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FISCAL POLICY
Getting fiscal policy right is the heart of getting government economic policies right. That means a pro-growth tax code which raises enough money for modest and well-designed government spending programs. Essential to fiscal policy is health care policy, which today dominates both tax and spending outlooks.
Read the latest news about Fiscal Policy below.
Recent Fiscal Policy News
U.S. House Needs to Pass the FY 2025 Continuing Resolution
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a bill to keep the government operating for the remainder of the fiscal year (that...
Mar 11, 20252 min read
The Center for a Free Economy Urges Congress to Investigate California’s Abuse of Federal Medicaid Intergovernmental Transfers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
WASHINGTON, March 4, 2025 –The Center for a Free Economy today sent a letter to Representatives Brett Guthrie, Chairman of House Energy...
Mar 4, 20252 min read
Business Salt and Tax Reform
Ryan Ellis February 24, 2025 I recently co-authored a piece with Stuart Leblang and Amy Elliott from Akin where we explored the current...
Feb 24, 20256 min read
Coalition Letter To Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona
Conservative leaders and free market advocates representing associations across the country sent a letter to Department of Education...
Nov 2, 20211 min read
CFE Supports the Tax Gap Reform and IRS Enforcement Act
The Center for a Free Economy is proud to support the Tax Gap Reform and IRS Enforcement Act. Congressional Democrats' answer to...
Sep 13, 20211 min read
More Money to the IRS for Predatory Audits? Hell, No
By Ryan Ellis Every other week, it seems, the leftist tax-exempt nonprofit Pro Publica (which poses as a media outlet) publishes another...
Jul 13, 20214 min read
Coalition Letter Opposes $15 Minimum Wage
Several conservative leaders and free market groups have joined a coalition letter rejecting proposals to increase the federal minimum...
Feb 2, 20211 min read
California protected the freedom to work, now it's time to go national
By Ryan Ellis Every election has lessons that can be drawn from the results. Some are more obvious than others. When historians look back...
Nov 18, 20204 min read
Coalition Letter Supports SEC Review Of Quarterly Reporting, in favor of Tri-Annual Reporting
Several conservative leaders and free market groups have joined a coalition letter supporting the Securities and Exchange Commission’s...
Oct 29, 20201 min read
The Economy We Lost
By ROBERT VERBRUGGEN This year has been an awful one, and we’re all fully aware of that fact. But what too few of us appreciate is how...
Sep 18, 20203 min read
How much is Amazon worth to you?
By Jesus Fernandez-Villarverde and Lee E. Ohanian Jeff Bezos , founder of Amazon and owner of about 11 percent of Amazon stock, recently...
Sep 6, 20203 min read
Conservative groups urge Congress to avoid expanding government run healthcare
The U.S. Senate continues to work through policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jul 31, 20201 min read
Joint Letter Supporting Language to Protect Freelance Economy
Several conservative leaders and free market groups have joined a coalition letter supporting language in the Republican COVID-19 relief...
Jul 30, 20201 min read
86% of Seniors want Rebate Reform According to Polling by CFE
The Center for a Free Economy commissioned a poll by McLaughlin Associates of 1000 likely voters over the age of 65. We found that 86...
Jul 24, 20201 min read
Joint letter opposing Green New Deal in COVID package
Several conservative leaders and free market groups have joined a coalition letter opposing House Democrats plan to sneak all or parts of...
Jul 22, 20201 min read
Democrats try to sneak ‘Green New Deal’ through tax code
By: Ryan Ellis In recent weeks, House Democrats have begun to signal how they would govern if given unified control of the federal...
Jul 6, 20204 min read
Supply Chain Fears Bolster Medical Manufacturing Tax Break Push
Pandemic-induced concerns about the international supply chain for face masks, pharmaceuticals, and other medical supplies are stoking...
Jun 29, 20204 min read
The case for no more tax delays
By Bernie Becker IT’S ALMOST JULY 15: It’s certainly understandable why state and local governments wouldn’t want to deal with another...
Jun 29, 20204 min read
Delay July’s Tax Day tidal wave
By: Ryan Ellis The month of July brings with it this year a tidal wave of tax payments owed by employers and families to the IRS and...
Jun 29, 20204 min read
Three simple rules for Congress in the new COVID-19 relief bill
By: Ryan Ellis Congress is usually not very good at basic lessons of economics. In fact, simple arithmetic is usually challenging for...
Jun 22, 20204 min read
Trump pushes $2 trillion infrastructure package in next coronavirus bill
By Jeff Stein and Seung Min Kim President Trump said Tuesday that a $2 trillion infrastructure package should be part of Congress’s...
Mar 31, 20204 min read
Tax Pros Worry Lack of Filing Extension Will Confuse Taxpayers
Tax preparers who hoped upcoming tax filing deadlines for individuals and businesses would be delayed due to the new coronavirus were...
Mar 19, 20203 min read
CFE joins five organizations opposing bailout for renewable energy
This week, the Center for a Free Economy joined five other free market champions to demand that Congress not give a bailout to renewable...
Nov 22, 20191 min read
Indexing capital gains would be a game changer
By Grover Norquist It is wrong to tax inflation. Last week, President Trump agreed. He endorsed the idea of indexing capital gains so...
Aug 27, 20194 min read
75 Conservative Groups: “We oppose any carbon tax.”
Dear Members of Congress, We oppose any carbon tax. A carbon tax raises the cost of heating your home in the winter and cooling your...
Jun 10, 20193 min read
The Senate Tax Reform Bill Cuts Rates For Small Businesses And Flow Through Firms
By Ryan Ellis This week, the U.S. Senate will consider their version of fundamental tax reform . A key area of debate here has been the...
May 9, 20197 min read
Larry Kudlow Should Get President Trump to Index Capital Gains to Inflation
By Ryan Ellis It was reported today that Larry Kudlow will be named the new director of the National Economic Council at the White...
May 9, 20194 min read
Conservative Coalition Supports Tax Reform 2.0 Legislation
Americans for Tax Reform today led a coalition of 58 conservative groups and activists in support of the Tax Reform 2.0 legislation set...
Sep 25, 20184 min read
Trump Needs to Stop Taking Bad Trade Advice from Liberal Dem Peter Navarro
By: Ryan Ellis Earlier this week, I had the privilege of participating in a telephone town hall with Congressman Peter Roskam and callers...
Aug 24, 20183 min read
Not just Mr. Moneybags: Ending the capital gains inflation tax helps ordinary Americans too
By Ryan Ellis In the past week, there has been a flurry of press accounts that President Trump has directed the Treasury Department to...
Aug 8, 20184 min read
Letter encouraging adjusting the calculation of capital gains to account for inflation
From Juanita Duggan The Honorable Steven Mnuchin Secretary Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C....
Aug 8, 20182 min read
Newt Gingrich: Why THIS must happen next in Trump’s economic revolution
By Newt Gingrich The next big step in President Trump’s economic revolution should be to index the capital gains tax. This bold step...
Aug 8, 20183 min read
It's reg time
By Bernie Becker IT’S RAINING REGS, HALLELUJAH: A couple of sets of proposed tax rules last week, including some new guidance to cap off...
Aug 6, 20186 min read
The Trump Administration Should Index Capital Gains To Inflation
By Adam Brandon In 2016, economists scoffed at the notion made by then-candidate Donald Trump that he wanted "to establish a national...
Aug 3, 20183 min read
The Politics and Economics of the Capital Gain Tax
By Alan Reynolds The Treasury Department is said to be studying the idea of providing some sort of inflation-protection (indexing) for...
Aug 3, 20184 min read
Here’s everything wrong with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s delusional tax reform ideas
By: Ryan Ellis Over the weekend, a video made the rounds of “Democratic socialist” congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez...
Aug 1, 20184 min read
More fun with indexing
By: Bernie Becker CAN’T STOP, WON’T STOP: It might take awhile to figure out how seriously President Donald Trump’s administration is...
Aug 1, 20183 min read
New Tax Break? Trump Administration Considers Indexing Capital Gains For Inflation
By Kelly Phillips Erb Think we’re finished with tax breaks in 2018? Not so fast. Hot on the heels of tax cuts from the Tax Jobs and Cuts...
Jul 31, 20185 min read
Trump Administration Mulls a Unilateral Tax Cut for the Rich
By Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering bypassing Congress to grant a $100 billion tax...
Jul 30, 20185 min read
Tax Reform 2.0: Indexing Capital Gains
By: Paul Jacobs Indexing capital gains for inflation has long occupied a place on many conservatives’ wish lists. A recent push suggests...
Jul 28, 20185 min read
Will the Trump Tax Bill Drive Down Ticket Sales?
By: David Waldstein Tyler Graffeo, the president of Interstate Truck Center, generated a lot of business while entertaining clients in...
Jul 28, 20185 min read
Washington needs to end hidden inflation tax on our capital gains
By Jenny Beth Martin The federal government indexes Social Security payments to inflation, to ensure that beneficiary payments are not...
Jul 20, 20183 min read
Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s dumb carbon tax on manufacturers (and the rest of us)
By: Ryan Ellis Next week, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., will introduce a costly carbon tax bill on manufacturers, and by extension all of...
Jul 20, 20184 min read
Trump Alone Can Cut Taxes
By Kimberley A. Strassel What if President Trump had the authority—on his own—to enact a second powerful tax reform? He does. The...
Jul 12, 20183 min read
Treasury Chief Calls Changing Capital-GainsRule a Job for Congress First
WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, urged by conservatives to use his department’s regulatory power to adjust capital-gains...
Jun 29, 20182 min read
House Democratic Tax Plan Foreshadowed in Sixth District of Illinois
By Ryan Ellis House Democrats may be running on a tax platform consisting of uncapping the SALT deduction for wealthy households,...
May 21, 20187 min read
Marco Rubio and Supply Siders Need to Work Together to Successfully Pass Tax Laws
By Ryan Ellis It’s fair to say that comments made by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) about the corporate tax reform in the Tax Cuts and Jobs...
May 7, 20183 min read
Tax Reform Simplifies the Code for Middle Class but Future Reforms Should Kill Crony Capitalism
By: Ryan Ellis The Senate Finance Committee this week held a hearing on the initial impacts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017....
Apr 27, 20183 min read
Top Ten IRS Reforms the U.S. House of Representatives Will Consider During Tax Week
By Ryan Ellis This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a series of bipartisan IRS structural reform bills . While many...
Apr 17, 20184 min read
CBO Confirms That Mandatory Spending Drives The Budget Deficit
By Ryan Ellis The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released their new “Budget and Economic Outlook” for 2018. As usual, it...
Apr 10, 20183 min read
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