The Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell offers a way out for America. The question is which candidate for president will have the intelligence and common sense to run with Dan’s plan? All Americans will benefit. And most politicians will not. See any problem here. Individual Americans must carry the day and can work to this end […]
Tired, Failed Policies of Yesterday
“Apparently the $22 trillion we’ve spent fighting poverty since 1965 — including just under $1 trillion last year — isn’t enough,” writes the Cato Institute’s Michael Tanner. In the aftermath of the Baltimore riots, Democrats have been calling for more “investments” to fight poverty. Barack Obama wants “massive investments in urban communities.” Baltimore Rep. Elijah […]
The Flat Tax, the Answer for America
The Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell explains that the Heritage Foundation’s Steve Moore thinks the flat tax has “political legs.” In the Weekly Standard, Moore writes, “The flat tax is again the rage in a presidential primary. A number of GOP candidates, including Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, and Scott Walker, are looking to go […]
Statists Motivated by Envy and Resentment
Who benefits most from the death tax? The Cato Institute’s Dan Mitchell cites two obvious answers: Politicians presumably benefit since they get more money to spend. There are some statists who are motivated by envy and resentment. These are the folks who make class-warfare arguments about death tax being necessary to prevent “the rich” from […]
Ho, Ho, Ho it’s the IRS
If you’ve ever been audited then you know what an unpleasant experience it is dealing with the IRS. For most of you–the successful Americans– the IRS is a collection agency guy sticking his bony little finger at you. He holds all the cards and treats you like dirt. For other’s it’s Santa Claus distributing your […]
Tax Day: Top 20% Pay 80%
As if April 15th wasn’t depressing enough the WSJ reminds us that the top 20% of earners pay 84% of the income tax. The bottom 20% get’s paid by Uncle Sam. Who pays what in income taxes? With April 15 just around the corner, filers may be curious about where they fit into the system […]
Abolishing the IRS
The Cato Institute’s Richard W. Rahn makes a solid case as to why the IRS should be abolished. Mr. Rahn argues that the present tax system gets failing grades for what it ought to do—“obtain the necessary revenue with the least amount of damage to the economy and the civil liberties of the citizens.” Tax […]
Scrap the IRS
You’re probably not surprised, but I’d like to see the tax-code and the IRS scrapped. My friend Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at Cato, explains the current mess here: The larger story is how the huge welfare system run by the IRS is dwarfing its traditional role of collecting taxes. In 2015, IRS […]
Rubio-Lee Tax Plan
You can’t start tax reform as a Republican by pitting families, individuals and corporations against each other. But that’s exactly what the Rubio-Lee plan does by favoring one group over the other, especially when it comes to corporations. I like the flat-tax, or even better a consumption tax. Amity Shlaes and Matthew Denhart point out […]
Pensions Underfunded
Chances are your state and local pension systems are underfunded. Pension shortfalls have become a common theme across the country and public-sector employees are pushing back hard. The Wall Street Journal explains that even with record setting returns in the markets, pensions systems are still unable to cope with the shortfalls created by the recession. Look no further […]