This editorial cartoon from the USA Today in 2009 reminded me of current day Illinois. Tough times for everyone, except for those who work for the government. Recently, Gov. Quinn signed a contract handing out 7 percent pay raises, a two-year “no layoff” guarantee, a pledge to close no branches, plus another round of...
by Kate Piercy Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Veronique de Rugy provides a chart showing the changes in federal and private annual wages this decade: Her research shows: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2001 to 2009 average annual private pay grew by 24.9%, total government pay grew by 30.1%, and federal pay...
by Wesley Fox Over the last decade, Americans have steadily moved to states with lower taxes and fewer regulations on businesses. The population of business-friendly states such as Texas, Florida, and Utah has increased significantly. In fact, all three are expected to gain seats in the Congress after they are reapportioned. According to a recent...
by Brian Costin According to the 2009 American Community Survey, “The poverty level in Illinois increased 24 percent over the past decade — to 13.3 percent in 2009, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this morning.” How could this be? While the overall economy is bad, are our policies contributing to increased poverty...
by Kate Piercy A recent poll from Rasmussen Reports shows “seventy-five percent (75%) of voters prefer free markets over a government managed economy.” Although this was a national poll, Illinois candidates would do well to listen to this consistent theme coming from the voices of voters across the country as well asthose in Illinois. Want some ideas?...
by Kristina Rasmussen Republicans in Congress unveiled their “Pledge to America,” which seeks to limit taxes and spending, among other things. You can read the full text below. How about a Pledge to Illinois? Some great policy ideas to consider: A budget balanced without a tax hike. A Constitutional cap to limit spending growth. An overhaul of job-killing regulations. A 3/5 super-majority requirement for...
by Kate Piercy Interesting poll results from Rasmussen Reports: A plurality of Americans (43%) believe that government programs increase poverty in America. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 22% of the nation’s adults believe that those programs decrease poverty. Twenty-three percent (23%) say they have no impact. There is a fundamental difference...
by Ashley Muchow Check it out! The Tax Foundation released a nifty interactive tool showing state-to-state migration data for a range of years between 1993 and 2008. The tool tracks the flow of both people and their income based on IRS tax return data. You can select any state and track the net inflows and outflows to and from...
by Ashley Muchow Robert Barro, in his most recent WSJ article, takes note of various logical shortcomings in the Obama administration’s economic agenda. Rather than focus on the supply-side rationale of creating incentives that stimulate both supply and demand—thus yielding sustained economic growth—the Obama administration has ignored the breadth of supply-side manifestations in the policy measures it...
by Ashley Muchow Two trends have taken off in recent years—a rising number of entitlement recipients and a drop in the number of Americans paying taxes. Both highlight the unfortunate drift towards mounting wealth redistribution and big government. Sara Murray fleshed out these two trends in today’s WSJ. Government data [doesn’t] show how many of the households...
by Kristina Rasmussen A new report on jobs and unemployment from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability points out that Illinois’s employment levels are similar to that after the 2001 recession: Though the State gained jobs between the ‘90s tech boom peak and the 2006 expansion peak, the employment situation in Illinois currently stands approximately where the...
by Ashley Muchow The economy has proved to be the most important topic in politics today. Rightfully so. Come the end of last month, U.S. unemployment stood at 9.6%. Economic activity left much to be desired as GDP rose 1.6% in the second quarter of 2010, compared to a 3.6% increase in the first. Naturally, Washington feels obliged...
by Kate Piercy “Where are the new jobs?” asks John Stossel in his article today. Why aren’t businesses hiring? Well, Stossel concludes businesses will not start investing in new workers until the current “regime of uncertainty” ends, explaining: After previous recessions, unemployment didn’t get stuck at close to 10 percent. If left alone, the economy can...
by Kate Piercy Here’s an interesting chart from the Mercatus Center’s Veronique de Rugy, who has examined different states’ unemployment at the time The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) passed and the stimulus funds each state has received so far. De Rugy found no correlation between the two variables. The chart suggests stimulus funds...