Back when George W. Bush was president, liberals ceaselessly condemned his comparatively mild budget deficits.  When Barack Obama became president and proceeded to compound those deficits, however, they conspicuously went silent.  Recall what candidate Obama had to say about the issue on July 3, 2008.  On that date, the most recent…

At the recent televised debate among candidates for the Democrats' nomination for president, Hillary Clinton declared that "the wealthy pay too little" in taxes and "the middle class pays too much." Some people might wish to argue about whether that is true or not, but no rational argument can be made on either side of this issue…

Donald Trump released his tax reform plan this week. Which is to say, this is Trump’s 2015 tax reform plan. His previous statements deriding Reagan- and Bush-era tax cuts, advocating a wealth surtax, and touting the virtues of a European-style Value Added Tax on goods and services should henceforth be considered null and void. Trump took to…

"Quarterly Increase in U.S. Worker Pay Smallest on Record"  So read the alarming headline of a Bloomberg Business report this past week:  "Wages and salaries in the U.S. rose in the second quarter at the slowest pace on record, dashing projections that an improving labor market would boost pay.  The 0.2 percent advance…

The post-World War II epoch has witnessed greater prosperity and economic growth than any in human history, due largely to free trade under American guidance.  In contrast, the years preceding World War II were characterized by the most severe global depression in history, as nations withdrew behind protectionist barriers.  Centuries before…

In a recent panel discussion on poverty at Georgetown University, President Barack Obama gave another demonstration of his mastery of rhetoric -- and disregard of reality. One of the ways of fighting poverty, he proposed, was to "ask from society's lottery winners" that they make a "modest investment" in government programs to…

So Americans paid $1.4 trillion in income taxes for 2014, a new record high.  For 2015, the expected total is even higher.  It is therefore unsurprising that a majority of Americans consider the amount of taxes they pay "too high" as opposed to "about right," according to a new Gallup survey.  Just 3% - perhaps the…

It's tax season again, and all across the country, taxpayers and tax accountants are feeling the effects of filing a return or an extension so they don't end up on the wrong side of the IRS, get audited or, worse, get put in prison. It's never easy, but this year is even more painful than ever. The U.S. tax code has become so complicated that taxpayers…

Rand Paul is usually a pretty politically savvy guy, but he made a mistake when it came time to announce his presidential candidacy. Had the Kentucky Senator really wanted to prime voters for his anti-government message, he would’ve waited a week and announced his candidacy on April 15: Tax Day. If, like me, you’ve spent the past few weeks…

It is fascinating to see brilliant people belatedly discover the obvious — and to see an even larger number of brilliant people never discover the obvious. A recent story in a San Francisco newspaper says that some restaurants and grocery stores in Oakland's Chinatown have closed after the city's minimum wage was raised. Other small businesses…

If his press secretary is to be believed, President Barack Obama is considering whether to use executive actions to unilaterally raise taxes. “The president certainly has not indicated any reticence in using his executive authority to try and advance an agenda that benefits middle class Americans,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest…

Being a San Francisco liberal means never having to say you're sorry. Or wrong. Take Nancy Pelosi, please. Five years ago, California's genius Bay Area Democrat declared that government unemployment checks generate job growth. Yes, really. "Let me say about unemployment insurance," she told reporters, "this is one of the biggest stimuluses…

Given what we know now, only Barack Obama could attempt to characterize his economic record as one of achievement rather than historic failure.  Only Obama could attempt to characterize his record on deficits, which dwarf those of any other president that preceded him, as a successful one.    And only Obama could characterize…

On Monday, Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) said he would not run for president in 2016. Instead he will focus on enacting policies to spur economic growth as the new head of the House Ways and Means Committee.  “After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve decided not to run for president,” Ryan said in a statement. “Our work…

Throughout our nation's history, Americans have taken justifiable pride in cultivating a domestic climate that attracts innovators, entrepreneurs and businesses from across the globe.  In recent years, however, our tax laws and federal regulations have eroded our international competitiveness.  Paradoxically, that has occurred during a period…

Agitated by the predictable consequences of their tax and regulatory agenda, liberals and the Obama Administration condemn the "economic patriotism" of "corporate deserters" who seek refuge by relocating operations beyond U.S. borders.  This week, Burger King became just the latest target of their misplaced wrath, after announcing…

"That's irresponsible.  It's unpatriotic!"  So said Barack Obama on July 3, 2008, referring to the $4 trillion in cumulative new debt under George W. Bush:  "The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving…

It may come as a surprise to many, but the United States imposes the developed world's highest corporate tax rate, with a combined federal and state average of 39.1%.  Exacerbating matters, our corporate tax code is a hopelessly complex and convoluted one.  Among other defects, the U.S. code taxes not only domestic earnings, but overseas…

Rather than address a labor market increasingly characterized by low-wage jobs, President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are trying to distract voters by highlighting a series of issues that will do almost nothing to improve economic opportunity.  Those issues include votes in the U.S. Senate to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour…

There’s a famous quote — one of those too good for anyone to have definitively sourced — in which Mahatma Gandhi, upon being asked what he thought of western civilization, supposedly responded, “I think it would be a good idea.” The aphorism may be little more than the stuff of legend, but the same principle could apply…

After four years of proposing ideas to slim down the federal budget, Paul Ryan may get an opportunity to write them into law – perhaps as soon as next January. On the same day that Ryan (R-WI), the House Budget Committee chairman, proposed his fourth annual “Path to Prosperity” funding bill, Dave Camp (R-MI), the House Ways and Means…

While his foreign policy disasters accumulate, Barack Obama should be eager to seek domestic compromise to salvage his disastrous presidency.  Recall that Bill Clinton strived to rescue his presidency, which was otherwise distinguished by early incompetence and the fact that he’s one of only two presidents to be impeached, via compromise…

Cyclical recessions and recoveries come and go.  That’s the nature of a market economy.  Unfortunately, the current recovery under the Obama presidency is distinguished for its status as the most sluggish in recorded U.S. history.  That’s not by coincidence, but rather the consequence of his growth-killing bigger-government…

It’s no secret that America’s economy has continued to stagnate throughout Barack Obama’s tenure.  Despite the fact that the last recession officially ended almost five years ago in June 2009, U.S. economic growth has averaged just 2.1% since that time.  That’s substantially below the 70-year postwar average of 3.…

When fighting budget-related battles during Fiscal Year 2014, can conservatives have any hopes that the third time is the charm? Yes, but only if they are willing to play “small ball.” The “third time,” in this case, will involve the next confrontation with the federal debt ceiling, expected in early February. Budget Committee…

With his namesake ObamaCare in catastrophic slow-motion disintegration and his public approval numbers plummeting below his supposedly incompetent predecessor, Barack Obama is increasingly desperate to change the subject.  Cue his reliable class warfare cowbell.  This week, Obama preposterously labeled income redistribution “the defining…

Familiar is the parable of the boy who murders his parents, then seeks leniency because he is suddenly an orphan.  When it comes to budget deficits, Barack Obama is more like the boy who knocks off his parents, then brags that he drove them to the morgue.  While his public approval rating plummeted this week to a new low of 37%, here was…

Barack Obama, in case you haven’t heard, is pretty worked up about inequality. It’s a constant theme of the president’s speeches, with regular references like the one in his second inaugural address to a country where “a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it." In the abstract, this is comfortable…

Three long years ago this week, on August 2, 2010, former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced unambiguously in The New York Times, “Welcome to the Recovery.”  That was during the second of the Obama Administration’s so-called “Recovery Summers.”  Now into our fifth such summer, Americans still await…

Four wearisome years ago this month, June 2009, the last recession officially ended.  To put that into perspective, the first iPad didn’t appear on shelves for another year.   That four-year anniversary will come as a surprise to most Americans, because what we’re enduring isn’t much of a recovery.  To wit, an…