Who is the biggest provider of foreign aid? The World Bank? The International Monetary Fund (IMF)? The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)? The right answer is none of the above. The single biggest provider of foreign aid is the more than 10 million American immigrants and migrant workers who send back a portion of their earnings to their home Read More ›
Assume a friend came to you and said: “Do you know there is this international government organization that is trying to take away your right to protect yourself from criminals; is demanding that your lawyer, accountant, real estate agent, bank teller, jewelry store clerk and car salesman spy on you; and is going to take your personal financial records and Read More ›
If the slide in the stock market is not addressed very quickly, a crisis in corporate and personal debt service may well occur, causing a rapid downward economic spiral. The good news is that Congress and the administration can prevent a further meltdown. The bad news is that Congress seems bent on doing the wrong things, which drive the markets Read More ›
Prospective adoptive families scanning the news today and finding no information about the adoption tax credit can relax. Sources on Capitol Hill said Saturday that the Republican-controlled Conference on the President’s proposal to return some of the tax surplus to citizens included the credit in the package. According to these sources, tucked into the bill that will be signed into Read More ›
In the next few weeks the Federal Communications Commission will decide whether the U.S. telephone industry unleashes a new birth of competition, entrepreneurship and innovation. When Congress completed last year’s comprehensive revision of telecommunications legislation–the first in 60 years–pundits foresaw a flowering of new services in the telecommunications marketplace. The Baby Bells were to take on the long distance companies, Read More ›
There before the cameras in Washington, DC were Republicans and Democrats, their grins so big their fillings were showing as they cheered the tax cut deal. Oh, boy, we’re all going to get re-elected in ’98, those wild smiles said. The exuberance points either to the finest accomplishment of political compromise in our time, or to a grotesque absence of Read More ›
The imminent often takes precedence over the important in life, but especially now in our politics. Instead of coming up with a list of New Year’s Resolutions for 1997, it appears that our public leaders are putting together a list of New Year’s Irresolutions. At the top of the list is Social Security reform. The advisory council on Social Security Read More ›
How are we going to pay for it all? Isn’t there any way to lower the costs? These are the plaintive cries of taxpayers around the country as their local and state elected officials try to cajole them into supporting a growing list of infrastructure projects. But even as the list grows, taxpayer tolerance for big ticket public works is Read More ›