The Clock Is Ticking: U.S. Could Default on Debt Payments by June 1
It's time for President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to strike a deal that will avoid a default and cut spending.
Government Spending
Joe Biden Wants 4 More Years 'To Finish the Job.' What Job?
Plus: A listener question scrutinizing current attitudes toward executive power
Problems With Mass Transit Won't Be Solved With More Money
The transit systems we're supposed to hop aboard ultimately operate as jobs programs for government workers.
Don't Believe the Media Fearmongering About Spending Cuts
In 2019, discretionary spending was $1.338 trillion—or some $320 billion less than what Republicans want that side of the budget to be.
The House GOP Debt Ceiling Plan Would Restore Spending Caps. Good.
The most important part of the Limit, Grow, Save Act is the limits.
The Biden Administration Reduced the Debt-to-GDP Ratio in the Worst Possible Way
The main driver behind the reduction is inflation—inflation that politicians created with their irresponsible spending.
Inflation Means We're Spending More Money on Less Highway
A new report from Reason Foundation shows that in 2020, highway quality improved while spending stayed flat. Inflation is now wrecking that progress.
These Members of Congress Have a Revolutionary Idea: Write and Pass a Budget the Old-Fashioned Way
A return to so-called normal order wouldn't fix all of Washington's many problems, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Why Do Public Schools Suck and What Should We Do About Them? Live With Corey DeAngelis and Connor Boyack
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook on Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a live discussion with the authors of Mediocrity: 40 Ways Government Schools Are Failing Today's Students
Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, and the Deeply Unserious Debate Over the Debt Ceiling
An impasse created by years of politicized, myopic decision making in Washington is pushing the federal government ever closer to a dangerous cliff.
Taxes Are Not the Mark of Civilized Society
Contra the famous quotation from Oliver Wendell Holmes, there's nothing particularly civilized about the way our governments spend the money we provide.
Is Clarence Thomas Ethically Challenged?
Plus: What the editors hate most about the IRS and tax day
Heaton Fixes the Student Debt Crisis
How to—and how not to—help solve the college debt problem.
Ax Government Funding for NPR
NPR is no Xinhua, but Elon Musk is correct that it doesn't need government subsidies.
Biden's 'Buy American' Rules Are Getting in the Way of Biden's Rural Broadband Push
Industrial policy is never as simple as it seems.
IRS Is 48 Days Late To Issue Report Telling American Public How It'll Spend New $80 Billion
The agency’s new report tells us practically nothing of significance.
Republicans' and Democrats' Refusal To Reform Social Security and Medicare Is Political Malpractice
In 10 years, the programs' funds will be insolvent. Over the next 30 years, they will run a $116 trillion shortfall.
Poll Finds That Americans Care Less About 'Community Engagement.' Government Is Largely to Blame.
The ballooning of government has 'crowded out’ institutions of civil society, says AEI’s Howard Husock.
Social Security Will Be Insolvent by 2033
New data from the program's trustees show that insolvency will hit a year sooner than previously expected, giving policy makers just a decade before automatic benefit cuts occur.
Progressive Politicians Are Regulating Their Own Projects Into Oblivion
Excessive government interference in the market hurts consumers and thwarts policy goals. It also gets in the way of the government itself.
Nobel Prize–Winning Economist: Democrats Are Committed 'To Spending Other People's Money'
Vernon Smith weighs in on Biden's budget, how government causes inflation, and why bailing out Silicon Valley Bank was a bad idea.
This Year's Farm Bill Threatens To Be a Bigger Monster Than Ever
The massive piece of legislation embodies all that is wrong with American lawmaking.
The Government Is Turning Border Surveillance on Everyday Americans
As the government sets its sights on migrants crossing the border, native-born Americans have also come under its watchful eye.
Federal Courts Clash Over Financial Watchdog's Constitutionality
The CFPB funding scheme is constitutional, the 2nd Circuit says.
To Balance the Budget, Republicans Must Cut Military Spending, Trim Entitlements, or Raise Taxes
If Republicans refuse to gore their three sacred cows, a new CBO report shows that balancing the budget is literally impossible.
Congress Hasn't Passed a Budget on Time in 27 Years
Congress' end-of-year rush to fund the federal government has become the norm.
Biden's New Budget Would Hike Taxes and Wage Class Warfare
The higher taxes on small businesses and entrepreneurs could slow growth. Less opportunity means more tribalism and division.
Blame America's Air Traffic Control System for Your Flight Delay
In countries that privatized, there are fewer delays and costs are lower. But labor unions and the private plane lobby stand in the way.
Ron DeSantis' Immigration Playbook Is All About Big Government
Despite his declared commitment to freedom and fiscal conservatism, DeSantis' immigration policies represent a dramatic expansion of government power and spending.
Ridiculous Spending on Museums May Be Here To Stay
Handouts for tourist-trap museums will be part of the federal funding battleground in the next two years.
America Needs a Better Kind of Capitalism
Big corporations and entire industries constantly use their connections in Congress to get favors, no matter which party is in power.
Congress Should Not Give Any Government Agency Financial Free Rein
Lawmakers should proactively retake the power of the purse from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.
Joe Manchin Is Once Again Telling Republicans and Democrats What They Don't Want To Hear
But it's exactly what they need to start talking about.
The Government Is Subsidizing Microchip Firms—While Making It More Expensive To Produce Microchips
Politicians say they want to subsidize various industries, but they sabotage themselves by weighing the policies down with rules that have nothing to do with the plans.
Bringing the Child Tax Credit Back to Life Is Too Costly
Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation reported that a permanent expansion would cost more than $1.4 trillion over a decade.
Now the CHIPS Act Is Going To Subsidize Child Care Too
If Congress wants to spend taxpayer money on child care services, it should pass a bill authorizing that.
When the Government Makes Poverty Worse
A Pennsylvania survey suggests that taxes are often a major barrier to economic security, ranking ahead of credit card debt and student loans.
No, the HEROES Act Doesn't Let Biden Forgive Student Loans
"If it was an emergency, why wait three years to provide the forgiveness? Why present it in a political framework, as fulfilling a campaign promise?" said one higher education expert.
Paul Krugman Says Social Security Is Sustainable. It's Really Not.
Krugman sees benefit cuts as "a choice" but believes that implementing a massive tax increase on American employers and workers would be "of course" no big deal.
Biden's 'Buy American' Promise Is a Lot More Complicated and Bureaucratic Than It Seems
An escalator in a subway station is considered a "component" but a fire suppression system in the same station is considered a "finished product." Why? Because the bureaucrats say so.
During Surprise Trip to Kyiv, Biden Promises Endless Support for Ukraine War
Plus: The National Endowment for Democracy ends funding of conservative media blacklist, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear major internet free speech case, and more...
Want Less Corruption? Try Having Smaller Government.
People can never be made incorruptible. We can, however, design governmental systems filled with checks and balances that limit the temptations.
Social Security and Medicare Cuts Are Coming, Whether Politicians Do It or Not
As legislators refuse to act, benefits will be cut without any possibility of sheltering those seniors who are poor.
U.S. Will Add $18.8 Trillion in New Debt by 2033
Plus: Age verification for social media, a bill to ban cannabis "gatherings," and more...
Bad Schools Aren't Always Underfunded
"More money can help schools succeed, but not if they fritter those extra resources in unproductive ways," says one researcher.
Under No Circumstances Did Joe Biden Save Social Security
Plus: a listener question on prohibition and a lightning round on the editors' favorite Super Bowl moments
The Fight Over the Debt Ceiling Is Just Beginning
Legislators will increasingly argue over how to spend a diminishing discretionary budget while overall spending simultaneously explodes.
