by Collin Hitt The new education documentary Waiting for Superman paints many public schools in Harlem in a terrible light. So you might think that the head of NYC schools would be unhappy with the film. Not so. Schools chancellor Joel Klein: If you do one thing this weekend, go see Davis Guggenheim’s latest documentary, Waiting for Superman,...
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 Kate Piercy Here’s an eye-opening breakdown of how possible tax increases coming next year could affect everyone, not only “the rich.” Some potential wallops include: As many as 30 million middle-class Americans could get hit with the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) next year. A school teacher married to a bus driver, with a combined income $120,000 and...
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 Ashley Muchow Check out the latest by Scott Stantis.
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The timing of Cook County property tax bills this fall has entered the political realm. Last year, the bills were sent just before November. This year, they’re going out well after the election. Could there be political reasons for the later date? The Chicago Tribune reports: Cook County property tax bills won’t be out...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Earlier this week, Chicago’s Inspector General (IGO) released the second annual “Budget Options” report featuring 63 options for the city to cut costs or raise revenues. While the ideas range from low-hanging fruit to political non-starters, the report highlights the severity of the fiscal difficulties the city is facing with personnel costs and...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson While movies often cast capitalism as the bad guy, in real life, capitalism allows society to prosper and grow. As Reason.tv points out, “capitalism gives us all kinds of good stuff– including Hollywood movies.”
by Ashley Muchow Our current administration has another plan to bring jobs back the U.S. Though the end goal is merited, the plan of action is grounded in poor economic reasoning. President Obama claimed last week that “for years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourage companies to...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Mail volume keeps dropping year after year, and yet the United State Postal Service would like to raise the price of a stamp from 44 cents to 46 cents. Why is the postal service losing money ($3.5 billion last quarter and $238 billion over the next decade) while private firms like UPS and...
by Kristina Rasmussen Can talking without a license land you in a DC jail? From our friends at the Institute for Justice: In Washington, D.C., talking without a license can land you in jail for 90 days. Tonia Edwards and Bill Main are lawbreakers. Nearly every day, they teach a group of people how to ride Segways,...
by Brian Costin Most mainstream political pundits have a hard time understanding the leadership structure & motivations of the tea party movement. However, Jonathan Raush of the National Journal has an interesting take on the headless tea party movement and their open source type of support structure, which Raush and others compare the Tea Party to...
The Problem $3 billion, $5 billion, $10 billion—the talk surrounding impending federal and state tax hikes is downright scary these days. Governor Pat Quinn proposes a 33 percent increase in the state’s individual income tax rate, equal to raising the burden on Illinois taxpayers by a total of $2.8 billion. David Vaught, Governor Quinn’s budget...