SEPTEMBER 15, 2010 Union Power and the Christie Effect After decades of expanding political clout, organized labor is finding voters increasingly unreceptive to its high-tax message. By STEVE MALANGA In the midst of the contentious 2009 gubernatorial race in New Jersey, the state’s teachers union took a poll of its own members and found only […]
POWERFUL UNIONS LOOSING THEIR PUNCH Read More »
SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 Time for Emergency Economic Reform How about a payroll tax holiday, funded by a federal spending, hiring and pay freeze? By MITCH DANIELS, Governor of Indiana Ronald Reagan enjoyed telling of the elderly Blitz victim rescued from her demolished London flat in World War II. A fireman found a bottle of brandy under
MITCH DANIELS – TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BRANDY! Read More »
SEPTEMBER 7, 2010 The Obama Economy How trillions in fiscal and monetary stimulus produced a 1.6% recovery. So two months before an election, and 19 months after the mother of all spending programs, President Obama said yesterday he’s rolling out one more plan to stimulate the economy. We’ll discuss the details when they’re released, but
THE OBAMA ECONOMIC MALAISE Read More »
SEPTEMBER 2, 2010 Summer of Economic Discontent The administration’s ‘summer of recovery’ has fizzled in almost every way imaginable. The growth rate is less than half what it was at this stage after the 1974-75 and 1981-82 recessions. By MICHAEL BOSKIN The Obama administration’s “summer of recovery” has morphed into a summer of economic discontent
OBAMA’S WEAK RECOVERY Read More »
AUGUST 26, 2010 The IRS Targets Incompetent Tax Preparers That’s good news. But the agency is going overboard By BRAD SHERMAN AND MICHAEL CONAWAY The IRS is out to do something nice for us by ensuring we get quality help when we hire someone to prepare our tax returns. Unfortunately, parts of this laudable effort
IRS BROADENS ITS REACH Read More »
AUGUST 24, 2010 The Fed Can Create Money, Not Confidence Inflation—or stagflation—remains the more serious danger than deflation. By GEORGE MELLOAN A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last week showed that consumers are having difficulty climbing out of the debt hole they dug for themselves before the credit bubble began to
THE FED CAN’T BUY PUBLIC CONFIDENCE Read More »
AUGUST 22, 2010 $4.4 Trillion That’s how much the spending baseline has increased in 31 months. Speaking last Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, President Obama asked, “How do we, over the long term, get control of our deficit?” Good question. Here’s the answer suggested by last Thursday’s semi-annual budget summary from the Congressional Budget Office: Stop
THE $4.4 TRILLION SPENDING BOOM Read More »
AUGUST 24, 2010 Virginia Is for Surpluses Erasing red ink without a tax increase. Here’s something you don’t see often these days: a government running a budget surplus. Governor Robert McDonnell announced last week that Virginia closed fiscal 2010 some $400 million in the black. That’s a radically improved financial picture from a year ago
VIRGINIA STOPS THE RED INK WITHOUT A TAX INCREASE Read More »
AUGUST 19, 2010 Unfunded Public Pensions—the Next Quagmire A federal bailout would cost trillions and prevent necessary reforms. But there are several ways states can rationalize their workers’ retirement benefits. By R. EDEN MARTIN The next big issue on the national political horizon may be whether the federal government should bail out the many budget-strapped
THE NEXT BAILOUT – UNFUNDED PENSIONS Read More »
Frank Roche, economist, comments on issues and concerns of our day http://www.therocherecord.com
THE ROCHE RECORD – ISSUES AND CONCERNS OF CURRENT INTEREST Read More »
