In The News

"We need to champion those climbing the economic ladder," Cruz said last week during the 25th anniversary celebration of the Institute for Policy Innovation at the Frontiers of Flight Museum. "We should be defenders and champions of the 47 percent."

A contentious and complex bill, the so-called Marketplace Fairness Act, is being rammed through the U.S. Senate so that a variety of important constitutional questions and concerns can be ignored. Aiding and abetting in such public policy malpractice? Both senators from Missouri, Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said Thursday that he’s not thinking about running for the White House in 2016. “My focus is entirely on the U.S. Senate,” Cruz said before speaking at the silver anniversary of the Institute for Policy Innovation. “Right now the U.S. Senate is the battlefield for preserving liberty.”

Having the federal government mandate nationwide online sales tax collection could be the next step in undermining our legacy of constitutional federalism.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative-Intellectual Property and Innovation Stan McCoy is optimistic that negotiators of the Trans-Pacific Partnership can come to a "world-class result" for "strong and balanced" intellectual property protection, despite ongoing debate over the rigidity of those protections, he said at an IPI forum commemorating World Intellectual Property Day.

The U.S. economy—President Obama’s economy—is sending decidedly mixed signals. While some economic indicators are picking up, many others are headed south—which means there’s a good chance the economy could slip into recession again soon.

“IPI's efforts over the last 25 years to promote principles that fortify the free market, limited government, and individual liberty have been instrumental to the conservative movement, and are critical to the future prosperity of our nation," said Sen. Cruz. "Their exceptional policy leadership continues to be a valuable resource to conservatives across the country. It is a true honor to be a part of IPI’s silver anniversary celebration.”

While Rep. Steve Womack takes another crack at legislation that would help states collect taxes on Internet sales, IPI's Bartlett Cleland warns the measure would hurt businesses. Cleland says businesses will shoulder the burden of increased audits and additional tax payments that should be collected by states "who can't figure out how to clean up their own messes internally" and collect the tax from customers.

Seniors strongly supported Mitt Romney in the 2012 election over President Barack Obama, and now Obama attempts to get his revenge in his most recent budget proposal with cuts to Social Security and Medicare, as well as tax hikes for estates and 401(k)s.

If passed, the MFA will increase taxes as “multiple jurisdictions lay claim to the same transaction and demand payment,” said IPI's Bartlett Cleland. The proposal “does away with any requirement that a business have a physical connection in a jurisdiction before it can be required to levy taxes on its sales.”