After expanding control of the House of Representatives and taking over the Senate in the November 2014 elections, Republicans have a clear mandate to reduce spending.
114th Congress: The New Sheriff(s) in Town (Senate edition)
In the last 60 years, since Republicans relinquished their Senate majority to the Democrats on January 3, 1955, the Grand Old Party has controlled the United States Senate for only 16 years (plus four months*), and they shared control with the House of Representatives for only 10 of those years, as well as the aforementioned four months. Looking back even further to 1933, the GOP held the Senate for only an additional four years, all shared with the House. This January, as a result of the 2014 “wave” election, the Republicans once again control both chambers.
The FCC’s Taxpayer Funded Holiday Spending Spree
With the holidays behind them, Americans are determining the aftermath of their annual holiday spending spree. For the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the spending spree at taxpayer expense has just begun. On December 11, 2014, the FCC met to vote on changes to the E-Rate program, which is part of the Universal Service Fund (USF).
Fiscally Drunk and Disorderly
In spite of the decisive drubbing that President Obama and his party sustained in the mid-term elections, he continues to gallop along on his (gift) horse, proposing all kinds of new government spending programs, as if nothing has changed. His behavior is reminiscent of the over-served guy drowning his sorrows at the local watering hole, running up a big tab on his maxed-out credit card, yelling “another round on me for everybody!”
Social Security Reform: Time to Go Big
Among the rules adopted by the House of Representatives is a new provision that bars the transfer of money between the Social Security old age and survivors insurance (OASI) trust fund and the disability insurance (DI) trust fund. Congress has authorized 11 transfers from OASI to DI in order to temporarily patch the DI trust fund. In 1994, the last time that DI was on the verge of going broke, Congress reallocated 0.6 percentage points of the payroll tax from OASI to the DI program. The rule change prevents another temporary fix from occurring and provides a significant opportunity for Congress to adopt reforms in order to help ensure the future solvency of both programs.
CAGW Reaction to SOTU 2015: The President Is in an Alternate Universe
The President’s State of the Union Address would have made a good episode of “The Twilight Zone.” In “The Obama Zone,” the following is true, because he either never mentioned the subject matter or failed to properly state the facts…
Put a Fork In It: Why Taxpayers are Fed Up with Pork-Barrel Spending
For 16 years, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu fed her constituents powerful promises of pork – pork barrel spending that is. Fortunately for taxpayers, the results of the December 6, 2014 Senate run-off race stifled any of Landrieu’s future attempts at bringing home the bacon, and eliminated the dangerous implications that Landrieu’s fiscal negligence could have […]
Jonathan Gruber Goes to Washington
Most of you know about Jonathan Gruber. He is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economics professor that was hired as a consultant by the Obama administration to provide guidance on designing ObamaCare. He has often been called the “architect” of ObamaCare. What was his consulting fee just from the Department of Health and Human […]
Newt’s Very Bad Idea
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich often comes up with ideas to change how the government works. One of his most recent suggestions has made a lot of people who care about property rights scratch their head. At a December 2, 2014 meeting of Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy executives, Speaker Gingrich was asked about the […]
Who’s the Obstructionist?
While I tend to write mostly about healthcare issues, a November 27 article from Investor’s Business Daily, entitled “Obama Taking Hard Line, Blows Up Bipartisan Tax Deal,” provides a brief look into what the next two years will be like. Says Investor’s: The White House move this week to torpedo a deal between House Republicans […]