Daily Policy Digest
Tax and Spending Issues
| State and Local Tax Rates in 2013 In Alaska, some localities charge high local rates but not enough to give Alaskans a higher combined tax rate than any state that charges a statewide rate... |
| Nine Fallacies Used to Defend Public-Sector Pensions Public pensions require fundamental reform, but defenders of the current system have advanced arguments that do not reflect sound economic thinking... |
| Sin Taxes: A Questionable Source of Revenue Sin taxes disproportionately affect low-income individuals who are more likely to use many of the consumer goods, like alcohol and tobacco, than are higher-income individuals... |
| Research Investments Are Frequently Fruitless A large portion of the Environmental Protection Agency's $800 million research funds are spent on public relations and diverted to nonprofit organizations without any oversight... |
| Growth of Social Security Benefits Should Be Slowed By limiting the growth of Social Security benefits, policymakers can ensure that benefits are adequate while at the same time addressing cost-containment concerns... |
| Many 2011 Federal Budget Cuts Had Little Real World Effect An examination of 12 of the largest cuts under Congress' April 2011 budget deal shows that federal agencies absorbed $23 billion in reductions without losing a single employee... |
| Assets Available to Prevent Federal Default It is irresponsible to signal to the international community that the United States would default on its debt obligations while it struggles through another debt ceiling debate... |
| Study Shows Tax Breaks Are Inefficient The property, sales and use, corporate and fuel tax breaks in California totaled an estimated $2.51 billion dollars in lost general fund revenue... |
| Cell Phone Customers Taxed Heavily U.S. wireless consumers pay an average of 17.18 percent in taxes and fees on their cell phone bills, including 11.36 percent in state and local charges... |
| Increased Government Spending Has Negligible Effects on Poverty There are 46 million Americans living in poverty, a number that has grown by nearly 9 million since the beginning of the recession... |
