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Archive for July, 2012

The Mid-Year Budget Update


Tuesday July 31st, 2012   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 2:29pm PDT   •   0 Comments

There’s an old American saying “a picture is worth a thousand words“. Putting that saying to the test, the picture below tells us the major points we need to know about the officially projected future White House’s recently released Mid-Session Review of the Budget of the United States government for the next ten years:…
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Did Federal Grant Bankroll Colorado Gun Rampage?


Friday July 27th, 2012   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 3:58pm PDT   •   40 Comments

James Eagan Holmes, charged with 12 murders in the July 20 “Dark Knight” shootings in Colorado, received a federal stipend of $21,600 for personal expenses, part of a grant from the federal National Institutes of Health. The federal grant of $176,000 supports six PhD students per year and the stipend of up to $26,000…
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The Crushing Burden of Old Debt


Friday July 27th, 2012   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 12:40pm PDT   •   1 Comment

Italy is the eighth largest economy in the world and the second-biggest manufacturing economy in Europe. The Italian government’s tax collections from year to year have been near rock-steady as a percentage share of the country’s GDP and, for over a decade now, the country has been running comparatively small annual budget deficits. And…
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The Mandate Tax Burden of ObamaCare


Wednesday July 25th, 2012   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 9:15am PDT   •   2 Comments

Upon which income earners will fall the greatest burden of paying the burden of the “mandate penalty tax” in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”)? To find out, we tapped our detailed income distribution data for individuals for the year 2010, the most recent year for which it is available (the…
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“Deceit and Thievery”: How Government Parks Money in Secret


Monday July 23rd, 2012   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 1:24pm PDT   •   12 Comments

California faces a deficit of nearly $16 billion and has cut the $384 million budget of the state Parks Department by one-third. Embattled cities and private groups have been contributing funds to keep facilities open, but department bosses warned that a recent budget cut of $22 million would force them to shut down 70…
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A Trip Down Memory Lane


Saturday July 21st, 2012   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 10:42am PDT   •   0 Comments

Remember when the projected additional cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka “ObamaCare”) to U.S. taxpayers over a ten year period of time was going to be less than 1 trillion dollars? Let’s just say that once it’s fully implemented, it’s going to be a bit over budget. By about 190%:…
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Raiding the Rainy Day Trust Funds


Wednesday July 18th, 2012   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 11:00am PDT   •   2 Comments

We’re learning today that when a government runs out of money to spend, among the first places it turns to for more are the trust funds it sets up to provide for social insurance. For example, consider the so-called “social” insurance the government provides for private sector pension plans. Here, in the event a…
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FDA Spreads the Surveillance Bug


Tuesday July 17th, 2012   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 1:57pm PDT   •   2 Comments

The homepage of the FDA says: U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Protecting and Promoting Your Health. In that quest, the massive federal agency regulates and supervises food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, veterinary products, and much more. FDA bosses also find the time to conduct surveillance against scientists critical of FDA…
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A Perverse Incentive to Dump Your Health Insurance


Thursday July 12th, 2012   •   Posted by Craig Eyermann at 8:17am PDT   •   3 Comments

Is it better to keep or dump your personal health insurance under ObamaCare? It seems really strange to be asking that question, seeing as the main argument made in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was that it would ensure that all Americans would have health insurance coverage. Better, with all…
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U.S. Department of Waste Fraud and Abuse–Or is it Education?


Wednesday July 11th, 2012   •   Posted by K. Lloyd Billingsley at 4:52pm PDT   •   10 Comments

Federal student financial assistance programs are “costly, inefficient, byzantine, and fail to serve their desired objectives,” according to Ohio University economics professor Richard Vedder. Fraud is rife and many students fail to graduate and carry heavy debt into their forties. But unlike the federal government, those who receive federal student aid cannot simply raise…
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