The government says inflation rose 8.5% in March compared to last year – the worst it has been in 40 years, since the bad old days of 1981. While inflation has infected virtually every area of the economy, the worst news concerns some very fundamental human activities: eating, finding warmth and shelter, and moving around. Look deep…

U.S. senators need to forgo the posh Capitol dining rooms and go food shopping in the shoes of ordinary Americans. Shoppers are panicking at the meat counter, where beef prices are up more than 20%. Nearly everything in the basket costs more. Most pols are clueless about the pain inflation is causing. Retirees are the biggest victims. Inflation is…

It's been quite a spectacle watching people who credit Democrats with every job created and every percentage point gained in economic growth suddenly arguing that the White House is completely powerless in the face of our current economic predicament. Presidents generally get far too much credit and/or blame for our fortunes, but they can certainly…

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain recently endorsed the idea that inflation and supply-chain struggles Americans are struggling with are "high class problems." I'm in no position to comment on whether the inflation spike we're experiencing is "transitory" or not (though, metaphysically speaking, isn't everything!). Maybe it…

As economic clouds form both domestically and worldwide, what America and the world need is sober helmsmanship and policies that propel our economy, not weaken it.   Instead, we get preposterous and incoherent whoppers from Joe Biden in defense of his massive tax and spending scheme.   “Every time I hear, ‘This is…

Dems are pushing to pass a multitrillion-dollar spending bill called the Build Back Better Act. It ought to be called the Political Scam Bill.  Buried in the 2,465 pages are numerous billion-dollar grants to unnamed community organizations for vague purposes such as promoting "community engagement" and "creating equitable civic…

In what should still be a presidential honeymoon period, the Biden Administration finds itself rapidly collapsing and unable to execute even rudimentary tasks.   In such deteriorating circumstances, one would expect it to correct course and revive its plummeting credibility by steering in good faith toward unity, the political center and…

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez donned an elegant gown with the slogan "Tax the Rich" painted on the back at the Met Gala in New York, where guests selected by Vogue's Anna Wintour ponied up around $35,000 a pop for tickets. The scene was reminiscent of Tom Wolfe's "radical chic" – though rather than being guests of…

The humongous bill that Democrats in Washington, D.C. are assembling this week is a slap in the face to Americans who work, pay taxes and support their families. The bill demeans work ethic and glorifies government handouts. It sends a message that work and self-sufficiency are for suckers. Better to climb on Uncle Sam's gravy train that will now…

After several months of steady economic recovery, we are once again facing economic uncertainty and peril. Last month, the Federal Reserve significantly raised its projections for inflation and moved up its timeline for interest rate hikes.  Against this backdrop, some lawmakers in Washington, D.C. like Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D – …

What’s wrong with this emerging picture?   Just five months ago, Joe Biden inherited a turbocharging economy, months of record monthly job growth numbers and a vaccination program that was already conquering the Covid pandemic.  Biden himself was vaccinated before he took office.   In the short period since his inauguration…

Believe it or not, until 2017 the United States imposed the developed world’s highest corporate tax rate.   If the Biden Administration has its way, we’ll regress to that punitive rate and inglorious status under his tax proposal.   In an increasingly competitive global economy, and as the U.S. struggles to emerge…

The United States’ economic freedom score is 74.8, making its economy the 20th freest in the 2021 Index.  Its overall score has decreased by 1.8 points, primarily because of a decline in fiscal health.  The United States is ranked 3rd among 32 countries in the Americas region, and its overall score is above the regional and world averages…

In a letter to Congress, the Center for Indiviudal Freedom ("CFIF") today joined a coalition of nearly 30 organizations and activists, led by Americans for Tax Reform, urging opposition to implementation of a financial transactions tax (FTT) on American savers and investors. Read the letter below. VIEW LETTER AS A PDF Dear Member…

In the latest example of the political left cynically leveraging passing events to impose their longstanding wish list, some Congressional Democrats and their outside ideological minders seek to exploit recent stock market volatility centering on the GameStop episode to advance a new array of regulations and taxes.   Topping that list is…

If Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts) described the sky as blue, one would be wise to peek out a window just to reconfirm.   It’s not that every single utterance from Senator Warren is necessarily false, but let’s just say that her reliability falls well below the proverbial broken clock that’s at least…

Of all the people Democrats could’ve featured during the first night of their ratings-deficient convention this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made for an especially odd choice.   Most notably, Governor Cuomo maligned President Trump’s performance amid the coronavirus pandemic, either brazenly or cluelessly ignoring the…

Friday morning found Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in a funereal mood, their grim visages one of near-mourning.  The occasion for their gloom came in the form of a stunningly positive monthly jobs report that markets and the rest of America celebrated, but wouldn’t allow them even the hint of a smile during their statements.&…

The current U.S. budget deficit could soon exceed a record $4 trillion. The massive borrowing is being driven both by prior budget profligacy and a hurried effort by the Donald Trump administration to pump liquidity into a quarantined America. The shutdown has left the country on the cusp of a self-inflicted economic collapse not seen since the Great…

A record-high number of Americans – 90% – say they are satisfied with their personal lives, according to Gallup. And 74% are optimistic that they will continue being financially satisfied moving forward. Needless to say, the United States will never be a utopia, but for the vast majority of its citizens, most things are going…

For sheer cognitive dissonance, denial and historical amnesia, today’s leftists and Never-Trumpers provide enough subject material to merit a new research wing within the American Psychological Association.  This week brought another vivid manifestation when Barack Obama reentered the political fray by falsely claiming credit for today&…

Actually, contends every 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, the economy is in really bad shape. It is only working for the wealthiest among us while leaving behind the poor, the working class and the shrinking middle class. Now, I suppose one could forgive the socialist contingent of the party for offering knee-jerk class-based bromides &ndash…

In welcome pre-holiday news last week for everyone except those suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, the Labor Department announced that job growth exceeded all expectations last month, as U.S. employers added 266,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate plummeted to a 50-year low of just 3.5%.  Just as significantly, employee wages jumped…

As the American economy continues to defy naysayers and reach unprecedented heights, a funny thing has occurred.  Namely, leftists and Obama apologists have shifted from insisting that President Trump’s economic policies would trigger a catastrophic depression to claiming that all of this is actually Obama’s doing.  Last week…

Multiple forms of socialism, from hard Stalinism to European redistribution, continue to fail. Russia and China are still struggling with the legacy of genocidal communism. Eastern Europe still suffers after decades of Soviet-imposed socialist chaos. Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea and Venezuela are unfree, poor and failed states. Baathism &mdash…

When most Americans think of the Federal Reserve, to the extent that they do at all, they naturally associate it with its primary role of stabilizing our currency through regulation of the nation’s money supply.  And even on that task, the Fed’s performance record is debatable, to put it charitably.  Given its spotty record…

Democrats see your paycheck as fair game for their endless social improvement projects. Every Democrat vying for the White House backs federal legislation that would guarantee workers nearly three months of paid family medical leave every year to care for newborns and the sick. Sounds wonderful. Who doesn't want to work nine months a year and get paid…

Try to reconcile this contradiction.  On the one hand, Barack Obama and his apologists claim that he deserves credit for halting an economic recession that actually bottomed out in the fall of 2008 before he was elected, and officially terminated less than five months into his tenure – long before any of his policies had taken effect, or…

For those of you who survived the Great GOP Tax Cut Massacre, things are finally looking up. The unemployment rate fell to 3.6 percent last month, the lowest level since 1969. We've now experienced over a full year of unemployment at 4 percent or lower. The economy beat projections, adding another 263,000 jobs in April. Wages are rising. It was Larry…

If you're looking for work, this is the best job market in 50 years. The economy is soaring. But Democrats running for president are pitching plans that will destroy millions of jobs, doubling the number of people out of work. Consider "Medicare for All." It could wipe out a staggering 2.5 million health insurance and health care jobs nationwide…