National unemployment is more than 8 percent and 10.7 percent in California. In these conditions many baby boomers, especially those whose unemployment benefits have run out, have opted to take Social Security at age 62. They may find themselves facing federally enforced poverty. The Social Security monthly payout at 62 is substantially less than…
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In “Cost of $10 Billion Stimulus Easier to Tally Than New Jobs” in the Wall Street Journal, Ianthe Jeanne Dugan and Justin Scheck report that the mega-billions in corporate-welfare subsidies to solar, wind, geothermal and other “green” businesses (under section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) have resulted in far…
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Imagine a place called Zug where luxury shops abound, government pays its bills, and there are so many jobs that employers sometimes have a hard time finding people to fill them. Imaginary, you say? Zug is not a figment of my imagination. Zug exists. And it is just as prosperous as you can imagine!…
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Here is an excellent new video on the relationship between economic freedom and economic and social well-being. The freer a country is, the higher the quality of life and more happiness, including less poverty, more prosperity, longer life spans, cleaner environment, less corruption, lower child mortality, more civil liberties, and less unemployment. Freer countries…
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In “Stimulus price tag once again lurches higher,” Stephen Dinan reports in the Washington Times that according to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of Obama’s “economic stimulus” package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA) has now risen by another $40 billion. Congress�s chief scorekeeper said Wednesday that the price tag…
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In a new article for the Wall Street Journal, “We’ve Become a Nation of Takers, Not Makers,” Stephen Moore discusses that “More Americans work for the government than in manufacturing, farming, fishing, forestry, mining and utilities combined.” If you want to understand better why so many states�from New York to Wisconsin to California�are teetering…
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In “State workers’ unused paid time means big payouts,” Marisa Lagos reports in the San Francisco Chronicle that while California has been facing a financial crisis with record deficits and high unemployment, many state government employees are receiving half-million dollar payments for amassed sick days upon leaving or retirement: One public employee received a…
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In “Is the U.S. Becoming a Welfare State?”, Daniel Indiviglio reports in The Atlantic that U.S. government entitlement programs now account for a whopping 35% of wages, up from 26% in 2008. Uncle Sam has been aggressively increasing Americans’ allowance recently. Government entitlement programs have grown to account for 35% of wages, according to…
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Matt Cover at CNSNews.com writes that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has just issued a new report, “Estimated Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on Employment and Economic Output from October 2010 Through December 2010,” that indicates that: The jobs created and saved by the economic stimulus law that President Barack Obama…
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In his recent article in Investor’s Business Daily, “Uncertainty Continues To Depress Jobs,” Robert Higgs (Senior Fellow, The Independent Institute) discusses how the U.S. government’s interventionist and spending policies are prolonging high unemployment by creating a climate of massive economic uncertainty: President Obama, in his State of the Union address, promised to focus on…
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