Opinion
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Taxpayer Group Sees Promise in State Governors
Opinion -Although California lawmakers would not themselves approve Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s economic recovery proposal, they have agreed to allow Schwarzenegger to present the plan to the state’s voters. -
Massachusetts Ends Ban on Sunday Liquor Sales
Opinion -With the stroke of a pen on November 26, Governor Mitt Romney brought the Puritan State into the twenty-first century, striking down the state’s ban on Sunday alcohol sales, one of the last vestiges of the Prohibition era. -
Congress Shows Little Interest in Budget-Cutting Measures
Opinion -According to the latest BillTally study released in late November by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), just 26 members of the 107th Congress had 2002-2003 legislative agendas that would reduce overall federal spending. -
Michigan Poll Finds Support for Smaller Government
Opinion -With their state government facing a potential $1 billion deficit, Michigan taxpayers want lawmakers to balance the budget with spending cuts rather than tax increases, according to a recent poll. -
Schwarzenegger Recovery Plan on March Ballot
Opinion -On December 12, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation, passed by the state senate earlier that day, putting his economic recovery plan before the people of California in a March 2004 ballot referendum. -
Wilmette Smoking Ban Is Bad Policy
Opinion -A hundred years ago Kin Hubbard, a newspaper columnist in Indianapolis, observed that “it ain’t what we do not know that hurts us so much; it is what we know that just ain’t so. -
Schwarzenegger Inherits Huge Budget Challenge
Opinion -The ongoing California budget problem presents one of the toughest fiscal challenges any American state has ever faced. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the beneficiary of Californians’ recall of Gray Davis, carries a clear mandate to fix the state’s finances. -
Federal Spending per Dollar of Taxes
Opinion -Federal Spending per Dollar of Taxes - 1992 and 2002 Expenditures per Dollar of Taxes 10-Year Change in spending per Dollar of Tax Ranking Change in Ranking FY 1992 FY 2002 FY 1992 FY 2002 Alabama $ 1.39 $ 1. -
ALEC Offers Friendly Advice for Arnold
Opinion -The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)--the nation’s largest bipartisan, individual membership organization for state legislators--responded to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s election with a little friendly advice on restoring the stability and -
Economics Says Wilmette Smoking Ban Is Bad Idea
Opinion -Many people don’t like the smell of cigarette smoke, and they seem to believe it is therefore appropriate and necessary that smoking be banned in places they like to be. -
Proposed Wilmette Smoking Ban Ignores Latest Medical Research
Opinion -My hometown of Wilmette, Illinois is considering an ordinance that would ban smoking in nearly all public places and restaurants. I am not a smoker myself, but I believe such a ban would be bad public policy. -
Taxes, Education Clash in Nevada
Opinion -The state of Nevada is in the midst of a constitutional tug-of-war pitting Silver State taxpayers against the state’s education bureaucracy. For the moment, the state’s top court has given the edge to the bureaucracy. -
Taxpayer Group Recognizes Top-Ranked Governors
Opinion -Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a Washington, DC-based taxpayer advocacy group, awarded 17 governors with high ranks this year, and seven of those were given special “Gold Star” recognition. -
Federal Deficit Still Smaller than the 1980s
Opinion -If current federal laws and policies do not change, the federal government will incur a total budget deficit of $374 billion in 2003 and $480 billion in 2004, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected in its August and October Updates. -
Tax Officials Use Sleight-of-Hand to Help Balance State Budgets
Opinion -In an effort to avoid cutting programs and raising taxes, officials in a handful of cash-strapped states used bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to shift revenue into fiscal year 2004 by moving forward the date on which tax payments are due. -
State Deficits Remain High While Taxes Surge
Opinion -Last year’s elections produced nearly two dozen new governors--the largest turnover in years. But they didn’t have long to celebrate their victories. -
Private Prisons Save Money, Boost Productivity, Studies Find
Opinion -In a get-tough-on-crime move nearly a decade ago, Florida passed in 1995 a law requiring all prison inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. -
How to Cut State Spending
Opinion -Facing record budget deficits and taxpayer opposition to higher taxes, many state legislators are turning for help to a 2002 report from the American Legislative Exchange Council and Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. -
How Washington State Balanced Its Budget
Opinion -According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, the state of Washington opened its 2003 fiscal year with a $1.6 billion deficit--less than the $2 to $3 billion deficit it was projected to have, but a substantial deficit nevertheless. -
Taxes and Growth: Debunking the Myths
Opinion -Now that President George W. Bush’s tax and growth program has been signed into law, it’s time to debunk many of the myths spread by the opponents of tax-reduction policies. -
To Improve Electric Reliability, Put Power in Hands of Shippers
Opinion -Heartland in Print Chicago Sun-Times September 2, 2003 circ. -
Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Poor, Throttle Businesses
Opinion -In February, the Santa Fe City Council approved the nation’s only municipal minimum wage. The law, drafted in large part by the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, will raise the hourly minimum wage in Santa Fe to $8. -
AEI to Host June 25 Conference on Smokeless Tobacco
Opinion -On Wednesday, June 25, 2003, the American Enterprise Institute will host an afternoon conference addressing the topic "Can Smokeless Tobacco Reduce the Health Consequences of Smoking?" The program begins with registration at 1:15 p.m. -
Open Letter to Congressman William Thomas Calling Lower Taxes
Opinion -TAX CUT WORKING GROUP A Coalition for Lower Taxes and Limited Government May 1, 2003 Hon. William M. Thomas United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Congressman Thomas: Soon you will be fashioning a tax reduction bill.