by Emily Dietrich President Obama convened a joint session of Congress Thursday night to unveil his latest jobs proposal. Almost immediately, lawmakers and political pundits levied harsh criticism. Leftists expressed fear that the President’s proposal isn’t “bold” enough. The purported $450 billion price tag doesn’t come near the $1 trillion in spending some have agitated...
by Aon Hussain For weeks on end the debt ceiling deadline debate captured the public’s attention on a very serious fiscal situation. But what was actually accomplished in terms of solving our nation’s problems? Here’s a look at the projected numbers for fiscal year 2011. US Tax Revenue: $2,228,000,000,000 Federal Budget: $3,708,000,000,000 New Debt: $1,480,000,000,000 National Debt: $14,584,000,000,000...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Mercatus senior research fellow Veronique de Rugy’s latest publication describes the dire consequences of the federal government’s spending trajectory. She shows the long-term divergence between federal government spending and tax revenue in the chart below. As Veronique de Rugy explains: If we do not change course, servicing this debt will end up as our biggest...
A painstakingly accurate chart from the Mercatus Center's Veronique de Rugy illustrates what current policies will do to our share of the nation's debt. Take your portion today, and double it.
Senator Toomey discusses the consequences of raising the debt ceiling.
By Chris Andriesen
11/22/2010
by Ashley Muchow Using data from the CBO’s 2010 Long-Term Budget Outlook, Mercatus Center’s Veronique de Rugy has charted the long-term path of federal spending on three of its largest components–Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and interest on federal debt. Here’s the kicker: interest costs, if they remain on their current path, are set to become the majority of...
by Ashley Muchow The Mercatus Center released a longitudinal illustration of the changes in employment from 2001 to 2009. In 2009, private sector employment undoubtedly got the short end of the stick–losing nearly 6 million jobs, while government and federal employment numbers managed to increase. Now we all know the economy has been hit hard in recent years and...
By Chris Andriesen
08/17/2010
Veronique de Rugy of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University constructed the diagram below using data from the Congressional Budget Office during the very early stages of the Great Recession and before the Obama presidency. It shows the increase in marginal tax rates required to fund entitlement spending for 2010, 2050 and 2082. The required increase...
A Democratic health care memo is floating through the halls of Congress telling members to avoid talking about the bill's cost.
By Chris Andriesen
06/25/2008
What to do about 47 million uninsured nationwide and 1.4 million Illinoisans without insurance? This has become a central issue in the debate over health care. In recent years, mandates, both on individuals and businesses, have emerged as a popular solution among policymakers to address the chronic problem of the uninsured and uncompensated care. Last...
