From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. The newest bailout is underway. This time it's a billion dollars—up…
From The Heritage Foundation, I'm Ernest Istook. Folks in Washington often try…
"We received confirmation this morning . . . that Chrysler Group repaid, with interest, by wire transfer to the United States Treasury and by bank transfer to the Canadian government, every penny that had been loaned less than two years ago." The claim by Chrysler…
Testimony before Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Committee on Financial Services …
Revised and updated July 06, 2011. Washington’s reckless spending spree of the past several years and unwillingness to confront the mountains of debt coming soon from unreformed federal entitlement programs threaten the economic and social…
Are you ready for the next massive taxpayer bailout? Many of the same lawmakers who infuriated taxpayers by bailing out Wall Street, the auto companies, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently created a new program virtually guaranteed to require bailouts. And unlike those…
Abstract: Proponents of Obamacare claim that it will simultaneously provide millions of Americans with health insurance and reduce the budget deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet Obamacare’s proclaimed budgetary discipline rests on unlikely assumptions and budget gimmicks—none worse than the CLASS Act,…
Over the next few weeks, the walking political dead in Congress will probably try to railroad through a stack of terrible legislation before they face voters in November. Polls show that Congress’s approval rating is already at record lows, so many liberal lawmakers are likely to decide they have nothing…
Abstract: Long-run federal spending is wildly unsustainable, as almost everyone from right to left agrees. Under President Obama, this long-run problem has been married to an almost equally unsustainable short-run problem of deficit spending. Thus, to watch developments…
Congress is considering $23 billion in new “emergency” spending on public education. This new spending comes on top of the nearly $100 billion appropriated to the Department of Education through the 2009 economic stimulus bill. At the same time, $34.7 billion in stimulus funds for education remain unspent.[1]…
Abstract: Despite decades of repeated failure, President Obama and Congress continue to promote the myth that government can spend its way out of recession. Heritage Foundation economic policy expert Brian Riedl dispels the stimulus myth, lays out the evidence that government spending does not end recessions--and…
For an update on automotive bailouts, read "Putting the Brakes on the Automotive Bailout" and the Housing and Financial…
This weekend, the Eurozone members and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposed a €110 billion ($140 billion) rescue package for the struggling Greek economy. In exchange for imposing tough austerity measures—including a three-year public sector pay freeze, an increase in taxes, and a liberalization of labor laws—Eurozone countries will provide…
The Senate is expected to take up a proposal, originally authored by Senator Chris Dodd (D–CT), to reform the financial regulatory system in the U.S. The goal is clear: to minimize the chances that another financial crisis—and bailouts—will arise again. The objective is a good…
Last week the Bush Administration tried to find ways to use the funds available in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to bail out the Detroit automobile companies. That decision is just the latest of weekly, and sometimes daily, Administration reinterpretations of the TARP program's purposes. And no doubt the incoming Administration will continue this…
My 6-year-old granddaughter Abby bragged recently that she could count to 20. She proceeded to demonstrate, and I praised her. Then she asked how high I can count. I told her that I don't know; I've never tried because it takes too long. Today we talk about numbers so big that we cannot comprehend them. People often…
Abstract: Congress cannot kick its spending habit. This time it is using the extension of long-overdue tax-reducing provisions to increase spending $174 billion and add $134 billion to the deficit. Even worse, Congress has crammed a job-destroying tax hike and other detrimental policies into…
The new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) 10-year budget baseline provides a sobering picture of a federal government that has committed itself to trillions more in spending than taxpayers can afford. Once the baseline is scrubbed of several unrealistic assumptions that Congress demands CBO use, the more realistic baseline…
Abstract: In response to the recent financial crisis, the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve Board are capping executive salaries and bonuses, and imposing a host of new regulations and mandates--all in the name of reducing risk. If the rule of…
President Obama is spending a great deal of time talking about the auto industry bailout, but when he tells the story of...…
Back in 2010, The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom first reported the shocking erosion of America’s...…
Perhaps buyers are waiting for President Obama’s proposed $10,000 tax credit for the Chevy Volt. Despite government...…
President Obama has announced that he ordered the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to cut in half the fee paid by...…
There were plenty of lessons to learn after the financial crisis of 2008. Unfortunately, neither Congress nor the...…
Remember when last September Senator Dick Durbin (D–IL) claimed that his contribution to the Dodd–Frank financial...…
Before Obamacare became the law of the land, members of Congress could not escape the question: Does the Constitution...…
Did you know that there are no Volkswagen manufacturing plants in the Detroit area? Or Mercedes-Benz? Or Kia? Or...…
Are you a fan of Twinkies, the cream-stuffed yellow cake confection packed with sugary goodness, wrapped in a thin...…
Undeterred by the underperformance of several previous efforts at mortgage refinancing, the Obama Administration has...…
Director, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies
Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy
Senior Research Fellow in Regulatory Policy
Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions