August 11, 2026

Senator Hatch’s anti-tax hike sequester proposal [updated]

[Update] Since original publication, Senator Hatch’s Press Secretary was kind enough to both read and comment that the Senator’s proposal is only intended to be a short term fix and that the Senator has proposed more long term solutions to Medicare and Medicaid. The proposal dates back to the end of January and can be found […]

Sequester: a trip down the rabbit hole to Wonderland [Contributor]

Rhett Wilkinson is a senior at Utah State University. He is studying journalism and political science. The opinions expressed are his own.   The feds ought to follow the lead of a certain rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, who famously said “I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date!” The first problem with this […]

Our problem isn’t the taxes, but the spending

Is it time for Republicans trying to avert the fiscal cliff to give up on protecting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy in exchange for entitlement reform?

Maybe a better question would be: do Republicans still have a choice?

In many respects, the debate over taxes–raise them on the rich! Lower on the poor! Middle class! Get rid of deductions! Close loopholes! Reform the tax code!–is important, but really misses the point of what is behind the fiscal problems our country is facing. At the root of it all, the problem isn’t the tax code–though I’m all for reforming it, simplifying it, and making it more flat–the problem is that we are spending more than we are paying in taxes. And I mean, ALL of us.

The fiscal cliff of 2013 is the debt ceiling of 2011

If it feels like we’ve been here before, it’s because we have.

While President Obama and Speaker Boehner negotiate plans to avert the fiscal cliff next year, the scene has begun to look not unlike one we’ve seen before.

From the WSJ: “The Magnitude of the Mess We’re In.”

Suppose you were offered the job of Treasury secretary a few months from now. Would you accept?

Hitting the Limit: A Financial Argument for Limiting Government [Contributor]

Tyler Lees is a conservative engineer and train nerd from Midvale, Utah.You can follow him on Twitter as @ThePacificSlope. After he and I discussed on Twitter the necessity of establishing priorities for government in order to cut spending, I invited Tyler to share his view on the topic in a format longer than Twitter’s 140 characters. The following are his thoughts.

I believe that there is a practical limit to how big government can get, irrespective of ideological points of view. Let me explain. [cont…]

John Dougall for Utah State Auditor

Growing up the oldest of eleven, it’s no surprise that John Dougall has a frugal streak to him. In fact, it’s more than a campaign slogan, says his sister Julie.

In fact, family legend has it that John has worn the same shoes since his mission, she says. “they are so old, they’ve come back in style… Since they are quite beat up, he just wears them like house slippers, but he still wears them, all the time.”