PUBLICATIONS BY Brian M. Riedl
Research
Commentary
Books
Media Appearances
2009 Research
October 30, 2009
The Spending, Deficit, and Debt Control Act Would Help Congress Rein in Spending and Deficits
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2669)
Congress needs a budget framework that promotes responsible budgeting.
October 06, 2009
50 Examples of Government Waste
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2642)
Here are 50 of the most egregious examples of government waste.
September 24, 2009
Congress's Health Care Bills Would Increase Spending and Federal Budget Deficits
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2324)
Both the House health care reform bill (H.R. 3200) and the bill authored by Senator Baucus would increase government spending by hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, even after assuming massive "savings" from cutting waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid. If lawmakers can easily cut nearly $1 trillion in waste from Medicare and Medicaid over the next 20 years, they should do so to reduce Medicare's $36 trillion unfunded obligation, not to fund massive new health care benefits.
September 22, 2009
President Obama's Agenda Would Bring $13 Trillion in Budget Deficits, Not $9 Trillion
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2319)
President Obama's budget will likely produce $13 trillion in deficit spending over the next 10 years--nearly $4 trillion more than forecast. The White House figures are based on unrealistic estimates of discretionary spending, interest payments, and interest rates. The White House also used budget gimmicks to hide the full cost of certain entitlements and failed to account for the full costs of cap-and-trade energy legislation and health care reform.
August 25, 2009
New Budget Estimates Show Unsustainable Spending and Debt
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2595)
The OMB's new budget spending estimates are alarming and absolutely unsustainable-and are the true cause of these appalling levels of deficit and debt.
July 27, 2009
Federal Spending by the Numbers 2009
By Brian M. Riedl
(Special Report #63)
Spending and deficits are surging at a pace not seen since World War II. Washington will spend $33,932 per household in 2009--$8,000 per household more than last year. While much of this spending is a temporary result of the recession and financial crisis, President Obama's 2010 budget would replace this temporary spending with permanent new programs.
July 15, 2009
Income Tax Surtax Should Not Fund Government Health Care Expansion
By Brian M. Riedl and Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2544)
Congress is reportedly considering raising taxes by at least $540 billion over 10 years to fund President Obama's health care initiative through a "surtax" on top of the highest individual tax rates.
July 13, 2009
Facing America's Long-Term Entitlement Challenges Laid Out in the Financial Report of the United States Government
By Brian Riedl
(Testimony #9999)
The most striking part of the 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government is not the balance sheets showing total assets of $2 trillion dwarfed by total liabilities of $12 trillion. Rather, it is the Statements of Social Insurance, which show $43 trillion in excess future expenditures over future revenues for Social Security and Medicare.
June 09, 2009
One Cheer for the House Republican Budget Cuts
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2472)
House Republicans get credit for beginning a necessary and overdue conversation about spending restraint. They should go further to offer meaningful cuts.
May 07, 2009
President's Budget Cuts Should Go Towards Deficit Reduction
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2427)
Congress should go much further than the $17 billion in savings the President has proposed and should make sure these cuts are not transferred into new spending elsewhere.
April 01, 2009
House Republican Budget Would Confront Hard Choices and Rein in Budget Deficits
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2377)
The House Republican blueprint provides a strong contrast to President Obama’s plan to saddle Americans with historic tax increases, runaway spending, and a doubling of the national debt.
March 16, 2009
The Obama Budget: Spending, Taxes, and Doubling the National Debt
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2249)
President Obama has framed his budget as a break from the Bush Administration’s policies. However, Obama’s budget would double the publicly held national debt to more than $15 trillion and hike annual spending from $24,000 per household to $32,000. Obama’s budget would also raise taxes by $1.4 trillion over 10 years. These policies would raise taxes for everyone, not just “the rich.”
March 02, 2009
Omnibus Spending Bill: Huge Spending and 9,000 Earmarks Represent Business as Usual
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2318)
Even a recession and record $1.4 trillion budget deficit has not altered Congress's business-as-usual culture of spending and pork.
February 26, 2009
Obama's PAYGO Law Would Not Slow Spending or Budget Deficits
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2312)
PAYGO has proven to be more of a talking point than an actual tool for budget discipline.
February 24, 2009
The Elements of a Responsible Budget Proposal
By Brian M. Riedl, Mackenzie M. Eaglen, Curtis S. Dubay, J. D. Foster, Ph.D., William W. Beach, and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #2309)
The President must ensure that his budget proposal protects America’s security abroad and economic security at home.
February 10, 2009
Consensus Collapsing for the Senate's $838 Billion "Stimulus"
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2283)
Senators should reject a "stimulus" bill that is based on 1933 economics and ignores 75 years of research and evidence about how growth is created.
February 04, 2009
Stimulus Bill Should Not Bail Out Irresponsible States
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2266)
In response to pleading governors and mayors, the House stimulus bill contains a staggering $200 billion bailout for state and local governments that have spent themselves into deficit. It is a terrible proposal, on several counts.
January 13, 2009
How to Reform Entitlement Spending
By Brian M. Riedl and Alison Acosta Fraser
(Special Report #43)
President-Elect Obama, you based much of your presidential campaign on the promise of a better future for all Americans. A better future must be one in which Americans have the financial freedom to provide for themselves and their families. Yet this future is currently endangered by a Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid system that is set to drown future generations in taxes and debt. Reforming these programs will be one of the greatest economic chal¬lenges of the 21st century.
January 07, 2009
CBO Budget Baseline Shows Historic Surge in Spending and Debt
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2193)
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released its annual 10-year budget baseline. A realistic baseline shows that historic spending increases are projected to drive the budget deficit to $1,220 billion in 2009 and $1,477 billion by 2019—even before any additional economic "stimulus" bills are enacted.
2008 Research
December 16, 2008
Fulfilling Your Budget Reform Promise of a Net Spending Cut
By Brian M. Riedl and Alison Acosta Fraser
(Special Report #35)
President-elect Obama, you campaigned on fiscal discipline and the need to make tough choices. Although your budget blueprint specifies large new spending hikes, you also promised a cumulative "net spending cut."
November 12, 2008
Why Government Spending Does Not Stimulate Economic Growth
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2208)
Washington has already spent hundreds of billions of dollars on economic stimulus bills that have failed to revive the economy. Tax rebates do not help the economy because they are government grants that are not based on encouraging productivity. Economic growth requires increasing the productivity of American workers. Lower marginal tax rates encourage productivity by increasing incentives to work, save, and invest.
November 10, 2008
Emergency Spending: $333 Billion Tab Busted the Budget in 2008
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2127)
Congress and President Bush enacted at least $333 billion in "emergency" spending in the just-completed 2008 fiscal year. While some of this spending may have been for worthy programs, many were routine expenditures given the emergency designation simply to evade spending caps and Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules.
October 15, 2008
Obama's and McCain's Budget Proposals Lack Detail
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #2102)
Both Barack Obama and John McCain have produced budget plans that focus on short-term goals, and both their plans lack detail on how to achieve those goals. However, short-term budget deficits are not the most important budgetary challenge America faces.
September 19, 2008
Time to Move Iraq and Afghanistan Funding into the Regular Budget Process
By Brian Riedl and Baker Spring
(WebMemo #2068)
The U.S. military has been engaged in major combat operations overseas for seven years in Afghanistan and five in Iraq. Congress has provided annual funding for these missions through the use of emergency supplemental spending bills. The Pentagon should no longer use supplementals to pay for these contingencies. Instead, Congress should begin funding these operations as part of the regular defense budget.
September 18, 2008
A Second Economic Stimulus Bill Will Fail—Just Like the First
By Rea S. Hederman, Jr., Stephen Keen, and Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2186)
The new economic stimulus proposals rely on increased government spending, which is a proven failure. Highway and infrastructure projects take too long and do not create new jobs; they transfer jobs from one sector of the economy to another. Congress should learn from its previous mistakes and should not enact a stimulus bill that increases the deficit and will not boost the economy.
September 10, 2008
New CBO Budget Baseline Shows Entitlements Driving Budget Deficits Higher
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #2057)
The Congressional Budget Office’s new 10-year baseline shows steep Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid spending costs driving the budget deficit upwards.The best way to get the budget under control is by reforming these three entitlement programs and bringing down their 7 percent projected annual growth.
September 08, 2008
Ten Myths About Budget Deficits and Debt
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2178)
The Bush tax cuts did not cause the budget deficit because the budget would have still fallen into deficit due to national security, runaway spending, and economic factors. The national debt is not large enough to raise interest rates. Lawmakers should be more concerned for the $42.9 trillion in unfunded Medicare and Social Security costs over the next 75 years.
July 22, 2008
The Higher-Education Bill: The Unnoticed Budget Buster
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2164)
The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 represents one of the largest authorized discretionary spending hikes in American history. Lawmakers should strongly question its cost, its creation of 50 new programs, and its attempt to tell states how much to spend on higher education and accept the reality that taxpayers cannot afford these persistent, large budget increases across the federal government.
July 01, 2008
The Iraq War Bill Was the Wrong Place to Create a Permanent New Entitlement
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #1976)
Once again, Congress and President Bush have turned legislation intended to fund American troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan into a Christmas tree for domestic spending.
June 26, 2008
Addressing the Global Food Crisis
By Brett D. Schaefer, Ben Lieberman, and Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2151)
Measures to deal with the food crisis should include eliminating the artificial demand created by ethanol and other biofuel mandates, making food assistance more effective and efficient, eliminating agricultural trade barriers and subsidies worldwide, loosening restrictions on exploiting U.S. oil and gas reserves, and encouraging the development of genetically modified crops that are better suited to Africa and other famine-prone regions.
June 12, 2008
Congress Again Lards Iraq War Spending Bill
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1953)
Despite vowing to rein in spending, cut the budget deficit, and implement pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules, the Democratic Congress recently voted to cast these promises aside.
June 05, 2008
Congress's Budget Resolution Promises Spending Hikes Now and Tax Hikes Soon
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1946)
Disregarding their promise to restore fiscal responsibility in Washington, the House is about to follow the Senate in passing a budget resolution conference report that...
May 12, 2008
Seven Reasons to Veto the Farm Bill
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2134)
Since the enactment of the last farm bill in 2002, crop prices and net farm income have more than doubled. Yet the new farm bill would expand the $25 billion farm-subsidy system by raising payment rates and creating new subsidies. President Bush should veto Congress's attempt to increase the budget deficit in order to finance additional farm subsidies.
March 11, 2008
A Guide to Fixing Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2114)
Unless lawmakers promptly reform Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, America faces a future of soaring taxes and government spending that will cause poor economic performance. Americans will pay onerous taxes, and future generations will have lower living standards than Americans enjoy today. The longer lawmakers wait to enact the necessary reforms, the more painful those reforms will be.
March 10, 2008
The House Budget's $3,000-per-Household Tax Increase
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1842)
The White House has responsibly pledged to veto legislation with tax and spending increases that would follow from these proposals. Congress should start over and write a budget that does not raise taxes on American families or businesses, is in line with the President’s spending proposals, and addresses the coming entitlement tsunami. Anything less would likely worsen the economic downturn, make it more difficult for families to make ends meet, and kick serious budget challenges further down the road.
February 25, 2008
Federal Spending By the Numbers 2008
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1829)
A detailed explanation of recent trends in federal spending.
February 04, 2008
President's Budget Would Restrain Entitlements and Domestic Discretionary Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1794)
Lawmakers should seriously examine the President's proposals to bring long-term sustainability to entitlement spending.
February 04, 2008
Notes on the New 10-Year CBO Budget Baseline
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1795)
The best way to get the budget under control is by reforming Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
January 25, 2008
President Bush Should Keep His Pledge to Halve the Number of Earmarks
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1780)
President Bush should sign an executive order cancelling the vast majority of earmarks.
January 18, 2008
Why Tax Rate Reductions Are More Stimulative Than Rebates: Lessons from 2001 and 2003
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1776)
Lawmakers currently examining economic stimulus proposals should reject rebates in favor of tax rate reductions.
2007 Research
December 20, 2007
Omnibus Earmarks Out: President Bush Should Cancel Congress's Pork Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1757)
Though Congress brazenly broke its pledge to the American people to reduce earmarks, the President's hands are not necessarily tied to carry out their irresponsible earmarks.
December 17, 2007
Omnibus Spending Bill Busts the Budget to Pay for Pork
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1751)
Unless Congress removes its pork from the bill, the President should veto it.
December 13, 2007
Scrap the Senate Farm Bill and Start Over
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1738)
H.R. 2419 retains an expensive and broken farm susbsidy system.
December 12, 2007
Five Benchmarks for the Omnibus Spending Bill
By Nicola Moore, Stephen Keen, and Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #1737)
If Congress passes a fiscally irresponsible Omnibus Spending Bill, the President should veto it.
November 14, 2007
President's Budget Vetoes Put Needed Brake on Congressional Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1702)
Congress should trim pork and other excessive spending from the appropriations bills.
November 05, 2007
The Senate Farm Bill: A Missed Opportunity
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1690)
With crop prices soaring, farm incomes setting records, and Congress pledging to reduce the budget deficit, now is an opportune time to reform the bloated and outmoded farm subsidy programs.
October 30, 2007
The Democratic Congress's 2008 Budget: A Tax and Spending Spree
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2081)
Congressional Democrats have portrayed themselves as responsible fiscal stewards who would rein in spending, clean up pork-barrel projects, resist large tax increases, and maintain strict PAYGO rules. They have failed on all four counts, leaving the nation saddled with an increasing tax burden and bloated government and ill-prepared to fund the coming retirement benefits for 77 million baby boomers.
October 11, 2007
Congress Loads Spending Bills with Pork and Earmarks
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1660)
To uphold a promise to voters, the Democratic-led Congress should eliminate the pork-barrel projects in the fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills.
September 24, 2007
Budget Delays Should Not Cause Government Shutdowns
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1633)
An automatic continuing resolution would save time and tax dollars while protecting government services in the event of congressional gridlock.
July 30, 2007
Senate SCHIP Bill Makes a Mockery of PAYGO Budget Rules
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1576)
Turning their backs on a campaign promise, Senate Democrats have proposed a bill that would put into motion $60 billion in new deficit spending over the next decade.
July 24, 2007
Don't Be Fooled: House Farm Bill Weakens Payment Limits
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1566)
If Congress is serious about ending agricultural corporate welfare, it should lower the income cap for subsidies to $200,000, as President Bush proposed, and retain the current payment limits.
July 12, 2007
Mid-Session Budget Review Shows Surging Tax Revenues
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1549)
Though a rapid increase in federal revenues shows that the 2003 tax cuts have succeeded in boosting economic activity, the entitlement spending tsunami still threatens America's future.
June 27, 2007
House Transparency Rules Reveal that Pork Projects Tilt Heavily Toward Appropriators
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1530)
Although lawmakers claim to fund projects based purely on merit, the two latest spending bills suggest that committee assignments play a large role in the distribution of pork.
June 20, 2007
How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2043)
This year's farm bill debate will test whether Congress is serious about reform or will continue business as usual by pandering to special interests. Congress and President Bush should take a more sensible approach to farm policy this year. Instead of rubberstamping the status quo, they should return to the market-based approach embodied in the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act.
June 20, 2007
Executive Summary: How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #2043)
How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too
June 20, 2007
Pork-Barrel Spending: Republicans Win Transparency, but $23 Billion Slush Fund Remains
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1517)
After an important victory for budget transparency, House Members must now eliminate pork projects and the slush fund created to fund them.
June 13, 2007
The House Democrats' $23 Billion Pork Slush Fund and Spending Spree
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1503)
The House Democratic majority should honor its pledge to bring transparency to budgeting by releasing the names of and allocations for pork projects while appropriations bills are being debated on the House floor.
May 17, 2007
Budget Resolution Calls for Massive Tax Hikes and Spending Increases
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1460)
Lawmakers should go back to the drawing board and write a budget that meets the President's spending targets, deals realistically with coming entitlement costs, and does not raise taxes to fund more government spending.
May 10, 2007
Lawmakers Should Reject Another Irresponsible Supplemental Farm Bailout
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1452)
Rather than pile on more corporate welfare in "emergency" agricultural spending, Congress should follow President Bush's lead and reject this unnecessary, irresponsible proposal.
March 22, 2007
The Senate Budget: A $2,641 Per Household Tax Increase and No Entitlement Reforms
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1405)
The Senate budget relies on massive tax increases while ignoring the coming tsunami in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid spending.
March 15, 2007
Congress Hijacks Troop Funding for Pork
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1397)
As federal spending nears $24,000 per household, the House of Representatives took the President’s vital national security supplemental bill and larded it up with $21 billion in unrelated spending. This blatant abuse of the emergency spending budget tool is a strong signal that the new congressional leadership’s pledge of fiscal restraint will be short-lived.
March 08, 2007
Federal Spending 2007: By the Numbers
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1390)
Twelve pages of tables, charts, graphs, and bullet-point explanations of recent trends in federal spending.
March 01, 2007
Congress Should Not Lard Up the War Supplemental Bill
By Brian M. Riedl, Baker Spring, and Alison Acosta Fraser
(WebMemo #1376)
President Bush should draw a clear line in the sand and vow to veto any supplemental bill that would spend more than his requested total.
February 08, 2007
Bush's Budget: Protecting Homeland Security and Defense by Reining in Entitlements
By Baker Spring, James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., Alison Acosta Fraser, Brian M. Riedl, and Will Packer
(WebMemo #1352)
The most important feature of the President’s budget proposal is its focus on reining in the crushing costs of entitlement programs like Medicare while adequately funding national defense and homeland security.
February 05, 2007
Farm Subsidies, Free Trade, and the Doha Round
By Daniella Markheim and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1337)
The United States must make a meaningful offer to cut agricultural protection if Doha is to progress.
February 05, 2007
Bush Budget Reins in Entitlement Costs
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1341)
The key feature of President Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget request is not its strategy to reach a balanced budget in five years but its focus on long-term entitlement spending.
January 29, 2007
Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #2001)
The 110th Congress must decide whether to write a budget extending, expiring, or repealing the Bush tax cuts. Repealing the Bush tax cuts would not significantly increase revenues. It would, however, decrease investment, reduce work incentives, stifle entrepreneurialism, and reduce economic growth. Lawmakers should remember that America cannot tax itself to prosperity.
January 24, 2007
New CBO Budget Baseline Shows Entitlement Spending Imperiling Deficit Reduction Goals
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1329)
Reforming Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is the only way to get the budget under control.
January 16, 2007
Halving Student Loan Interest Rates Is Unaffordable and Ineffective
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1308)
Reducing interest rates on student loans does not increase college access for prospective students, but merely subsidizes loan repayments after college.
2006 Research
December 19, 2006
Memo to Speaker Pelosi: How to Make PAYGO Discipline the Federal Budget
By Alison Acosta Fraser and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1289)
A weak PAYGO will show that the incoming Congress is not serious about getting the budget under control.
December 14, 2006
Will New Congress Be Santa to Taxpayers and Grinch to Lobbyists?
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1287)
Congress cuts out earmarks, marking a big victory for citizen-activists and fiscal restraint.
December 06, 2006
A Taxpayer Victory Against Wasteful Agricultural Subsidies
By Brian M. Riedl and Andrew M. Grossman
(WebMemo #1279)
The Senate votes down an $800 million increase in "emergency" agricultural subsidies.
December 04, 2006
Five Reasons for the Senate to Reject Boosting Farm Subsidies
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #1274)
Lawmakers should resist emergency agriculture spending and instead prepare to overhaul farm subsidies next year.
November 15, 2006
Congress Returns to Spending Bills Loaded With Pork
By Brian M. Riedl and Michelle Muccio
(WebMemo #1256)
Congress loads next year's spending bills with 10,000 pork projects despite voters' demand for restraint. Features a list of the worst pork projects of FY 2007.
September 25, 2006
Still Spending: Senate Set to Bust Budget Caps by $32 Billion
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1222)
Budget gimmickry leads to higher spending and a big bill for taxpayers.
July 20, 2006
How to Improve the Government Waste Commission Proposals
By Brian M. Riedl and Michelle Muccio
(WebMemo #1170)
With federal spending expanding 9 percent in 2006 alone, lawmakers are finally taking up the government waste commission bills (H.R. 5766 and H.R. 3282) authored by Reps. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) and Kevin Brady (R-TX). Both lawmakers should be commended for taking aim at the outdated, failed, and duplicative programs that have been layered on top of one another for decades. To be effective, a government waste commission must be specifically designed to overcome the special interest logrolling that has protected wasteful spending for years. The proven model for doing this is the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission, which has been used to close obsolete military bases since the 1980s. Unfortunately, neither the Tiahrt nor the Brady bill includes the components that made BRAC so successful. Lawmakers seeking budget savings should strengthen these bills.
July 11, 2006
Observations on Budget Estimates from the Mid-Session Review
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1149)
The Office of Management and Budget has released its annual Mid-Session Review (MSR) that updates the budget projections from this past February. While the rapid increase in federal revenues shows that the 2003 tax cuts have succeeded, continued runaway spending threatens America's fiscal and economic future.
July 10, 2006
Four Elements of a Successful Government Waste Commission
By Michelle Muccio and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1147)
Congress will soon consider legislation to establish a commission that could bring an end to wasteful and counter-productive government programs.
June 30, 2006
Congress Must Not Shortchange the Military at a Time of War
By Baker Spring and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1141)
On June 20th, the House of Representatives passed its fiscal year 2007 Defense Appropriations bill. Given that the nation is at war and is conducting extensive military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq to keep Americans at home safe, it is surprising that the bill reduces the Bush Administration's request for defense funding by $4.1 billion. The Bush Administration has responded negatively to the House action. Its June 20th Statement of Administration Policy on the bill states, "If the President is presented with a final DOD appropriations bill that significantly underfunds the Department of Defense to shift funds to non-security spending, his senior advisors would recommend that he veto that bill." This veto threat is the correct response. Congress should not be allowed to employ such budget trickery, and to shortchange vital defense operations, to boost questionable domestic spending.
June 27, 2006
Third-Quarter Report Card for Congress: Improvement Needed
By Brian M. Riedl, Ronald D. Utt. Ph.D., and Alison Acosta Fraser
(Backgrounder #1947)
There is no reason why Members of Congress cannot raise their performance measures on key domestic policy issues, many of which have already made some progress through the legislative process. Over the past few weeks, Members have shown exceptional resolve on a number of controversial issues. If they maintain this pace, they could easily complete the needed work.
June 19, 2006
The Stop Over-Spending Act: A Real Opportunity to Limit Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1132)
The Stop Over-Spending (S.O.S.) Act, authored by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) and cosponsored by over a dozen senators, provides a strong blueprint for building a budget process that reflects America's budget priorities. The S.O.S.
June 15, 2006
10 Elements of Comprehensive Budget Process Reform
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1943)
The most effective reforms of the budget process would impose government-wide spending caps, account for long-term unfunded liabilities, and better enforce existing budget constraints.
June 13, 2006
Supplemental Success: Conference Report Meets President's Challenge
By Brian M. Riedl and Alison Acosta Fraser
(WebMemo #1121)
Against all odds, the conference committee report for the Iraq and Katrina supplemental meets President Bush's challenge to maintain fiscal discipline.
May 31, 2006
Three Lessons from the Recent Budget Reconciliation Debate
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Memorandum #1002)
Congress should reform baseline budgeting; make permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts (and other temporary tax cuts insofar as they promote economic growth without complicating the tax code); fix the alternative minimum tax; and implement dynamic scoring of tax cuts to show that permanent tax rate reductions will not reduce federal revenues as much as some people fear.
May 04, 2006
Desperate Attempt to Save Railroad to Nowhere
By Brian Riedl and Ron Utt
(WebMemo #1059)
New justifications of the "Railroad to Nowhere" fall short.
April 26, 2006
High Marks for Administration's Veto Line in the Sand
By Alison Acosta Fraser and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1050)
The dynamic of the supplemental battle in the Senate has quickly shifted.
April 25, 2006
Senators Should Derail Mississippi's "Railroad to Nowhere"
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1048)
A questionable earmark wilts under strong scrutiny.
April 17, 2006
The Senate's Deadly Sin: Larding Up Emergency Appropriations
By Brian M. Riedl and Alison Acosta Fraser
(WebMemo #1038)
The Senate piles pork atop an emergency spending bill.
March 30, 2006
The President's Proposed Line-Item Veto Could Help Control Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1021)
A good step, but not one that will solve spending on its own.
March 23, 2006
A Responsible Budget Resolution in Three Easy Pieces
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1020)
The budget resolution should freeze discretionary spending, get moving on entitlement reform, and extend the tax cuts.
March 10, 2006
RSC Budget Provides Serious Blueprint for Spending Restraint
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #1011)
Finally, a proposal that makes the difficult choices necessary to avert fiscal and economic meltdown.
February 16, 2006
Discretionary Spending Trends: Past, Present, and Future
By Brian Riedl
(Testimony #9999)
The 7.9 percent of GDP spent on discretionary programs in 2005 was not far off the historical average. Discretionary spending topped 10 percent of GDP from World War II through the early 1980s, before falling to 6.3 percent in 2000, and then spiking back up to 7.9 percent in 2005.
February 14, 2006
The Myth of Spending Cuts for the Poor, Tax Cuts for the Rich
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1912)
During the 2005 budget reconciliation debate, critics trotted out the tired old myth that Republicans were cutting spending for the poor to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Many commentators accepted this as truth and repeated it, including Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne, who accused the Republicans of passing a "cut-from-the-poor, give-to-the-rich budget."
February 14, 2006
Executive Summary: The Myth of Spending Cuts for the Poor, Tax Cuts for the Rich
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1912)
Executive Summary: During the 2005 budget reconciliation debate, critics trotted out the tired old myth that Republicans were cutting spending for the poor to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Many commentators accepted this as truth and repeated it, including Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne, who accused the Republicans of passing a "cut-from-the-poor, give-to-the-rich budget."
February 06, 2006
Federal Spending--By the Numbers
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #989)
Basic budget facts.
February 06, 2006
The President's Budget: Strong on Short-Term Spending, But Long-Term Challenges Remain
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #990)
To get a handle on long-term spending, entitlement reform is necessary. The President's budget doesn't go far enough.
January 31, 2006
State of the Union 2006: The President's Call For Spending Restraint
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #975)
A few new programs, a few more program cuts, and a new commission: What does it all mean?
January 27, 2006
New CBO Baseline Substantially Understates Grim Budget Picture
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #970)
CBO's new spending projections are sunny--and very unrealistic.
January 25, 2006
Six Budget Reforms to Restrain Lobbyists and Special Interests
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #968)
Six reforms that would do more to change the role of money in politics than any "lobbying reform" effort.
2005 Research
December 16, 2005
Grim New CBO Long-Term Budget Projections Show Deterioration, Yet Understate Situation
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #947)
Balancing the budget in 2006 would require immediately terminating such programs as homeland security, justice, highways, veterans' benefits, unemployment benefits, environmental spending, social services, community development, energy, international aid, science research and farm subsidies.
November 30, 2005
Entitlement-Driven Long-Term Budget Substantially Worse Than Previously Projected
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1897)
If policymakers fail to reform Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the nation will be forced to choose among devastating tax increases, the elimination of nearly every other federal program, and budget deficits large enough to jeopardize the entire U.S. economy. Modernizing entitlements and averting this calamity is the most important economic challenge of this era.
November 30, 2005
Executive Summary: Entitlement-Driven Long-Term Budget Substantially Worse Than Previously Projected
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1897)
Executive Summary: If policymakers fail to reform Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, the nation will be forced to choose among devastating tax increases, the elimination of nearly every other federal program, and budget deficits large enough to jeopardize the entire U.S. economy. Modernizing entitlements and averting this calamity is the most important economic challenge of this era.
November 09, 2005
The Deficit Reduction Act: One Small Step for the House
By Alison Acosta Fraser and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #911)
The House's Deficit Reduction Act contains $53.9 billion in budget savings over the next five years aimed at reducing the deficit. Among other things, reconciliation bills are a way for Congress to reduce spending on mandatory programs such as Medicare and Medicaid that normally are allowed to grow on autopilot every year.
October 27, 2005
Senate Attempts To Prematurely Extend the Bloated Farm Bill Through 2011
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #899a)
This $60 billion commitment will likely eliminate any chance to meaningfully reform farm bloated farm programs.
October 26, 2005
An Innovative and Bold Budget Proposal in the Senate
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #896)
The "Fiscal Watch Team" calls on Congress to offset hurricane-related costs and bring back fiscal responsibility
October 19, 2005
Senate Leader Defends Spending Spree Rather Than Enacting Reforms
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #887)
A fact-filled response to a disappointing memo.
October 11, 2005
Federal Spending: By the Numbers
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #881)
Basic budget facts.
September 16, 2005
Hurricane Costs Send Budget Projections Deeper into the Red
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #844)
Federal spending on Katrina could top $200 billion, sending deficits soaring.
September 14, 2005
Examples of Government Waste
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #9999)
Twenty-five quick examples of wasteful government spending.
September 14, 2005
A "Victory" Over Wasteful Spending? Hardly
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #839)
Want to offset emergency spending? There's plenty to cut.
July 13, 2005
The Tax Cuts Are Working, Yet Spending Challenges Remain
By Brian Riedl and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #794)
Deficits are trending down, for now, but spending must still be cut.
May 27, 2005
The Advanced Technology Program
By Brian Riedl
(Testimony #9999)
Federal spending now tops $22,000 per household, the highest inflation-adjusted total since World War II, and $5,000 per household more than in 2001.
April 06, 2005
A Responsible Way to Reconcile the House and Senate Budget Resolutions
By Brian M. Riedl, William W. Beach, Nina Owcharenko, Ben Lieberman, and David C. John
(Backgrounder #1842)
Although the House and Senate budget resolutions do not include deep spending cuts, it is important that lawmakers begin the reform process. The best budget plan would expand pro-growth tax relief and begin to rein in spending in areas such as Medicaid and farm subsidies. Such actions could lay the groundwork for larger reforms next year.
April 04, 2005
Top 10 Examples of Government Waste
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1840)
President George W. Bush has proposed terminating or strongly reducing the budgets of over 150 inefficient or ineddective programs...
March 16, 2005
House Lawmakers Should Enforce Their Own Budget
By Brian Riedl and Keith Miller
(WebMemo #691)
The RSC/Tuesday Group proposal is vital to budget control. Requiring a recorded vote to bypass the budget would show Americans that Congress is serious about spending control.
March 16, 2005
The Five-Step Solution: Cutting the Budget Deficit in Half by 2009 While Extending the Tax Cuts and Rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1833)
The best way to reduce the budget deficit is to reduce excessive spending. Lawmakers should therefore focus on freezing discretionary spending, reducing subsidies for large farms, limiting Medicaid to 5 percent annual growth, replacing the unaffordable Medicare drug benefit with the drug discount card, and reducing 3 percent of entitlement spending by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.
March 14, 2005
PAYGO: A Recipe for Steep Tax Increases and Runaway Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #685)
PAYGO is the wrong answer to runaway spending and budget deficits.
March 01, 2005
Congress Should Follow the President and Eliminate the Advanced Technology Program
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1828)
Terminating or drastically reducing support for the over 150 ineffective and wasteful programs cited in President Bush's 2006 budget request would pave the way for reforming larger programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The Advanced Technology Program, which costs taxpayers $150 million annually, should be the first program from the President's list that Congress terminates.
February 18, 2005
The Blue Dog Democrats' Budget Process Proposal: An Emerging Bipartisan Consensus
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #670)
Members of both parties agree, the budget process is in shambles and must be fixed.
February 11, 2005
President's Budget Does Not Threaten the Safety Net
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #663)
Does Bush's budget slash anti-poverty spending?
February 08, 2005
President's Budget A Solid Step To Rein in Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #659)
President Bush's fiscal year 2006 budget proposal is a strong step towards getting the budget back under control.
February 07, 2005
Why America's Debt Burden Is Declining
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1820)
Focusing on budget deficits is misguided. The debt ratio, a superior measure of government's debt burden, is as dependent on economic growth as federal borrowing. A growing economy can absorb modestly increasing debt levels, and streamlining wasteful spending while pursuing a pro-growth tax policy can simultaneously reduce debt levels and make debt more affordable.
January 25, 2005
What's Wrong with the Federal Budget Process
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1816)
A better budget process would be simple, understandable, less prone to loopholes, and designed to facilitate communication between the President and Congress. Lawmakers should enact a cap on total federal spending. Congress could manually determine cap levels (OmniCaps) or use the inflation-plus-population-growth formula of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights model.
January 25, 2005
Executive Summary: What's Wrong with the Federal Budget Process
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1816)
Executive Summary: A better budget process would be simple, understandable, less prone to loopholes, and designed to facilitate communication between the President and Congress. Lawmakers should enact a cap on total federal spending. Congress could manually determine cap levels (OmniCaps) or use the inflation-plus-population-growth formula of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights model.
2004 Research
December 15, 2004
A Budget Agenda for the 109th Congress
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1812)
Runaway spending is a larger concern than the budget deficit because all spending must eventually be paid for in taxes, and tax increases would damage the economy. Lawmakers should enact a taxpayers' bill of rights to limit spending and reform House rules to enforce spending restraints more effectively.
November 22, 2004
Another Pork-Laden Omnibus Spending Bill
By Brian M. Riedl and Keith Miller
(WebMemo #613)
As runaway spending pushes the cost of government over $20,000 per household, and the budget deficit past $400 billion, Congress continues to pile an endless supply of special interest projects onto the backs of weary taxpayers.
October 04, 2004
The Balanced Budget Amendment: The Wrong Answer to Runaway Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #580)
The Balanced Budget Amendment amendment would likely fail to rein in spending but could bring about tax increases.
September 21, 2004
Would Senator Kerry's Budget Really Reduce the Deficit?
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1797)
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's promise that, if elected, he will halve the budget deficit by 2008 ignores the mountain of impending entitlement spending that, if left unreformed, will dwarf any achievable savings. His ambitious spending plans would also require a $2,090 per household tax increase in order to fulfill his deficit-reduction pledge.
August 27, 2004
Restrain Runaway Spending with a Federal Taxpayers' Bill of Rights
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1793)
Runaway federal spending is the predictable result of an outdated budget process that lacks any enforceable spending limits. A Federal Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR) would limit annual spending increases to the inflation rate plus the population growth rate and reserve any budget surpluses for tax relief and debt reduction.
May 27, 2004
The Budget Conference Report and the Need for Real Process Reform
By Alison Acosta Fraser, Brian Riedl, and Keith Miller
(WebMemo #513)
The budget conference report has some good points but lacks real process reform
May 24, 2004
Another Year at the Federal Trough: Farm Subsidies for the Rich, Famous, and Elected Jumped Again in 2002
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1763)
Farm subsidy programs enrich agribusinesses and other non-farmers at the expense of family farmers, the farm economy, and taxpayers. With federal spending spiraling out of control and the budget deficit approaching $500 billion, taxpayers can no longer afford to pay farm subsidies to the rich and famous.
May 14, 2004
Better Budget Reform: A Guide to the Family Budget Protection Act
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1758)
The pledge by House lawmakers to vote on reform of the federal budget process represents an opportunity to overhaul a process that was created in 1974 to maximize federal spending but whose few restraints have been eviscerated by 30 years of clever exploitation of loopholes. The Family Budget Protection Act provides realistic, implementable solutions to these budget process failures.
April 22, 2004
PAYGO on Tax Cuts Could Bring Back the Estate Tax
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #489)
If PAYGO on tax cuts were in force, however, the likely result would be massive tax increases, as the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003—including the elimination of the estate tax—expire on schedule.
April 08, 2004
Four Principles of Budget Process Reform
By Brian M. Riedl and Alison Acosta Fraser
(Backgrounder #1746)
Restraining federal budgetary spending will require the implementation of process reform. Budget process reform should reflect the following principles: (1) Overall spending should be capped at a set level; (2) the annual budget should present a full picture of future obligations; (3) the President should be involved throughout the budget process; and (4) budget decisions should include strong enforcement.
March 30, 2004
Memo to Budget Conferees: PAYGO on Tax Cuts Means Higher Taxes
By Brian M. Riedl and Keith Miller
(WebMemo #460)
Making sure that the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget enforcement mechanism does not cause tax increases should be the central concern of conferees.
March 25, 2004
Medicare's Deepening Financial Crisis: The High Price of Fiscal Irresponsibility
By Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., and Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1740)
By delaying implementation of the Medicare drug entitlement while making the prescription drug discount a permanent feature of Medicare, including the Medicare Advantage system that will take effect in 2006, Congress could deal with exploding costs and establish the foundation for a Medicare drug program that accommodates, rather than displaces, a wide variety of private-sector drug options.
March 24, 2004
Why Chairman Nussle's Budget is Superior to the Democrat Alternatives
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #457)
Budgets are about setting priorities, and Nussle's budget focuses on priorities better than several competitors.
March 18, 2004
Republican Study Committee Budget Sets the Right Priorities
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #452)
The fiscal year 2005 budget resolution proposed by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) represents real progress towards fiscal responsibility.
March 15, 2004
Restoring PAYGO Would Mean Tax Increases and High Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #447)
PAYGO, which requires that any new tax cuts or mandatory expansions be balanced by equal tax increases or mandatory spending cuts, would do little to address federal spending while laying the groundwork for future tax increases and economic disaster.
March 10, 2004
How to Get Federal Spending Under Control
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1733)
In 2004, national defense, homeland security, and entitlement challenges make spending reform more important than ever. Congress and the President should seize this opportunity to refocus the federal government on the programs that matter most. Otherwise, the American people will face higher taxes, fewer jobs, less economic growth, and less effective government.
March 10, 2004
Senate Rejects Spending Controls
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #443)
The Senate is poised to pass a budget resolution that lays the groundwork for substantial tax increases while avoiding even minimal cuts in spending.
March 10, 2004
Executive Summary: How to Get Federal Spending Under Control
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1733)
Executive Summary: In 2004, national defense, homeland security, and entitlement challenges make spending reform more important than ever. Congress and the President should seize this opportunity to refocus the federal government on the programs that matter most. Otherwise, the American people will face higher taxes, fewer jobs, less economic growth, and less effective government.
March 06, 2004
Senate Budget Resolution Sounds a Positive Note
By Alison Acosta Fraser and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #441)
Policymakers serious about reining in spending must set priorities and make disciplined choices before they dive into the federal checkbook.
February 13, 2004
The Family Budget Protection Act: A Bold Step to Fix the Federal Budget Process
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #425)
The Family Budget Protection Act (FBPA) presents an enormous opportunity for Congress to create a budget process that encourages belt-tightening.
February 13, 2004
Balancing the Budget Within 10 Years
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1726)
President George W. Bush's fiscal year (FY) 2005 budget proposes cutting the budget deficit in half over five years. Yet lawmakers are under intense pressure to enact a budget resolution that balances the budget within the 2005-2014 period. This paper provides a menu of spending targets to accomplish that objective.
February 02, 2004
The President's 2005 Budget: A Summary
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #410)
While the President's budget would eliminate some unnecessary programs, it is no sweeping reassessment of federal spending.
2003 Research
December 16, 2003
Omnibus Spending Bill Hikes Discretionary Spending by 9 Percent in 2004
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #385)
The omnibus appropriations bill (HR 2673) that is currently in the Senate will set the stage for discretionary spending to increase by 9 percent in 2004, rather than the 3 percent figure commonly cited by Members of Congress.
December 03, 2003
$20,000 per Household: The Highest Level of Federal Spending Since World War II
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1710)
The 2003 fiscal year mercifully concluded on September 30. Reckless spending by Congress and the President made it a year in which the federal budget expanded by $353 billion over its 1998 level. Defense needs and the 9/11 attacks account for just 45 percent of all new spending since 2001. Congress and the President have refused to set priorities and make sacrifices in programs less vital to the national interest. This lack of discipline has raised the cost of government to over $20,000 per household for the first time since World War II, a cost Americans will have to pay in higher taxes.
December 02, 2003
Another Omnibus Spending Bill Loaded with Pork
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #377)
Congress's continued fiscal irresponsibility is clearly exhibited in the thousands of pork projects contained in the fiscal year 2004 omnibus spending bill. Congress is set to bust its own budget cap in order to protect pork projects such as the Please Touch Museum and trout genome mapping.
November 13, 2003
Most New Spending Since 2001 Unrelated to the War on Terrorism
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1703)
Building America's homeland security and creating an infrastructure able to respond to any future terrorist attacks are expensive, long-term projects. The nation's priorities have changed, and Washington must respond by balancing its spending priorities and restraining non-security spending. Otherwise, tax relief and economic growth will be two more casualties of the September 11 attacks.
November 10, 2003
Cost Control in the Medicare Drug Bill Needs Premium Support, Not a "Trigger"
By Stuart M. Butler, Ph.D., Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., and Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1704)
The trigger proposal will do little if anything to hold down the mushrooming taxpayer cost of Medicare. It could easily be evaded by politicians who are adept at circumventing or simply ignoring spending controls. Moreover, even if it did work, it would do so by increasing government controls on doctors and hospitals to the detriment of patients. Needed instead is a firm commitment by Congress to an effective premium support mechanism.
August 28, 2003
How Congress Can Achieve Savings of 1 Percent by Targeting Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1681)
The 2004 Congressional Budget Resolution required each committee to find enough waste, fraud, and abuse to reduce its mandatory program budgets by 1 percent. The recommendations outlined in this study alone could save taxpayers as much as $300 billion. Congress should seize this opportunity to save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars while also making government more effective and efficient.
July 30, 2003
New Medicare Drug Entitlement's Huge New Tax on Working Americans
By Brian M. Riedl and William W. Beach
(Backgrounder #1673)
President George W. Bush and many in Congress cite tax relief as the centerpiece of their economic agenda. Lawmakers who vote for the Medicare drug benefit are voting for a $2 trillion tax increase. Responsible lawmakers who oppose such substantial tax increases should look beyond the 2004 election and examine the burden that a Medicare drug burden will impose on future generations.
July 15, 2003
The Advanced Technology Program: Time to End this Corporate Welfare Handout
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1665)
With government spending surpassing $21,000 per household for the first time since World War II and the budget deficit approaching $400 billion, the $90 billion corporate welfare budget provides an obvious starting point for identifying and reducing wasteful spending. An encouraging first step would be to defund the Advanced Technology Program in the upcoming Commerce–Justice–State appropriations bill.
June 18, 2003
What Unfunded Mandates? CBO Study Reveals Washington Not at Fault for State Budget Crises
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1663)
States have successfully secured a $20 billion bailout from Washington to close their expanding budget deficits. Never mind that state overspending created this crises. General fund revenues have climbed 46 percent since 1990, but spending has climbed 50 percent--nearly twice the rate of federal spending. Total state government spending topped $1 trillion per year for the first time in 2000 and has continued to rise.
June 13, 2003
Ten Common Myths About Taxes, Spending, and Budget Deficits
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1660)
Executive Summary: When political leaders communicate to their constituents, the media transmit and often analyze those messages. How Americans view the world, their government, and the economy is therefore largely influenced by media reports, which often contain economic misinformation. This paper refutes 10 common misconceptions about taxes, spending, and budget deficits that are spread by politicians and reporters.
June 13, 2003
Ten Common Myths About Taxes, Spending, and Budget Deficits
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1660)
When political leaders communicate to their constituents, the media transmit and often analyze those messages. How Americans view the world, their government, and the economy is therefore largely influenced by media reports, which often contain economic misinformation. This paper refutes 10 common misconceptions about taxes, spending, and budget deficits that are spread by politicians and reporters.
May 28, 2003
What Unfunded Mandates? CBO Study Reveals Washington Not at Fault for State Budget Crises
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #283)
Although state budget struggles are real, Washington did not impose them. Free-spending states created their own fiscal crises: Total state government spending topped $1 trillion in a year for the first time ever in 2000 and has continued to rise.
May 02, 2003
bg1649: Executive Summary: The Myth of a Child Care Crisis
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1649)
May 02, 2003
The Myth of a Child Care Crisis
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1649)
The problem is that much of the public policy debate concerning child care is misleading. The truth is that government spending on child care has more than tripled since 1996, and most states now run broad child care subsidy programs that support families with incomes well above poverty.
April 21, 2003
A Modest Proposal: How to Offset More Than Half of the President's Original Tax Cut
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Memorandum #869)
Increasing the tax cut from the $350 billion proposed by some Senators to the $726 billion originally proposed by President George W. Bush and passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would not increase the budget deficit if spending restraint offsets the additional tax relief.
April 09, 2003
A Modest Proposal: How to Offset More than Half of the President's Tax Cut
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #254)
President Bush has proposed a $726 billion tax relief package that would drop that total to "only" $27.2 trillion. While that amount seems sufficient to satisfy Washington's spending appetite, a group of Senators is opposing any tax cut larger than $350 billion.
April 09, 2003
CBO Estimates: Spending Weakens
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1644)
The most important aspect of this Analysis of the President's Budgetary Proposals for Fiscal Year 2004 is simply its existence, as the CBO has long claimed that dynamic scoring would be impossible to implement.
March 28, 2003
wm241: CBO Estimates: Spending Weakens Effects of Pro-Growth Tax Relief
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #241)
March 28, 2003
CBO Estimates Spending Weakens Effects of Pro-Growth Tax Relief
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #241)
The CBO report shows that the only way to create thousands of jobs and unleash economic growth is to enact the President's entire tax package, and to restrain spending.
March 12, 2003
Balancing the Budget by 2008
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1635)
By focusing on priorities it is possible to write a budget that enacts all of the tax reductions in President Bush's 2004 budget proposal.....
February 12, 2003
bg1622: Executive Summary - Ten Guidelines for Reducing
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1622)
bg1622: Executive Summary - Ten Guidelines for Reducing Wasteful Government Spending
February 12, 2003
Ten Guidelines for Reducing
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1622)
Ten Guidelines for Reducing Wasteful Government Spending
February 05, 2003
President Bush's 2004 Budget Proposal: A Summary
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #202)
The President's 2004 budget proposal focuses on the priorities of: 1) protecting the nation from foreign threats and terrorists through defense and homeland security increases; and 2) helping the economy get back on track by reducing taxes.
February 04, 2003
The Case Against a Federal Bailout
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Memorandum #857)
State governments have wisely concluded that their constituents should be spared higher state taxes, but the bailout solution would simply raise federal taxes instead.
2002 Research
October 04, 2002
The Disappearing Budget Surplus Highlights the Importance of Economic
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1599)
Those in Congress who are using the budget deficit to play politics and call for higher taxes ignore the real problem of the economy. History shows that reducing tax rates is the best way to remove barriers to economic growth by reducing the price of working, saving, and investing.
September 19, 2002
Six Myths About Child Care
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1588)
If welfare reform is to continue and expand, additional funding for child care must be provided. However, as in the past, most of this funding should come from savings that reform has generated in the TANF program rather than from new congressional appropriations.
September 19, 2002
bg1588es: Six Myths About Child Care
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1588)
bg1588es: Six Myths About Child Care
September 04, 2002
How Washington Increased Spending by Nearly $800 Billion
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1581)
Massive spending increases have been added gradually to federal programs. Unless Congress and the President make a concerted effort to address runaway spending, families will continue to have difficulty making ends meet, and the economy will struggle under the suffocating weight of an ever-expanding federal government.
September 04, 2002
BG1581es: How Washington Increased Spending by Nearly $800 Billion in Just Four Years
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1581)
BG1581es: How Washington Increased Spending by Nearly $800 Billion in Just Four Years
July 12, 2002
Why Successful Welfare Reform Must Strengthen Work Requirements
By Brian M. Riedl and Robert E. Rector
(Backgrounder #1568)
Work is the only way to escape the cycle of poverty, and work requirements must be enforced if they are to play a meaningful role in helping welfare dependents to become self-sufficient. We cannot return to the failed policies of the past that trapped millions in a state of dependency.
June 05, 2002
2002 Supplemental Spending Bill
By Brian M. Riedl with Dr. Ronald D. Utt
(WebMemo #107)
The $34 billion Senate FY 2002 Supplemental spending bill to enhance Homeland Security has been abused by many Senators to provide unnecessary spending to privileged constituents. Most of these questionable add-ons have absolutely nothing to do with national defense. In a number of cases, the Senate has reduced spending for legitimate security and anti-terrorism objectives requested by the President in order to make way for a costly wish list of special-interest projects.
May 02, 2002
The Case Against the Farm Bill
By Brian Riedl
(WebMemo #96)
Four reasons to vote against the Farm Bill.
April 30, 2002
Farm Subsidies for the Rich & Famous Shattered Records in 2001
By Brian Riedl
(Backgrounder #1542)
The farm bills currently being considered by a House-Senate conference committee would further accelerate the transformation of farm subsidies into corporate welfare programs.
April 17, 2002
Top 10 Reasons to Veto the Farm Bill
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1538)
The current farm bill does not expire until September 30, 2002. The President should veto the new farm bill and allow Congress to spend the next five months crafting a better bill that incorporates market principles, opens global markets, and does not cost American taxpayers and consumers hundreds of billions of dollars.
April 09, 2002
Agriculture Lobby Wins Big in New Farm Bill
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1534)
The beneficiaries of subsidies and price-fixing practices have been successful in their efforts to influence the crafting of farm policy that will be in place for the next decade. Consumers and taxpayers should keep this in mind every time they go to the supermarket and every time they pay their taxes.
April 09, 2002
BG1534ES: Agriculture Lobby Wins Big in New Farm Bill
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1534)
BG1534ES: Agriculture Lobby Wins Big in New Farm Bill
March 29, 2002
The Farm Bill's $6 Billion Price Hike Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Memorandum #807)
As Congress rushes to pass a farm bill before the 2002 elections, taxpayers are in danger of being left to pick up the tab for the most expensive farm bill in history.
February 25, 2002
Farm Subsidies are America's Largest Corporate Welfare Program
By Brian Riedl
(Backgrounder #1520)
Abandoning a massive $171 billion corporate welfare farm bill that is designed to shift more money to the largest farms and agribusinesses at the expense of small farmers and taxpayers should be one of Congress' easiest tasks.
January 30, 2002
What Really Is Turning the Budget
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1515)
The past century provides rich lessons in economic policy during recessions. Policymakers should heed those lessons and reduce the burden on American families and businesses by cutting tax rates further and allowing the growing economy to provide the tax revenue to balance the budget.
January 30, 2002
BG1515es: What Really Is Turning the Budget
By Brian M. Riedl
(Executive Summary #1515)
BG1515es: What Really Is Turning the Budget Surpluses into Deficits
January 23, 2002
Largest Subsidies Per Acre Go to Wealthy Cotton and Rice Growers
By Ethan T. Baker and Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1514)
Any continuation of existing subsidy programs will not accomplish the goal of helping small farms. The subsidy increases in the proposed Senate legislation would only further exaggerate the uneven income distribution that already exists and continue the vicious cycle of low prices created by overproduction.
2001 Research
December 17, 2001
Farm Bill Talking Points
By Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #68)
Congress should focus on the war and the stimulus now, and then come back next year to examine fresh approaches to agriculture.
December 10, 2001
The Cost of America's Farm Subsidy Binge
By Brian M. Riedl
(Backgrounder #1510)
As Congress is locked in debate on the best way to stimulate an economy that has slipped into recession, the House and Senate have designed farm bills that will place inordinate burdens on American taxpayers, countering stimulus efforts while providing payments to many farm owners who are least in need of assistance.
November 30, 2001
Comments on the Harkin Amendment
By Krista Kafer and Brian M. Riedl
(WebMemo #61)
With Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mitch Daniels predicting deficits until at least fiscal year 2005, the Harkin amendment would cost taxpayers an additional $158 billion over the next 10 years--an increase of 251 percent.
November 26, 2001
At the Federal Trough: Farm Subsidies for the Rich and Famous
By Brian M. Riedl and John E. Frydenlund
(Backgrounder #1505)
Rather than rush to pass poor farm policy, Congress should take the next 10 months before the existing law expires to examine whether giving millions to millionaires is the best agriculture policy for America. It should introduce legislation next year that promotes farmers' financial independence and self-sufficiency, and that weans the wealthy from the federal trough.
2009 Commentary
November 09, 2009
Congressional Spenders Ignore Deepening Government Waste
By Brian Riedl
To get a handle on how out of control federal spending has become, consider this: It surged to $30,000 per household in 2009. That's up from $21,000 (adjusted for inflation) in the 1980s and '90s. Yet rather than cut back, Congress plans to spend even more.
November 06, 2009
New Priorities Require New Budget Process
By Brian Riedl
As federal spending soars past $30,000 per household, America finds itself at a fork in the road. Realistic budget estimates show unsustainable trillion-dollar budget deficits as far as the eye can see.
October 07, 2009
Obama Would Create $13 Trillion Deficit
By Brian Riedl
President Obama's budget office recently caused a stir when it projected that his tax-and-spend agenda would leave more than $9 trillion in new budget deficits over the next decade - doubling the national debt. Now, it appears even that figure was too low.
August 05, 2009
Democrats' health plan is 'voodoo economics'
By Brian M. Riedl
Satirist P.J. O'Rourke once noted, "If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free."
July 31, 2009
How Washington Is Spending Your Taxes in 2009
By Brian M. Riedl
You get itemized bills from your doctor, your car mechanic and your cell-phone provider. Why not from the federal government?
July 02, 2009
PAYGO is an unworkable gimmick
By Brian M. Riedl
President Obama is establishing a reputation for misrepresenting his own policies. He promoted his "stimulus" bill as an immediate, anti-recessionary cash infusion, even though most spending won't occur until after the recession ends. He titled his budget "A New Era of Responsibility," even though it doubles the national debt. And he claims his health care reform plan will save money, even though it's expected to cost up to $1 trillion.
June 18, 2009
Borrowing 'Til The Nation Breaks?
By Brian M. Riedl
Millions of homeowners hoping to take advantage of government-guaranteed mortgage refinancing have gotten a rude awakening. In the last two months, mortgage rates have jumped from 4.8 percent to 5.8 percent, wiping out billions of dollars in potential homeowner savings.
May 14, 2009
Obama's eight bogus budget arguments
By Brian M. Riedl
President Obama has proposed a historic expansion of spending, taxes and debt. His budget would increase real spending from $25,000 per household to $32,000 per household by 2019. It would raise taxes by $1.4 trillion. And it would double the national debt - a staggering $9.3 trillion in new borrowing.
April 21, 2009
Spending won't turn economy around this year but tax cuts, federal frugality just might
By Brian M. Riedl
The idea that government "stimulus" spending can lift the United States out of recession seems straightforward. Government spends money, demand increases, the economy grows and the recession ends. Pretty simple! But this theory has one problem: it has never actually worked anywhere it has been tried.
March 24, 2009
Obama budget would double the national debt
By Brian M. Riedl
Last fall, presidential candidate Barack Obama promised revolutionary change in Washington.
January 15, 2009
10 Questions About the Economic Stimulus Bill
By Brian M. Riedl
The $800 billion economic "stimulus" bill may be more appropriately called the "Obama debt plan." It will, after all, dump $6,700 per household of new debt into the laps of our children and grandchildren.
2008 Commentary
November 19, 2008
Why Spending Stimulus Plans Fail
By Brian M. Riedl
Congressional Democrats are now demanding another economic stimulus package to "inject" as much as $300 billion into the economy. The package will fail -- just like last year's $333 billion in emergency spending and $150 billion in tax rebates failed. There's a simple reason why.
October 31, 2008
Don't Bail Out the States: Spendthrifts Made Own Mess
By Brian Riedl
New York's Gov. Paterson was in Washington yesterday, testifying before Congress on why Washington should send him some help. Indeed, state governments from New York to California are begging Washington to bail them out of a combined $48 billion budget shortfall estimated for 2009. And the Democratic leaders of Congress are reportedly considering including a state bailout in the $300 billion economic–stimulus package now scheduled for debate after Election Day.
September 29, 2008
$700 billion bailout? You ain't seen nothin'
By Brian M. Riedl
Think $700 billion to bail out Wall Street is expensive? Just wait. The mortgage meltdown is cheap compared with the coming fiscal firestorm fanned by unfunded Social Security and Medicare costs.
August 20, 2008
Social Security and Medicare reform: Grading the Wisconsin congressional delegation's proposals
By Brian Riedl
On July 13, the Journal Sentinel opened its pages to Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. Each member weighed in on how he or she would solve the long-term Social Security and Medicare funding shortfall.
May 21, 2008
An Unacceptable Farm Bill
By Brian Riedl
With food prices soaring, it takes some gall to force Americans to pay billions of dollars to millionaire agribusinesses. Yet that’s what the latest farm bill would do.
April 20, 2008
Clinton and Obama Fail Economics Test
By Brian Riedl
Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama featured pointed barbs, exchanges and one-liners. What it lacked was accurate and articulate statements on the economy.
April 15, 2008
How Washington Will Spend Your Taxes in 2008
By Brian Riedl
When tax season rolls around, it’s only natural for taxpayers to wonder just what their hard-earned federal tax dollars pay for, anyway.
Washington will spend $25,117 per household in 2008 -- the highest total since World War II, and an inflation-adjusted $4,300 more than in 2001. The federal government will collect $21,604 per household in taxes. The remaining $3,513 represents this year’s budget deficit per household, which, along with all prior government debt, will be dumped in the laps of our children.
March 21, 2008
Congress’ $3,000 per Household Tax Increase
By Brian Riedl
Washington has no budget problems that higher taxes cannot solve. So seems the message from Congress.
The House- and Senate-passed budgets would raise taxes on every American taxpayer by an average of $3,000 per household. But don’t expect Congress to share in the sacrifice: The budget would hike discretionary spending by 8 percent, and not cut a single government program.
March 20, 2008
Old McDonald Had a Scam
By Brian Riedl
Should Taxpayer continue subsidizing millionaires? That's the question Congress is mulling over as it considers reauthorizing farm subsidies doled out by the Department of Agriculture.
January 10, 2008
Tax Rebates Will Not Stimulate The Economy
By Brian Riedl
With slower economic growth raising fears of a recession, Washington is abuzz with talk of economic stimulus plans. President Bush may offer a stimulus package, and congressional leaders are discussing a proposal centered around tax rebates.
2007 Commentary
November 29, 2007
Runaway Entitlements Threaten U.S. Economy
By Brian Riedl
Over the next two decades, Social Security and Medicare will add 77 million retiring baby boomers to their benefit rolls. The projected cost of these benefits far exceeds what the economy and taxpayers could possibly deliver. Getting a handle on these runaway entitlement costs while still preserving adequate retirement benefits is the greatest economic challenge of our time.
November 21, 2007
Turning Their Backs on Pork Reform
By Brian Riedl
Last fall, angry voters demanded that Congress end pork-barrel politics as usual. Here are the results:
July 26, 2007
Farm Subsidies for Millionaires
By Brian Riedl
Washington spends more on corporate welfare than on homeland security -- and farm subsidies are America's largest corporate welfare program. This year, as lawmakers rewrite the farm programs and push up their spending, they will invoke Norman Rockwell imagery to portray farm subsidies as a vital lifeboat for small, struggling family farmers. Don't believe a word of it.
July 25, 2007
The dirt on farm subsidies
By Brian Riedl
Republican and Democratic congressional leaders rarely agree on a major issue. Yet both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) have gone on the record as opposing the current $25-billion farm subsidy system, which Congress is rewriting this month.
April 17, 2007
What your taxes go for
By Brian Riedl
Taxpayers rushing to complete their 1040s before the April 17 tax deadline may stop to wonder: What are these steep federal taxes going for?
March 19, 2007
Congress dumps troop funding into pork barrel
By Brian Riedl, Baker Spring
Remember the promises of fiscal discipline on which the latest Congress was elected? Well, lawmakers on Capitol Hill seem to have forgotten - and they're willing to sacrifice the well-being of our troops if they don't get to indulge their free-spending ways.
March 08, 2007
Tax cut myths and realities
By Brian Riedl
President Bush's tax cuts provide a convenient scapegoat for the nation's budget and economic challenges. Demagogued as "tax cuts for the rich," they've been blamed for everything from "runaway" deficits to "drastic" cuts in anti-poverty programs.
February 13, 2007
Top 10 Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts
By Brian Riedl
10. Myth: The Bush tax cuts were tilted toward the rich.
Fact: The rich are now shouldering even more of the income tax burden. From 2000 to 2004, the share of all individual income taxes paid by the bottom 40% of taxpayers dropped from 0% to -4%, meaning that the average family in those quintiles received a subsidy. The share paid by the top 20% of households increased from 81% to 85%.
January 17, 2007
Against Our Interest: We don't need a new student-loan burden.
By Brian Riedl
Within the next few days, as part of their “first 100 hours” legislative blitz, congressional Democrats have promised to “make college more accessible” by halving the 6.8-percent interest rate on subsidized student loans. While parents and students certainly understand the strains of college costs, this policy is unaffordable, unnecessary, and even illogical.
2006 Commentary
November 01, 2006
Money won't buy political victory
By Brian Riedl
That's the conventional wisdom among a Republican congressional majority that, haunted by memories of the 1995 government shutdown and the demonization of former Speaker Newt Gingrich, views the electorate as various special interests selling their votes to whichever party offers the largest subsidies.
October 19, 2006
What spending cannot buy
By Brian Riedl
Spending restraint is sound policy but awful politics.
July 03, 2006
Runaway spending: Left unchecked, Washington's overspending could drown America in taxes and debt
By Brian Riedl
After increasing spending 45 percent since 2001, President Bush and Congress are finally acknowledging that government growth is out of control. Yet despite some small steps in the right direction, they are not close to reining in government.
June 17, 2006
Appropriate actions on Appropriations
By Brian Riedl
It's a sign of difficult times when a $94.5 billion supplemental bill is considered a victory for taxpayers. But with spending up 45 percent since 2001, you celebrate whatever small victories may come.
May 11, 2006
Three steps to budget reform
By Brian Riedl
Washington - Over the past five years, federal spending has leapt 45 percent as lawmakers enacted budget-busting bills on Medicare, agriculture, education, energy and highways — all while funding the vital war on terrorism. Unless Congress gets a handle on spending, within a decade, it will require a $7,000-per-household tax increase just to balance the budget. That's on top of the $20,000 per household being collected now.
April 29, 2006
Dr. Coburn's Operation
By Brian Riedl
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll reveals that voters now consider banning pork projects — rather than immigration reform, tax-cut extensions, and lobbying reform — their number-one priority for Congress this year. In that case, Sen. Tom Coburn (R., Ok.) is more accurately defending the people's will than many of his more senior colleagues.
April 26, 2006
Curb spending growth
By Brian Riedl
The Senate's larding up of $14 billion to the president's Iraq and Gulf Coast supplemental spending request is yet more evidence our lawmakers have surrendered any pretense of spending restraint.
April 18, 2006
Stop the Senate's Supplemental Spending Spree
By Brian M. Riedl and Alison Acosta Fraser
Congress has jacked up federal spending by 45 percent in just five years. Agriculture, education, Medicare, energy and highway bills have all registered scandalously high hikes.
April 14, 2006
How Washington will spend your taxes in 2006
By Brian Riedl
As the April 15 tax deadline edges closer, taxpayers frantically completing their 1040s may be wondering just what their hard-earned federal tax dollars pay for, anyway.
February 16, 2006
The Myth of Spending Cuts
By Brian Riedl
News reports about the president's budget overflow with dismay over "deep cuts" and "slashed" spending. Images of schools and anti-poverty programs chafing under the fiscal knife abound. Which proves one thing: Hardly anybody actually reads the federal budget. If they did, they'd realize just how much of a myth this tale of "slashed" spending really is.
January 25, 2006
How Pork Corrupts Congress
By Brian Riedl
Pork-barrel spending, whether it's for therapeutic horseback riding, the Grammy Foundation, and combating teen "goth" culture, in Blue Springs, Mo., regularly leaves taxpayers cringing. But the recent indictment of Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff has spotlighted pork's larger dangers: More than merely wasteful, pork invites corruption, encourages big government, distracts lawmakers from vigorous oversight, and surrenders lawmaker independence.
2005 Commentary
November 07, 2005
Government spending: Some cutting remarks
By Brian Riedl
Runaway spending is rapidly surging past $22,000 per household. Current projections show that unless spending is brought under control, within a decade taxes will need to be increased by $7,000 per household just to balance the budget.
October 27, 2005
Retirees Without reform of benefit programs, baby boomers will bust the budget in a big way.
By Brian Riedl
Over the next two decades, Social Security and Medicare will add 77 million retiring baby boomers to their benefit rolls. The cost far exceeds what the economy and taxpayers can deliver.
July 15, 2005
Derailing the Fortune 500 Gravy Train
By Brian Riedl
Members of Congress will soon return home for August recess. While there, many will express outrage over the 33 percent increase in government spending since 2001, and the $400 billion budget deficit.
May 20, 2005
How Your Government Wastes Your Money
By Brian Riedl
This year, Washington will spend an eye-popping $22,039 per household. That is the highest inflation-adjusted total since World War II, and $5,000 per household more than Washington spent just four years ago.
April 14, 2005
How Washington Will Spend Your Taxes In 2005
By Brian Riedl
The April 15 tax deadline provides taxpayers the opportunity to examine how their elected officials will spend their hard-earned tax dollars.
February 17, 2005
Why Social Security's Problems Begin in 2018
By Brian Riedl
Does Social Security's solvency end in 2018 or 2042? The urgency of reform depends heavily on this question. Yet a misunderstanding of the Social Security trust fund is leading many to answer that question incorrectly.
January 26, 2005
America's Declining Debt Burden
By Brian Riedl
Over the next few weeks, the unveiling of new budget forecasts, as well as President Bush's budget proposal, will be followed by predictable, sky-is-falling coverage of the "record budget deficits" that threaten to force up interest rates and devastate the economy.
2004 Commentary
December 06, 2004
Is Bush Becoming a Budget Hawk?
By Brian Riedl
Both tax relief and Social Security reform are endangered by the same culprit: runaway spending.
November 10, 2004
Social Security's Fictitious Trust Fund
By Brian Riedl and David John
Bush wants Congress to make Social Security reform a top priority. This is because the program is in real trouble.
September 24, 2004
How Much Would Kerry Raise Taxes?
By Brian Riedl
John Kerry has pledged to cut the budget deficit even as he implements policies that would drastically increase federal spending. How much would he have to raise taxes to make good on both promises? Between $2,090 and $2,829 per household. And that's on top of his already promised tax hikes.
June 16, 2004
Defending the Reagan Deficits
By Brian Riedl
Critics of President Reagan's budget deficits should answer one simple question: Would you trade the collapse of communism, your smaller tax burden, some of your income -- and possibly your job -- in exchange for eliminating that $2.1 trillion in added debt?
May 27, 2004
Farm Subsidies vs. National Security
By Brian Riedl
American cities still lack the resources to prevent a catastrophic terrorist attack. And Washington sends $110 million in farm subsidies to an Arkansas co-op named Riceland Foods.
April 28, 2004
Stop the Spree
By Brian Riedl
Does America have a $477 billion budget deficit because Washington spends too much? Or because it taxes us too little?
April 12, 2004
Beyond April 15: How Washington Spends Your Taxes
By Brian Riedl
Frustrated taxpayers dutifully completing their 1040s frequently ask themselves an understandable question: Where is all this money going? And they deserve an answer.
2003 Commentary
November 23, 2003
The Quiet Earthquake in Spending
By Brian Riedl
Higher taxes are coming. The tax relief that President Bush and Congress have approved over the last two years is only temporary. Unless, of course, shortsighted lawmakers cut back runaway federal spending, which in the long run determines exactly how much tax revenue must be collected.
September 25, 2003
The Coming Medicare Tax Increase
By Brian Riedl & William Beach
"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free," P.J. O'Rourke once said. He may as well have been describing the Medicare drug benefit being hatched by President Bush and Congress. They're on the verge of approving the most expensive government expansion since the Great Society.
September 10, 2003
Wasting a good opportunity
By Brian Riedl
As part of the 2004 federal budget, the House and Senate Budget Committees asked each congressional committee to examine the entitlement programs under its discretion. The modest goal was to identify 1 percent of entitlement spending as waste, fraud or abuse. Committees were asked to report their findings to Congress by Sept. 2, 2003.
September 09, 2003
Budget Deficits Threaten Tax Agenda
By Brian Riedl
The Congressional Budget Office's latest budget projections should serve as a wake-up call to fiscal conservatives in Congress and the White House. Unless they restrain spending, they'll see budget deficits jeopardize the tax-relief agenda and imperil much of the hard-fought progress achieved over the past three years.
September 02, 2003
Wake-Up Call on Spending
By Brian Riedl
The Congressional Budget Office's latest projections should serve as a wake-up call to fiscal conservatives in Congress and the White House. Unless they restrain spending, they will see budget deficits jeopardize the tax-relief agenda and imperil much of the hard-fought progress achieved over the past three years.
August 05, 2003
A Solution that Works -- Literally
By Brian Riedl and Robert Rector
Should Congress make work requirements for welfare recipients stricter?
June 03, 2003
What Unfunded Mandates?
By Brian Riedl
States should have control over how they spend their own tax dollars -- rather than be forced by Washington to fund unwanted programs.
March 27, 2003
ED032703: National Security Versus Pork
By Brian M. Riedl
ED032703: National Security Versus Pork
March 24, 2003
Common-Sense Cuts
By Brian M. Riedl
Common-Sense Cuts
February 13, 2003
States: Don't look to Washington for help
By Brian M. Riedl
States: Don't look to Washington for help
February 05, 2003
ed020503b: Bush Budget Has the Right Priorities
By Brian M. Riedl
ed020503b: Bush Budget Has the Right Priorities
February 04, 2003
ed020403: The Other Welfare Program
By Brian M. Riedl
The Other Welfare Program
2002 Commentary
September 29, 2002
Washington's $782 Billion Spending Spree
By Brian M. Riedl
Washington's $782 Billion Spending Spree
August 09, 2002
Twisting "The Facts"
By Brian M. Riedl
Twisting "The Facts"
June 17, 2002
A Matter of National Security?
By Ronald Utt, Brian Riedl
A Matter of National Security?
May 08, 2002
Saving the Poor Rich Farmers
By Brian Riedl
Saving the Poor Rich Farmers
April 19, 2002
ed041902b: Farm policy: Renew, then redo
By Brian M. Riedl
ed041902b: Farm policy: Renew, then redo
February 18, 2002
ed021802: Don't Just Cut Taxes - Cut Spending
By Brian M. Riedl
ed021802: Don't Just Cut Taxes - Cut Spending
January 31, 2002
"Do the Opposite" on Taxes
By Brian Riedl
"Do the Opposite" on Taxes
November 20, 2009
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