Publications

March 6, 2009

We Told You So! Continue to Say "No" to Municipal Broadband Networks

by Barry M. Aarons | Issue Brief

The history of municipal broadband projects, especially municipal wireless programs, is a history of hubris, mismanagement and failure. Such projects have been plagued by (among other things) underestimates of costs and overestimates of subscriber take up. As federal officials consider disbursing billions of taxpayer dollars to extend broadband coverage to unserved and underserved areas, they should be wary of funding municipal broadband programs.

March 5, 2009

Let Us Read the Bill

TechBytes

Forty-two seconds a page—that is how long members of Congress were given to read, understand, evaluate and consider all the implications for the largest spending bill in history.

March 3, 2009

President Obama Is No Jack Kennedy (or Clinton, or Reagan)

TaxBytes

The election of Barack Obama has sometimes been characterized as a return of John F.

February 26, 2009

The High Court on High Taxes

TechBytes

In a desperate scramble to balance their state budgets, state legislators in many states have seized upon the idea of “increasing revenue” (read: raising taxes) rather than taking actions to live within their means.

February 24, 2009

Worse Than You Can Imagine

TaxBytes

We thought we should highlight a recent USA Today story because, well, the public needs to know … and the politicians are trying to ignore it.

February 19, 2009

The Real Fairness Doctrine

TechBytes

The growing incidence of calls for government meddling and control of speech is staggering.

February 17, 2009

The Stimulus Package that No One Knows

TaxBytes

It is now officially President Barack Obama’s economy.

February 16, 2009

A Stimulus That Works: Tax Repatriation

by Peter Ferrara | IPI Ideas

If any of the estimated $1.5 trillion in retained overseas earnings of American companies are returned home, they are taxed at the federal corporate tax rate of 35%, one of the highest in the world, besides taxes paid to the host countries. Repeating the highly successful 2005 tax repatriation allowing these funds to come home subject to a 5.25% rate would bring hundreds of billions in new capital into the America economy.

February 13, 2009

Up Close and Personal

TechBytes

The “stimulus bill” will throw $20 billion dollars at an effort to improve health information technology (IT).

February 10, 2009

Doing Marx Proud

TaxBytes

In 2001 the federal estate tax, more accurately dubbed the “death tax,” assessed a levy of 55 percent on savings left at death over $1 million.