Mike Lee Wants to End the ‘Monetary Morphine’ at the Fed

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  April 4th at 04:05 PM  | 

What’s worse than Congress picking winners and losers and distorting the free-market with bailouts, stimulus, and tendentious interventions on behalf of specific industries?  Unelected members of the Federal Reserve doing the same through monetary policy. It is amazing to watch how many Republicans will speak with such conviction against Keynesian fiscal stimulus policies, yet they will fervently promote monetary stimulus policies by the unaccountable Federal | Read More »

All We Want From Our Party is Consistency and Contrast

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  March 14th at 12:54 PM  | 

When Republicans were completely shut out of power a few years ago, they railed against the absurd policies of Pelosi and Reid and the out of control spending proposed by Obama.  The Tea Party rallied to the cause of freedom and limited government, and helped elect a Republican majority to the House just two years after they were relegated to the ash heap of history. | Read More »

Senate Action Alert: Highway Bill/Energy Subsidies

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  March 13th at 10:45 AM  | 

Update: All 4 amendments were defeated, meaning we won 2 and lost 2. DeMint’s devolution amendment failed 30-67 with 14 Republicans (including McConnell) voting no; Stabenow’s green energy pork amendment failed 49-49; DeMint’s repeal of all energy subsidies failed 26-72; the Menendez-Burr handouts for natural gas cars failed 51-47.  6 Republicans supported the subsidies, including Tom Coburn! This might seem like a stalemate, but the | Read More »

A Day’s Work in the House of Lords

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  March 8th at 10:30 PM  | 

Earlier today, the Senate began voting on a series of 30 amendments to the highway bill (S.1813).  The three important amendments regarding energy subsidies that we referenced earlier (2 bad, 1 good) were postponed until next week.  However, here is a list of other commonsense amendments that were voted down by Democrats.  It is truly sad that at a time when gas prices are at | Read More »

Senate Republicans and Boehner Unite Against Conservatives

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  March 7th at 10:45 AM  | 

Who needs Democrats when so many Republicans are willing to orchestrate their agenda for them? The Senate is on the precipice of passing Barbara Boxer’s highway bill with overwhelming support.  Mitch McConnell is negotiating a deal with Harry Reid in which Republicans would be granted a vote on some of their choice non-germane amendments.  After Democrats summarily defeat those amendments, Republicans will return the favor | Read More »

Republican Senators Selling Out on Obama/Boxer/Inhofe Stimulus

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  March 5th at 10:42 AM  | 

Folks, it’s not the amendments we should be focused on; it’s the underlying bill that we must block. Yes, it’s another week in D.C., and that means it’s another week of work on the highway bill.  Throughout the past two weeks, there have been copious pages of ink spilled pontificating about the ramifications of the Blunt amendment and religious conscious issues.  Moreover, the Capitol Hill | Read More »

The Highway Bill and ANWR: It’s a Trap!

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  February 14th at 04:58 PM  | 

Well, it appears that our efforts are paying off.  Responding to our charge that the GOP was violating the pledge against bundled megabills, Boehner announced that he will split the proposal into three separate bills; the highway bill (HR 7), pension reform (HR 3813), and expanded oil and gas drilling (HR 3408).  This from Roll Call: In a joint statement with Rules Chairman David Dreier | Read More »

Reminder: the Smart Guys were wrong on the ‘stimulus.’

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  December 19th at 01:30 PM  | 

This Robert Samuelson piece on the inherent problem with Keynesian economic theory – which, in my opinion, can be summed up neatly as “First, assume that your planned economy will be managed forever by an immortal, unelected, and incorruptible Keynesian economist” – is pretty good, but it has one passage in it that makes my teeth ache. Here it is, in all of its questionable | Read More »

Don’t Fall Into Democrats’ Payroll Tax Trap

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  November 30th at 06:52 AM  | 

As the original 2% payroll tax cut for employees is set to expire next month, Democrats are proposing an even bigger cut.  Earlier this week, they introduced legislation (S.1917) to cut the payroll tax to 3.1 percent for employees, and for employers on the first $5 million of their payroll.  The bill would also eliminate the payroll tax paid by employers for the last quarter | Read More »

The Supercommittee of Super Insanity

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  November 16th at 08:04 AM  | 

As the tumultuous year of 2011 winds down, Congress will be facing a number of crucial budget deadlines.  Aside for the supercommittee deadline to find $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction (over ten years), they must contend with the December 31 expiration of three provisions of the 2010 tax extenders deal; payroll tax cuts, unemployment benefits, and ethanol subsidies.  Now the Washington Post is reporting that | Read More »

CBO Director Admits Stimulus Will Shrink Economy

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  November 15th at 08:24 PM  | 

We could have done a lot of good things with the $830 billion that was flushed down the toilet through the 2009 stimulus.  That money could have been used to permanently transform our entitlement programs to free-market personal ownership accounts.  It could have been used for massive pro-growth tax cuts.  Instead, it was used to grow perennial dependency and for special interest handouts.  But all | Read More »

The IRS as Tax Preparers?

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  November 14th at 07:58 AM  | 

When conservatives and liberals advocate tax reform they are referring to radically divergent concepts.  Conservatives desire a low, flat, and universal tax code, while liberals desire reform that would result in increased revenues.  The obvious way to achieve that goal is to impose radical redistributive tax increases, such as the ones Obama has recently proposed.  However, there is a more subtle way that is beginning | Read More »

Republicans Should Stop Reauthorizing Stuff they Denounced

By: Daniel Horowitz (Diary)  |  September 19th at 12:16 PM  | 

There is an old adage that defines insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.”  What’s worse than insanity is hypocritical insanity, which may be defined as doing the same thing that your opponent did over and over again, while expecting different results.  Unfortunately, that is an apt description of the House GOP leadership of late. During the 2010 | Read More »

This Week in Washington – September 12, 2011

By: Brian Darling (Diary)  |  September 12th at 09:45 AM  | 

Congress is expected to receive the President’s Stimulus 2.0 this today.  According to National Journal the President will submit legislation to Congress tonight. President Obama will send a $447 billion jobs bill to Congress on Monday night, according to an administration official. He will announce the move in a Rose Garden ceremony surrounded by teachers, firefighters, police officers, construction workers, small business owners, and veterans, | Read More »

Where’s the new [stimulus] bill Mr. Obama?

By: Dan Spencer (Diary)  |  September 10th at 11:30 AM  | 

After promising time and time again to focus on jobs. After promising time and time again to pivot to jobs. After promising time and time again to give a jobs plan speech right after his Martha’s Vineyard vacations. After promising new fresh proposals, not a rehash of plans he has pitched previously. After demanding time and time again before a joint session that Congress pass | Read More »