EconomyCommentary
You Work This Many Hours a Week to Pay Your Federal Taxes
We talk about taxes as a “burden” because they reduce the take-home pay of American workers, the profits of American businesses, and the purchasing power… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Why Won’t Obama Implement This Patriotic Policy?
Thirty-three years ago this month, President Reagan picked up his executive signing pen and affixed his name to one of the most sweeping pieces of… Read More
EconomyNews
Federal Agency Paid Amtrak Informant $850K for Information It Could’ve Had for Free
Over two decades, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency paid an informant inside Amtrak nearly $1 million for information readily available to law enforcement. The DEA… Read More
EconomyNews
A Little Cafe That Sparked a Big Minimum Wage Debate
STILLWATER, Minn.—With its waitress and single cook, its retro-style booths with pale green cushions and its stainless steel wrap-around countertop, the Oasis Cafe could be… Read More
EconomyCommentary
How Unions Are Chewing Through Taxpayer Dollars
Did you know your tax dollars are financing unions? Thanks to what the federal government calls “official time,” government workers spent 2.4 million hours on… Read More
EconomyNews
Study: Cash for Clunkers Was a $3 Billion Jalopy
A new study finds the government’s Cash for Clunkers program hurt the industry it intended to help, leaving taxpayers to cover the $3 billion price… Read More
EconomyNews
Why One State Is Talking Tax Cuts: ‘It Is Time to Give the Taxpayers a Pay Raise’
If Tate Reeves has his way, one of the Mississippi’s most onerous taxes may be on the chopping block. The Republican lieutenant governor wants the… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Yes, Low-Tax States Are Out-Competing High Tax States
First, an apology. In a July 2 article in this newspaper [Investors Business Daily] I erred in citing Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers comparing the… Read More
EconomyNews
What Embattled Agency Busted Its Travel Budget for Three Years Running?
A beleaguered federal agency has overspent its travel budget by at least $3 million, House investigators determined. The Export-Import Bank allocated $1.3 million for travel this year, but is… Read More
EconomyNews
Federal Agencies Spend Millions on Employees to Do Full-Time Union Work
It’s not just the Internal Revenue Service that allows hundreds of employees to do union business full time on the public’s dime. “Taxpayers spent around… Read More
EconomyNews
38 Years of Your State’s Unemployment Data Displayed in One Map
A new map—presented as a GIF—is putting unemployment rates in historical context. Courtesy of Metric Maps, the image shows how unemployment rates have changed state-by-state from 1976 to… Read More
EconomyCommentary
No, This Report Doesn’t Prove Income Inequality Slows Economic Growth
Monica Potts accuses conservatives of perpetrating a “big, long, 30-year conservative lie.” “It took the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression for many economists,… Read More
EconomyNews
Report: Many Americans’ Paychecks Have Shrunk Since Recession
Today many Americans are taking home a smaller paycheck than they used to, according to a study released Monday by the United States Conference of… Read More
EconomyCommentary
FSOC Appears to Retreat: Too Little Too Late?
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has announced that it directed its staff to take more of an activities-based approach to identifying systemic risk in… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Salon Is Wrong: This Op-ed on Trans Fat Didn’t Have Errors
When I see a headline accusing an author of writing something that was “error-filled,” well, call me crazy, but I expect to see some errors… Read More
EconomyNews
How Nancy Pelosi Helped This Top Democrat Donor Nab Millions in Taxpayer Money
Democrat billionaire Tom Steyer has donated more than $20 million to candidates and outside groups to influence this year’s election, making him the top individual… Read More
EconomyInternationalCommentary
Russia Bans U.S. Agricultural Imports: What Effect Will It Have?
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to impose a one-year ban on many agricultural imports from the United States and other countries that have… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Seeking Lower Taxes, Companies Flee the U.S.
The last several months have seen a wave of American companies merging with foreign companies, a process known as “inverting.” In effect, inversion is the… Read More
EconomyNews
Gubernatorial Hopeful Wants to Freeze State’s Minimum Wage Hike
As momentum gathers for a “living wage” across the country, one Minnesota gubernatorial hopeful is bucking the trend. On the campaign trail for the Republican… Read More
EconomyNews
Taxpayers Pick Up the Tab for IRS Union’s Salaries, Office Space
While Congress takes its five-week vacation, the hard work of union organizing continues at the National Treasury Employees Union. And it’s subsidized by taxpayers. The Washington Times… Read More
EconomyCommentary
The Unions’ War on Small Businesses
Would you like to own a small business someday? If so, sorry — the Service Employees International Union would rather you didn’t. The SEIU has… Read More
EconomyNews
Cafe Adds 35-Cent Surcharge to Offset State’s Minimum Wage Hike
A small-town cafe ignited a firestorm of controversy that has engulfed Minnesota. On Aug. 1, the state bumped the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Americans Should be Spooked by Argentina’s Fiscal Woes
Thursday’s headline in the Los Angeles Times — “Argentina Defaults on International Debt” — spooked me, as it did investors. The stock market tanked on… Read More
EconomyNews
State Strikes Deal to Let Uber, Lyft Operate … With a Few Strings Attached
Virginia is open for business to rideshare companies Uber and Lyft—at least, for now, and with lots of strings attached. Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney… Read More
EconomyNews
Obama, Bill Clinton Push Ex-Im Reauthorization
President Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton used the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit to push for the Export-Import Bank’s reauthorization. During the summit’s headline event,… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Mandatory Labeling of GMOs Is Big Government and Anti-Consumer
Neither the federal government nor state governments should impose mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms in food. Here’s why. For thousands of years, humans have… Read More
EconomyNews
5 Facts About One Terrible Government Program
When lawmakers return from their August recess, they’ll be facing pressure to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, a government agency whose charter is set to expire on… Read More
EconomyNews
Approval of Obama Reaches All-Time Low
President Obama’s approval ratings continue to plummet. Americans’ approval of the president sunk to a new low at 40 percent according to an NBC/Wall Street… Read More
EconomyNews
House Deputy Whip Knocks Government Subsidies but Praises This Agency
Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., offered support for the Export-Import Bank in a recent interview even as he criticized the government for providing taxpayer-backed subsidies to U.S. companies… Read More
EconomyCommentary
Think the National Debt Is Large? Well, the Entitlements Deficit Is Even Bigger
Long-term unfunded obligations in Medicare and Social Security alone reached nearly $49 trillion, according to the 2014 report from the Social Security and Medicare Boards… Read More
