Category Archives: Public Policy

Welfare or Work: A Difficult Choice

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The choice between welfare and work is not always an easy one, according to a new study by the Cato Institute. (Credit: LA Times)

The choice between wel­fare and work is not always an easy one, accord­ing to a new study by the Cato Insti­tute. (Cred­it: LA Times)

(NOTE: This post was updat­ed on Sep­tem­ber 23 to incor­po­rate the gov­ern­men­t’s new­ly-released pover­ty rate data.)

If forced to choose between a full-time job that paid $24.40 per hour and enrolling in a pack­age of gov­ern­ment ben­e­fits that paid a com­pa­ra­ble amount, which would you choose? Con­tin­ue read­ing →

Richmond Seizure Program: Dangerous Idea From a Dangerous City

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Richmond (CA) has a dangerous idea: unconstitutionally seizing private investments. (Credit: popphoto.com)

Rich­mond (CA) has a dan­ger­ous idea: uncon­sti­tu­tion­al­ly seiz­ing pri­vate invest­ments. (Cred­it: popphoto.com)

Rich­mond (CA) once was ranked among the nation’s most dan­ger­ous cities.  If city fathers have their way, it will become the most dan­ger­ous city for res­i­den­tial mort­gage investors. Con­tin­ue read­ing →

Can Democrats Govern?

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Murders in Chicago and the bankruptcy of Detroit raise uncomfortable questions for Democrats who have held power in these cities for decades. [Credit: Progress Illinois]

Mur­ders in Chica­go and the bank­rupt­cy of Detroit raise uncom­fort­able ques­tions for Democ­rats who have held pow­er in these cities for decades. [Cred­it: Progress Illinois]

Rahm Emanuel pre­sides over a shoot­ing gallery. Con­tin­ue read­ing →

Immigration Reform: Will It Boost The Economy Or Hurt It?

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Supporters of immigration reform say it will spur growth and raise living standards. Opponents disagree. Who's right? [Credit: ABCNews.go.com]

Sup­port­ers of immi­gra­tion reform say it will spur growth and raise liv­ing stan­dards. Oppo­nents dis­agree. Who’s right? [Cred­it: ABCNews.go.com]

“Immi­gra­tion Reform Would Boost Econ­o­my, CBO Report Finds,” ABC News report­ed last week.

Not exact­ly.

Con­tin­ue read­ing →

Budget Wars: Can They Bridge the Health Care Gap?

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Bud­get debates make good polit­i­cal the­ater. Each par­ty forces record­ed votes designed to score polit­i­cal points and embar­rass mem­bers of the oppos­ing par­ty. The House had fun yes­ter­day with some amend­ments before adopt­ing the Repub­li­can pro­pos­al writ­ten by Paul Ryan (R‑WI). The Sen­ate began debate on its pro­pos­al last evening and is brac­ing for Friday’s “vote-a-rama” – a day of record­ed votes on dozens of polit­i­cal­ly-barbed amend­ments advanced by mem­bers of both par­ties. Con­tin­ue read­ing →