Economic Policy News

The Daily Signal provides economic policy news with reporting, analysis, and commentary on markets, growth, and fiscal responsibility.
Filter articles by
    • Opinion

    8 Ridiculous ‘Green New Deal’ Programs in Democrats’ Bloated Spending Bill

    Both chambers of Congress are focused on a raging debate over whether to pass a 2,465-page, $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend bill. With the legislation almost guaranteed to have no Republican support, different factions of Democrats are locking horns over the bill’s fate. Progressives want to spend recklessly, which is much easier to do when you’re using…
    David Ditch
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Trillion-Dollar Spending Packages Will Hurt Working Families They’re Supposed to Help

    There seems to be something for everyone in the massive spending packages working their way through Congress. And with a price tag of $4.6 trillion, or $37,400 per household, offering something for everyone—government-paid family leave, monthly child payments, free community college, union dues write-offs, a $12,500 electric vehicle tax credit, or new bike paths—is easy….
    Rachel Greszler
    Read More
    • Opinion

    What’s Inside Democrats’ 2,465-Page $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill?

    Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending package gives the IRS permission, and funding, to snoop on nearly every American’s bank account, Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action for America, says. The “Biden administration is asking Congress to go … weaponize the IRS to spy on Americans,” Anderson says. The future of the bill is unclear after…
    Virginia Allen
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Biden’s Inept Economic Policies Indirectly Causing Strikes, Unionizing Efforts

    President Joe Biden’s pro-union, anti-business economic policies are not faring well. Economic mismanagement has turned the labor market into mayhem with consequences far worse than what many Americans imagined. Firms are experiencing greater government-imposed regulatory burdens and barriers to employment, potentially leaving them worse off than before the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses have become helpless in protecting…
    Elizabeth Hanke
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Democrats Erase Women Through Budget ‘Reconciliation’

    According to Senate rules, a reconciliation package should be limited to budget questions. But in 2021, $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend bill Democrats are trying to push through via the reconciliation process offers the chance for radical gender activists to slip the language and assumptions of their ideology into federal legislation. For instance, the text on “Maternal…
    Jay Richards
    Read More
    • Opinion

    More Bad Policies and Government Spending Will Worsen Labor Shortage

    The September employment report released on Oct. 8 showed a modest employment gain, with 194,000 new jobs added, and a drop in unemployment from 5.2% in August to 4.8%. What appears to be good news in the report—a 0.4 percentage point drop in the unemployment rate to 4.8%—is not all positive news. The decline is…
    Rachel Greszler
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Fact Check: Would Biden’s Spending Bill Hike Taxes on Those Making Less Than $400,000?

    President Joe Biden repeatedly has promised that his massive tax increases won’t hit people earning less than $400,000. Biden even put his family honor on the line, tweeting, “I give you my word as a Biden: If you make under $400,000 a year, I’ll never raise your taxes one cent.” But now that the official…
    Matthew Dickerson
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ Budget Gets ‘F’ for Its Second Grade Math

    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,…
    Deroy Murdock
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Democrats’ Spending Bill Unprecedented in Every Way

    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…
    David Harsanyi
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Rep. McClintock ‘Terrified’ for Economy as Democrats Push Massive Spending Bills

    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…
    Virginia Allen
    Read More
    • Opinion

    No, Government Spending Isn’t ‘Zero Cost’

    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…
    Ben Shapiro
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Preschool Funding in $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill Is Modeled After Failed Head Start Program

    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…
    Lindsey Burke
    Read More
    • Opinion

    5 Things You Need to Know About Paid Family Leave Program in Progressives’ $3.5 Trillion Spending Package

    We all want to have the ability to take leave from work when major or even minor life circumstances necessitate it. Having access to paid leave is incredibly important because without a paycheck, many workers cannot afford to take the leave they need. Fortunately, there’s been a huge upswing in access to employer-provided paid family…
    Rachel Greszler
    Read More
    • Opinion

    4 Ways to Understand Democrats’ $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill

    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…
    David Ditch
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Health Policy Changes in Democrats’ Spending Bill Would Reduce Patients’ Choices, Raise Taxpayer Costs

    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…
    Robert Moffit
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Democrats’ Massive Spending Bill Would Hasten America’s Fundamental Transformation

    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…
    Jarrett Stepman
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Media Hides Secret in $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill

    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%…
    Adam Guillette
    Read More
    • Opinion

    Even Some Democrats Sound Alarm on Radical $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill

    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…
    David Ditch
    Read More
    • Opinion

    There’s (Cradle to) Grave Waste in Democrats’ $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan

    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,…
    John Goodman
    Read More
    • News

    How Democrats Plan to Hike Taxes to Pay for $3.5 Trillion in Spending

    House Democrats will consider nearly $3 trillion in tax hikes over the next decade in an attempt to pay for their $3.5 trillion budget that includes most of President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda and would overhaul the nation’s social safety net. The hikes are predominantly focused on wealthy Americans and large corporations. Among the increases…
    Andrew Trunsky
    Read More