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Democrats Mostly Win 2024 DHS Budget Battle

By: Neil Munro Β·Β Neil Munro
This year's spending bill for homeland security includes much -- but not all -- of what Democrats and their GOP establishment allies want.Β 

Back in the USSR?: Biden’s Budget for Gargantuan Government

In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed.

It marked the end of an experiment that lasted almost a century, testing the premise that godless secularizationβ€”turning control of people’s lives over to other people to rule them, who decide what others need and how they should live and conduct their livesβ€”is the answer for mankind.

In the free world, the collapse of the Soviet Union was cause for celebration. In the USA, it was widely viewed as a victory of the American way of lifeβ€”a free nation under God.

But let’s not get confused between things and the names we give them.

Our own countryβ€”despite the words in our founding documents about freedom and Godβ€”has been on a path adopting the same premises about human reality that led to the collapse of the communist world.

This was evident in President Joe Biden’s message to the nation in his State of the Union address on March 7.

Biden, in so many words, delivered a message that the path for a better, wealthier, fairer America is more government.

Despite the reality that the country is being crushed with staggering debt, the result of runaway government, Biden and his party celebrate this and want even more.

The words find their way into numbers in the budget for the next 10 years that the president has just submitted to Congress.

Federal spending in this budget will stand in fiscal year 2025 at $7.3 trillion. One-quarter of our national economy consumed by the federal government.

This amounts to a 14% increase from where federal spending stood in the last quarter of 2023β€”$6.4 trillion.

Per the president’s spokesperson in the White House, this budget β€œinvests in all of America to make sure everyone has a fair shot.”

β€œWe leave no one behind.”

Translation: Government will accumulate more power and decide what is fair and achieve its aims with more government, paid for with other people’s money.

The beautiful language of leaving β€œno one behind” means government expansion into every area of our lives, including subsidized child care for families earning $200,000 and below.

The bill for the massive new spending, per the president’s budget, will be paid for with a total of $4.9 trillion in tax increases on the wealthy and on corporations.

I say β€œsupposedly paid for” because expansion of government under the premises of raising taxes on the most successful sectors of our economy never works.

Renowned economist Arthur Laffer and Heritage Foundation economist Stephen Moore just published data showing that when President Donald Trump cut the highest individual tax rate and cut the corporate tax rate in 2017, the percentage of overall taxes paid by the wealthiest 1% of the population increased. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

Before the Trump tax cuts, the top 1% paid β€œa little more than 40% of the income taxes collected,” per Laffer and Moore. After the tax cuts, that percentage increased to almost 46%.

This was not something new. Laffer and Moore show data going back to 1980 showing general correlation of lower top tax rates with a larger percentage of overall taxes paid by the top 1%.

Freedom means unleashing productivity and creativity. Absence of freedom means punishing both and therefore getting less of both.

It’s why the Soviet Union collapsed. Godless secularism doesn’t work.

The latest edition of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education’s β€œThe State of Black Progress” shows the uniform failure of expansion of government into health care, education, housing, and retirement, all in the name of β€œfairness” and no one being β€œleft behind.”

The truth really is, it’s more than this. It’s about politicians who love power buying it with gifts given with other people’s money. Harsh to say, but this is reality.

Only 19% of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, per Gallup.

Most Americans feel something is wrong. We need leadership to take us back to freedom and God.

The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please emailΒ letters@DailySignal.comΒ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular β€œWe Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

The post Back in the USSR?: Biden’s Budget for Gargantuan Government appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Freedom Caucuses Shaking Up How Business Is Done in 11 States

For nearly a decade, the House Freedom Caucus has disrupted the way business is done in Congress. Now, that same model is spreading to state capitals across America.

State Freedom Caucus Network President Andy Roth is no stranger to Washington’s policy fights after spending years with the Club for Growth. A few years ago, he decided it was time to turn his attention to the states. Today, the State Freedom Caucus Network is growing and currently active in 11 states that span the country.

On this episode of β€œThe Daily Signal Podcast,” we talk about the how these conservative lawmakers are challenging the status quo and shaking up the establishment. The transcript was edited for length.

Rob Bluey: You spent nearly two decades in Washington at the Club for Growth. You and I got to know each other fighting earmarks and all sorts of other bad things that Congress was doing. What inspired you to refocus your attention on state legislatures?

Andy Roth: The network was based on the House Freedom Caucus business model. The House Freedom Caucus launched in 2015 and almost immediatelyβ€”because of my position at the Club for Growthβ€”I had a lot of state lawmakers come to me and say gosh, β€œI wish we had that at the state level.” So we’ve been talking about this for years.

In 2019, we were like, we’ve got to make this happen because there are 50 swamps in the 50 states that people don’t know about. And they’re arguably, I would say they are worse than the swamp in D.C.

Because of the COVID stuff, school choice, there are so many issues that impact people and their families at the state level, and no attention was paid on them. So in 2019, we launched the network.

The Georgia Freedom Caucus was the first one. Then we went to South Carolina, South Dakota, Illinois, on and on. And now we have 11 of them.

Bluey: What’s your strategy in terms of how you identify a state?

Roth: These state Freedom Caucuses have to originate organically, meaning that the lawmakers themselves have to come to us and say, β€œWe’ve got the members. We’ve got the desire. We have the principles. Let’s do it.”

We then talk to them and we help put it together and then we launch. We found the members in Georgia, South Carolina, and elsewhere because they were ready to go. That’s the process now going forward.

A lot of state lawmakers all across the country know about us, but there are some that still don’t. But once they do, they come to us and then we go through the process and hopefully we’re able to launch.

There is a Freedom Caucus movement that is sweeping across the nation. Do you want to know what it looks like? This: pic.twitter.com/IHFkvR6qWn

β€” Andy Roth (@andyroth) January 11, 2024

Bluey: Could you speak to some of those characteristics of people who are involved?

Roth: They are full-spectrum conservatives, but more importantly than that, they are conservatives before they’re Republicans.

If there are Republican leadersβ€”whether it’s the governor, whether it’s the speaker of the State House or the Senate majority leaderβ€”if they’re pushing policies that are not conservative, we only want lawmakers who are willing to fight back against them.

Not only do they have to be great on policy, but they have to be willing to fight Republicans and Democrats at every turn.

Bluey: Some of those politicians haven’t exactly welcomed the State Freedom Caucus Network. What are some of the conflicts that are playing out right now in the states?

Roth: The best example is Wyoming. It is the reddest state in the union based on Trump-Biden numbers. [Donald] Trump won that state more than any other state.

The Wyoming House has 57 Republicans to only five Democrats. So you would think that they could pass school choice, ban transgender surgeries on minors, and get pornography out of the classroom.

But when you look at the actual voting records, instead of 57 to 5, it’s 26 conservatives to 36 liberals.

Liberals are in charge of the Wyoming House and the Senate, frankly. And that’s because big-government liberals know that they cannot win in Wyoming with a D after their name. So they simply put an R after their name, run, get elected, and then vote like liberals.

Wyoming is not an outlier. Every red state is like that. And that’s why you’re seeing headlines in South Carolina, Missouri, Idaho, all the states that we’re in where we are provoking the establishment and exposing their conceit.

?BREAKING: The "What Is a Woman Act," which would define a woman as a woman in state law, just FAILED in the WYOMING House of Reps.

Not California. In WYOMING.

20 "Republicans" voted against it.

Here is @WYFreedomCaucus member @jwforw explaining her bill.? pic.twitter.com/OwYOeypnqM

β€” State Freedom Caucus Network (@SFC_Network) February 15, 2024

Bluey: What are some of the tactics that you use to achieve your goals?

Roth: In Missouri, our most recent state, we launched on Jan. 5, and in two weeks, our lawmakers got kicked off their committees, had their parking spots taken, and even some of their staff got pay deducted because they committed the horrible sin of pushing leadership to pass the conservative priorities that the entire state GOP has advocated for.

Our lawmakers in Missouri merely said, β€œWe’re going to filibuster all gubernatorial appointments until you guys commit to actually putting good legislation on the floor.” Well, they didn’t like that, so they kicked them off committees and took their parking spots away, and so on.

In South Carolina, it was even worse than that. At the very beginning of last year’s session, leadership required every member of the Republican House to sign a loyalty pledge. And this loyalty pledge had a lot of stipulations in it, but one of them said, you cannot criticize any of your Republican colleagues.

One of our South Carolina Freedom Caucus members raised their hand and said, β€œSo if I take a picture of the vote board after a big vote, vote and tweet that out, am I criticizing my colleagues?” And they said, β€œYes.” So our South Carolina Freedom Caucus members refused to sign the loyalty pledge.

Within a couple of days, they got kicked out of the House Republican Caucus. They’re now off on an island. And I’ll tell you candidly, our Freedom Caucus members were kind of wringing their hands when leadership was threatening them. But ever since they’ve been kicked out, it’s been liberating for them because they don’t have to attend the stupid meetings where leadership finger wags at you and says, β€œWe have to pass this huge corporate welfare bill.” They don’t have to listen to any of that anymore.

You may have seen this video going viral on X.

This is @RepAdamMorgan, our Chairman of the @SCFreedomCaucus.

He understands how the swamp operates more than anyone.
pic.twitter.com/133Wzc3ODw

β€” State Freedom Caucus Network (@SFC_Network) March 12, 2024

Bluey: You’ve mentioned some of the issues that they’ve confronted in the states. What are some of the other policy debates that are coming up?

Roth: In red states, budgets pass almost unanimously. If you’ve got Republicans and Democrats voting for budgets, you should be worried and the data bears that out. States are increasing their budgets year after year after year.

We fight on the budget first and foremost. And we use every opportunity to offer amendments to cut this or that. And, unfortunately, we’re still losing because the state Freedom Caucus only has a small number of members compared to the overall legislature. But in South Carolina, last year’s budget had more no votes than any time in the last 50 years.

All of the big hot topic issues that you see in the headlines our guys are fighting onβ€”like school choice, banning transgender surgeries for minors. We really like are hitting every issue possible.

Bluey: What motivates these conservative leaders to keep the fight going and recruit others to the cause?

Roth: Honestly, each other. I knew that the establishment would retaliate. What I didn’t fully appreciate at the time is that these members really love and respect each other and they stick together.

And they do that not just on the floor of the chamber when they vote, but they meet a lot of time, they pray a lot of time with each other. And when you know you’re in a trench, fighting against somebody, knowing that the person to your left and to your right have your back, that motivates everything.

In a lot of these red states, the grassroots are kind of demoralized. They see what’s going on in D.C. They see that nothing’s going on in their state capital. But now, for the first time, they have a Freedom Caucus at their state capital not only voting with them, but being very loud and vocal.

Did you know that teachers unions are spending millions of dollars in GOP primaries?

In IL, they're spending over $250K on primary challenges against @ILFreedomCaucus members Reps. Blaine Wilhour and Adam Niemerg.

All because they support school choice.https://t.co/DXk8F5MfN4

β€” State Freedom Caucus Network (@SFC_Network) March 5, 2024

Bluey: Can you share any thoughts on where you might go next?

Roth: Texas just had their big primaries last week. It was beautiful. The governor, the attorney general, the lieutenant governor, even President Trump endorsed candidates against liberal Republican incumbents, and in a lot of cases they won.

We have had our eye on Texas for a long time, but things were so corrupt there and so bad in Austin, I joke that it’s like a Spanish soap opera because it’s not only policy disputes, it’s personalities disputes.

Then there’s other states like Oklahoma and Ohio that I think we could be in fairly quickly.

I am worried about Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis has done such a great job there that there’s almost an attitude of we don’t need a Florida Freedom Caucus.

My argument to them is DeSantis isn’t going to be there forever and the great thing about state Freedom Caucuses is that they live in perpetuity. Lawmakers will come and go but you can always count on a state Freedom Caucus to advance conservative policies.

Bluey: How can people support your organization?

Roth: I love that question. We are a 501(c)(3) and a 501(c)(4), so what that means is that we have an educational arm and an advocacy arm. The State Freedom Caucus Network is our mothership. And then State Freedom Caucus Foundation is our educational arm. Just go to our website and you can give to either one.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please emailΒ letters@DailySignal.comΒ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular β€œWe Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

The post Freedom Caucuses Shaking Up How Business Is Done in 11 States appeared first on The Daily Signal.

White House on Biden Budget Boosting Spending: We Pay for It, Congress Should Ask for Higher Taxes

On Monday’s broadcast of NPR’s β€œMorning Edition,” White House Office of Management and BudgetΒ Shalanda Young responded to a question on if President Joe Biden’s budget will require more government spending by stating that β€œthis President, unlike many who talk about fiscal

Biden’s DOA Budget

(John Hinderaker)

Joe Biden unveiled his 2025 budget proposal earlier today. In general, presidents’ budgets are hardly worth discussing. They project revenue and spending over the next ten years, and if you go back and look at them a few years later, they usually bear no relation to reality. And, in this instance, there is zero chance that Congress will pass anything resembling Biden’s budget, which can best be seen as a campaign document.

But, for what it is worth, this is what the Wall Street Journal had to say about it:

President Biden proposed Monday a $7.3 trillion budget for the next fiscal year that would raise taxes on wealthy people and large corporations, trim the deficit and lower the costs of prescription drugs, child care and housing.

Other than spending $7.3 trillion and raising taxes, it wouldn’t do any of those things. For purposes of comparison, federal spending in 2000, the last year of the Clinton administration, was $1.79 trillion. So Biden wants to spend almost exactly four times that much.

The fiscal 2025 budget would cut the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade, and it would raise taxes by a net total of $4.9 trillion, or more than 7% above what the U.S. would collect without any policy changes.

Those hypothetical deficit cuts depend on economic forecasts in the out-years that won’t come true. The only meaningful fact is that Biden wants to raise taxes by nearly $5 trillion.

Biden’s purported budget is largely an exercise in fantasy:

The budget leaves some blank spaces. It lists principles for shoring up Social Security, without specifying a plan. It calls for paying for extensions of tax cuts for most households after 2025 but doesn’t detail how that would be paid for. And it calls for restoring the expanded child tax credit, but only temporarily, lumping that into the broader 2025 tax debate.

Biden’s budget proposes absurd taxes on corporations and β€œthe rich”:

The budget repeats many past Biden tax-increase proposals, including higher tax rates on corporations and high-income individuals along with minimum taxes on the wealthiest Americans’ unrealized capital gains.

Which is insane. If the government taxes unrealized gains on unsold securities when the market goes up, will it write checks to investors when the market is down? Logically, it would have to, but of course that is not part of Biden’s proposal.

Biden rolled out several new tax increases last week, such as raising his new corporate alternative-minimum-tax rate to 21% from 15% and denying deductions when corporations pay any workers, not just top executives, more than $1 million.

The net effect of Biden’s proposals would be to give the United States one of the heaviest tax burdens in our history, equaled only once since World War II.

Is that because people are dying to give the federal government more money to waste? No, it is because many people are too naive to understand that, as has been said a million times, corporations don’t pay taxes, they collect them. Those taxes are actually paid mostly by customers (i.e., all of us) and secondarily by employees (i.e., most of us). But Biden’s budget is not about economics or, for that matter, mathematics, as the numbers will never add up. Rather, it is about politics:

Biden’s advisers are betting that a focus on lowering costs for families will help push the president to re-election.

Needless to say, Biden’s budget, if actually enacted, would raise costs for families, not lower them. Fortunately, there is zero chance of that happening.

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