Fiscal Policy
I found this article by the pseudonymous “Spengler” of the Asia Times interesting for at least two reasons…The big-picture view of finance, demographics and debt he offers suggesting that increased transfer of American capital to foreign markets and the sub-prime mortgage crisis are bigger than anything that’s fixable with a few new regulations (note: in…
These results are so counter-intuitive, someone needs to double check that I haven’t made a mistake, but I think I have all the formulas in the right place. Using NEA-RI Executive Director Robert Walsh’s suggested pension analysis parameters, 13.5% of salary contributed to the fund each year, 8.25% investment growth and a 75% benefit after…
James Cournoyer‘s observation, made in his May 5 Projo letter-to-the-editor, that contributions from employees into the Rhode Island public pension system don’t come anywhere near to covering the amount that the system is obligated to pay out, shouldn’t take anyone by surprise. Pensions (and defined contribution plans, for that matter) work on the principle that…
At the Taubman Center panel on the Rhode Island budget crisis I attended at Brown University a few weeks ago, several members of the audience attempted to attribute at least part of the state deficit to Federal cut-backs in domestic spending forced by the costs of fighting in the Iraqi theater in the War on…
A relevant thought for the day from Claremont’s Richard Reeb: Entitlements ought to be understood only as goods or honors that we have earned, not something we think that we, or someone else, ought to have. That necessarily and unavoidably entails taking from one person or group and giving to another. The impolite word for…
Republican Senator Mitch McConnell writes: While most of the media were busy covering the latest developments on the Iraq funding bill or the bipartisan immigration proposal, congressional Democrats on Thursday quietly passed a budget creating the framework for the largest tax increases in American history… Everyone takes a hit. Forty-five million working families with two…
The Heritage Foundation has done an analysis of the new House Budget crafted by the Democratic majority in Washington and concluded that it means higher taxes across the board. Their reasoning: The House leadership has proposed to increase spending over the next five years. Given the leadership’s avowed commitment to paying for spending increases, tax…
The new Democratic Congress really is changing the way things are done in Washington, aren’t they? I’ll leave it up to the reader to define “change” (h/t) in John Fund’s story: Democrats promised reform and instituted “a moratorium” on all earmarks until the system was cleaned up. Now the appropriations committees are privately accepting pork-barrel…
The Governor has just releases his State budget proposal for next year. Scott Mayerowitz of the ProJo chose to highlight the “several accounting tricks, one-time sources of revenue and other gimmicks to balance his tax and spending plan,” (sheesh, no in-story editorializing there, Scott) and glossed over one major source of cuts (state workers). Ray…
Ah yes, see how much has changed! Looks like the House Democrats earmark reform bill is being supported by most Senate Republicans and a few Democrats….but the heartiest opposition is being put up by Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (via Glenn Reynolds). TPM Muckraker has one report and Andy Roth at the Club For Growth…