Campaign systems often rely on disclosure (e.g., of campaign contributions and petition signing) to limit corruption and inform the voting public. Such sunshine provides important benefits, but, as I’ve noted before (here and here), it can also have costs. For example, disclosure makes it easier for politicians to identify their supporters and opponents and, if they are [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Politics’
The Cost of Sunshine: Hugo Chavez Edition
Posted in Politics, tagged Politics on July 5, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Spending in Disguise
Posted in Budget, Politics, tagged Budget, Debt Limit, Politics, Taxes on June 29, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Republicans are demanding a deficit-reduction package that’s entirely spending cuts. Democrats insist that revenues must also be included. Are these positions completely irreconcilable? Not if both sides are willing to attack the spending hidden in our tax code. I explore this idea for finding common ground in a new essay in National Affairs, “Spending in [...]
Don’t Fall for a Repatriation Holiday
Posted in Budget, Politics, tagged Politics, Taxes on June 27, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Recent weeks has brought much chatter — from both Republicans and Democrats — about offering companies a temporary tax holiday for repatriating foreign earnings. A typical proposal would effectively tax any repatriated earnings at 5.25% this year, rather than the usual rates which can be as a high as 35%. Proponents tout this as a [...]
Playing with Fire with the Debt Limit
Posted in Budget, Finance, Politics, tagged Debt, Debt Limit, Finance, Politics, Treasury on June 24, 2011 | 3 Comments »
My latest column in the Christian Science Monitor: America sometimes takes its exceptionalism too far. Case in point: We are the only major economy that talks openly of default. Government debt has ballooned throughout the developed world in the aftermath of the Great Recession. France and Britain are as deep in debt as the United States, [...]
How Ambitious is Pawlenty’s Growth Goal?
Posted in Economy, Politics, tagged Economy, GDP, Politics on June 10, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Plenty. In his economic speech on Tuesday, presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty set out an ambitious goal for economic growth: Let’s grow the economy by 5%, instead of the anemic 2% currently envisioned. Such a national economic growth target will set our sights on a positive future. And inspire the actions needed to reach it. By [...]
Debt Limit: Routine or the End of the World?
Posted in Budget, Politics, tagged Debt, Deficit, Humor, Politics on May 14, 2011 | 1 Comment »
ht: Bruce Bartlett
The Cost of Sunshine: The Downside of Disclosing Campaign Donors
Posted in Politics, tagged Politics on April 11, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Campaign finance rules emphasize sunlight. For example, all campaign donations above a modest amount (e.g., $200) must be publicly disclosed. That allows everyone to see who is providing financial support to which candidates. That sounds good if you are worried about campaign contributions buying undue access to our elected leaders. As I noted last year, however, that [...]
Time Management and the Budget Debate
Posted in Budget, Politics, tagged Budget, Politics, Taxes on March 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
What features tiger blood, March madness, federal deficits, and Stephen Covey’s time-management advice? My latest column at CNN Money: America faces trillions of dollars in deficits in coming years. But Congress has been reduced to funding the government three weeks at a time so it can fight over mere billions. Why is Congress spending so [...]
Does the President’s Budget Raise Taxes or Cut Them?
Posted in Budget, tagged Budget, Politics, Taxes on February 15, 2011 | 8 Comments »
Here’s a quick multiple choice quiz about President Obama’s new budget. Over the next ten years, would the budget: a. Increase taxes by $819 billion b. Cut taxes by $2 trillion c. Increase taxes by $1.6 trillion d. All of the above. If you answered (d), you have a fine future [...]
Nice NYT Chart of Debt Limit Votes
Posted in Budget, Politics, tagged Debt, Politics on February 12, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Over at the New York Times, Jackie Calmes surveys the brinkmanship of debt limit politics. Accompanying her piece is a lovely reworking by Amanda Cox of my charts showing how Democrats and Republicans have voted in past debt limit showdowns: I particularly like the horizontal spacing (no missing years). One benefit it that it aligns the [...]
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