30 | November | 2012

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The uncanny X tax

James Pethokoukis | November 30, 2012, 3:59 pm

David Brooks does a pretty fair job describing the X tax, a progressive consumption tax championed by AEI’s Alan Viard: What is the single biggest problem with the tax code? It’s not the complexity, bad as that is. The biggest … read more >

Pethokoukis

After 30 years, The New York Times admits Reaganomics worked

James Pethokoukis | November 30, 2012, 3:08 pm

Here’s the heart of the big New York Times story on taxes: Most Americans in 2010 paid far less in total taxes — federal, state and local — than they would have paid 30 years ago. According to an analysis … read more >

Image Credit: Nick Knupffer (Flickr) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Economics, U.S. Economy

Reelection hasn’t changed him

Peter J. Wallison | November 30, 2012, 3:05 pm

If you‘ve read Bob Woodward’s book, The Price of Politics, you understand all there is to know about Obama’s first fiscal cliff offer to the Republicans. In excruciating detail, Woodward showed that in the 2011 deficit reduction battle the president … read more >

Pethokoukis

Here’s what the House GOP should tell Obama

James Pethokoukis | November 30, 2012, 2:04 pm

America is in desperate need of economic growth. Wall Street economists are now guessing that fourth-quarter GDP will be less than 2% with the “whisper” number at less than 1%. Yet President Obama just proposed nearly $2 trillion in tax … read more >

Politics and Public Opinion, Polls

Gallup: Half of Democrats think positively about socialism

Andrew Rugg | November 30, 2012, 1:08 pm

A new Gallup poll finds that Republicans and Democrats differ dramatically in their impressions about certain terms like socialism, big business, and the federal government. The most striking figure from the poll is the number of Democrats and Democratic leaning Independents … read more >

Foreign and Defense Policy

Best of the foreign policy blogs 11/24-11/30

Marc Thiessen | November 30, 2012, 1:04 pm

Here is the best of what AEI’s foreign and defense policy scholars are reading this week: Jessica T. Mathews in Foreign Policy considers The World in 2013 Seth Mandel at Commentary Magazine discusses Hamas’s All-of-the-Above Approach to Regional Alliances Anna … read more >

Pethokoukis

Why Obama feels little pressure to cut spending

James Pethokoukis | November 30, 2012, 12:36 pm

The Tax Policy Center is out with a new report making the case for tax reform that would increase revenue and make the tax code more efficient. Like many tax experts, authors Samuel Brown and William Gale love the idea of … read more >

Pethokoukis

Math is hard: Why spending, not tax revenue, is the big problem

James Pethokoukis | November 30, 2012, 11:34 am

OK, so Team Obama is proposing $4 trillion in debt reduction. About $1.6 trillion would come immediately via tax hikes — both higher rates and lower deductions — from wealthier Americans. So based on that, this plan is roughly 60% … read more >

Politics and Public Opinion, Polls

What you may have missed in this week’s polls: The fiscal cliff, government’s role in health care, and Chris Christie

Karlyn Bowman and Andrew Rugg | November 30, 2012, 9:25 am

Fiscal cliff: A new ABC News/Washington Post poll confirms what virtually all other polls have shown: Solid support for raising taxes on incomes over $250,000. In this new poll, 60% were in favor and 37% opposed. Supporters include those with incomes of … read more >