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Daniel J. Mitchell is a top expert on tax reform and supply-side tax policy at
the Cato Institute. Mitchell is a strong advocate of a flat tax and international tax competition. Prior to joining Cato, Mitchell was a senior fellow with The Heritage Foundation, and an economist for Senator Bob Packwood and the Senate Finance Committee. He also served on the 1988 Bush/Quayle transition team and was Director of Tax and Budget Policy for Citizens for a Sound Economy. His articles can be found in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Investor's Business Daily, and Washington Times. He is a frequent guest on radio and television and a popular speaker on the lecture circuit. Mitchell holds bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 21, 2012)
Most of my work on government stimulus focuses on economic theory and evidence.
But every so often it’s a good idea to remind ourselves of the ridiculous ways that... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 20, 2012)
I’ve explained before that “high-speed rail” is a boondoggle, and I’ve also posted a thorough presentation on the topic from the folks at Reason about this issue.
But some... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 19, 2012)
I wrote about Julia the Moocher earlier this month, linking the Obama campaign’s make-believe leech with a real-world Greek woman who thought the government should take care... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 18, 2012)
A few months ago, I wrote some very nice things about a budget plan put together by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, noting that:
Senator Paul and his colleagues are... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 17, 2012)
Putting Republicans in charge is never a guarantee of good public policy. It was during the Bush years, for instance, that the nation was saddled with a prescription drug... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 16, 2012)
Two years ago, I posted a mildly inappropriate photo of an old guy protesting Obama’s faux stimulus.
I should have realized that no amount of satire can match the real-world... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 15, 2012)
President Obama’s fiscal policy is a dismal mixture. On spending, he wants a European-style welfare state. On taxes, he is fixated on class-warfare tax policy.
If we want to... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 14, 2012)
My favorite political jokes tend to be parables, such as using beer to explain the tax system, the PC version of the story about the ant and the grasshopper, the joke about... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 13, 2012)
Last year, as part of the fight over the debt limit, Congress created a “super-committee” that was designed to produce at least $1.2 trillion of “deficit reduction.”
The... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 12, 2012)
It is very sad that America’s tax system is so onerous that some rich people feel they have no choice but to give up U.S. citizenship in order to protect their family... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 11, 2012)
Here’s a joke I got from a friend in Alabama. It’s somewhat similar to this gem about the difference between conservatives, liberals, and... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 10, 2012)
I wrote a detailed blog post yesterday, showing that European governments have been very reluctant to restrain the burden of government spending.
Part of the problem is that... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 09, 2012)
With both France and Greece deciding to jump out of the left-wing frying pan into the even-more-left-wing fire, European fiscal policy has become quite a controversial... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 08, 2012)
Even though he is a foolish statist, I wanted Francois Hollande to win the French presidency. Sarkozy was a statist as well, after all, and my “Richard Nixon Disinfectant... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 07, 2012)
I shared an amazing video last year featuring Margaret Thatcher exposing the left for wanting to keep the poor destitute if that was the price of hurting the so-called... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 06, 2012)
I periodically explain the principles of the Laffer Curve, particularly in hopes that I will educate lawmakers that higher tax rates are a bad idea – even if they wind up... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 05, 2012)
Back in 2010, I declared that Olga Stefou was a symbol of everything that’s wrong with the Greek welfare state.
She was one of the protesters and – if the story captured her... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 04, 2012)
I’ve written before how “The Value-Added Tax Would Be a Money Machine for Big Government.”
Writing for Bloomberg, Josh Barro has a piece entitled, “Value-Added Tax... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 03, 2012)
There are two serious problems with America’s Social Security system. Almost everyone knows about the first problem, which is that the system is bankrupt, with huge unfunded... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 02, 2012)
I’ve been fighting for more than 10 years to stop an IRS regulation that would force American banks to put foreign tax law above US tax law.
Sadly, I recently lost that... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (May 01, 2012)
There’s an old saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. This certainly is a good description of Keynesians,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 30, 2012)
Haiti may be the poorest nation in the Americas. Cuba may have the dictator with the longest lifespan. But Venezuela arguably has the worst government.
Not the clownish... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 29, 2012)
I’ve occasionally commented on foolish public policy in the United Kingdom, including analysis on how the welfare state destroys lives and turns people into despicable... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 28, 2012)
I’ve argued, ad nauseam, that the single most important goal of fiscal policy is (or should be) to make sure the private sector grows faster than the government. This “golden... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 27, 2012)
I’m in Monaco for the 10th forum of the Convention of Independent Financial Advisors, a Swiss-based NGO that focuses on promoting an ethical and productive environment for... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 26, 2012)
Many years ago, before it became associated with foreign intervention, neo-conservatism was simply a term for former liberals who migrated to the right. It was said that they... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 25, 2012)
President Obama imposed a big-spending faux stimulus program on the economy back in 2009, claiming that the government needed to squander about $800 billion to keep the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 24, 2012)
With the exception of a few top-notch thinkers such as Pierre Bessard and Allister Heath, there are very few people in Europe who can intelligently analyze public policy,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 23, 2012)
The pro-statism crowd routinely argues that we need more government. Every so often, though, one of them inadvertently stumbles on the truth. But they then refuse to draw the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 22, 2012)
I’ve done a couple of posts comparing Reaganomics and Obamanomics, mostly based on data from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve on employment and economic output.
I even did a... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 21, 2012)
I periodically get emails asking whether I support a presidential candidate. Most of these messages complain that I’ve been critical... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 20, 2012)
I have to give the Washington Post credit. It may have a bias for statism, but at least they have some diversity on the op-ed pages. Less than two months after E.J. Dionne... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 19, 2012)
A few days ago, I explained why I’m a big fan of tax competition. Simply stated, we need to subject governments to competitive pressure to at least partially offset the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 18, 2012)
Whether it’s through the Buffett Rule, higher income-tax rates or double taxation of dividends and capital gains, President Obama often demands that “rich” taxpayers and big... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 17, 2012)
Other than my experiment dealing with corporate taxation, the first video I narrated for the Center for Freedom and Prosperity dealt with the issue of tax competition.
It... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 16, 2012)
Sweden has a very large and expensive welfare state, but it’s actually becoming a bit of a role model for economic reform. I’ve already commented on the country’s impressive... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 15, 2012)
The silly debate about the “Buffett Rule” is really an argument about the extent to which there should be more double taxation of income that is saved and... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 14, 2012)
Why are taxes so much higher in Europe, consuming 46 percent of economic output compared to 32 percent of GDP in America? Is it because nations such as France, Greece, and... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 13, 2012)
One of my first posts on this blog featured this video showing how big government breeds corruption.
I’ve periodically provided examples of how this process works, citing... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 12, 2012)
I’ve already explained why Warren Buffett is either dishonest or clueless about tax policy. Today, on CNBC, I got to debate the tax scheme that President Obama has named... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 11, 2012)
Dan Mitchell
The Laffer Curve is a graphical representation of the relationship between tax rates, tax revenue, and taxable income. It is frequently cited by people who... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 10, 2012)
Many people think that my opposition to tax increases is ideological, but they’re wrong.
If someone told me that I magically had the power to flick a switch and give the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 09, 2012)
Ron Paul has made “End the Fed” a popular slogan, but some people worry that this is a radical untested idea. In part, this is because it is human nature to fear the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 08, 2012)
I’ve reported some horror stories about bureaucrats ripping off taxpayers with lavish compensation packages, including:
The chief bureaucrat of a low-income California... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 07, 2012)
I’ve written about the government’s war on light bulbs, its rule against working toilets, and its prohibition of washing machines that actually clean, so I sometimes cover... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 06, 2012)
Some of the world’s most disgusting and evil regimes restricted the right to emigrate, including the imposition of exit taxes designed to fleece those who did want to... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 05, 2012)
I have several amusing posts about the left’s fixation on redistributionism, including this Halloween classic, this Elizabeth Warren takedown, this mockery of the Occupy Wall... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 04, 2012)
Actually, Bill Clinton must be something even worse than a social Darwinist. That’s because the title of this post is wrong. Obama said that Paul Ryan’s plan (which allows... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 03, 2012)
I wrote last year about a backlash from long-suffering Greek taxpayers. These people – the ones pulling the wagon rather than riding in the wagon – are being raped and... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 02, 2012)
Last year, I expressed skepticism that the White House was serious about reducing the corporate tax rate. And, sure enough, when the Obama Administration produced a plan... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Apr 01, 2012)
I’m periodically asked why I share political humor on this blog. The glib and easy answer is that it’s good to share amusing material.
But there’s also a serious... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 31, 2012)
My daily email containing the editorials and opinion columns from the Washington Post included an item written by E.J. Dionne entitled “Supreme Court activists: Conservative... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 30, 2012)
Illinois is a hopeless state, filled with greedy bureaucrats and senseless politicians. Not surprisingly, it’s also a state that prosecutes people who try to protect... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 29, 2012)
What do the flat tax and national sales tax (and even the value-added tax) have in common?
As I explain in this Senate Budget Committee testimony, they are all single-rate,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 28, 2012)
Last year, I shared a very amusing Michael Ramirez cartoon showing Obama as the European lemming.
Today, Mark Helprin takes a much more serious look at the same issue in the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 27, 2012)
I think Obamacare is bad policy because it exacerbates the main problem with the current healthcare system, which is third-party payer. And as a public finance economist, I’m... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 26, 2012)
While there are some statists who viscerally despise freedom and want ordinary citizens disarmed so that only the government has guns, most supporters of gun control... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 25, 2012)
I’m not a big fan of welfare programs, in part because I sympathize with taxpayers (check out these outrageous examples of waste) but mostly because redistribution programs... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 24, 2012)
Governor Romney’s campaign is catching some flak because a top aide implied that many of the candidate’s positions have been insincere and that Romney will erase those views... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 23, 2012)
In some recent polling data, most Americans expressed a negative view of the federal government, with many of them in another poll saying it poses an “immediate threat to... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 22, 2012)
The Chairman of the House Budget Committee has produced a new budget plan which contrasts very favorably with the tax-heavy, big-spending proposal submitted by the President... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 21, 2012)
Republicans are telling voters that they’ve learned the hard lessons from the 2006 and 2008 elections and that they are back on the side of taxpayers. I’m not convinced,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 20, 2012)
In a recent post comparing Reaganomics and Obamanomics, I explained why I think Barack Obama’s policies have been hurting the economy.
In today’s New York Post, I do a... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 19, 2012)
In my explanations of the Laffer Curve, I’ve shown evidence that high tax rates discourage productive behavior and boost the underground economy.
And if higher tax rates are... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 18, 2012)
I’ve written about the government’s war on consumer-friendly light bulbs (and also similar attacks on working toilets and washing machines that actually clean), so I’m... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 17, 2012)
I’ve remarked before that Democrats are the evil party and Republicans are the stupid party. Well, if anyone needs additional proof about GOPers being clueless and tone deaf,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 16, 2012)
Early in 2010, I wrote about a reprehensible IRS plan to create a cartel in the tax preparation industry, which would screw small firms and entrepreneurs to help line the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 15, 2012)
Back in 2009, I got very excited when President Obama stated, “No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top.”
Did that mean he... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 14, 2012)
I’ve always admired the English sense of humor, and this post on terrorism alerts is a good example.
In that spirit, here’s something that just arrived in my inbox,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 13, 2012)
Last year, while lounging on the beach in the Caribbean…oops, I mean while doing off-site research, I developed the first iteration of a rule to describe how fiscal policy... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 12, 2012)
I like to think people in the United States still believe in liberty, and I’ve cited some polling data in support of American Exceptionalism.
And it seems like that... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 11, 2012)
I’ve periodically written about the overall cost of regulation, and I’ve also highlighted the onerous costs of proposals such as the Dodd-Frank bailout bill.
This blurb from... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 10, 2012)
If you click here, you’ll see the best poster ever produced on gun control. It shows the various tyrants that have disarmed citizens as part of their oppressive rule.
But... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 09, 2012)
Europe is in shambles. Nations are going bankrupt. There are riots in the streets. So you would guess that the folks at the European Commission are focused on some big... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 08, 2012)
In a grand Washington tradition, I periodically make imperious demands. In the past year or two, I’ve issued the following ultimatums to the GOP:
o No tax increases, since... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 07, 2012)
This might not be quite as funny as the Iowahawk video on the Pelosi GTxi SS/RT, but it’s a close call. In any event, this is extremely clever, makes an important... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 06, 2012)
I’ve already explained that the Obamacare contraception-coverage controversy is about economics and religious liberty, not birth control.
But now that the debate has been... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 05, 2012)
Whenever I narrate videos lasting longer than nine minutes, such as my three videos on tax havens or my video on international corporate taxation, I often get backhanded... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 04, 2012)
Washington is filled with people who exaggerate, prevaricate, dissemble, and obfuscate. And those are the people I like. The ones I don’t like are much worse.
That’s why,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 03, 2012)
Is Banning Skinny Models a Legitimate Function of Government?
March 2, 2012 by Dan Mitchell
Notwithstanding my post comparing stupid government policies in the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 02, 2012)
I shared my thoughts about tax reform with the Senate Budget Committee earlier today.
Not surprisingly, I testified that the ideal tax system should have the lowest-possible... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Mar 01, 2012)
I rarely comment on Vice President Biden because he is not a serious person in the world of policy. The only attention he gets on this blog is jabs from the late-night talk... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 29, 2012)
Supporters of individual liberty and national sovereignty have been skeptical of the United Nations, and with good reason. With the support of statists such as George Soros,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 28, 2012)
Since starting this blog, I’ve periodically shared polling data that gives me hope. Highlights include:
o More than two-to-one support for personal retirement accounts.
o... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 27, 2012)
I realize the title of this post sounds like the beginning of a joke, along the lines of “A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar…”, but this is a serious topic.
A... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 26, 2012)
I’ve been a big critic of Obama’s policies on taxes, spending, regulation, and intervention, so you won’t be surprised that I argued on CNBC that his policies have made the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 25, 2012)
Nothing compares to the depth and substance of Professor George Selgin’s scholarly take-down of the Federal Reserve, but this video by a local libertarian has a very... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 24, 2012)
What is it about Mitt Romney? The United States desperately needs smaller government, lower taxes, and less intervention, yet his comments and track record on issues such as... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 23, 2012)
Obama’s Corporate Tax Refom: Rearranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic?
February 22, 2012 by Dan Mitchell
American companies are hindered by what is arguably... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 22, 2012)
The overwhelming fiscal policy challenge for America is entitlement programs, as I explain in this set of videos. To protect America from becoming another Greece, we need... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 21, 2012)
I confess to being monotonous and repetitive when it comes to explaining that America’s fiscal problem is too much spending, and that debt and deficits are simply symptoms... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 20, 2012)
I fight to preserve tax competition, fiscal sovereignty, and financial privacy for the simple reason that politicians are less likely to impose destructive tax policy if they... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 18, 2012)
Even though there is a wealth of evidence for the Laffer Curve, statists and other big-government advocates routinely claim that incentives don’t matter.
So I wonder how... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 17, 2012)
Early last year, the Center for Freedom and Prosperity released this video, narrated by yours truly, making the case that the United States and other nations should shift... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 16, 2012)
While I’m obviously not a fan of big government, I have mixed feelings about why the public sector is so blindly wasteful.
Is it because politicians and bureaucrats are... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 15, 2012)
With apologies to the original Superman TV show…
Given what’s happened to the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Fifth Amendment in recent years, and considering what... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 14, 2012)
President Obama’s budget proposal was unveiled today, generating all sorts of conflicting statements from both parties.
Some of the assertions wrongly focus on red ink... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 13, 2012)
President Obama, echoed by the establishment media, routinely trumpets Warren Buffett’s support for higher taxes.
If this rich guy is willing to pay more, the story goes,... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 12, 2012)
About this time last year, with the White House about to release a new budget, the press was filled with stories about President Obama being a tough-minded budget... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 11, 2012)
When Ronald Reagan said that big government undermined the economy, some people dismissed his comments because of his philosophical belief in liberty.
And when I discuss my... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 10, 2012)
I’ve criticized centralization of power in Washington, and I’ve condemned efforts for global “economic governance.”
The simple message is that bureaucrats shouldn’t try to... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 09, 2012)
Is it April Fool’s Day? Has somebody in Paris hacked the website at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development? Have we been transported to a parallel... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 08, 2012)
I’ve mentioned before how I’m proud and lucky to work for the Cato Institute, first and foremost because my colleagues are scrupulously non-partisan. We promote the ideals of... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 07, 2012)
Ronald Reagan was born 101 years ago yesterday, so let’s celebrate the great man with some videos.
But since I’ve already shared a video highlighting Reagan’s deep... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 06, 2012)
Other than my affection for the Georgia Bulldogs, I’m not a big fan of higher education.
Colleges and universities are hotbeds of political correctness, but that’s actually... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 05, 2012)
Dan Mitchell
What’s the worst policy idea that would cause the most damage to society?
I’m tempted to say the value-added tax since our hopes of restraining the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 04, 2012)
The new unemployment numbers show a joblessness rate of 8.3 percent.
From a political perspective, this is good news for the White House. Even though the Obama... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 03, 2012)
On this day last year, I posted two charts that I developed using the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank’s interactive website.
Those two charts showed that the current... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 02, 2012)
Never let it be said I back down from a fight, even when it’s the other team’s game, played by the other team’s rules, and for the benefit of the wrong person.
And that... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Feb 01, 2012)
Back in 2010, I crunched the numbers from the Congressional Budget Office and reported that the budget could be balanced in just 10 years if politicians exercised a modicum... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 31, 2012)
Leftists want higher tax rates and they want greater tax compliance. But they have a hard time understanding that those goals are inconsistent.
Simply stated, people respond... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 30, 2012)
I’ve written before about the sleazy and corrupting impact of earmarks.
And I’ve debunked the lobbyist arguments in favor of earmarks.
Heck, I’ve even done NPR interviews... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 29, 2012)
People keep emailing and complaining that I must be an Obama supporter since I periodically post critical information about Romney and Gingrich.
In response, I say that it’s... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 28, 2012)
President Obama’s two biggest “achievements” since taking office are the so-called stimulus and government-run healthcare.
But neither one of those policies are popular, so... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 27, 2012)
I was nauseated when Newt Gingrich did the infamous global warming ad with Nancy Pelosi.
I was disgusted when he criticized Paul Ryan’s entitlement reforms.
But I’m not... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 26, 2012)
January 25, 2012 by Dan Mitchell
I’ve already bragged that the Cato Institute is America’s best think tank, highlighting the fact that we took the lead in battling... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 25, 2012)
Last night’s GOP debate did nothing to change my sour opinion of Mitt Romney.
During a discussion about tax reform, he attacked Newt Gingrich for the supposed crime of not... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 24, 2012)
The Washington Post is a left-wing newspaper, so I’m never surprised to find examples of biased reporting.
Last month, for instance, I made fun of the Post for asserting... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 23, 2012)
I don’t expect a good outcome to the European fiscal crisis, largely because nobody seems to understand that the real problem is excessive government spending.
The... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 22, 2012)
Two days ago, I explained that tax increases are bad policy.
More specifically, I warned that giving more money to government exacerbates fiscal problems because politicians... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 21, 2012)
I don’t blame the Democrats for wanting to seduce Republicans into a tax-increase trap. Indeed, I completely understand why some Democrats said their top political... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 20, 2012)
Exactly 10 days ago, I predicted that the press would attack Mitt Romney for using tax havens. In that post, I wrote that, “…based on the questions, it appears that the... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 19, 2012)
I sometimes make fun of the English, for reasons ranging from asinine laws to milquetoast politicians to horrid healthcare policy.
But at least some U.K. elected officials... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 18, 2012)
I’ve written several times about a proposed IRS regulation that would force American banks to put foreign law above U.S. law. I’ve repeatedly warned that the scheme, which... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 17, 2012)
Last year, I debunked the silly claim that Obama is a conservative.
I almost didn’t write that post. Some things, after all, presumably don’t require a response. Would I... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 16, 2012)
In the past 20-plus years, I’ve seen all sorts of arguments for class-warfare taxation. These include:
President Obama says he wants higher tax rates for fairness, even if... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 15, 2012)
Editor's note: This story contains language from liberals that some readers my find more offensive than the normal America-bashing, God-hating, left-wing spew that's... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 14, 2012)
After saddling the nation with trillion-dollar boondoggles like the faux stimulus and Obamacare, I’m not sure it’s possible for Obama to reinvent himself as a budget cutter... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 13, 2012)
The 2012 Index of Economic Freedom has just been released. This is my favorite publication from the Heritage Foundation, and second only to the Economic Freedom of the World... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 12, 2012)
Even vicious, reprehensible, and disgusting tyrants sometimes make wise observations. Back in 2010, for instance, Cuba’s Murderer-in-Chief confessed that communism didn’t... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 11, 2012)
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I write about insanely stupid government policies. But I know I get more motivated to fight big government.
How can anyone want to... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 10, 2012)
I’m not a big fan of Mitt Romney. I hammered him the day before Christmas for being open to a value-added tax, and criticized him in previous posts for his less-than-stellar... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 09, 2012)
I keep getting requests to reprint this joke. And since we’ve been mocking Illinois in recent days, I’m reprinting the joke with a slight... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 08, 2012)
When I read the story from England about needing photo ID to buy teaspoons, I thought British bureaucrats built an insurmountable lead in the U.S. vs. U.K. contest for... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 07, 2012)
The White House doubtlessly is happy that the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.5 percent, in part because the President is much more likely to get reelected if voters think... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 06, 2012)
did a debate on income inequality for PBS, but haven’t written much about the issue because I think it is a misguided diversion.
One frustrating aspect of this debate... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 05, 2012)
My Iowa caucus predictions from yesterday were hopelessly wrong, probably because I was picking with my heart rather than my head. As I noted a couple of weeks ago, Mitt... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 04, 2012)
Late last year, Spanish voters kicked out a socialist government and elected a new government led by the supposedly conservative People’s Party.
Is that translating into... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 03, 2012)
In June of last year, I posted several examples of idiotic government policy from both the United States and United Kingdom and asked which nation had the dumbest bureaucrats... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 02, 2012)
Last January, I identified five things that worried me for 2011. Here’s what had me concerned, along with some ex post facto analysis about whether I was right to fret:
1.... more
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Daniel J. Mitchell (Jan 01, 2012)
Paul Krugman has told us that awful stories about government-run healthcare in Britain “are false.”
I guess this means that the media must be dominated by... more