Archive

Archive for April, 2017
April 27th, 2017 at 3:01 pm
Image of the Day: Americans Pay More On Taxes Than Food, Housing & Clothing Combined
Posted by Print

Today’s eye-opening Image of the Day, courtesy of the Tax Foundation:

Americans Tax Burden

Americans' Tax Burden

April 26th, 2017 at 10:20 am
Celebrating World Intellectual Property Day!
Posted by Print

Happy World Intellectual Property Day!

It’s no secret that private property rights constitute a natural human right, as well as the foundation for prosperity and innovation across time and geography.  And among the forms of private property, it’s important to recognize that intellectual property (IP) constitutes a core component.

For proof, look no further than the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s annual International IP Index, which year after year confirms the cause-and-effect relationship between IP protections and prosperity:

The most up-to-date data on the benefits of IP protection reveals that IP is, in fact, a critical instrument for countries seeking to enhance access to innovation, grow domestic innovative output, and enjoy the dynamic growth benefits of an innovative economy.  Conversely, weak IP protection stymies long-term strategic aspirations for innovation and development.

Taken together, the 21 correlations included in this Index present a clear picture:  IP protection goes hand-in-hand with the aspirations topping government agendas around the world.  As Table 1 suggests, a robust national IP environment correlates strongly (having a strength of 0.6 or above) with a wide range of macroeconomic indicators that fall under the umbrella of innovation and creativity – the very same indicators that are found in national strategies for development of many economies today.  This message has only become stronger over the past 3 editions of the Index.  Adding several new variables each year and expanding the sample size by 50% (from 30 to 45 economies), the strength of the relationship between IP rights and crucial economic activities has grown.”

And nowhere is that relationship more obvious than in the United States.  Our Founding Fathers believed so strongly in IP rights as a natural right and a foundation for prosperity that they specifically protected them in the text of the Constitution.  And since that time, America’s world-leading tradition of IP protection has made us the most inventive, creative and prosperous nation in human history, without any proximate rival in that regard.

In an increasingly globalized economy, it’s important that we celebrate IP and ensure that more of the world protect it in the way that America has.  So join CFIF in celebrating World IP Day today!

April 26th, 2017 at 10:18 am
Nat’l Free-Market Orgs Urge Missouri Governor to Champion Public Sector Union Reforms
Posted by Print
Today, a broad coalition made up of nearly two dozen of the nation’s largest and most influential free-market organizations, led by the Center for Individual Freedom (“CFIF”), sent a letter to Governor Eric Greitens congratulating him on Missouri becoming the 28th state to enact right-to-work legislation and urging him to go further by championing reforms to hold public sector unions accountable to their members and Missouri’s taxpayers at large.

The coalition of organizations pointed to the successful public sector union reforms championed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2011 and urged that, “Missouri has a real opportunity in 2017 to join Wisconsin in leading government union reform.”

Specifically, the organizations noted that “House Bill 251, a comprehensive government union reform package containing paycheck protection, regular recertification elections, union transparency requirements and prohibitions on union release time, is currently in the Senate and awaits final votes from both chambers” of the Missouri legislature.  The letter goes on to state, “As the legislative session quickly comes to a close, we urge you to help Missouri become the next state to see government union reform become a reality.”

“The reforms in House Bill 251 not only protect the rights of workers, but also bring immediate, demonstrable benefits to states enacting them, as Wisconsin’s recent example proves so vividly,” said Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs.

“With Governor Greitens’ leadership, House Bill 251 provides a real opportunity for Missouri to become a model for the rest of the nation in terms of holding government unions accountable to their members and taxpayers,” CFIF President Jeffrey Mazzella said. “We urge Governor Greitens to lead the way on this important issue.”

In addition to CFIF, the organizations making up the coalition include: American City County Exchange, American Commitment, American Conservative Union, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC Action, Center for Freedom and Prosperity, Center for Worker Freedom, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Frontiers of Freedom, Institute for Liberty, Institute for Policy Innovation, Jeffersonian Project, Less Government, Missouri Club for Growth, National Taxpayers Union, 60 Plus Association, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, Taxpayers Protection Alliance and The Market Institute.

Read the letter here.

April 24th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
Tax Reform: Allow Choice Between Immediate Expensing and Interest Deductibility
Posted by Print

Last November, Americans delivered a clear and important message to Washington, D.C.:  Create more American jobs and increase investment in America’s aging infrastructure.

While roads, bridges and other public works projects are obviously important, President Trump has wisely recognized that a successful infrastructure policy must also include steps to stimulate private-sector infrastructure investment and job creation.  Accordingly, as President Trump and Congress take steps to modify and reform the tax code, it is important that any changes being considered not undermine these private infrastructure initiatives.

Specifically, many American businesses currently rely on debt to fund infrastructure investments and create new jobs.  Companies of all sizes in a variety of industries, including energy, internet broadband, telecommunications, manufacturing, transportation, retail and agriculture, routinely use debt to fund new technologies, build out and maintain infrastructure and hire and train American workers.  Like other business expenses, interest paid on debt is an ordinary and necessary cost of doing business and has been tax deductible for over 100 years.

Unfortunately, some tax reform proposals seek to eliminate interest deductibility for businesses in favor of 100 percent expensing — allowing businesses to deduct the full value of capital expenditures in one year rather then spread out over many years.

Eliminating interest deductibility could immediately hinder many businesses’ ability to borrow, thereby impeding infrastructure improvement and expansion, as well as job growth.  Small businesses, which create two out of three American private sector jobs and rely on debt financing, would be particularly hurt by any tax plan that eliminates interest deductibility, because they possess limited or no access to equity capital.  Similarly, large businesses would need to delay investment to account for a larger tax liability over time.

While 100 percent expensing is a good idea that would help spark economic growth, one idea doesn’t need to be sacrificed in favor of the other.  President Trump’s campaign tax proposal offered a wise compromise alternative.

Under his plan, businesses could chose either immediate expensing or interest deductibility, depending upon their particular needs.  That would support economic investment and job growth by giving companies at least the choice between interest deductibility and 100 percent expensing.  The Tax Foundation has determined that allowing companies to choose between the two options would contribute approximately $120 billion to our economy over ten years.

Going back to the infrastructure issue referenced above, electability between the two options also supports the President’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, which relies on public-private partnerships, and Congressional leaders’ similar proposals, which include anticipated leverage ratios of up to five-to-one.  Limiting interest deductibility could undermine those plans.

Perhaps most importantly, allowing companies themselves to choose between the two options facilitates passage of tax reform because proponents of either option need not be foes in the process.

April 24th, 2017 at 12:12 pm
This Week’s “Your Turn” Radio Lineup
Posted by Print

Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.” Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT:  Bradley Smith, Chairman and Founder of Center for Competitive Politics – Victories for Free Speech Rights;

4:15 CDT/5:15 pm EDT:  Frederick M. Hess, Education Policy Analyst and Author – “Letters to a Young Education Reformer”;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT:  Catherine Engelbrecht, Founder of True the Vote;

4:45 CDT/5:45 pm EDT:  Trey Kovacs, Policy Analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute – Taxpayer Subsidies to Government Unions;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT:  Sally Pipes, President, CEO and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute – ObamaCare and Scrapping the Subsidies; and

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT:  Christina Doss, Managing Director, Saltmarsh Financial Advisors, LLC – Women and Investing – Closing the Gender Gap.

Listen live on the Internet here. Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.

April 21st, 2017 at 1:23 pm
Podcast: Will Congress Roll the Dice to Prohibit Internet Gambling?
Posted by Print

Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President for Legal and Public Affairs, discusses the 1951 federal Wire Act, internet sports betting and the history of state regulation of gambling across the country.

Listen to the interview here.

April 17th, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Image of the Day: How Your Federal Tax Dollars Are Now Spent
Posted by Print

Today’s image of the day, courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, how $100 of your federal taxes are now allocated by the government:

.

Federal Spending Allocation

Federal Spending Allocation

.

For perspective (see image below), that means that military spending has declined an alarming 22.3% since just 2011.  In contrast, since 2011 Social Security spending is up 17%, Medicare is up 15.1%, Medicaid is up 25.4%, civilian federal retirement is up 11.3%, education is up 5.3% and interest payments are up 1.8%.  Something to consider as important budget and spending battles heat up…

.

2011 Comparison

2011 Comparison

April 13th, 2017 at 2:21 pm
So Google Favors Intellectual Property After All… Its Own, Anyway
Posted by Print

So it appears that Google isn’t so opposed to intellectual property (IP) rights after all.  As long as it comes to its own, that is.

That’s the upshot of a high-profile federal lawsuit in which Google subsidiary Waymo accuses Uber of stealing its patents and trade secrets:

Waymo LLC, the self-driving car unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc., asked a federal court on Friday to halt Uber Technologies Inc.’s efforts to develop autonomous vehicles allegedly based on stolen design secrets.  The request was made to the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, following a suit filed last month accusing Anthony Levandowski, a former key manager in the Google self-driving car project, of taking 14,000 files before quitting last year to create a self-driving truck maker.  That startup, called Otto, was quickly acquired by Uber last year…

Waymo also filed an expert witness statement to the court from a laser-optics physicist who said he believes Uber’s laser-sensor technology uses Waymo’s trade secrets and infringes on its patents.  Waymo also added a fourth patent to its infringement claims in an amended suit on Friday.”

We take no position on the merits of the case, and maintain no particular grudge against Google as a company.  But its leading role in undermining IP rights in the United States, which made us the most inventive, artistically innovative and prosperous nation in human history, makes its current pleas a bit ironic, to put it mildly.

For years, we’ve been alerting readers to the endless, destructive litany of ways in which Google has undermined IP and public policy for its own benefit:

Here’s the irony.  Google somehow manages to arouse righteous legions of supposed anti-corporatist activists on its behalf (think sunshine anarchists and libertarians of convenience).  Yet Google itself exercises more self-serving, crony capitalist throw weight than any counterpart entity.

For example, consider so-called ‘Net Neutrality,’ with which conservatives and true libertarians are now familiar, that would suddenly empower the federal government to micromanage Internet service.  Google stands to gain enormous free-rider benefits, which explains why it is the chief corporate proponent of that proposed regulatory expansion.

Or think of Google Books, which posts the text of books that Google has gone ahead and scanned for viewing on its site.  Who cares if Google hasn’t first obtained permission from the actual authors and creators, right?  Google counts on the sheer cost and hassle of litigation to discourage individual creators against putting up a legal fight to protect their rights.

How does that square with ‘Don’t Be Evil?’

Or how about this?  Last August, Google voluntarily agreed to a $500 million fine for assisting Canadian online pharmaceutical sellers in accessing American consumers.  That amount is an entire Solyndra, and one of the largest forfeiture penalties in U.S. history.  Google fully admitted that it, ‘improperly assisted Canadian online pharmacy advertisers to run advertisements that targeted the United States,’ and prosecutors added that Google, ‘was fully aware as early as 2003 that generally it was illegal for pharmacies to ship controlled and non-controlled prescription drugs into the United States from Canada.’

But once again, it’s not Google’s health or property at stake, so who cares?”

More recently, Google has used its enormous influence within the Obama Administration to push the Obama Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) destructive cable set-top box proposal, which would have compromised consumer privacy, as well as the Obama FCC’s “privacy” regulation of 2016, which Congress just rightfully rescinded.

Intellectual property rights were so important to our Founding Fathers that they specifically safeguarded them in the text of the Constitution.  Since that time, IP rights have provided the “secret sauce” by which we’ve achieved such incomparable technological, artistic and influential supremacy.

Regardless of the merits of the Google’s litigation against Uber, it has every right to safeguard its own IP rights.  It would be nice if it finally dawned on them that they don’t wear hypocrisy well, however, and that they should stop undermining the same protections for others.

April 11th, 2017 at 8:06 pm
BOOM: U.S. Job Creation Index Notches Third Consecutive Record
Posted by Print

So while Donald Trump enforced Barack Obama’s chemical weapon “red line” abroad, Gallup brings news today that things continue to hum with the Trump employment bump here at home:

The Gallup Job Creation Index rose to +37 in March from +35 in February.  This is the third month in a row the index has hit a new record high after remaining relatively flat for much of 2016.  Since the start of the year, the index has already increased by four points — the same increase seen throughout all of 2016.”

Obama blamestormed Bush for eight years while the U.S. economy and employment conditions stagnated, but as Syrian dictator Bashad al-Assad learned this week, there’s a new sheriff in town and he appears to be achieving quick results.

Trump Job Creation Boom

Trump Job Creation Boom

April 10th, 2017 at 12:32 pm
This Week’s “Your Turn” Radio Lineup
Posted by Print
Join CFIF Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President Renee Giachino today from 4:00 p.m. CDT to 6:00 p.m. CDT (that’s 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. EDT) on Northwest Florida’s 1330 AM WEBY, as she hosts her radio show, “Your Turn: Meeting Nonsense with Commonsense.” Today’s guest lineup includes:

4:00 CDT/5:00 pm EDT: Megan Brown, Partner at Wiley Rein, LLP: Associate Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and His Confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court;

4:15 CDT/5:15 pm EDT: Tzvi Kahn: Senior Iran Analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies: Increased Sanctions on Iran and Foreign Policy;

4:30 CDT/5:30 pm EDT: Senator Doug Broxson, Florida Senate: 2017 Legislative Session;

4:45 CDT/5:45 pm EDT: Bruce Klingner, Senior Research Fellow, Northeast Asia at The Heritage Foundation: North Korea and Trump-Xi Summit;

5:00 CDT/6:00 pm EDT: William J. Conti, Partner at Baker & Hostetler: Syria, President Trump’s Approval Ratings, and Politics and Music; and

5:30 CDT/6:30 pm EDT: Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs: Internet Gambling and On-Line Privacy Laws.

Listen live on the Internet here. Call in to share your comments or ask questions of today’s guests at (850) 623-1330.

April 6th, 2017 at 10:21 am
Ramirez Cartoon: A Message from James Madison to Senate Democrats
Posted by Print

Below is one of the latest cartoons from two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Ramirez.

View more of Michael Ramirez’s cartoons on CFIF’s website here.