Among the foremost threats to individual freedom in America is the abusive and oftentimes lawless behavior…
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More Legal Shenanigans from the Biden Administration’s Department of Education

Among the foremost threats to individual freedom in America is the abusive and oftentimes lawless behavior of federal administrative agencies, whose vast armies of overpaid bureaucrats remain unaccountable for their excesses.

Among the most familiar examples of that bureaucratic abuse is the Department of Education (DOE).  Recall, for instance, the United States Supreme Court’s humiliating rebuke last year of the Biden DOE’s effort to shift hundreds of billions of dollars of student debt from the people who actually owed them onto the backs of American taxpayers.

Even now, despite that rebuke, the Biden DOE launched an alternative scheme last month in an end-around effort to achieve that same result.

Well, the Biden DOE is now attempting to shift tens of millions of dollars of…[more]

March 19, 2024 • 08:35 AM

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61 The Inflation Cure

If you think runaway inflation is brutal, wait until you get hit by the cure.  Last week, the Federal Reserve raised the interest rate on money it lends to other banks by .75%, the biggest hike in three decades. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the hike is necessary to rein in skyrocketing inflation. He's planning more hikes in the coming months.…

62 Yes, Biden Deserves Blame for Inflation

President Joe Biden has written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal detailing his plan to fight inflation. Well, perhaps the word "detailing" is too generous. The preponderance of the column features Biden taking credit for economic growth that can be attributed to the reopening of the economy that was shuttered by the governing class during…

63 2022 Index of Economic Freedom: Biden Drags U.S. to All-Time Low of 25th

In today’s polarized culture, debate is characterized more often by normative subjectivity than empirical objectivity.   Even where one side in a debate possesses an advantage of common sense and lessons learned through experience, objective resolution is often impossible and people must simply agree to disagree.   It&rsquo…

64 Biden-Pelosi-Schumer Policies Birthed Runaway Inflation, and They Threaten to Make It Worse

“Putin Price Hike.”   If Joe Biden and his enablers lie regarding a subject as amenable to precise mathematical refutation as inflation, one wonders what other lies roam beneath the murk of mainstream media guile and bureaucratic obfuscation.   The simple fact is that inflation commenced its sharp upward trend in January…

65 The Democrats' Bidenflation Disaster

The government says inflation rose 8.5% in March compared to last year – the worst it has been in 40 years, since the bad old days of 1981. While inflation has infected virtually every area of the economy, the worst news concerns some very fundamental human activities: eating, finding warmth and shelter, and moving around. Look deep…

66 Workers and Savers Screwed by Inflation While Government Spending Caters to the Takers

U.S. senators need to forgo the posh Capitol dining rooms and go food shopping in the shoes of ordinary Americans. Shoppers are panicking at the meat counter, where beef prices are up more than 20%. Nearly everything in the basket costs more. Most pols are clueless about the pain inflation is causing. Retirees are the biggest victims. Inflation is…

67 Democrats Have Only Themselves to Blame for the Inflation Fiasco

It's been quite a spectacle watching people who credit Democrats with every job created and every percentage point gained in economic growth suddenly arguing that the White House is completely powerless in the face of our current economic predicament. Presidents generally get far too much credit and/or blame for our fortunes, but they can certainly…

68 The Biden White House Will Pay for Playing Inflation Games

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain recently endorsed the idea that inflation and supply-chain struggles Americans are struggling with are "high class problems." I'm in no position to comment on whether the inflation spike we're experiencing is "transitory" or not (though, metaphysically speaking, isn't everything!). Maybe it…

69 Despite Gathering Economic Clouds, Biden Pushes Higher Taxes and Wasteful Spending

As economic clouds form both domestically and worldwide, what America and the world need is sober helmsmanship and policies that propel our economy, not weaken it.   Instead, we get preposterous and incoherent whoppers from Joe Biden in defense of his massive tax and spending scheme.   “Every time I hear, ‘This is…

70 Dems' Multitrillion Scam Bill

Dems are pushing to pass a multitrillion-dollar spending bill called the Build Back Better Act. It ought to be called the Political Scam Bill.  Buried in the 2,465 pages are numerous billion-dollar grants to unnamed community organizations for vague purposes such as promoting "community engagement" and "creating equitable civic…

71 Biden Proposes Expanded IRS “Massive Compliance” Snooping

In what should still be a presidential honeymoon period, the Biden Administration finds itself rapidly collapsing and unable to execute even rudimentary tasks.   In such deteriorating circumstances, one would expect it to correct course and revive its plummeting credibility by steering in good faith toward unity, the political center and…

72 Sorry, AOC, The Rich Already Pay Their Fair Share

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez donned an elegant gown with the slogan "Tax the Rich" painted on the back at the Met Gala in New York, where guests selected by Vogue's Anna Wintour ponied up around $35,000 a pop for tickets. The scene was reminiscent of Tom Wolfe's "radical chic" – though rather than being guests of…

73 Democrats Are Trashing the American Work Ethic With Their Spending Bill

The humongous bill that Democrats in Washington, D.C. are assembling this week is a slap in the face to Americans who work, pay taxes and support their families. The bill demeans work ethic and glorifies government handouts. It sends a message that work and self-sufficiency are for suckers. Better to climb on Uncle Sam's gravy train that will now…

74 Amid Economic Uncertainty, Law Targeting Short Sales Would Backfire

After several months of steady economic recovery, we are once again facing economic uncertainty and peril. Last month, the Federal Reserve significantly raised its projections for inflation and moved up its timeline for interest rate hikes.  Against this backdrop, some lawmakers in Washington, D.C. like Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D – …

75 Troubling Signs Portend a Biden Economic Bust

What’s wrong with this emerging picture?   Just five months ago, Joe Biden inherited a turbocharging economy, months of record monthly job growth numbers and a vaccination program that was already conquering the Covid pandemic.  Biden himself was vaccinated before he took office.   In the short period since his inauguration…

76 Biden Tax Plan Would Give the U.S. the World’s Highest Corporate Tax Rate

Believe it or not, until 2017 the United States imposed the developed world’s highest corporate tax rate.   If the Biden Administration has its way, we’ll regress to that punitive rate and inglorious status under his tax proposal.   In an increasingly competitive global economy, and as the U.S. struggles to emerge…

77 U.S. Plummets to Lowest Ranking Ever in Annual Index of Economic Freedom

The United States’ economic freedom score is 74.8, making its economy the 20th freest in the 2021 Index.  Its overall score has decreased by 1.8 points, primarily because of a decline in fiscal health.  The United States is ranked 3rd among 32 countries in the Americas region, and its overall score is above the regional and world averages…

78 CFIF Joins Coalition Opposing Financial Transactions Tax

In a letter to Congress, the Center for Indiviudal Freedom ("CFIF") today joined a coalition of nearly 30 organizations and activists, led by Americans for Tax Reform, urging opposition to implementation of a financial transactions tax (FTT) on American savers and investors. Read the letter below. VIEW LETTER AS A PDF Dear Member…

79 Proposed Financial Transaction Tax and Regulations Would Punish Everyday Investors and Retirees

In the latest example of the political left cynically leveraging passing events to impose their longstanding wish list, some Congressional Democrats and their outside ideological minders seek to exploit recent stock market volatility centering on the GameStop episode to advance a new array of regulations and taxes.   Topping that list is…

80 Elizabeth Warren’s “Stop Wall Street Looting Act” Would Devastate Investors, Retirees, Jobs and the U.S. Economy

If Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Massachusetts) described the sky as blue, one would be wise to peek out a window just to reconfirm.   It’s not that every single utterance from Senator Warren is necessarily false, but let’s just say that her reliability falls well below the proverbial broken clock that’s at least…

81 Under Trump, U.S. Economy Continues to Outperform Europe

Of all the people Democrats could’ve featured during the first night of their ratings-deficient convention this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made for an especially odd choice.   Most notably, Governor Cuomo maligned President Trump’s performance amid the coronavirus pandemic, either brazenly or cluelessly ignoring the…

82 The Trump Economic Bump, Round II

Friday morning found Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in a funereal mood, their grim visages one of near-mourning.  The occasion for their gloom came in the form of a stunningly positive monthly jobs report that markets and the rest of America celebrated, but wouldn’t allow them even the hint of a smile during their statements.&…

83 The Spread of the Debt Virus

The current U.S. budget deficit could soon exceed a record $4 trillion. The massive borrowing is being driven both by prior budget profligacy and a hurried effort by the Donald Trump administration to pump liquidity into a quarantined America. The shutdown has left the country on the cusp of a self-inflicted economic collapse not seen since the Great…

84 Bernie's Wrong: We Are Better Off Today Than We Were 45 Years Ago

A record-high number of Americans – 90% – say they are satisfied with their personal lives, according to Gallup. And 74% are optimistic that they will continue being financially satisfied moving forward. Needless to say, the United States will never be a utopia, but for the vast majority of its citizens, most things are going…

85 On Economy, Trump Is Right, Obama Wrong

For sheer cognitive dissonance, denial and historical amnesia, today’s leftists and Never-Trumpers provide enough subject material to merit a new research wing within the American Psychological Association.  This week brought another vivid manifestation when Barack Obama reentered the political fray by falsely claiming credit for today&…

86 The Democrats' Economic Message Is Preposterous

Actually, contends every 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful, the economy is in really bad shape. It is only working for the wealthiest among us while leaving behind the poor, the working class and the shrinking middle class. Now, I suppose one could forgive the socialist contingent of the party for offering knee-jerk class-based bromides &ndash…

87 U.S. Economy Blossoms as Our Tax Burden Drops

In welcome pre-holiday news last week for everyone except those suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, the Labor Department announced that job growth exceeded all expectations last month, as U.S. employers added 266,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate plummeted to a 50-year low of just 3.5%.  Just as significantly, employee wages jumped…

88 Trump Economy Roars, Leftists Pivot from Predicting Doom to Claiming Credit

As the American economy continues to defy naysayers and reach unprecedented heights, a funny thing has occurred.  Namely, leftists and Obama apologists have shifted from insisting that President Trump’s economic policies would trigger a catastrophic depression to claiming that all of this is actually Obama’s doing.  Last week…

89 History Has Shown That Socialism Isn't the Cure

Multiple forms of socialism, from hard Stalinism to European redistribution, continue to fail. Russia and China are still struggling with the legacy of genocidal communism. Eastern Europe still suffers after decades of Soviet-imposed socialist chaos. Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea and Venezuela are unfree, poor and failed states. Baathism &mdash…

90 The Fed Has No Business Entering the Real-Time Payment Market

When most Americans think of the Federal Reserve, to the extent that they do at all, they naturally associate it with its primary role of stabilizing our currency through regulation of the nation’s money supply.  And even on that task, the Fed’s performance record is debatable, to put it charitably.  Given its spotty record…

 
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