"If President Obama is interested in promoting growth now and in the future, he should commit to retaining the low tax rates Congress passed in 2003."

"When the House returns next week to rubber-stamp the Senate’s $26 billion state-aid package, Democrats will take a political crapshoot.

"Even though party leaders expect that approval will be a slam-dunk, some early responses from rank-and-file Democrats have raised red flags about the optics of returning to a special session to vote on more spending — even if it’s framed as saving teachers’ jobs.

"The risk for Democrats as they seek to bolster their flagging election prospects is that some of their vulnerable members will feel like they have to walk the plank, yet again, on a politically unpopular economic-stimulus agenda, while reminding voters of their failure to handle routine budget work this year."

"As the confirmation process for Solicitor General Elena Kagan draws to a close, the question of whether Ms. Kagan is capable of conforming herself to the appropriate role of judge in the American system should be at the heart of the Senate’s decision. For it is the idea of roles that is at the center of the American constitutional system, and the key test in any judicial confirmation process is whether the nominee understands the appropriate role of the judge in the American system of government. After reviewing Dean Kagan’s testimony and other relevant documents, I believe she fails this test, and I urge the Senate to reject her nomination to the Supreme Court."

"Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a federal mandate to purchase health insurance, rebuking President Barack Obama's administration and giving Republicans their first political victory in a national campaign to overturn the controversial health care law passed by Congress in March.

"'The citizens of the Show-Me State don't want Washington involved in their health care decisions,' said Sen. Jane Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, one of the sponsors of the legislation that put Proposition C on the August ballot...

"Missouri was the first of four states to seek to opt out of the insurance purchase mandate portion of the health care law that had been pushed by Obama. And while many legal scholars question whether the vote will be binding, the overwhelming approval gives the national GOP momentum as Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma hold similar votes during midterm elections in November."

"Without naming names or making political charges, the Congressional Budget Office last week issued a report titled 'Federal Debt and the Risk of a Fiscal Crisis.' The report's dry, measured words paint a painfully bleak picture of the long-run dangers from the current runaway government deficits.

"The CBO report points out that the national debt, which was 36 percent of the Gross Domestic Product three years ago, is now projected to be 62 percent of GDP at the end of fiscal year 2010 -- and rising in future years ...

"As the Congressional Budget Office puts it, if the national debt continues to grow out of control, a 'growing portion of people's savings would go to purchase government debt rather than toward investments in productive capital goods such as factories and computers; that 'crowding out' of investment would lead to lower output and incomes than would otherwise occur.'

"Just paying the interest on a growing national debt can require higher tax rates, which 'would discourage work and saving and further reduce output,' according to the CBO."

"Anyone who is familiar with the historical data available from the IRS knows full well that raising income tax rates on the top 1% of income earners will most likely reduce the direct tax receipts from the now higher taxed income -- even without considering the secondary tax revenue effects, all of which will be negative. And who on Earth wants higher tax rates on anyone if it means larger deficits? ...

"As a result of higher tax rates on those people in the highest tax brackets, there will be less employment, output, sales, profits and capital gains -- all leading to lower payrolls and lower total tax receipts. There will also be higher unemployment, poverty and lower incomes, all of which require more government spending. It's a Catch-22.

"Higher tax rates on the rich create the very poverty and unemployment that is used to justify their presence. It is a vicious cycle that well-trained economists should know to avoid."

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is the world’s worst cleaning lady. How has she fulfilled her vaunted promise to 'drain the swamp' and preside over the 'most ethical Congress in history'? By shrugging her shoulders, downplaying the gravity of myriad ethics charges against corruptocrat Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel and waiting for the 'political chips' to 'fall where they may.'  Imagine a custodial service that fixed toilet clogs by letting the overflowing waste and polluted waters 'fall where they may.' ... 

"As last-minute deal-making between Rangel and the foxes guarding the congressional henhouse continues, more and more Americans are coming to the same conclusions: House soilers can’t be cleaners. Voters, not Washington politicians, are the ultimate ethics committee."

"Attorney General Eric Holder could have dictated most of Judge Susan Bolton’s decision blocking key parts of the Arizona immigration law.

"The judge twists facts and logic to support the Justice Department’s claim that the state law preempts the federal immigration scheme. To do so, she accepts Justice’s implicit argument that it’s not the letter of the federal law that matters, but what parts of the law the executive decides to enforce. If her reasoning stands, we will basically cut Congress out of immigration policy and the states out of enforcement. Instead, our immigration system will entirely depend on executive discretion at a time when the executive has little interest in enforcing the law...

"The bottom line is that Arizona wants to enforce the law against illegal aliens. It wants them to be cognizant of the fact that the state is serious about the law, and therefore to conclude that it’s best to leave or not come in the first place. Arizona did not deem these people illegal aliens. The federal government did, in laws passed by Congress and signed by the president of the United States. Arizona thinks those laws mean something. If the Justice Department’s suit -- and Judge Bolton’s line of argument -- prevails, then we’ll know that they don’t. The real law of the land will be our current, de facto amnesty, imposed by executive whim."

"Rather than being a unifier, Mr. Obama has divided America on the basis of race, class and partisanship. Moreover, his cynical approach to governance has encouraged his allies to pursue a similar strategy of racially divisive politics on his behalf...

"Mr. Obama has also cynically divided the country on class lines. He has taken to playing the populist card time and time again. He bashes Wall Street and insurance companies whenever convenient to advance his programs, yet he has been eager to accept campaign contributions and negotiate with these very same banks and corporations behind closed doors in order to advance his political agenda...

"President Obama's divisive approach to governance has weakened us as a people and paralyzed our political culture. Meanwhile, the Republican leadership has failed to put forth an agenda that is more positive, unifying or inclusive. We are stronger when we debate issues and purpose, and we are all weaker when we divide by race and class. We will pay a price for this type of politics."

"White House economic adviser Christina Romer is off-message. Her offense is nearly as grave as that of White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, who let slip that Democrats are in danger of losing the House. Romer’s indiscretion was made in an academic paper arguing that tax increases kill growth . . . just as the White House prepares to increase taxes. 

"Published with her husband in the June issue of The American Economic Review, Romer’s paper is complicated and nuanced, befitting the work of a serious academic economist. It surveys tax changes during the past few decades in widely varying circumstances. But here’s a crude, two-sentence takeaway: 'Our estimates suggest that a tax increase of 1 percent of GDP reduces output over the next three years by nearly 3 percent. The effect is highly significant.'"