PUBLICATIONS BY J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
Commentary
Research
Media Appearances
2009 Commentary
May 18, 2009
'Economic policy insanity': Obama's approach threatens to prolong recession, weaken recovery
By J.D. Foster
Last week the government reported 539,000 jobs were lost in April. As a sign of the times this was considered good news. Some are crediting government, including President Obama's just implemented policies, for the good news. Spring is in the air.
March 20, 2009
Better Green Jobs: The One-Word Solution
By J.D. Foster
"Green jobs" are all the rage. Supposedly, we can strengthen the economy by government spending and regulating to advance the development of environmentally friendly, or “green” technologies. Green jobs, President Obama and others would have us believe, are the elixir for both our environmental and economic problems.
March 12, 2009
Capitalism Now: Down And Out, But Not Dead
By JD Foster
Capitalism is extremely resilient. Why? Because here, as in every democratic-industrial country around the world, it has always had to struggle to survive against encroachments -- both benign and malevolent -- of the state.
February 25, 2009
Will China Keep Buying Our Debt?
By JD Foster
The China ATM has dispensed over a trillion dollars to the United States in this decade. But now Beijing faces serious troubles at home. How long will it be willing to keep shipping hundreds of billions of dollars a year to an increasingly suspect customer?
February 10, 2009
Closing the tax gap
By JD Foster
Ever heard of the "tax gap"? It's the difference between what all of us owe the federal government in taxes each year - and how much, due to errors or cheating, the government actually collects.
January 10, 2009
Obama's Stimulus: Wrong Rx
By JD Foster
President-elect Barack Obama got one thing right in his speech yesterday: Our economy is in real trouble, and it needs help - the sooner, the better.
"Every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs," he said. "More Americans will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied." Exactly.
But he was wrong when he said, "And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse." Eventually, our economy will pull itself out of recession on its own.
2008 Commentary
October 22, 2008
Plumbing the Candidates' Tax Plans
By JD Foster
Joe the plumber is on to something: If a President McCain had his way, Americans could expect to keep their tax cuts. They'd also see their household income grow more, along with jobs and the economy, than would be the case under a President Obama.
October 06, 2008
Pain of credit crunch is likely to continue
By J.D. Foster
Financial markets are under enormous strain now, enduring an old-fashioned credit crunch the likes of which we haven't seen in decades.
July 28, 2008
Fannie and Freddie: Bail 'em out, then bust 'em up
By J.D. Foster
News that the Treasury is preparing plans to bail out housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FM2) has infuriated the American people. And rightly so: It's their money, after all, on the line. If they understood the whole truth, they'd be even angrier - but they should vent their fury at the guilty parties.
June 04, 2008
Soak the Rich, We All Get Wet
By J.D. Foster
A $1 Million 'Surtax’ Would Mean Less Money For NYC
May 05, 2008
Stop the housing bailout before it undoes all of us
By J.D. Foster
Bailouts, subsidies and slush funds: Such are the main ingredients of the housing bill now stewing in Congress.
April 14, 2008
Halt the bailout express
By J.D. Foster
Bailouts, subsidies and slush funds: Such are the main ingredients of the housing bill now stewing in Congress.
Bailouts to irresponsible borrowers, many of whom lied on their mortgage applications and/or bought homes at ridiculous prices hoping to flip them before the party ended. Tax credit subsidies to supplement the down payments of buyers looking for a steal on a foreclosed home. And a little slush fund for state and local governments to reward their favorite local builder or bank by taking empty properties off their hands at above-market prices.
2007 Commentary
November 13, 2007
Higher taxes equal less security
By J.D. Foster and James Jay Carafano
Tax hikes, it seems, are back in vogue. At least in certain quarters.
October 27, 2007
Rangel's Reform
By JD Foster
He billed it as "The Mother of All Tax Reforms." And it's certainly ambitious. But the long-awaited rewrite of federal tax policy, unveiled yesterday by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel, is going nowhere fast.
September 24, 2007
Reining in the red ink
By JD Foster
Like Noah warning of the pending flood, the latest Medicare and Social Security Trustees' reports were dire, warning the day of reckoning draws nigh. As usual, though, Congress is ignoring the gathering clouds while finding new ways to spend billions more on entitlements.
June 14, 2007
Cutting Corporate Taxes to Save America
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
Prospects for the U.S. economy are bright. Inflation and taxes are moderate; interest rates are low; the S&P 500 is repeatedly setting record highs; and growth is accelerating toward 3 percent despite the housing slump. Both the Bush administration and the Congressional Budget Office forecast the economy to grow at 2.5 percent annually or better for the next five to 10 years.
1995 Commentary
August 11, 1995
ED081195: A Friendly Critique Of The Flat Tax
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
ED081195: A Friendly Critique Of The Flat Tax
2009 Research
November 20, 2009
Transparency and Accountability at the Federal Reserve
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2342)
Increasing transparency at the Federal Reserve is critical given the breadth of the Fed’s recent activities, but many of these activities involve private parties. Congress should consider that private firms will be disinclined to deal with the Fed if they lack adequate assurances that confidential information will remain confidential. Tasking the GAO to perform a comprehensive audit of the Fed would create new dangers, as the GAO, being a creature of Congress, could not provide the necessary assurances. It could also ultimately diminish the independence of the Fed and therefore degrade the Fed’s ability to fight inflation. A better approach is to rely on the Fed's Office of Inspector General to carry out the audit and to create a new entity in Congress to receive any confidential information associated with the audit.
November 02, 2009
Health Care Reform and the Threat to the Dollar
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2674)
Health care reform as currently constructed will either weaken the economy or balloon the deficit while it weakens the economy.
October 29, 2009
Tax on High-End Health Insurance Policies Takes the Low Road
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2667)
The Joint Tax Committee recently shed important new light on the proposed "Cadillac excise tax" contained in the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill.
October 22, 2009
Understanding the Great Global Contagion and Recession
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2331)
The Great Global Contagion and Recession was largely the result of a sustained global savings glut combined with excessive monetary accommodation by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. These two complementary and reinforcing forces artificially depressed the price of risk globally, leading to the widespread mis-pricing of assets and misallocation of investment. These effects were enhanced by rapid financial innovation and breathtaking arrogance of leading financial market participants in believing that they understood these innovations.
October 22, 2009
Executive Summary: Understanding the Great Global Contagion and Recession
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2331)
The Great Global Contagion and Recession was largely the result of a sustained global savings glut combined with excessive monetary accommodation by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. These two complementary and reinforcing forces artificially depressed the price of risk globally, leading to the widespread mis-pricing of assets and misallocation of investment. These effects were enhanced by rapid financial innovation and breathtaking arrogance of leading financial market participants in believing that they understood these innovations.
October 02, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit a New Record, Again
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2638)
The President's jobs promise means total employment should be at least 138.6 million by 2010, leaving him with a total deficit to close that now stands at 7.6 million jobs.
September 16, 2009
Rein in Spending by Stopping the Stimulus and Ending the TARP
By Stephen A. Keen and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2618)
The federal budget deficit is already unsustainable and threatens to balloon further as Congress considers a multitude of new spending initiatives from health care reform to highway spending. This must stop. Congress should find the will to restrain the growth in spending, and the ideas contained in the Rebound Act would be an excellent place to start.
August 26, 2009
Blaming Oil Speculators: A Costly Diversion from Real Solutions to Rising Oil Prices
By Ben Lieberman and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2596)
Oil speculation is not the long-term cause of high or volatile oil prices, and ill-advised market restrictions may well prove counterproductive.
July 27, 2009
Keynesian Fiscal Stimulus Policies Stimulate Debt--Not the Economy
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2302)
The federal government has poured extraordinary amounts of fiscal stimulus into the economy two years running, yet unemployment continues to rise with the national debt. This recent experience with Keynesian deficits is fully consistent with past episodes at home and abroad. This is no longer an experiment in economic policy. The results are in: Keynesian stimulus does not work.
July 23, 2009
Senator Kerry's Tax on Health Insurance Companies Would Hit Everyone with Insurance
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2561)
Taxing health insurance companies is a bad, backdoor alternative to the more sensible, more transparent policy of capping the exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance.
July 09, 2009
A Third Stimulus? Don't Repeat the Same Failures
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D., and Rea S. Hederman, Jr.
(WebMemo #2533)
Congress and the Administration should jettison their ideology to pursue policies that will help the economy in the short and long term.
July 02, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit Swells Again by Nearly Half a Million
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2520)
Today's release of the nation's employment figures by the Department of Labor show that the nation is still waiting for even a few of President Obama's 3.5 million jobs saved or created, or his 600,000 jobs saved or created, or even his 150,000 jobs saved or created.
June 18, 2009
Obama Gets a Tax Issue Right--Is Congress Next?
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2491)
President Obama's PAYGO proposals suggest the revenue baseline be fixed. Congress should now direct the CBO to reform its procedures for calculating the revenue baseline.
June 01, 2009
Obama's Deficits Put U.S. Credit Rating at Risk
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2465)
The dangers of the U.S.'s credit rating being downgraded are real, and an imminent fundamental policy course correction is inevitable.
May 08, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit Grows by Another 563,000
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2430)
The President's policies will more likely decrease employment than help to reach his target.
May 05, 2009
Obama International Tax Plan Would Weaken Global Competitiveness
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D., and Curtis S. Dubay
(WebMemo #2426)
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Geithner unveiled a tax reform plan yesterday that, if enacted, would seriously damage the international competitiveness of U.S. businesses.
April 03, 2009
March Employment Report: With Grim Jobs Numbers, Not the Time for a Tax and Spend Budget
By James Sherk and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2380)
March continued the string of dismal employment reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is precisely the wrong time to burden the economy with higher taxes and additional wasteful government spending.
March 25, 2009
Obama Budget's Tax Proposals: Wrong and Risky
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2362)
President Obama's budget outlines sweeping changes for federal tax policy. A few of these changes are good policy that ought to be accepted by Congress. However, the net effect of these radical tax policies would be devastating tax increases and a permanently weaker economy.
March 24, 2009
A First Big Step Toward Medicare Sustainability
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2253)
Medicare is a vital program for seniors, but is fundamentally unaffordable as it is currently structured because it faces an unfunded obligation of $85.6 trillion. Phasing out the subsidy for upper-income seniors is an obvious first step toward Medicare sustainability. Such a policy would reduce Medicare's long-run excess costs by over $41 trillion.
March 20, 2009
The G-20 Summit: Potential Threats to U.S. Interests
By Ted R. Bromund, Ph.D. and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2352)
The G-20 should find common ground on defending free trade, opposing further unwise government spending, and reforms to the banking sector that are designed and implemented to achieve financial, not political, goals.
March 18, 2009
Medicare Reform: Setting Attainable Goals for Sustainability
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2251)
The Treasury Department's general fund subsidizes Medicare by an amount equal to about 1.3 percent of GDP, a large but manageable sum and an apparently sustainable level of support. It faces excess costs of $85.6 trillion. Medicare reform needs a clear goal for sustainability. Eliminating all of Medicare’s excess costs might be ideal, but that would be more than is necessary to achieve sustainability.
March 16, 2009
Obama Jobs Deficit Grows: 651,000 Reasons to Cut Tax Rates
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2345)
President Obama pledged to create 3.5 million new jobs by 2010. The President's jobs promise means total employment should be at least 138.6 million by 2010.
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 23, 2009
Two Lost Decades? Why Japan’s Economy Is Still Stumbling and How the U.S. Can Stay Upright
By Derek Scissors, Ph.D. and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2307)
A weak Japanese economy is again making Americans nervous. The U.S. risks its own prolonged period of weakness if it fails to correct the policies that have contributed to excessive trade deficits and reliance on foreign saving.
February 04, 2009
The Senate's Flawed 4 Percent Mortgage Refinance Plan
By Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., David C. John, and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2269)
The Senate Republicans' 4 percent housing stimulus and mortgage relief plan (proposed earlier by Chris Mayer and Glenn Hubbard of Columbia Business School) would be a costly initiative and a massive new government intervention in housing and finance markets that would yield few if any of the promised benefits.
January 30, 2009
The Global Government Debt Bubble Threatens the Economy
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2257)
The expanding federal deficit is likely to raise interest rates significantly for government debt, thereby increasing interest costs for generations to come.
January 21, 2009
Key Questions for Timothy Geithner, Nominee for Treasury Secretary
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2232)
The United States Senate will soon consider the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury secretary of the United States. The following are a few of the many questions Geithner should address in his confirmation process and in the months to come.
January 13, 2009
Cut Tax Rates and Create 2.5 Million—No, 3.5 Million New Jobs
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2218)
President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to create 3.5 million new jobs by the end 2010. But he only quick, and effective, remedy is to cut tax rates. This is the path Obama needs to take to make good on his pledge to create 3.5 million more private-sector jobs.
January 07, 2009
Economic Recovery: How Best to End the Recession
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D., and William W. Beach
(WebMemo #2191)
The new Administration and new Congress are developing a stimulus program to soften the recession and accelerate the recovery. Given the high level of economic pain, policymakers need to pursue stimulus policies that work.
2008 Research
December 03, 2008
Growth, Deficits, and the Future
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2150)
Paul Krugman, in his article in The New York Times on December 1, “Deficits and the Future,” discusses deficit spending reflecting both the weakening state of the economy and his response to the changed political climate in Washington, D.C. Krugman tells a good story, but in calling for even more spending he misses the punch line badly.
November 14, 2008
TARP and the Treasury: Time to Allow Markets to Work
By James L. Gattuso, David C. John, and J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2131)
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson recently announced yet another change in direction of the “Troubled Asset Relief Program” (TARP), sowing more uncertainty and confusion in the very financial markets the program is supposed to stabilize.
October 15, 2008
Obama's and McCain's Tax Plans: A Mixed Bag
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2101)
Senators John McCain (R–AZ) and Barack Obama (D–IL) have released tax plans indicating their priorities when one of them becomes President of the United States. These plans involve significant changes to the federal tax system. While numerous blanks and vagaries remain in both plans, much of their respective plans are now clearly laid out.
September 23, 2008
Financial Cleanup Steps for Congress—The Next Steps and Beyond
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2075)
Congress is working toward passage of legislation requested by the Administration that would create a new financial entity as part of the federal government to help restore financial markets while protecting taxpayers’ interests. Once enacted, Congress should then turn its attention to the many areas that need to be improved to ensure a stronger economy and a sounder financial system for the future.
September 19, 2008
First Thoughts on the New Resolution Trust Corporation
By David John and J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2069)
Perhaps the most important and most controversial measure amidst the financial turmoil is the suggestion that Congress create an entity similar to the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Congress and the Administration should follow key principles in structuring any new RTC-like entity in order to meet the goal of stabilizing the market with the least danger to the taxpayer.
September 09, 2008
Fannie and Freddie: Time to Clean up the Mess and Move Forward
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D., David A. John, and Stephen C. Keen
(WebMemo #2055)
Decades of policy mistakes creating and protecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finally led the predicted system risk to become a dangerous financial reality. However, once the market is stabilized, free-market reform must be implemented to prevent a recurrence.
September 02, 2008
Medicare's Financial Woes: Bigger Than Official Estimates
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2174)
Medicare is financially unsustainable in its current form. The Medicare Trustees’ 2008 estimate of the program’s total excess costs is $85.6 trillion. The Trustees acknowledge an important, flawed assumption used in developing their estimate of excess costs. If corrected, Medicare’s excess costs would increase, underscoring the need to reform Medicare quickly and substantially.
August 11, 2008
Obama to CBO Revenue Baseline: Nuts—and He's Right!
By J. D. Foster Ph.D.
(WebMemo #2019)
Perhaps to his own surprise, Barack Obama has apparently joined forces with conservatives to correct the CBO revenue baseline. Maybe this also demonstrates that Washington is ready to have an honest debate about tax and spending policy.
July 30, 2008
Senate Tax Extenders: Another Sneaky Tax Hike
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D and Stephen Keen
(WebMemo #2006)
The "Jobs, Energy, Families, and Disaster Relief Act of 2008" is set for a cloture vote in the Senate. The legislation includes an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch for 2008. Congress should make the AMT patch permanent until such time as it can engage in a broader review of tax policy that will eliminate the AMT altogether.
July 17, 2008
Oil Speculators: A Marginal (at Best) Cause of High Energy Prices
By J. D. Foster
(WebMemo #1998)
To deflect attention from high energy prices, Congress has joined in the finger-pointing, and the easiest targets are "speculators." Yet surprising voices are rising to set the record straight.
June 25, 2008
AMT Patch Bill Disguises a Tax Hike, Again
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1968)
There they go again. The House of Representatives passed another huge tax increase. Earlier in the year they passed a big, economically harmful tax hike attached to a bill expanding veterans’ benefits. This time, they married a big tax hike to a bill extending the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) patch for 2009.
June 19, 2008
Courageous Reforms in Ryan's Entitlements Road Map: Where Is the Democratic Response?
By J. D. Foster
(WebMemo #1958)
For years, political deadlock has stymied pressing reforms from health care to taxes to entitlements. Congressman Paul Ryan (R–WI), ranking member of the House Budget Committee, has attempted to break the deadlock, challenging members of both parties to take these serious issues seriously. Leading by example, Ryan has released a collection of bold, comprehensive, and sweeping reforms covering a broad spectrum of issues.
June 18, 2008
The Tax Relief Program Worked: Make the Tax Cuts Permanent
By . D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2145)
The 2001 and 2003 tax reduced tax burdens and got the economy growing again: lowering tax rates, reducing the tax bias against saving and investment, phasing out the death tax, and reducing the marriage penalty. Congress should act quickly to make the tax relief permanent and to enact additional tax relief to enhance the international competitiveness of American workers.
June 05, 2008
War Funding Bill: PAYGO Awry, Surtaxing Toward GI Benefits
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1947)
The Congress is readying legislation to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and threatening to load up the bill with unrelated related programs and initiatives. The “war supplemental” the House passed on May 15 failed to include funding for the war, but it did include an artificial timeline for troop withdrawal, codification of deployment schedules, billions of dollars in unrelated domestic spending, and the blocking of important cost-saving new Medicaid regulations.
May 13, 2008
Individual Income Tax Reform
By J. D. Foster
(Testimony #9999)
Mr. Chairman, Senator Grassley, Members of the Senate Finance Committee, my name is J.D. Foster. I am the Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy at The Heritage Foundation. The views I express in this testimony are my own, and should not be construed as representing any official position of The Heritage Foundation.
March 31, 2008
The Housing and Financial Markets: Congressional Action Could Disrupt Market Correction
By J.D. Foster
(WebMemo #1874)
Congressional action could prolong and exacerbate the current situation.
March 18, 2008
The Fed Engages as Economy Wavers
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D. and David C. John
(WebMemo #1857)
The health of the economy will depend significantly on the actions of the Federal Reserve in the days and weeks ahead.
March 13, 2008
Fair Tax Policy Requires a Fair Revenue Baseline
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1848)
Congress should use the budget resolution to correct the bias toward higher taxes in the CBO's budget projections.
March 11, 2008
Tax Hikes Hiding in Budget Resolutions' Treatment of AMT Patch
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1846)
Congress should include language in the budget resolution to extend the AMT patch without an accompanying tax hike.
March 04, 2008
Tax Cuts, Not the Clinton Tax Hike, Produced the 1990s Boom
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1835)
The 1993 tax increase probably slowed the economy compared to what it could have achieved.
February 26, 2008
No Economic Silver Lining in Tax Hikes
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1826)
A new theory mistakenly suggests that higher taxes may be benign or even beneficial to economic growth.
February 25, 2008
Tax Hikes, Economic Clouds, and Silver Linings: A Review of Deficits and the Economy
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2095)
Recent empirical work using different approaches affirms the traditional view that there is a clear and robust relationship between lower taxes and higher economic output. Federal, state, and local policymakers should therefore look for every opportunity to reduce taxes, especially those that are most harmful to economic growth such as marginal tax rates and taxes on saving and investment.
February 25, 2008
Executive Summary: Tax Hikes, Economic Clouds, and Silver Linings: A Review of Deficits and the Economy
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Executive Summary #2095)
Executive Summary: Recent empirical work using different approaches affirms the traditional view that there is a clear and robust relationship between lower taxes and higher economic output. Federal, state, and local policymakers should therefore look for every opportunity to reduce taxes, especially those that are most harmful to economic growth such as marginal tax rates and taxes on saving and investment.
February 06, 2008
Benefits of the President's Proposed Standard Deduction for Health Insurance
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1799)
Correcting the tax treatment of private health insurance would strengthen the consumer-driven market forces that should discipline health care prices.
2007 Research
December 17, 2007
CBO Confirms: Long-Run Fiscal Outlook Remains Grim
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1749)
Congress and the Administration must work together to pass meaningful reforms to entitlement programs and the health care market.
December 13, 2007
The AMT Patch: A Few Months Late and $51 Billion Heavy
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1745)
Congress must prevent an unnecessary tax hike and should reform the budget rules to eliminate the threat of similar tax hikes in the future.
November 07, 2007
AMT Fix Becomes Massive Tax Hike Via Misleading CBO Baselines
By J.D. Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1695)
The CBO's misleading baseline assumptions disguise a massive tax hike as a revenue-neutral proposal.
October 31, 2007
Making Good Policy Out of a Bad AMT
By J. D. Foster, Ph.D.
(Backgrounder #2082)
The majority party in Congress threatens to use extension of the alternative minimum tax patch as a ruse to raise taxes, which could leave a married AMT filer facing a tax increase of up to $5,026. Policymakers and the public need to expose this ruse, reject the tax hike, and turn to practical, substantive reform to end this pernicious tax.
October 26, 2007
The Rangel Tax Bill: Roses Among the Thorns
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1679)
Although it would hurt the economy with a massive tax increase, this bill also contains laudable features that Congress should pursue in separate legislation.
September 27, 2007
State and Local Tax Hikes Add to Federal Tax Relief Pressures
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1647)
To pay for tax relief and higher-priority spending at the federal level, policymakers should cut back on federal grants to the states.
September 26, 2007
Taxpayers, Beware: Record Tax Burden Is Rising
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1639)
Before launching a new spate of tax hikes, Members of Congress should consider the historical context of overall tax levels and where those levels are headed under current policy.
September 21, 2007
Rising State and Local Tax Burden Crowds Federal Tax Policy
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1628)
Members of Congress looking to raise federal taxes may be in for a surprise.
September 10, 2007
The Subprime Mortgage Crunch: Providing Tax Relief for Ex-Homeowners
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1603)
The President’s package of initiatives, while well intentioned, is misguided. A better approach would be to correct the tax treatment of cancelled mortgage debt.
July 31, 2007
Health Care Tax Credits: The Right Prescription for Expanded Health Care Coverage
By JD Foster
(WebMemo #1579)
Expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program would be a step toward a government-run health care system. Instead, Congress should consider tax policy changes that would expand private coverage.
July 16, 2007
The Phantom Economic Benefits of SCHIP Expansion
By JD Foster, Ph.D., and Michael Lumley
(WebMemo #1557)
An advocacy group's study showing economic gains from SCHIP expansion is based on faulty premises.
July 10, 2007
Higher Education for Taxpayers
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1547)
The reauthorization of the federal higher education programs should be used as an opportunity to reprioritize and, where possible, reduce federal spending—not as an excuse to create still more programs.
July 09, 2007
SCHIP Reauthorization: Congress Should Beware of Creating a New Entitlement
By Nicola Moore and JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1540)
Congress ought to focus on addressing the entitlement spending problem it has already created. Expanding yet another federal healthcare program would be reckless, risky, and irresponsible.
April 24, 2007
The Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report Again—And Again Problems Have Worsened
By JD Foster, Ph.D.
(WebMemo #1430)
The financial condition of Medicare and Social Security is terrible and got significantly worse with another year of legislative inactivity.
November 20, 2009
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