Media Hit

I guess we should just chalk it up to coincidence when non-partisan groups like the Institute for Policy Innovation tell us that 16 out of 20 of the U.S. cities with the highest violent crime rates, like Baltimore, are run by Democrats.

IPI's Merrill Matthews tells KTRH-AM one of the things that will be affected by this is Section 8 housing. "Then you'll have more integration and less segregation, even if that segregation is completely voluntary."

Opponents of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) cited the Tenth Amendment, givings states the authority to determine whether internet gambling is allowed, and assert that proponents are empowering big government. 

It is perfectly appropriate for state legislatures in Texas and Oklahoma to take the lead in prohibiting city and county fracking bans.

The R&D tax credit has been a “temporary” provision in the tax code since 1981. Each time the credit is about to expire, Congress rallies support to renew the tax break from those who benefit from it. As the libertarian IPI puts it, “this cycle has repeated itself for years ... Congress essentially uses this cycle to raise money for re-election, promising the industry more predictability the next time around.”

President Obama cut $500 billion from Medicare spending over 10 years in order to claim that Obamacare was "paid for." A better option, writes IPI's Merrill Matthews, "would have been to aggressively target Medicare and Medicaid fraud, which could have provided the same amount of savings." 

Means-testing rules for Medicare could mean higher premiums for some same-sex couples on two levels, said IPI's Dr. Merrill Matthews.

According to IPI's Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., taxpayers would have saved $700 billion over the course of the next 10 years due to the existence of fewer insurance subsidies.

Critics say the provision would allow states to harass businesses. "It opens the door to a grotesque expansion of state tax collection authority that is almost certainly unconstitutional, and places mandates upon the states that are probably unconstitutional as well," said IPI's Tom Giovanetti.

Obamacare opponents see a potential silver lining in a Supreme Court decision that would end tax credits for many of those using the federal marketplace. To fill the coverage gap, insurance companies might look to sell bare-bones "limited-benefit" plans that don't meet Obamacare's minimum coverage requirement but are less expensive, suggested Merrill Matthews.