Alan Joel

The Fed: Economy is Gloomy because Americans are "Hoarding Money"

In a moment of recent hand-wringing, the Fed examined the question of why inflation has stayed extremely low in the United States despite all the efforts of quantitative easing money pumping. Their answer: American consumers are mainly to blame.

US Jacks Up Exit Fee For Those Renouncing Citizenship

Just like the recent rise of business inversions — moving business HQ abroad — the United States has seen an uptick (up 221%) in Americans renouncing their citizenship. The elephant in the room in both these cases is taxes: both high taxes and burdensome tax compliance in foreign jurisdictions.

Government Inspectors Generals Describe Atmosphere of Restricted Access

Inspectors General (yes, that's the plural) are considered watchdogs for the government. Their jobs primarily focus on "uncovering waste, fraud, and mismanagement", which is an important function to keep government programs and agencies in check.

Audit Reveals Government-Run Website is Inaccurate and Inconsistent

USAToday gave a sobering report this week which reaffirmed the inability of our government to be both accurate and transparent.

Obama's Inversion Crusade Is Just Another Attack on Businesses

Obama has called “for an end to a corporate loophole that allows companies to avoid federal taxes by shifting their tax domiciles overseas in deals known as “inversions.” Such as statement shows the utter ineptitude that Obama has for understanding a) what inversion actually is and b) how his policies are the cause.

The Immigration Surge has nothing to do with immigration

One month ago (in June), the topic of immigration was at 5%. Today? It's 17%. According to a Gallup poll released a few days ago, immigration has surged to the top of the list as "the Most Important U.S. Problem". This replaces "dissatisfaction with government" (16%).

Federal Court Says Obamacare Subsidies Illegal -- what next?

A federal appeals court handed down a ruling this morning that could be problematic for ObamaCare. As just reported, "A judicial panel in a 2-1 ruling said such subsidies can be granted only to those people who bought insurance in an ObamaCare exchange run by an individual state or the District of Columbia--not on the federally run exchange HealthCare.gov." You can read the entire appeal here.

Government Worker's Union Ends Ties with United Negro College Fund after Koch Gift

After the United Negro College Fund accepted a $25 million grant from Koch Brothers, Inc and the Charles Koch Foundation, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) sent a letter to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) yesterday ending their relationship. This includes a paid internship program.

A renewed appeal for Keystone

What’s going on with oil and energy these days?

Chuck Todd Should Resign At NBC

You can’t have anyone that stupid be in charge over there.

Sworn Testimony this morning, IRS admits WH knew about Lerner emails in April

In sworn testimony this morning (Friday, June 20th) IRS Commissioner John Koskinen stated that Obama was told about Lerner’s emails in April. This would be 6 weeks before Congress was told.

The Media Was Complicit in the VA Scandal

We now know that the state of affairs within the VA system was abhorrent--and that Obama, like his predecessor, knew there were problems. And yet, several well known left-leaning columnists spoke highly about the VA health system over the last few years, ramping up the rhetoric right at the time ObamaCare began to take shape in Congress.

Did A Failed Medical Scheduling Project at the VA Contribute to the Secret Lists?

At least one attempt to implement a scheduling system at the VA never got off the ground after nearly a decade of trying.

IRS Loses Lerner Emails -- But What About the TIGTA Report?

The IRS claims to have lost emails related to Lois Lerner and outside agencies. From Committee on Ways and Means Chairman, Dave Camp:

The Tea Party Turns Five

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Santinelli Rant on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which spawned the infamous Tea Party (Taxed Enough Already?). Even if you heard it then, it’s definitely worthwhile listening to once more:

ObamaCare Lies

Obama has lied to this country. Most recently and most memorably, he lied too when he said, “you can keep your health plan" and "you can keep your doctor". But charging that someone "lied" implies that they knew it was untrue when they said it, so how can anyone be sure?

Flashback -- The 1913 Tax Return Form Was Only 4 Pages

As we begin tax season, here’s something to ponder.

Hillary Clinton will run on repealing Obamacare

With all the talk abuzz about an inevitable Hillary Clinton candidacy, I wager that her platform will include repealing ObamaCare. Hillary will declare late in the spring so that she can positively impact the midterm elections to benefit the Democrats.

How to Solve Detroit's Pension System Problem in One Easy Step

The NY Post had a good piece on Friday by William McGurn on the state of the union (pension system) in Detroit, making the case for Detroit to switch to defined contribution plans for their union workers. McGurn is right on the mark that the such a move is critical for the city’s revitalization.

Obamacare Architect Now Says If You Want to Keep Your Doctor, You Have To Pay More

On Sunday, the architect of Obamacare, Zeke Emanuel, modified another one of Obama's promises. This time, he explained the "if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" now actually means "if you want to, you can pay for it,".