Actually, the headline reads: “Wal-Mart, Unions Unite on Health Care.” For years Wal-Mart has been falsely accused of shifting the cost of health care for its employees to taxpayers because the company’s high premiums and deductibles keep many Wal-Mart employees from participating in the company health plan—as if Wal-Mart is to blame for the
of Bush’s $3 trillion budget for FY 2008, but why is the “conservative” Heritage Foundation praising the president for—are you ready—reining in entitlement costs? Concludes Brian Riedl : The President deserves praise for beginning a long overdue examination of unsustainable entitlement costs. He makes strong proposals that take the first steps to
I should have known, but I just found out that another FairTax bill was introduced in Congress last month. John Linder (R-GA) introduced H.R. 25, “ The FairTax Act of 2007 ,” on the first day of the 110th Congress. There are 55 cosponsors. The numerous problems with this “permission-to-live” tax, as Murray Rothbard described consumption taxes, I
As I have written elsewhere , I normally cringe when I read the Economics section of most conservative publications. Nothing changed when I picked up last month’s issue of Chronicles . Writing under the heading of “The Economy,” R. Cort Kirkwood has done it again. Jeff Tucker has already drawn our attention to Kirkwood’s anti-Wal-Mart rant in the
By Laurence M. Vance According to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the president must annually submit a proposed budget to Congress for the next fiscal year by the first Monday in February. Although he was late, as usual, President Obama did submit his budget proposal on March 4. But because Republicans control the House of
What do rental cars and sports stadiums have in common? Everything, if you live in Kansas City, Mo. According to an article titled “Tax Burden Heavy for Travelers” in the September issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine, “In 2005, the city decided to finance a stadium by tacking on a $4 per day surcharge to its already high taxes on car
The current issue of National Geographic (August), in addition to the usual propaganda about global warming, chastises the United States for a poor family leave policy. The one-page feature called “Who Gives Parents a Break?” opens with the statement that “American moms-to-be might consider a move to Slovenia. While U.S. law guarantees a mere 12
Since I never vote for the lesser of two evils, I never vote for individuals. However, I do vote against tax increases if I am given the chance. I pointed out last year that the voters in my county (Escambia) in Florida foolishly voted to extend a 1 percent local option sales tax for another ten years, thus retaining our sales tax rate of 7.5
Tired of reading yours truly on evils of the FairTax? Here is Bruce Bartlett’s newest analysis of the tax that’s anything but fair: “ Why the FairTax Won’t Work .” Mr. Bartlett has written a very exhaustive and very thorough critique of the FairTax. Since presidential wannabe Mike Huckabee backs the FairTax, this issue is very relevant. Don’t be
Just published (in print and now online) is an interview I did with Atlanta Life Magazine (April issue) on this subject in the form of replies to three questions about the FairTax. Answering the same three questions, but in favor of the FairTax, is Ken Hoagland, the national communications director for
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.