Economic Policy News

Politico is reporting that congressional Democrats are pondering major cuts to Medicare Advantage, a system of competing private health plans, to help pay for their massive multitrillion-dollar spending bill.  This would be a bad policy. Compared to traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage provides better benefits, lower costs, and higher quality care.  Medicare Advantage is a popular alternative to traditional Medicare. From 2011 to 2020 alone, private plan enrollment grew by 103% compared to overall Medicare growth of 28%. This year, private plans are projected to enroll over 27 million senior and…

President Joe Biden is twisting arms to get “agreement” this week on hundreds of tax and spending provisions in his multitrillion-dollar social welfare bill while key Democrats seem to be settling on a plan to keep the price tag down. They want to reduce the overall size of the spending bill to “only” $1 trillion…

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….

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…

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…

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…

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…

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%…