Policy Papers
Biden's "Fiscal Responsibility" Illusion
KEY TAKEAWAYS President Biden is trying to use his fiscal year 2023 budget to reframe his reckless agenda without actually changing his policies. The president says his budget is focused on “fiscal responsibility,” but it would produce annual deficits over $1 trillion for every year of the next decade and would raise the federal debt by more than $16 trillion in that time. His budget lays out a liberal wish list of Washington welfare programs while using budget gimmicks to hide the... Continue Reading
March 28, 2022
President Biden's Budget Shortchanges Defense
On March 28, President Biden released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2023. Foreign threats are mounting, and the worst inflation in decades is squeezing America’s defense resources. Biden’s proposal is an unserious answer to these challenges. His plan prioritizes spending on liberal priorities while underinvesting in our national defense. Biden’s Misplaced Priorities Less than three weeks ago, President Biden signed the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act into law.... Continue Reading
March 28, 2022
Telehealth Provisions Extended in the Omnibus
KEY TAKEAWAYS In 2020, Congress temporarily expanded Medicare patients’ access to telehealth services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the value and increased use of telehealth, the fiscal year 2022 appropriations legislation kept several of these flexibilities in place. Telehealth use skyrocketed during the pandemic because of the increased flexibility, with behavioral health services seeing the largest increases. Responding to the challenge of delivering... Continue Reading
March 22, 2022
Biden's "Putin Price Hikes" Ploy
KEY TAKEAWAYS As inflation soared to a 40-year high in February, President Biden claimed the year-long price hikes hitting Americans’ wallets are “largely the fault of Putin.” The president is trying to deflect blame for inflation, which has been climbing steadily since he took office. Inflation has averaged 5.4% in that time, compared to an average of 1.6% from 2012-2020. Prices have jumped since last year on almost everything, with Americans paying more for groceries, gas,... Continue Reading
March 22, 2022
Biden's Energy Blame Game
KEY TAKEAWAYS Energy costs have soared since President Biden took office. Now, the president and Democrats in Congress want to blame Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine for skyrocketing prices. In the week ending February 21, before Russia’s war, gasoline prices were 48% higher than they were just before Biden’s inauguration. Instead of embracing affordable, reliable American energy, Democrats are continuing to push their failed radical energy strategy. Energy costs... Continue Reading
March 21, 2022
The Jurisprudence of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
KEY TAKEAWAYS Judge Jackson issued at least 578 judicial decisions in her eight years as a District Court judge. She has given inconsistent statements on whether she supports the “living constitution” theory. Judge Jackson has been criticized for “judicial overreach” in some cases she decided as a district court judge that were overturned by higher courts. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has served as a federal judge for nearly a decade, most of that time as... Continue Reading
March 15, 2022
Biden's Global Tax Deal Will Harm American Competitiveness
KEY TAKEAWAYS President Biden wants to use international negotiations to push Democrats’ partisan tax hikes in the U.S. His administration brokered an international tax agreement that would make American companies less competitive and leave U.S. workers behind. The Biden deal would force the United States to raise its first-of-a-kind global minimum tax while failing to protect U.S. tax incentives that support domestic innovation, investment, and job creation. For years, the United States... Continue Reading
March 15, 2022
Substance Use Has Risen During COVID-19 Pandemic
KEY TAKEAWAYS The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased number of people misusing drugs and dying from drug overdoses. There were more than 99,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in the first year of the pandemic; an increase of nearly 30% from the year before. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the Senate to reauthorize and improve existing programs that address treatment for substance use and mental health. Substance use and drug overdose deaths greatly increased... Continue Reading
March 10, 2022
Food Prices Climb as Inflation Surges
KEY TAKEAWAYS Consumers are paying more at the grocery store, and food prices keep climbing. Grocery prices were up 8.6% in February from one year earlier. The price of bacon jumped 18.8% from one year ago, the price of eggs was up 11.4%, and whole milk was up 12.4%. Democrats have spent months pushing their reckless tax and spend spree agenda, which would only exacerbate inflationary pressures. Consumers are forking over a lot more money to put food on the table. Despite warnings from... Continue Reading
March 10, 2022
A Year of Democrats' Inflation Fiction
KEY TAKEAWAYS One year ago, Democrats passed a partisan “COVID-19 relief” law, injecting $2 trillion of federal stimulus into the economy as it was already recovering. Since then, Americans have seen inflation soar, including higher prices for household essentials like groceries and gas. In February, prices were up 7.9% from a year ago. Democrats have spent the last year telling Americans one fiction after another about the inflationary effects of their reckless spending... Continue Reading
March 8, 2022
American Crime Story
KEY TAKEAWAYS American cities are in the grip of a historic crime wave, with gun assaults, violent crimes like carjackings, and homicides all on the rise. At least 16 major U.S. cities set homicide records in 2021. The damage caused by abandoning public safety has gone beyond the loss of life and property – it has contributed to the breakdown of an orderly society. America’s cities are in the grip of a historic crime wave. Homicides spiked by 30% in 2020, the largest increase in... Continue Reading
March 8, 2022
"Shortsighted, Ineffective, Goofy, and Gimmicky": Democrats' Gas Prices Plan
KEY TAKEAWAYS As of March 8, the national average price for a gallon of gas was a record high $4.17 – up from $2.77 a year ago. Feeling immense political pressure stemming from the left’s failed policies, a group of endangered Senate Democrats recently proposed a “solution” to suspend collection of federal excise taxes on gasoline, which currently account for about 5% of the cost of an average gallon of gas. Instead of pitching short-term gimmicks, Democrats should... Continue Reading
March 4, 2022
Rewarding Iran's Bad Behavior
KEY TAKEAWAYS The Biden administration is expected to announce a new deal on Iran’s nuclear program that will strengthen our adversaries while failing to achieve a long-term and durable solution ending Iran’s illicit nuclear program. The sanctions relief in this new agreement will be far more extensive than what Iran received under the 2015 Iran deal. The administration seems intent on shielding its deal from congressional oversight as required by the constitution and the Iran Nuclear Agreement... Continue Reading
March 1, 2022
Postal Reform Amendment Tracker
March 1, 2022
The State of the Union
February 28, 2022
Democrats' IRS Fantasy World
KEY TAKEAWAYS The IRS has a backlog of nearly 24 million unprocessed forms, and other correspondence sitting in storage, and an “unknown” number of taxpayers received inaccurate information from the agency. Americans trying to resolve these problems have to deal with a customer service nightmare. Democrats’ plans for the agency are detached from this reality and fail to prioritize taxpayer needs. They would spend billions to target Americans with tax audits, and they insist... Continue Reading
February 28, 2022
The Pandemic is Hurting Students' Mental Health
KEY TAKEAWAYS School closures and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic have harmed America’s kids and damaged their mental health. Children’s hospitals have reported increases in mental health emergencies and cases of self-injury and suicide among young people. The American Academy of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Association, and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have declared a national emergency in children’s mental... Continue Reading
February 17, 2022
What Is At Stake In Ukraine
KEY TAKEAWAYS A Russian invasion of Ukraine would create a refugee crisis and risk billions of dollars in trade with the U.S. and cause energy-supply disruptions worldwide. If we fail to deter and respond to Russian aggression in Europe, it could spell disaster for U.S. interests in both Europe and the Pacific, as well as our reputation for standing up for our allies. We are in a more difficult position because of President Biden’s missteps in Afghanistan and Democrats’ failure to... Continue Reading
February 15, 2022
Democrats Stand By As Energy Costs Surge
KEY TAKEAWAYS American families face staggering energy costs this winter, feeling the pinch as they gas up vehicles and heat their homes. Energy prices overall were 27% higher in January than they were one year earlier. Electricity prices have jumped 10.7% from this time last year, especially affecting households using electricity as their main heating source. Gas prices have soared 40% since January 2021. Democrats in Congress feign concern with the high prices families are paying. But they... Continue Reading
February 15, 2022
Learning Losses Persist for America's Students
KEY TAKEAWAYS In January, thousands of schools abruptly closed for in-person learning due to COVID-19, despite President Biden promising that testing and other measures meant schools could stay open safely. One study found that school closures over the past two years have left students well behind where they would have been otherwise. Students who already trailed their peers before the pandemic have fallen even further behind. Congress has provided more than $190 billion for K-12 schools to... Continue Reading