Economy

Many Americans rightfully assume that we need to regulate businesses and other entities in order to safeguard consumers and our environment. This has always been the rhetorical lynchpin of ideological warfare among our leaders and has typically been used to sway public opinion. They say all is fair in love and war. Fair enough, but once the smoke clears and any bad policy decisions riddle the battle feild the ones in charge simply blame the other side. Time and time agian the public just sucks up the political fallout and once again cry for or decry regulation and/or deregualtion.

Jobs, Yes. Via More Government, No. -

Balanced Budget Amendment: Lessons from History - Attempts at passing a balanced budget amendment (BBA) date back to the 1930s, and all have been unsuccessful. Both parties carry some of the blame: The GOP too often has been neglectful of the issue, and the Democratic Left, recognizing a threat to big government, has stalled and obfuscated, attempting to water down any proposals to mandate balanced budgets.

Here’s a sign that you may not have to worry about inflation for a while: The Los Angeles Times business page is warning that higher prices “have seeped from the gas pump into the broader U.S. economy in May, adding new hurdles for the sluggish recovery.”

What’s an Oil Subsidy? - Policymakers are labeling some tax provisions “oil subsidies” that are not subsidies. There are special tax treatments that require attention. [Heritage Foundation]

Evidently, Franklin Delano Roosevelt believed that organized labor ought to remain outside of government. He is said to have recognized the horrible prospect that conflicts of interest would arise in such a relationship. History has born out his concern, as state governors across the country can attest to.

Dwight D. Eisenhower referred to a similar conflict of interest concerning military contractors and government. Eisenhower saw similar problems in the intellectual pool of expertise that is paid to serve the government, and, vicariously, themselves.

Hemispheric Think Tank Says Time for Drug Policy Rethink -

Part I: FCC “Ancillary” Authority to Regulate the Internet? Don’t Count on It -

The FCC published its long-awaited final Report and Order on net neutrality at the end of December (more on that in part 2 of this post), but the debate is far from over.

Now that a bipartisan coalition in the House has voted to repeal ObamaCare, an even larger bipartisan coalition has approved a Republican resolution directing four House committees to "replace" that ill-fated law. Cato scholar Michael F. Cannon argues that it's a bit premature to be talking about replacing ObamaCare. "No matter how good the Republicans' proposals are, they will be utterly ineffective so long as ObamaCare remains on the books," says Cannon.

United Nations To-Do List for the New Congress - Congress should be vigilant in scrutinizing the U.N. budget to guard against impropriety and waste. [Heritage Foundation]