Downsizing Blog

Beltway Bandits

Next year, the new president will face budget deficits and interest costs spiraling upwards. He or she will need to find spending to cut. How about all the waste and overcharging in federal contracting?

Social Security Is a Legal Ponzi Scheme

Unlike a genuine savings account, where individual contributions accumulate and grow over time, Social Security’s structure is far more akin to a classic Ponzi scheme.

FEMA’s Role in Hurricanes

FEMA is the lead federal agency for natural disaster response, but the American system of disaster response is not a top-down structure imposed by Washington.

Our Debt to the Future?

We, the beneficiaries have a duty to preserve for future generations the conditions necessary for growth and opportunity. But we instead risk leaving them buried under mountains of debt.

VP Picks for Kamala Harris

Media outlets are identifying vice-presidential options for likely presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Many of the VP options are state governors.

Cato grades the governors from “A” to “F” every two years on their tax and spending policies. The “A” governors push for lower taxes and spending, the “F” governors push for higher taxes and spending, and there are many governors in between.

Five Reasons Why Social Security Is an Income Transfer Program, Not an “Earned Benefit”

It’s tempting to believe that Social Security is an “earned benefit”—after all, that’s a prevalent idea we’ve been sold for decades, and it feels good to think of it as “our money.” But the reality is more complex. It’s important to look under the hood of the Social Security system to see what’s really going on.

Corporate Welfare Breeds Corruption

President Joe Biden said big corporations should pay their fair share, yet he increased corporate tax loopholes 92 percent. Biden promised to end trickle-down economics, yet he showered big corporations with the largest gusher of corporate welfare ever.

Governor Tim Walz’s Fiscal Record

Kamala Harris selected Tim Walz as her presidential running mate. Let’s look at his record on spending and taxes as Minnesota governor since 2019.

Interstate Migration of High Earners and Retirees

Which states are Americans moving to and which are they leaving?

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released interstate migration data for 2022. The data include the domestic movements of households into and out of each state broken down by income level and age group.

The table shows the net migration for each state and the ratios of in-migration to out-migration for all households, households headed by an individual age 65 and older, and households earning more than $200,000 a year.

House Budget Committee Seeks to Reform Emergency Spending as Senate Prepares to Raid Rainy Day Funds

The Senate is ready to raid the figurative emergency rainy day fund again. As we highlighted in a recent Debt Digest, Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D‑WA) and Vice Chair Susan Collins (R‑ME) have reportedly struck a deal to increase fiscal year (FY) 2025 discretionary spending by $34.5 billion by designating some ordinary spending as emergency funding.

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