Policy Papers
Biden's Border Crisis and His Lackluster Response
KEY TAKEAWAYS The number of people caught illegally trying to cross our southern border has soared because of President Biden’s policies. Every excuse and alternative explanation offered by the administration has fallen apart, including that any increase was normal seasonal activity and that the answer was to address the “root causes” in migrants’ home countries. The crisis at the border will only get worse if Democrats succeed in repealing COVID-19 related measures that... Continue Reading
November 3, 2021
A Surge of Drugs Adds to Biden's Border Crisis
KEY TAKEAWAYS President Biden’s border crisis has included an increase in the flow of lethal synthetic opioids, threatening public health and safety. The average amount of fentanyl seized from 2018 through 2020 was 321 pounds a month. Through the first nine months of this year, the monthly average is 830 pounds. The potent drug is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States, a problem that has increased during the pandemic. The crisis that has seen millions of people... Continue Reading
November 1, 2021
FY 2022 NDAA Amendment Tracker
October 27, 2021
Reckless Spending on Democrats' Pet Projects
As Democrats rack up the tab on their reckless tax and spend spree, they have made sure to include enormous handouts for their pet projects. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has sold their plan as “the culmination of my service in Congress,” nabbed a $200 million earmark for the Presidio Trust in her district. This is an organization Congress created to operate without taxpayer support. Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee voted down multiple Republican amendments to... Continue Reading
October 26, 2021
Spending to Entrench a Bloated Bureaucracy
KEY TAKEAWAYS Democrats want to use their reckless tax and spending spree to pump cash into federal agencies in amounts that exceed their ability to put the resources to strategic use, without meaningful metrics to measure success. Like previous big-spending boondoggles, this one will lead to a jumble of poorly designed and haphazardly executed programs, wasteful spending, and a more bloated, entrenched bureaucracy, paid for by working Americans. Convinced that spending taxpayer money is a... Continue Reading
October 25, 2021
A Universal Government Income During a Worker Shortage
In their reckless tax and spend spree, Democrats are plotting a long-term transformation of the Child Tax Credit into a universal, government-paid income, with no requirement to work. Modeled after “temporary” changes enacted in their partisan “COVID relief” law, the CTC would be reestablished as a monthly child allowance. A new study from the University of Chicago found that the proposal’s design disincentivizes work and would cause a whopping 1.5 million parents... Continue Reading
October 22, 2021
September 2021 Biden Border Crisis Report
Southwest Border Encounters September 2021: 192,001 Change from 2020: +134,327 Breakdown of Southwest Land Border Encounters September 2021 Single Adults: 113,030 (up 127% vs. 2020) Unaccompanied Children: 14,358 (up 270% vs. 2020) Individuals in a Family Unit: 64,388 (up 1,554% vs. 2020) In September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 192,001 people attempting to enter the country illegally, up 233% from September of 2020. In President Biden’s first eight months in... Continue Reading
October 21, 2021
SCOTUS Term Preview
KEY TAKEAWAYS The recently begun Supreme Court term is the first full term since Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court, and there are many opportunities for major decisions. The court is scheduled to hear a case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that could overturn Roe v. Wade. There are also major Second Amendment and religion cases on the docket that could reshape those doctrines for decades to come. The Supreme Court started its new term on October 4, the first full... Continue Reading
October 21, 2021
Government Price Controls: A Threat to Innovation and Cures
KEY TAKEAWAYS Democrats are pushing to have the federal government set prices for prescription drugs. Their heavy-handed, bureaucratic plan would have devastating consequences for Americans, causing more suffering and earlier deaths. Democrats’ proposal would lead to as many as 342 fewer new medications over the next two decades and would slash research by as much as 60%. Democrats are determined to have the federal government set drug prices. While they try to spin their radical... Continue Reading
October 21, 2021
Biden's Strategic Failures in Foreign Policy
KEY TAKEAWAYS President Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was a strategic failure, but so are many of the administration’s actions around the globe. U.S. foreign policy during the Biden administration has abandoned allies, strengthened adversaries, and put U.S. national security at risk. President Biden’s proposed defense budget was woefully inadequate for a successful strategy in our competition with China, and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has yet to say when the Senate... Continue Reading
October 20, 2021
The Coming IRS Dragnet
KEY TAKEAWAYS President Biden’s Treasury Department wants to expand the reach of the IRS in a scheme that would capture most Americans in a new dragnet of bureaucracy. Under the proposal, the IRS would collect account data on all Americans who have just $600 in total transactions flowing in or out of their bank account in a year. Even if Democrats end up raising the program’s dollar threshold or implementing various carve-outs, Biden’s plan still means more sensitive... Continue Reading
October 12, 2021
September 2021 Jobs Report
Unemployment Rate: 4.8 percent Jobs Created: 194,000 Employment and Unemployment The Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate decreased 0.4 percentage point to 4.8 in September. Nonfarm jobs increased by 194,000 in September, lower than expectations and below last month’s payroll gain of 366,000 jobs. In July and August, job gains were higher on net than first reported. The department revised the change in nonfarm jobs for those months up by a combined 169,000 jobs. The U-6... Continue Reading
October 7, 2021
Fact Check on Democrats' Reckless Tax and Spend Spree
KEY TAKEAWAYS Democrats are in disarray over their $3.5 trillion reckless tax and spend spree. Senator Manchin has laid out a case for why the approach other Democrats are taking is dangerous. He’s right. Democrats have been in a mad rush to ram through their $3.5 trillion reckless tax and spend spree before the American people realize what’s in it. As most of the party caves to its extreme left wing, their ire has been focused on the few Democrats in Washington who have... Continue Reading
October 6, 2021
Defining the Limits of Executive Privilege
KEY TAKEAWAYS A major legal fight is brewing over the potential use of executive privilege to prevent disclosure of information to the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot. Executive privilege is a collection of different rights, united by the general principle that the president and key advisers must be able to have internal discussions without fear of exposure. Courts have not determined precisely how much power former presidents have to assert executive privilege or... Continue Reading
October 5, 2021
Biden's Broken Promise on Infrastructure Double Dipping
KEY TAKEAWAYS During negotiations over the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill, President Biden promised that Democrats would not “double dip” on infrastructure funding. Now the left is breaking that promise and trying to increase or include funding for its partisan priorities in the Democrats’ reckless tax and spending spree. Democrats are focused on increasing funding for their liberal wish list of items, such as $10 billion for transit, $10 billion for high-speed... Continue Reading
October 5, 2021
Social Media and Mental Health
KEY TAKEAWAYS Social media use can lead to severe mental health problems, including sleep disorders, depression, and suicide. Internal research conducted by Facebook shows that its Instagram product may be particularly harmful, especially for young people. Senators from both parties have expressed concern with the harmful effects of social media on mental health, and the Commerce Committee is investigating Facebook’s research. Social media has transformed many people’s lives in... Continue Reading
October 5, 2021
Democrats' Spending in Context
Seemingly unconstrained by the guardrails of economic prudence, Democratic leaders continue to march forward on their reckless tax and spending spree. Having rammed a $2 trillion law through in March, they quickly proposed spending another $3.5 trillion. They have aspirations to raise annual discretionary spending by hundreds of billions of dollars as well. The unprecedented magnitude of their plans can be easy to lose sight of. Americans might not realize that Democrats’ $3.5 trillion... Continue Reading
October 4, 2021
A "Zero" Dollar Spending Spree?
KEY TAKEAWAYS Wary of public concern about their reckless spending, Democrats have tried to suggest their $3.5 trillion plan will cost “nothing.” Even with all their budget tricks and gimmicks, the Democrats’ plan is estimated to add as much as 16% to the national debt over time. The cost for all this spending will be borne not just by the rich, but by millions of Americans on every rung of the socioeconomic ladder. In an attempt to deceive anxious Americans, President... Continue Reading
September 29, 2021
Democrats Plot Massive Government Handouts
KEY TAKEAWAYS Democrats’ reckless tax and spending spree will vastly expand Americans’ reliance on government programs. They want to make recently expanded Obamacare subsidies permanent and redesign the child tax credit into a monthly allowance detached from work. Through other programs, Democrats would have Washington exert tremendous control over child care, preschool, and higher education. With their reckless tax and spending spree, Democrats are aiming to do more than... Continue Reading
September 22, 2021
Building the Cybersecurity Workforce
KEY TAKEAWAYS A longstanding challenge to increasing the cybersecurity of the nation is finding enough workers with the right skills. The federal government has launched a variety of education, training, workforce development, and hiring initiatives to help close the country’s cyber workforce gap. States, often in partnership with private-sector technology and cybersecurity companies, have also launched programs to develop a skilled cybersecurity workforce. Increasing the cybersecurity... Continue Reading