Ryan Budget: A Good Start, but will it Matter?
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | March 20th at 04:38 PM |
The much-anticipated Ryan budget for FY 2013, which also contains a blueprint for the next ten years, has been released. The headline figures of the proposal include the following factoids: it will spend $5.3 trillion less than Obama’s plan and cut $2 trillion more in taxes over the next ten years; it will spend $4.15 less than CBO baseline; spending will be reduced from 24% | Read More »
Good News on Highway Bill Front; More Issues Elsewhere
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | February 15th at 11:29 AM |
Our voices are finally being heard – sort of. When we started voicing opposition to the highway bill there were few conservatives speaking out against it, and even fewer members of the House who were willing to oppose it. Now, there is so much opposition to the bill that John Boehner was forced to delay the vote on the highway bill, which was previously scheduled | Read More »
GOP Does the Right Thing With Payroll Tax
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | February 13th at 04:30 PM |
We all agree that a temporary payroll tax cut without permanently restructuring Social Security, along with its funding source, is a ludicrous idea. Sadly, Democrats would rather play politics by introducing this inane stimulus measure, in an attempt to get Republicans to vote against a tax cut. For far too long, the extension of the payroll tax cut was coupled with more entitlement spending, in | Read More »
The Ever Growing and Ever Crumbling Safety Net
By: Brad Jackson (Diary) | February 13th at 10:00 AM |
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss impending elections in Greece, American’s growing dependence on the “safety net,” and why that path is unsustainable. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do | Read More »
CBO’s Budget Report: Perennial Debt for Generations
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | January 31st at 12:23 PM |
“The rosy predictions for revenues and reduced healthcare spending can come to fruition, but not with the current socialist policies as the baseline.” The budget season has officially commenced today with CBO’s release of its annual budget and economic outlook. Here are some of the major takeaways from the report: FY 2012 Budget The topline figure that the media will focus on is the projected | Read More »
Healthcare Doesn’t Need European Style Austerity Measures; It Needs Free-Market
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | January 17th at 04:07 PM |
“If our goal is to be shielded from any cost of healthcare, we will ultimately be exposed to all costs of healthcare.” Nothing typifies the inane cycle of government dependency and poverty more than the issue of healthcare. Given that healthcare constitutes 18% of our economy and that millions of Americans are languishing under its crushing costs, it is important that we articulate healthcare reform | Read More »
Pass A Payroll Tax Cut Extension…and Only a Payroll Tax Cut Extension
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | December 21st at 11:30 AM |
“We need to stop forcing Republicans to face the grim choice between blocking a tax cut and fighting against more entitlement and deficit spending.” There are two inexorable political realities at this point: the payroll tax cut must be extended and those who block it will incur a needless political reprisal. To that end, Republicans must outflank the Democrats on the payroll tax cut, while | Read More »
Taking Newt Gingrich’s Ideas Seriously
By: Dan McLaughlin (Diary) | December 14th at 03:56 PM |
Ideas don’t run for president; people do. That’s as true today as it was four years ago. So, it is understandable that much of the press and blog coverage of the 2012 GOP primary race has focused on the personalities, experience and record of the candidates rather than their ideas. In fact, until you know the candidates by their actions, you cannot meaningfully judge what | Read More »
Newt Gingrich on Entitlement Reform, the Federal Reserve and the Eurozone
By: Brad Jackson (Diary) | December 9th at 02:01 PM |
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech and Francis Cianfrocca are joined by Newt Gingrich to discuss his plans for entitlement reform, how he would change the Federal Reserve, the Eurozone crisis and more. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, | Read More »
The GOP Payroll Tax Cut/UI Extension Proposal
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | December 9th at 12:04 PM |
“will they finally hold the line on their own promises this time, or will they pass all the extensions without the reforms, riders, and spending offsets? This package must be the final offer.” Earlier today, House Republican leaders unveiled their package deal to extend the payroll tax and unemployment benefits for another year and to continue Medicare ‘doc fix’ for another two years. While bipartisan | Read More »
Medicare Has Spent a Quarter-Billion Taxpayer Dollars on Penis Pumps
By: Brad Jackson (Diary) | December 6th at 10:36 AM |
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech discuss Medicare’s quarter-billion dollars spent on penis pumps for elderly men, how this is indicative of larger Medicare fraud and how lobbyists perpetuate the system. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can | Read More »
Senator Coburn: The Agony of a Pragmatic Conservative Amidst Inflexible Liberals
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | November 15th at 08:00 AM |
Senator Tom Coburn released a report, Subsidies of the Rich and Famous, detailing a list of subsidies, transfers, and “tax breaks,” that are paid to individuals with Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of over $1 million. The report found that millionaires have received at least $9.5 billion in “government payments” since 2003 and $113.7 billion in “tax breaks” since 2006. Accordingly, Coburn concludes that many of | Read More »
Jon Huntsman Talks About Entitlement Reform, China and the EPA
By: Brad Jackson (Diary) | November 14th at 10:02 AM |
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Governor Jon Huntsman to discuss entitlement reform, China, the EPA and more. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show. | Read More »
Comparing the Entitlement Reform Plans of the GOP Presidential Candidates
By: Brad Jackson (Diary) | November 8th at 10:09 AM |
Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech discuss the need for entitlement reform, Barack Obama’s government centered plan, and the solutions proposed by each of the Republican Presidential candidates. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at | Read More »
Telling the Truth About Medicare
By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary) | October 31st at 03:09 PM |
By far, our largest unfunded liabilities are Social Security and Medicare. According to recent actuarial reports, Medicare faces a $25 trillion liability and Social Security has an unfunded liability of $21 trillion. And those numbers are regarded as low-ball figures, due to their unrealistic accounting for cost-cutting measures. They already represent the largest expenditures of the federal government, with Social Security and Medicare consuming 20.2% | Read More »
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