Publications
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Amending the Constitution By Convention: A More Complete View of the Founder’s Plan
Publication -Policy Studies -Rob Natleson, senior fellow of the Independence Institute, presents his first policy study relating to amending the Constitution of the United States through an Article V convention. -
Research & Commentary: A Federal Balanced Budget Amendment
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The current public outrage over bailouts, excessive spending, and a staggering national debt are helping fuel the push for a federal balanced budget amendment. -
Ten Principles of Federal Tax Policy
Publication -Legislative Principles -This booklet focuses on the federal income tax, since this tax collects by far the most revenue and affects the most people in the United States. -
Research & Commentary: The Problem with ‘Fat’ Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -States are increasingly looking to soda, candy, and other so-called “fat” taxes as a way to shore up their budgets. -
Ten Principles of Federal Tax Policy
Publication -Legislative Principles -The power to tax is the most ubiquitous of all government powers. It reaches directly or indirectly to all classes of people, all industries, all elements of society. Taxes always place at least some burdens on business, individuals, and the economy. -
The Patriot’s Toolbox
Publication -Books -Rarely have more people in the United States been so deeply concerned about the direction of their country as right now, in 2010. -
Higher Education in South Carolina: Cut Administrative Costs and Focus on Student Performance
Publication -Research and Commentaries -While South Carolinians can take pride in our state’s higher educational system, costs and tuition have skyrocketed in recent years, even as graduation rates remain below 40 percent. -
Research & Commentary: Capital Gains Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The current capital gains tax rate of 15 percent is set to increase substantially at the end of the year as the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts sunset. -
Research & Commentary: Privatization
Publication -Research and Commentaries -The concept of privatization is relatively simple: a shifting of a government-provided service or aspects of it to a private business subject to the rigors of a competitive marketplace. -
Research & Commentary: The Upcoming Dividend Tax Increase
Publication -Research and Commentaries -One tax hike set to take effect January 1, 2011 unless Congressional action is taken is a 164 percent increase in the tax on dividends. This would raise the top tax rate from 15 percent to 39. -
Research & Commentary: VAT Will Increase Both Debt and Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -A value-added tax (VAT) is a sales tax applied at each stage of production for a good or service, instead of only at the point of final sale. -
Research & Commentary: A Different Way to Budget
Publication -Research and Commentaries -States are beginning to turn away from baseline budgeting, a method that has proven ineffective in keeping the size of government to a responsible level. -
Research & Commentary: Extending the Bush Tax Cuts
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Without Congressional action the Bush tax cuts will sunset on January 1, 2011 and raise U.S. residents’ tax bills by a whopping $3.1 trillion over the next 10 years. -
School Vouchers, Prosperity, and Job Creation
Publication -Research and Commentaries -States and localities are struggling with the need to slow the growth of spending for public K-12 education, while government employee unions and some legislators continue calling for ever-more money. -
Research & Commentary: South Carolina Cigarette Tax Ignores Real Budget Problems
Publication -Research and Commentaries -South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of a 50-cents-per-pack cigarette tax hike shows he understands such tax hikes are bad for the state’s economy and bad for all of the state’s taxpayers, not just those who smoke. -
Research & Commentary: New Hampshire’s Vanishing Tax Advantage
Publication -Research and Commentaries -New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch (D) has proposed his fifth cigarette tax increase in five years. The 20 cents-per-pack increase would bring New Hampshire’s cigarette tax to $1.98 per pack, well above the national average. -
Research & Commentary: Subsidizing Sports Stadiums
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Since the 1990s, the building of new sports stadiums has increasingly relied on taxpayer funds, with subsidies growing from just a few million dollars in tax exemptions to unabashed corporate welfare in the hundreds of millions of dollars. -
Research & Commentary: Universal Access and Service Funds Are Outdated, Costly
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Federal and state universal access and service funds (UASFs) have become an ineffective and outdated use of taxpayer money. -
Research & Commentary: Credit Union Member Business Lending
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Access to credit is an essential component of a market system, and the tightening of credit markets in the course of the economic downturn has businesses and entrepreneurs struggling to sustain themselves and grow. Small businesses have suffered the most. -
Research & Commentary: Gross Receipts Taxes New Mexico Update
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Having begun to move away from gross receipts taxes (GRT) in 2005, New Mexico lawmakers are considering reinstating the tax on groceries in an effort to close the state's budget shortfall. -
Research & Commentary: Governor’s Support for Tobacco Tax Makes No Fiscal Sense
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Gov. Mark Parkinson's recommendation to use a cigarette tax increase to help cover Kansas's $300 million budget deficit should be worrisome not only to smokers, but also to nonsmokers and legislators who want to be fiscally responsible. -
Research & Commentary: What Effect Would a Tobacco Tax Hike Have on Utah?
Publication -Research and Commentaries -Tobacco tax hikes like the one being discussed in Utah should be recognized for what they are: unstable and regressive tax increases targeting a minority of citizens, fueling unsustainable government spending, all wrapped in one fiscally irresponsible -
Research & Commentary: Transaction Taxes
Publication -Research and Commentaries -In recent weeks the idea of a "transaction tax" that would impose an apparently small fee on all stock, future, swap, credit default swap, and option transactions has gained significant support among some members of Congress and left-of-center advocacy -
Research & Commentary: SunRail Will Produce Few Benefits and Cost Millions
Publication -Research and Commentaries -As Florida policymakers take up the SunRail passenger rail proposal, the performance of existing passenger rail systems across the country should be part of their deliberations.