantically repeated by the press—that his $3.5 trillion budget bill, which includes major spending initiatives on everything from climate change to Medicare, would be “free.” Biden tweeted, “My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars. Instead of wasting money on tax breaks, loopholes, and tax evasion for…

Fraud, abuse, poor outcomes, and high costs. Those aren’t exactly hallmarks of successful programs, and yet, those pushing for universal preschool and child care in the $3.5 trillion spending bill currently making its way through Congress have landed on the ineffective federal Head Start program as their model. “It is very much built around the…

House Democrats have unveiled pieces of the $3.5 trillion spending bill over the past several weeks. Most legislation focuses on specific issues, which makes it possible to have constructive debate. However, this bill covers welfare, immigration, taxes, energy, families, and much more, making it extremely difficult to comprehend. Providing context on this tax-and-spend bill’s size…

The left’s health policy strategy is simple: Step by step, centralize government control over larger chunks of the health care sector of the economy, add more and more taxpayer subsidies (requiring ever higher taxes), and block the emergence of any independent alternatives for coverage and care. In the end, the coverage and care that individuals…

The massive spending bill backed by President Joe Biden and Democrat leadership in Congress highlights just how radical their party has become and the farce behind billing the Biden presidency as a “moderate” alternative to the far left. The $3.5 trillion spending measure has been billed as a way to promote health care and repair…

There’s one piece of the $3.5 trillion spending bill that the media is unlikely to tell you about—their bailout. The massive, bloated $3.5 billion spending bill has so much pork that fiscal hawks could eat it for weeks. One piece that hasn’t received much attention yet is a special journalism “tax credit” equal to 50%…

Despite already spending trillions of dollars on COVID-19 relief legislation, for the past few months, Democrats have been focused on designing the largest tax-and-spend bill in U.S. history. As the House and Senate move the legislation through at freight-train speed, troubling details about the plan have emerged. All Americans should be concerned about Democrats’ plans…

Congressional Democrats are proposing to spend an enormous amount of taxpayer dollars on what The New York Times calls “cradle to the grave” additions to U.S. social welfare. When budgeting shenanigans are ignored, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the full cost is not the $3.5 trillion that has been widely advertised,…

The massive, unprecedented $3.5 trillion spending bill making its way through Congress includes education spending on an equally unprecedented scale. In all, the plan would spend some $761 billion on education and workforce programs, on par with total annual education spending from all sources—federal, state, and local. The bulk of the proposed education spending in…

One thing we know for sure from the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has had and continues to have a lasting impact globally, as well as on the U.S. economy and job market. Despite more than 18 months of hardship, the stock markets have miraculously continued to move upward, indicating a renewed confidence in our…

Congress is forging ahead with a $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill. The measure has received bipartisan support, but many conservatives warn that now is not the time to put America in even more debt.  The government has increased America’s national debt by $5.2 trillion just since the start of 2020, but “adding to that with two…

The Lebanese people are suffering. A protest in the city of Tripoli turned violent mid-July when a hand grenade exploded, injuring five soldiers. Protests like this have become common in Lebanon due to the dire economic and political situation plaguing the country. Lebanon’s economic hardships were foreshadowed by heightened levels of public sector debt, illiquidity…

Giving to good causes is key to maintaining America’s free market system, the head of Philanthropy Roundtable says.  It’s not the job of government to meet the needs of all Americans, Elise Westhoff, the organization’s president and CEO, says. So “if we have a strong philanthropic sector,” Westhoff says, “I think that allows us to…

People around the world are hungry for economic freedom. They want the ability to choose how to make a living instead of having the government tell them how to do so. As a result of this desire, a shocking number of people have taken matters into their own hands. A recent International Monetary Fund report…