IRS Tax Enforcement vs. Civil Liberties
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The proposed $2.4 trillion reconciliation bill includes $80 billion for increased Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding. The Democrats want to beef up the...
President Biden’s Proposed Budget
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The Biden administration has released its federal budget for 2022, which envisions a large increase in the size of government. As the pandemic recedes...
Secret Service Spending Soars
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
In the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan reviews Carol Leonnig’s book, Zero Fail, about the history and performance of the Secret Service. The federal agency...
Electric Vehicles and the Biden Infrastructure Plan
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
A damaging effect of government expansion is the “crowding out” or displacement of private‐sector activities. Governments often think that they can...
Chris Edwards discusses the Biden Administration’s infrastructure plan on The Great Antidote Podcast
Chris Edwards is the director of tax policy studies at the CATO Institute and editor of www.DownsizingGovernment.org. He is a top expert on federal...
Corporate Taxes: Rates Down, Revenues Up
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently complained about a “30-year race to the bottom on corporate tax rates,” and is pushing for a higher...
Biden’s Crumbling Bridges
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says America’s roads and bridges are “crumbling.” The administration’s infrastructure plan says, “After decades of disinvestment, our roads, bridges, and...
Biden Corporate Tax Increase
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
As part of his infrastructure plan, President Biden is proposing to raise the federal corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28...
Federal Budget Deficits: Path of Doom
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President Trump approved $900 billion in stimulus spending in December and President Biden approved another $1.9 trillion in March. Biden is...
About Andrew Cuomo
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is in hot water. His handling of nursing homes during the pandemic was tragically flawed and...
More Federal Aid to States Not Needed
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President Biden and the Democrats are including $350 billion in aid for the states in their $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. But...
President Biden and Labor Unions
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Joe Biden is old. He has been in politics since 1970 and holds antiquated views. On the campaign trail, he used...
President Biden’s Minimum Wage Proposal
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
As part of his $1.9 trillion relief plan, President Joe Biden proposes to double the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to...
State Budgets: Course Correction Not Crisis
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Media reports since the pandemic began have claimed that state and local governments are in a “dire fiscal crisis” and face...
Property Taxes on the Ballot
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The most famous ballot question on fiscal policy is California’s Proposition 13 passed in 1978. Voters passed the constitutional change to...
Complexity in State Government
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
One of the factors undermining efficiency and performance in American government is the rising complexity of laws, regulations, programs, and bureaucratic...
Spending on Police by State
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
Amid the outcry over George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests, some people are calling for defunding the police. Zeroing out the...
U.S. Postal Service in Crisis
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
President Trump has reignited a feud with the U.S. Postal Service calling it “a joke” the other day. He does not like Amazon’s delivery...
Slashing Regulations to Combat Coronavirus
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The coronavirus is battering the U.S economy as businesses cut back and close down. Unfortunately, federal policymakers are pursuing their usual misguided response...
Coronavirus and NIH/CDC Funding
CHRIS EDWARDS, CATO INSTITUTE
The rapid spread of coronavirus (Covid‐19) is focusing attention on the health agencies that are helping to fight the pandemic. This...