Obama’s debt speech just mailed in
Remarks attributed to Barack Obama in 2006 regarding the debt ceiling were never spoken in the senate, but were mailed in, so to speak.
Read More »Huelskamp not deterred
At a time that conservatives are concerned with the direction Speaker John Boehner is taking in negotiations over the fiscal cliff, he gives conservatives another reason to worry.
Read More »Attacks on Pompeo energy policies fall short
An op-ed written in favor of the wind production tax credit shows just how difficult it is to replace cronyism with economic freedom.
Read More »Duration of unemployment isn’t improving
Although the unemployment rate has declined, there are still problems in the labor market that don’t appear to be improving. The duration of unemployment is an example.
Read More »Attacks on Pompeo energy policies fall short
We often see criticism of politicians for sensing “which way the wind blows,” that is, shifting their policies to pander to the prevailing interests of important special interest groups. The associated negative connotation is that politicians do this without regard to whether these policies are wise and beneficial for everyone. So when a Member of Congress takes a position that is literally going against the | Read More »
Governor Romney is right: End the wind production tax credit
U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo, a Republican who represents the Kansas fourth district, contributes the following article on the harm of government involvement in energy markets, wind power specifically. Pompeo has written extensively on energy; see Pompeo on energy tax simplification, Era of energy subsidies is over, and Free market energy solutions don’t jeopardize national security. He has also introduced legislation to end all tax credits | Read More »
Energy subsidies exposed
On the campaign trail, President Barack Obama calls for an end to energy subsidies for the fossil fuel industry. It turns out, however, that this industry receives relatively little subsidy, while the president’s favored forms of energy investment — wind and solar — receive much more. Additionally, coal, oil, and gas industries paid billions in taxes to the federal government, while electricity produced by solar | Read More »
Pompeo: Impending tax increases threaten economic growth and jobs
Following is an article from U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo. This week the House of Representatives will vote to stop the largest tax hike in American history, which, absent legislative action, is set to occur on January 1, 2013. I hope the Senate and President Obama will join us. Last week’s report of the economy growing at an anemic 1.5 percent is further evidence that tax | Read More »
Why Kansas had to cut taxes
By Sam Brownback, Governor of Kansas When Jeff Colyer and I took office in January of 2011, tens of thousands of fewer Kansans were working in private sector jobs than a decade ago. Our state was losing residents to all surrounding states. We had the highest taxes in the region and ranked among the worst in private sector job creation. Something had to be done | Read More »
Kansas Economic Freedom Index
The Kansas Economic Freedom Index examines votes made by members of the Kansas Legislature based on the impact the proposed legislation has on the free market and the constitutional principles of individual liberty and limited government. Based on their votes, legislators earn scores that illuminate their support of — or opposition to — these principles of economic freedom. The Kansas Economic Freedom Index is produced | Read More »
Pickens’ NATGAS act sponsor defeated
A congressional primary election served as a barometer of public sentiment on energy policy and government interventionism into free markets. In last week’s Oklahoma primary elections, Jim Bridenstine defeated 10-year incumbent John Sullivan in a Republican primary for U.S. House of Representatives, first district. The difference between the two candidates, as reported by the Tulsa World, boiled down to supporting or opposing H.R. 1380: New | Read More »
Left-wing sincerity exposed
It’s often alleged by the political left that conservative and libertarian activists are nothing more than Astroturf, meaning false or fake grassroots activism. The charge is that the activists are duped into — or paid for — engaging in political activism. Which makes the following video from the Koch Industries Koch Facts site all the more interesting. Here’s the description of the video on YouTube: | Read More »
Kansas school establishment defenders: the video
A video criticizing the Kansas Policy Institute for placing a series of ads in Kansas newspapers claims KPI “conceals” and “ignores” facts and statistics. But I didn’t have to work very hard to find many gross and blatant mistakes, distortions, and coverups in the video — the same problems found in much of the communications of the Kansas public school spending bureaucracy and establishment. One | Read More »
In Kansas, public school establishment attacks high standards
When a Kansas public policy think tank placed ads in Kansas newspapers calling attention to the performance of Kansas schools, the public school establishment didn’t like it. The defense of the Kansas school status quo, especially that coming from Kansas Commissioner of Education Diane DeBacker, ought to cause Kansans to examine the motives of the public school spending establishment and their ability to be truthful | Read More »
Brownback, Moran wrong on wind tax credits
In the following commentary, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback and U.S. Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas make the case for extending the production tax credit (PTC) for the production of electrical power by wind. The PTC pays generators of wind power 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour produced. To place that in context, a typical Westar customer in Kansas that uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours in the summer pays $95.22 | Read More »
Obama vs. the American Dream
By U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp, who represents the Kansas first district. Do politics reflect culture, or does culture reflect politics? In a representative form of government, what happens in Washington should be a reflection of what happens in each of the communities and among the people of our country. Those elected to serve are to carry to Washington the views, ideas, and priorities of their | Read More »
Mike Pompeo: We need capitalism, not cronyism
In a guest column written for Americans for Prosperity, Kansas, U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Wichita explains why political cronyism, sometimes called crony capitalism, is wrong for our country. Pompeo coins a useful new term: “photo-op economics” to describe why some politicians support wasteful federal spending projects — as long as the spending is wasted in their districts. Then logrolling — the trading of legislative | Read More »
Obama fundraising on anti-Koch obsession
Are Americans tired of hearing that this year’s election is all about an obsession with defeating President Barack Obama? For those who know that Obama took a bad economic situation and implemented policies that made it worse — yes, we want to defeat the current president. The president’s election campaign, however, turns that concern for the future of our country into “obsession” and uses it | Read More »
Occupy Koch Town protestors ignore facts
Below, Paul Soutar of Kansas Watchdog provides more evidence that the campaign against Wichita-based Koch Industries regarding their alleged involvement in the Keystone XL pipeline is not based on facts. Besides this article, U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Wichita has also written on this issue in The Democrats continue unjustified attacks on taxpayers and job creators. Another inconvenient fact is that if the Canadian oil | Read More »
The Democrats continue unjustified attacks on taxpayers and job creators
The following article by U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo, a Republican who represents the Kansas fourth district, including the Wichita metropolitan area, explains — yet again — how ridiculous it is for President Barack Obama and others to attack Wichita-based Koch Industries on the Keystone XL pipeline issue. Pompeo explains that Koch has no financial interest in the pipeline, what “intervenor” status means, and who really | Read More »
Pompeo to introduce ‘Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act’
This week U. S. Representative Mike Pompeo of Wichita plans to introduce the “Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act,” a bill that would eliminate all tax credits related to energy. Tax credits, sometimes called tax expenditures, are spending accomplished through the tax code rather than by legislative appropriations. Two prominent tax credits related to energy production are the tax credit for producing and blending ethanol | Read More »
Obama’s executive orders
Americans for Limited Government has commented on President Barack Obama’s recent use of executive orders to step around the will of Congress: “These unilateral executive orders, whether on government-backed student loans and mortgages or FDA oversight, are intended to sidestep the consent of the governed, and as a result they overstep the President’s constitutional boundaries. Obama can rhetorically dress this up however he likes, but | Read More »
Class size reduction not effective
Recently the Center for American Progress released a report about class size reduction in schools and the false promise it holds for improving student achievement. While I am normally quite cautious about relying on anything CAP — a prominent left-wing think tank — produces, I’ve read the report, which is titled The False Promise of Class-Size Reduction. It’s accurate. It’s quite astonishing to see CAP | Read More »
Kerpen on Obama’s regulatory extremism
In the introduction to his book Democracy Denied, Phil Kerpen gives us a history lesson on a topic that doesn’t receive much discussion in public: the grab for executive power by presidents through the use of “signing statements.” Elizabeth Drew made the case against Bush’s abuse of executive power in a lengthy New York Review of Books piece called “Power Grab.” She specifically highlighted Bush’s | Read More »
Herman Cain: My interview
In July 2010, some 15 months ago, I had a chance to interview Herman Cain, who is now at or near the top of the polls of Republican presidential candidates. At the time his name was starting to be seen on lists of possible presidential candidates. Following is what I wrote at the time. Herman Cain: Conservatives should dream, be united, informed, inspired Herman Cain | Read More »
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