Budget and Deficit

If a picture is worth a thousand words, so are economic graphs, which can tell an economic story better than the raw data. IPI's new publication “Trend Tracker: A Picture of the Obama Economy” uses 10 charts to illustrate economic and political trends. There has been widespread concern President Obama's policies have led to years of tepid economic growth that have hurt the middle class; the graphs seem to verify those concerns.

Many coastal city officials are considering spending millions—in some cases billions—of taxpayer dollars preparing for an impending flood caused by rising sea levels. 

Challenging times require bold reforms, but very few political candidates have proposed any. With this paper we try to fill that gap by identifying five reforms that would solve current problems, spur economic growth and return power and money to the states and the people.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says Republican candidates are looking for bold policy reforms. IPI has responded with proposals that reduce the size and scope of government, empower people and states to make their own decisions, and keep more money in the private sector rather than the public sector.

Tax cuts are nice but they are not enough. The government doesn’t just take too much money, it also spends too much.

Conservatives frequently remind voters that federal debt has risen to more than $18 trillion under President Obama. But that figure overlooks another nearly $3 trillion, which would put total federal debt at about $21 trillion.

Tom Giovanetti, president of the freedom-oriented IPI, recently wrote “Now that Texas Republican Kevin Brady chairs the Ways & Means Committee, he will have more to say about the details of any eventual tax reform than will the future president. So what really matters is Brady’s priorities…and they are encouraging”.

Most of the major presidential candidates have released tax reform plans with enough specifics to run them through an economic model. On tax policy, Republicans tend to focus on economic growth, while Democrats tend to focus on distributional effects.

With the possible exception of tax reform, very few conservatives will accuse the GOP presidential candidates of bold policy proposals. So maybe the candidates could use some suggestions.

As Ryan the new Chief, and Nancy the shill,
Agreed they would stick us with a huge spending bill.