What Earmarks and “Pork” Really Are Earmarks are specific spending items inserted into legislation to fund particular projects—often in a member of Congress’s district. A road expansion, a university research grant, or a flood control system are typical examples. In recent years, they’ve been rebranded as “community project funding,” but
A lot of people look at capital gains taxes and assume there is meaningful money to be found. The intuition is understandable. Large fortunes, significant stock gains, valuable real estate—this feels like the place where the government could raise serious revenue. But the reality is more constrained. Even fairly aggressive
Corporate taxes are an easy place for people to look for ideas to reduce our deficit and debt. Corporations can feel abstract—large, distant, and often associated with profits and executive pay. That makes them a politically safe target. But corporations are also employers, investors, and the main vehicle through which
It’s an appealing idea. The numbers at the top are large, the need is large, and the logic feels straightforward: raise taxes on the wealthy and close the gap. But when you walk through the math, it doesn’t work. There might be an argument to be made that the wealthy
Why Different Philosophies Lead to Different Answers Arguments about taxes usually stay on the surface—rates, loopholes, and who pays how much. Below this debate are moral assumptions about different types of taxation. People often talk past each other because they are starting from different assumptions about the relative morality of
In a well-run nonprofit organization, a board of directors is a made up of trustees, expected to act as stewards. The board’s job is to protect the mission of the organization, preserve financial health, and make decisions that ensure the organization remains strong over time. The focus is not on
The conversation about U.S. debt often gets pulled into extremes—either dismissing it because the U.S. is still dominant, or treating it as an imminent collapse. China’s view is more disciplined than either of those. It does not expect the United States to fail suddenly. It does, however, see persistent deficits
A Different Kind of Federal Responsibility In our view, national defense is different from most other major areas of government spending because it is one of the few things only the federal government can truly provide. States cannot maintain fleets, nuclear deterrence, global intelligence systems, treaty commitments, or unified command
A brief history America’s healthcare system was not built as a single national program. Instead, it developed over time in layers. Employer-sponsored insurance grew during and after World War II, supported by tax policy. In 1965, Medicare and Medicaid were created to cover the elderly, the disabled, and many low-income
The Pickle We Are In The United States is no longer making budget decisions on a blank slate. The country is operating inside a mature system with large, ongoing commitments and persistent deficits. Federal spending is roughly $6.5 to $6.8 trillion per year (and rising as you read this), while
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