House Republican leaders are revamping their approach to earmarks—a legislative tool that enables individual representatives to direct tax dollars to favored projects in their districts—by barring them from four major appropriations bills in the 118th Congress. House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger (R-Texas), along with the GOP leaders of that panel’s 11 subcommittees, on Feb….

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) recently released “The Festivus Report 2022” detailing what he considers the wasteful spending policies of the Biden administration, including large interest payments on debts, COVID-19 funds granted to ineligible individuals, maintaining empty federal buildings, and more. “Last Festivus, we lamented over the national debt reaching an astronomical $28.4 trillion. Shockingly, in…

A round-robin series of crucial last-minute decisions by senators anxious to wrap up their work before Christmas resulted in a decisive 68–29 vote to approve the controversial $1.85 trillion omnibus spending bill to keep the federal government open well into the New Year. The vote represented a big win for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer…

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) gave her final Squeal Award of 2022 to President Joe Biden for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) grant to an obscure group that rates U.S. media outlets and individuals on social media on the basis of how strongly they back federal policies. “The Biden administration is paying more than $5 million…

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) gave her final Squeal Award of 2022 to President Joe Biden for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) grant to an obscure group that rates U.S. media outlets and individuals on social media on the basis of how strongly they back federal policies. “The Biden administration is paying more than $5 million…

Commentary In response to the pandemic, governments in Canada launched an unprecedented wave of spending. In Ottawa, the federal government has sought to make that wave permanent. In 2020/21, federal spending increased by 73 percent to $644.2 billion before declining 21 percent to an estimated $508 billion in 2021/22. Total provincial government spending rose 9.2…

What the Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers tabled on Oct. 25 was not a budget in the traditional sense but a mini-budget or update. Unlike a regular annual budget there were few announcements of new policies or fiscal strategies. But it suited Chalmers to elevate it to the status of a budget for dramatic effect—to emphasise…

Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, supports raising America’s debt ceiling but insists that the practice itself of having a debt ceiling must remain. “You have to increase the debt ceiling,” Sanders insisted while speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union.” When asked whether the debt ceiling must be kept, Sanders confirmed “Yes,…

Commentary The record high inflation that is plaguing Americans is being fueled by out-of-control federal spending. The federal government has spent over $6 trillion on COVID-19 related pandemic stimulus measures. The most recent, American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was not even needed as most states are experiencing large surpluses. The national debt is over $30…

Taxing “the rich” to finance a large expansion of government would not generate enough revenue to cover federal spending programs and the middle class would eventually have to chip in, according to a new study. “If Canadians actually want a much bigger government, they’re going to have to pay for it with higher taxes,” study…