United States Congress

States with Business-Friendly Policies Growing

09/28/2010
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...

What Does the Post Office Do in an Economic Downturn? Raise Prices!

09/27/2010
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...

Special Elections Could Thwart Democrats’ Plans for Lame Duck Session

09/24/2010
by Wesley Fox Some Republicans in Congress have expressed concern Democrats in Congress will use the lame duck session after the November election to push through controversial legislation such as Cap and Trade and Card Check.  The concern is that the Democrats who lose in the election will go ahead and vote for these controversial measures since their job will...

A Pledge to Illinois

09/23/2010
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...

Commit, Speaker Pelosi

09/16/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen A report from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that the sunset of the Bush tax cuts at the end of 2010 would cost the average middle-income Illinois family earning $68,958 some $1,640 in higher taxes in 2011. Check out our handy table to see how much your family could pay in higher federal and/or state...

Congress bails out the unaffordable status quo

08/11/2010
by Collin Hitt Congress approved another bailout yesterday. This one for state governments and local school districts.  The feds will print $26 billion, ostensibly to forestall 161,000 teacher layoffs.  Without getting into the details about the nationwide teacher hiring glut of the past ten years, the threat to fiscal federalism from this new ‘stimulus,’ or...

Constitutional Challenge to Illinois’s Campaign Finance Laws

07/15/2010
by Kristina Rasmussen The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) is challenging Illinois’s new campaign finance laws. From CFIF’s press release: Center for Individual Freedom Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Illinois’ Campaign Finance Law Vagueness of Illinois law and its discriminatory exemption for labor unions violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Center for...

Another Term Befuddled: Financial Reform

07/07/2010
by Ashley Muchow Considering the current financial woes affecting Illinois’s economy, coming to you with more bleak news isn’t fun.  Onward.  Congress has before it the Financial Reform Bill; a reform bill intended to overhaul the financial system as we know it.  But before you begin thanking Washington for coming to the rescue; for protecting...

Vouchers in D.C. Rock: New Study

06/22/2010
by Collin Hitt Using a school voucher in D.C. significantly boosted students’ chances of graduating high school, according to an official evaluation released today by the federal Department of Education.  Students who used vouchers, versus those who were eligible but did not receive or use vouchers, had a 21 percent greater chance of graduating high...

Hey, Big Spender!

06/16/2010
BillTally provides a window into the cumulative costs or savings present in bills sponsored by Members of Congress.
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Chicago Forward 2026: A pro-growth plan to end city budget deficits

Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.

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Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016