New research suggests that legislators should cut spending and enact growth-inducing policies. The reasoning? According to the study, spending cuts can positively affect economic growth and are the only historically reliable way to lower deficits and debt. The authors of the study, Alberto Alesina and Francesco Giavazzi, write that “spending-based consolidations [spending cuts] accompanied by […]
Sweden is known for, among other things, Swedish meatballs, the pop group ABBA, and IKEA. Well, here is another thing that Sweden should be recognized for: tax cuts. Yes, you heard right: tax cuts. Sweden used to tax corporations at a 60 percent rate. Now that has come down to 26.3 percent. As noted in […]
In a bit of scheduling serendipity, Tax Freedom Day—the day when Americans finally earn enough income to pay off the bill for all federal, state, and local taxes for the year—falls on April 17 this year. That also happens to be Tax Filing Day 2012. Absent tax changes made by Congress, Tax Freedom Day moves […]
Americans who are scrambling to pay their taxes by Tuesday’s deadline are in store for more depressing news: The tax burden on American families has risen dramatically and will continue to climb into the future without action from Congress. This week’s chart outlines the growth of taxes over the past 45 years. Large tax increases […]
North Korea unsuccessfully launched its Unha-3 missile in violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions that preclude “any launch using ballistic missile technology.” Iran also has an aggressive ballistic missile program and is closer than ever to developing a nuclear weapon. This is clearly not the time to scale back the U.S. missile defense and […]
Invisible Children brought worldwide attention to Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army with a wildly popular documentary called “Kony 2012.” The 30-minute film depicted Kony’s a violent militia in Central Africa. It currently has more than 87 million views on YouTube. The film’s success raised awareness about Kony and also inspired both positive and […]
For those who think the United States should withdraw from the world stage, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has a message: America is exceptional because of its willingness to lead, and without maintaining that commitment, America’s greatness will be in jeopardy. In a wide-ranging speech today at The Heritage Foundation, Rice explained why American […]
This morning, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a document titled “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty.” To Americans who care about and work for religious freedom, the bishops’ statement is a powerful message of solidarity. The bishops argue that, in America, religious freedom is our first and […]
An article by Jon Adler at “Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine,” (Last viewed Apr. 11, 2012), written on behalf of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) is quite critical of the recently-introduced Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures (FOCUS) Act of 2012. The thrust of the article is that the FOCUS Act would put […]
On April 10, The Heritage Foundation hosted an event titled “Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Questions and Challenges.” This event is a critical contribution to the debate about the state of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, the proper role of U.S. nuclear weapons, and the need for modernization of the increasingly obsolescent nuclear weapons complex. Below are […]
