Policy Papers
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FISA Section 702
KEY TAKEAWAYS Overview: Section 702 of FISA authorizes a program of surveillance activities targeting non-U.S. persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States for the purpose of acquiring foreign intelligence information. It expires at the end of this year. Importance: The program has helped stop terrorist attacks inside the United States and remove senior ISIS leaders from the battlefield. Much of what we know about Russia’s intrusion into the 2016 presidential... Continue Reading
December 12, 2017
Tax Relief's Strong Economic Growth: A Response to JCT
KEY TAKEAWAYS Mainstream economists believe that the tax relief bill will lead to an economy that is 3 to 5 percent larger. The Joint Committee on Taxation, on the other hand, predicts that tax relief will lead to an economy that is only 0.8 percent larger. JCT’s assumptions are overly pessimistic and cause its prediction to be far below consensus estimates. Growth is critical for our nation’s economic future. More growth will provide jobs, raise wages, and make it easier to... Continue Reading
December 12, 2017
Major Supreme Court Cases: December Update
KEY TAKEAWAYS Over the last few weeks, the Supreme Court has heard arguments on several key cases involving the First Amendment, federalism, privacy, and foreign relations. Decisions in these cases should be issued by the end of the court’s term in June. On December 4, the court issued an important order on President Trump’s travel ban, allowing it to take effect while litigation on the executive order makes its way through the lower courts. The Supreme Court’s term began in... Continue Reading
December 8, 2017
November 2017 Jobs Report
Unemployment Rate: 4.1 percent Jobs Created: 228,000 Employment and Unemployment The Department of Labor reported an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent for November, unchanged from last month. Today’s jobs report shows an increase of 228,000 nonfarm jobs in November, higher than analysts’ prediction of job growth of 195,000. Employment for September was revised up from 18,000 to 38,000, and October was revised down from 261,000 jobs to 244,000 jobs. The U.S.... Continue Reading
December 5, 2017
The Year of the Republican Regulatory Relief
Key Takeaways Republicans in Congress are saving Americans as much as $36 billion by scrapping burdensome and unfair regulations. In Congress, Republicans repealed 15 Obama administration regulations through the Congressional Review Act. The Trump administration has withdrawn or reconsidered more than 860 ineffective, duplicative, and obsolete regulations. In eight years, the Obama administration added regulations costing Americans $122 billion annually. Those regulations included 285 major... Continue Reading
November 28, 2017
Tax Relief That's Good For All Americans
KEY TAKEAWAYS The Senate is on the cusp of providing historic tax relief to the American people – the last major reform was in 1986. The Senate plan will promote jobs, lower tax rates, simplify the system, kill Obamacare’s individual mandate, and encourage investment in America. Studies show that this bill will raise average household incomes by $4,000, raise wages by 4 to 7 percent, and make the economy 3 to 5 percent larger. This week the Senate will debate the first major tax... Continue Reading
November 14, 2017
ANWR: U.S. Energy Dominance
Development of a tiny, oil-rich section of ANWR will contribute to American energy dominance by adding 1 million barrels of oil in daily production, roughly a quarter of our net daily imports. The land in question is not wilderness. It was specifically set aside during the Carter administration for potential oil and natural gas development. On Wednesday, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will mark up a bill to develop this section of ANWR, satisfying the tax reform reconciliation... Continue Reading
November 8, 2017
NextGen Delayed, Just Like Your Plane
Air traffic control currently relies on outdated ground radar systems that cause delays throughout the aviation system. The FAA is transitioning to NextGen technology, which has several components designed to allow safer and more efficient airspace management, including a switch to GPS. Deployment of many NextGen components has been delayed and is expected to cost $2.6 billion more than planned. Most U.S. air traffic continues to be routed using an ground-based radar system dating from the... Continue Reading
November 7, 2017
How Tax Cuts Help Americans
Republican tax cuts will help American families, businesses, and the economy by lowering rates, simplifying the system, and eliminating special interest loopholes. All taxpayers will have more reason to take the standard deduction to simplify their taxes. Workers’ paychecks will rise, small business owners will see their top rate cut, and international businesses will have incentive to bring billions of dollars back to America. Tax cuts will let Americans keep more of their hard-earned... Continue Reading
November 7, 2017
A Return to a Full and Fair Process for Judges
Democrats are abusing the blue slip courtesy to block qualified Republican judicial nominees from even getting a hearing. Neither Senate nor Judiciary Committee rules require blue slips, and for most of Senate history the views of home-state senators have been considered advisory. Since the blue slip courtesy began in 1917, only two of the previous 18 Judiciary Committee chairmen have required two positive blue slips before committee consideration. Senate Republicans are working with the... Continue Reading
November 3, 2017
October 2017 Jobs Report
Unemployment Rate: 4.1 percent Jobs Created: 261,000 Employment and Unemployment The Department of Labor reported an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent for October, down 0.1 percent from last month. Today’s report shows the lowest unemployment rate since December 2000. Today’s jobs report shows an increase of 261,000 nonfarm jobs in October, lower than analysts’ prediction of job growth of 315,000. Employment for August was revised up from 169,000 to 208,000, and... Continue Reading
October 31, 2017
Democrats’ Nomination Blockade Continues
Democrats have forced the Senate to take 47 cloture votes on nominees in 2017, compared to a total of six votes at this point in the previous four administrations combined. It is taking an average of 63 days to confirm each of this administration’s key executive branch nominees, versus 47 days for President Obama’s nominees. Due to the Democrats’ obstruction, this administration has had the lowest percentage of nominees confirmed of any administration in the past 30... Continue Reading
October 27, 2017
Refocusing the Courts on the Rule of Law
President Obama made the federal judiciary liberal, appointing almost 40 percent of active judges by the end of his second term. He appointed 55 judges to the federal appeals courts and created liberal majorities on nine of the 13 circuits across the country. Senate Republicans are working with the administration to appoint judges who rule based on the law, not on their policy preferences. President Obama reshaped the federal judiciary by appointing judges who met his own “empathy... Continue Reading
October 27, 2017
GDP Grows At 3 Percent Again
In the third quarter of 2017, the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.0 percent. Growth in the second quarter was 3.1 percent, and first quarter growth was 1.2 percent. This half-year growth is the strongest the U.S. has seen since 2014, and it comes despite the effects of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. The nation’s economy grew at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 3.0 percent in the third quarter of 2017. Combined with second quarter growth of 3.1 percent, these are the... Continue Reading
October 17, 2017
Executive Actions on Health Care
President Trump took several executive actions on health care last week. First, he issued an executive order designed to increase consumer choice by facilitating the purchase of insurance across state lines and broadening the use of association health plans, health reimbursement arrangements, and short-term, limited-duration health plans. Second, the Trump administration ended the illegal payment of Obamacare’s cost-sharing reduction subsidies to insurers – estimated to cost almost... Continue Reading
October 17, 2017
Flood Insurance Reauthorization
Millions of Americans are required to carry insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program as a condition of their mortgage. The program has more than $30 billion of debt, and its authorization expires on December 8. Reauthorization should include reforms to make the program sustainable. The Trump administration has requested that Congress cancel $16 billion of the program’s debt, the amount it estimates will be paid in claims related to Hurricanes Harvey and... Continue Reading
October 6, 2017
September 2017 Jobs Report
Unemployment Rate: 4.2 percent Jobs Lost: 33,000 Employment and Unemployment The Department of Labor reported an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent for September, down 0.2 percent from last month. Today’s report shows the lowest unemployment rate (4.2 percent) since February 2001. Today’s jobs report shows a loss of 33,000 nonfarm jobs in September, lower than analysts’ prediction of job growth of 80,000. Employment for July was revised down from 189,000 to 138,000, and August... Continue Reading
October 3, 2017
Territorial Taxation – A Globally Competitive Tax System for Economic Growth
Worldwide taxation makes the U.S. less competitive, hurts jobs, and depresses wages by encouraging businesses to leave money and jobs overseas. U.S. firms are holding $2.6 trillion in profits overseas because it would be taxed if brought back home. A territorial system and lower corporate rates would help keep tax policy out of business decisions, allowing American companies to invest in job creation and economic growth at home. U.S. corporations operating overseas are currently taxed on every... Continue Reading
October 3, 2017
The Court is Back in Session
The Supreme Court term began on Monday, October 2. This will be the first full term with Justice Neil Gorsuch on the court. The court is set to hear significant cases on labor, redistricting, privacy rights, and the First Amendment. The new Supreme Court term began on Monday, with the court hearing two oral arguments. This will be the first full term with Justice Neil Gorsuch. During the term, which is scheduled to conclude at the end of June, the court plans to hear several significant... Continue Reading
September 26, 2017
Bigger Standard Deduction Makes Taxes Lower and Fairer
The individual tax code is a complicated mess – Americans spend 6 billion hours and $263 billion annually trying to comply with it. An increase of the standard deduction can help people keep more of their hard-earned money, make taxes more fair, and simplify the filing process for millions of taxpayers. The standard deduction was created in 1944 to achieve these very purposes. It’s possible the best example of dysfunction in Washington is America’s complex and confusing tax... Continue Reading