Taking Steps To Restore Fiscal Sanity

On Tuesday, The Washington Examiner posted an article detailing the steps that the new Republican House of Representatives should take to restore fiscal sanity to America.

The article reports:

The 118th Congress has been in session for three months, and the new House majority is already moving ahead on legislation that would reduce regulations, begin to restore energy independence, and prevent some of the worst policies that were enacted in the last Congress from taking effect. House committees have been holding oversight hearings to increase accountability and transparency, both of which have been severely lacking over the past two years. Members should use this momentum to spring into action and do even more to protect taxpayers.

The top priority for the 118th Congress should be to cut wasteful government spending and stop new spending, which happens to be the best way to fight inflation. The last Congress pushed through a record-breaking amount of spending, from the COVID-19 “relief” bills such as the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, all of which added up to more than $5 trillion. This massive spending spree is the reason the United States is suffering from the highest inflation rates it has seen in 40 years and staring down an impending recession.

Congress can stop unnecessary government spending by rejecting the new taxes and pet projects that litter President Joe Biden’s $6.8 trillion fiscal 2024 budget . The budget includes many unnecessary, liberal policies that the president has used to advance political objectives. It would also violate the president’s campaign pledge not to raise taxes on those making under $400,000.

The article concludes:

Congress must also push back against the restrictive policies and rules being pushed by the Federal Trade Commission. FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan has used her post at the agency to stall or prevent nearly every possible merger, including an attempt to block Meta’s acquisition of Within, which was struck down by a federal court in California. Khan is also trying to prevent Microsoft from acquiring video game producer Activision, setting privacy rules for the entire country, and banning all noncompete clauses. As Citizens Against Government Waste President Tom Schatz wrote , “The FTC has become one of the biggest obstacles to competition and consumer welfare.”

The 118th Congress has made progress during its first three months. But members must spring into action and enact policies that would make the federal government more effective and accountable rather than more wasteful and intrusive.

Please follow the link to read the entire article. There is hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel–a small light, but a light.

When Facts Get In The Way Of A Good Talking Point

The Washington Examiner posted an article today that highlighted one of many lies told by Joe Biden in last night’s presidential debate.

The article reports:

Former Vice President Joe Biden said during the final presidential debate Thursday night that there is “no evidence” raising the minimum wage kills businesses.

“There is no evidence that when you raise the minimum wage, businesses go out of business,” Biden told Trump. “That is simply not true.”

The article notes a few statistics:

In 2017, a Harvard study concluded that a San Francisco minimum wage increase resulted in some businesses closing their doors.

According to the Heritage Foundation, minimum wage increases not only kill jobs, up to 400,000 in California alone, but also “disproportionately hurt low-income, low-skill workers and families.”

The article also includes some screenshots of some tweets. Here are a few lines from those tweets:

.@JoeBiden: “There is no evidence that when you raise the minimum wage, businesses go out of business. That is simply not true.”
A new study shows his plan to do just that could kill 2M jobs by 2027.

…Joe Biden just lied again. After raising minimum wages, fast food restaurants fired a lot of people after raising minimum wages

The above tweet notes that a bill to be introduced to the New York City Council would require employers to provide a justifiable cause to fire fast food workers.

Another tweet states:

The city’s (Seattle) escalating minimum wage has meant a slight increase in pay among workers earning up to $19 per hour, but the hours worked in such jobs have shrunk, a study commissioned by the city found. It estimates there would be 5,000 more such jobs without the Seattle law.

Part of the problem is the misunderstanding of the purpose of the minimum wage. The minimum wage was never meant to be an income that would meet the needs of an independent working person. The minimum wage was meant to allow young people to enter the workforce and learn the basic skills of being a productive worker–courtesy, working as a team, showing up on time, leaving on time, developing a work ethic. These are the skills that allow workers to move past minimum wage. If we have a society where people are remaining at minimum wage, maybe we need to look at our education system that produces those workers.