The findings of a recent Gallup poll show that one-in-five American workers are now employed part-time, the result of a steady three-year increase.  The results signal not just a shift in the labor market, but the combined effects of several bad Obama policies that distort job growth. Overall, Gallup’s survey found that part-time workers…

In 2007, the federal government took in an all-time record $2.6 trillion in revenues.  That year’s deficit was merely $161 billion – quaint in retrospect.  This year, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), incoming federal revenues will break that 2007 record and reach a new all-time high of $2.7 trillion…

Conservatives have become so accustomed to blasting Republican congressional leaders that sometimes we don’t realize we’re winning some victories. Such is now happening with the ongoing spending battles, during which, by trial and many errors, Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have somehow accomplished more…

Last April, our total corporate tax rate became the world’s highest after Japan reduced its rate several points to 36.8%.  Two years from now, Japan’s rate is scheduled to decline even further, to 34.5%.  Other nations have similarly recognized the destructive economic effect of high corporate taxes, and conversely the beneficial…

With thirty governorships in Republican hands, some GOP executives are trying to swap their states’ income tax for a broad-based sales tax.  Success could set up an alternative to the income-centric debate in Washington, D.C.  Currently, seven states – Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming &ndash…

This week, The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation released their annual Index of Economic Freedom.  Alarmingly, the United States has regressed for a fifth consecutive year.  Using a 0 – 100 scale, the Index cumulatively measures four categories:  respect for rule of law, limited government, regulatory efficiency…

If they want to succeed in policy and politics any time soon, conservatives/Republicans must adopt significant new strategies and tactics. But the first legislative step they can take in the House, one worthwhile both in substance and in terms of setting themselves up tactically for coming battles, is so remarkably easy that it can be accomplished…

“I just wanted to thank so many on the other side after all these years, for finally acknowledging publicly that ninety-eight percent of the Bush tax cuts helped the middle class.”  ~Representative Louis Gohmert (R-Texas)  Even in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election, events vindicate the man whom he distastefully…

Conservative doomsayers should chill out. This week’s installment of a budget deal is definitely not the utter disaster that many enraged conservatives are portraying. While it might be a bitter pill, the deal actually gives conservatives some leverage moving forward, while leaving tax rates at levels that by historical standards aren’…

One reason the substance of the “Fiscal Cliff” negotiations has been so unsatisfactory is that the very format of the negotiations has been misguided. The Obama-Boehner talks favor the White House and disfavor the twin values of transparency and public understanding. As is usually the case, bad process is likely to produce bad policies.…

Negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff are understandably focusing on whether to cut or raise taxes and spending.  But those issues are secondary.  The real problem facing the federal budget is the unsustainable cost of entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  If structural reforms aren’t made soon, the…

With all the attention centered on the fallout in the federal budget should President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans fail to cut a deal that avoids the fiscal cliff, it’s easy to forget that the budgets of most state governments will be heavily impacted as well. To recap, Congress and the President are facing two separate yet related…

For decades now, Republicans have championed the vague idea of budget savings while fearfully shying away from efforts to “sell” the cuts as anything other than a necessary discipline. Their lack of courage and creativity is pathetic. In “fiscal cliff” negotiations and in all similar budgetary imbroglios in the next few years…

An urgent alert atop the official White House website announces the following:  “If Congress fails to act before the end of the year, every American family’s taxes will automatically go up. A typical middle-class family of four would see its taxes rise by $2,200 starting in 2013.”  So what’s the problem?  Aren…

Barack Obama:  “Governor Romney believes that with even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy and fewer regulations on Wall Street, all of us will prosper.  In other words, he’d double down on the same trickle-down policies that led to the crisis in the first place.”  Washington Post:  “Retire this talking point…

“The data paints a bleak picture, with a majority of respondents saying in the last three years, the national economy is in a worse position for American small businesses and manufacturers…  The theme of government being a barrier rather than a help is clear throughout this data.” That was the sobering executive summary of…

You never want to catch whatever Bill Clinton is spreading.  Accordingly, here’s some precautionary intellectual inoculation.  This week, Clinton attempted to rescue the political fortunes of a current president whose policy choices contrast sharply with his own.  Instead of a rescue, however, Clinton may have simply highlighted…

In his most petulant and desperate demeanor yet, Barack Obama this week doubled down on blaming his own fiscal failures on George W. Bush.  Speaking at a fundraiser – what else? – in Baltimore, Obama also unveiled a new pet metaphor, substituting “steak dinner” for his familiar “slurpee” and “car in the…

This country is still spending itself into oblivion, and not even the Republican House is putting up enough of a fight. But some individual House and Senate members still are battling, for the interests of both taxpayers and good social policy, and their efforts merit support. Red State reported the other day that the House wouldn’t even…

“The man with no plan.” That’s what Jeff Sessions of Alabama, ranking Republican on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee, calls the man Occupying the Oval Office. “The biggest deficit in our country right now is that leaders won’t get out and take a stand,” said U.S. Senator Tom Coburn. “That’s cowardice…

In campaign speeches, Barack Obama sermonizes endlessly against “giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans like me.”  According to his own IRS return, however, Obama himself gladly exploits them.  Alongside Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D – New York) and so many other champagne liberals,…

“From Mesaba to Titanic:  In latitude 42° N to 41° 25’, longitude 49° W to longitude 50° 30’ W, saw much heavy pack ice and great number large icebergs, also field ice, weather good, clear.”  One hundred years ago this week, that heavy ice admonition was one of several transmitted but unheeded by…

In California, Governor Jerry Brown is pushing for a “Millionaire’s Tax” that hits people earning well below that threshold.  President Barack Obama is stumping across the nation for a “Buffett Rule” that raises taxes but makes no impact on the deficit.  Both are showcasing why liberals can’t win a serious…

Americans businesses were turned into April Fools on Sunday when a cut in Japan's top corporate income tax rate left the United States with the highest such rate in the developed world -- including Communist China's. With Great Britain also slicing rates this month from 26 percent to 24 percent, the U.S. average top rate (federal and state combined…

Barack Obama seems to assume that “The 99%” stand with him when he hypocritically campaigns for higher taxes on employers and individuals.  (“Hypocritically” because he doesn’t practice what he preaches by filing his own taxes at the same rate he claims is “fair” for millionaires such as himself.) …

The most damning indictments against Barack Obama as he furiously seeks reelection are his own false promises.  “That’s why today, I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office.”  That categorical pledge occurred exactly three years ago this week, February 23, 2009. …

A little learning is a dangerous thing. Unfortunately, it’s also all that’s required of a professional politician. While stammering, inarticulate candidates tend to have short shelf lives, a political aspirant who manages to recite a crisp bullet point without giving its content much thought can make a career out of the exercise (as testified…

On February 2, 2009, Barack Obama confidently announced the following performance standard for himself in an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer:  Lauer:  “At some point, will you say, ‘Wait a minute – we’ve spent this amount of money, but we’re not seeing results, we’ve got to change course dramatically…

In his State of the Union speech, Barack Obama lectured those whom he hadn’t already bored to stupor with his usual onslaught of platitudes – you probably had no idea that “teachers matter” until he said so – that anyone earning over $1 million should pay at least 30% to government.  Oh, and another thing –…

To hear the political media tell it, Bill Daley’s failure as White House Chief of Staff was due to his inability to communicate President Barack Obama’s policies effectively to Congress and Wall Street.  But the messenger wasn’t the problem.  Just like other high-profile has-beens Obama has cast aside when reality undermined…