House GOP budget blueprint promises more borrowing, more debt, and not enough cuts
Two months in the past, President Donald Trump promised that Congress would "minimize Tons of of Billions of {Dollars} in spending subsequent yr by means of Reconciliation!" Two weeks in the past, Trump seemingly doubled down: "BALANCED BUDGET!!!" he declared in an all-caps put up on Reality Social that, in equity, may very well be seen both as a requirement for such a factor—or an expression of shock on the…
Elon Musk is supposedly running DOGE but not officially in charge of anything
By now, you've got heard rather a lot in regards to the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), the Trump administration's cost-cutting initiative. You additionally find out about billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's work in reference to DOGE, together with his makes an attempt to right sloppy cost practices, cancellation of dubious federal contracts, and efforts to scale back the federal work drive by shedding current hires and paying workers to stop. However…
Is the Jones Act unconstitutional?
A 100-year-old legislation that artificially inflates the value of delivery freight by water in the US is broadly understood to be an economically inefficient little bit of protectionism. May it even be unconstitutional? That is what a lawsuit filed Tuesday asks a federal district courtroom to determine. Within the complaint, the homeowners of a Hawaii-based rum firm say the Jones Act has unfairly deprived them relative to companies that function…
Florida sues Target over selling LGBTQ-friendly merchandise
Florida is suing Goal for promoting LGBTQ-friendly merchandise, one thing the state is misleadingly calling "efforts to sexualize youngsters." You are in all probability pondering: Wait, does not the First Modification cease the federal government from doing issues like this? Does not Goal have a First Modification proper to promote items broadcasting no matter completely authorized messages it chooses, and do not particular person Individuals have a First Modification proper…
Does Trump want lower gas prices or oil sanctions on Iran?
The regulation of provide and demand is essentially the most fundamental perception in economics. When there's extra of a superb out there on the market than individuals who wish to purchase it, the value goes down, and when extra folks wish to purchase the nice than is on the market, the value goes up. As progressives have discovered the arduous manner with housing, there is no such thing as a…
The new Republican budget plan is unserious
Severe issues must be met with critical options. We've got critical issues, specifically a fast-growing debt and a necessity to increase some tax cuts in an unforgiving surroundings the place rates of interest are excessive and inflation is rising once more. Sadly, regardless of a brand new mandate, Home Republicans have but to rise to the event. Their newest finances blueprint reveals that fiscal duty vanishes the second actual decisions…
Meaningful Pentagon cuts will require rethinking what ‘defense’ means
In 2023, in accordance with the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute, the U.S. authorities spent $916 billion on "protection," which was greater than the mixed navy budgets of China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Germany, Ukraine, France, and Japan. On the face of it, that's an astonishing sum for a rustic that's at peace and faces no believable navy threats wherever close to its borders. And since navy spending…
Americans are lukewarm about DOGE even if they criticize the federal government
People assume authorities is wasteful when it isn't outright fraudulent and abusive. That ought to create a welcoming surroundings for the Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) and its mission to chop fats out of federal companies on the way in which to (hopefully) decreasing the state and balancing the funds. However help for DOGE is lukewarm. Unsurprisingly in these politically fractured instances, cost-cutting efforts are much more fashionable with Republicans…
To cut government spending, Trump targets pocket change
President Donald Trump has vowed to chop authorities spending, a aim he plans to perform by going after pocket change (actually). Just lately, Trump directed the secretary of the treasury to finish the manufacturing of the penny, citing its inefficiency and excessive manufacturing prices. Final yr marked the nineteenth consecutive fiscal yr that the unit price of constructing pennies was above its face worth. It prices 3.7 cents to provide…
Donald Trump’s power grabs are shrinking the federal bureaucracy
Love him or hate him, nobody can argue that the primary weeks of President Donald Trump's second administration have lacked govt power. His presidential orders have taken huge coverage swings by unilaterally declaring an finish to the executive state and canceling birthright citizenship. With an help from Elon Musk's Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), the president is quickly consolidating management over the federal forms by centralizing entry to heretofore walled-off…