David Ditch

1 week ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Amelia Kuntzman |Sarah Wagoner

While many things have changed since America announced its independence in 1776, one has remained constant: Americans hate paying taxes. This has acted as a partial brake on the growth of the size and scope of government. The type of heavy across-the-board levies needed to fuel European-style welfare states are politically out-of-bounds in the U.S.However, the joy that officials get from spending other people’s money is the same all over the world.

1 week ago | epicforamerica.org | Amelia Kuntzman |Sarah Wagoner |Matthew Dickerson |David Ditch

Tax Day: the United States federal government collects trillions of hard-earned dollars and Americans walk away feeling that the system is rigged. According to a Pew Research survey, 61% of Americans say they feel that some rich people do not pay their fair share in taxes. Do lower income brackets take a hit while the rich get off easy? The 2021 tax data from the Congressional Budget Office appears to tell a different story.

2 weeks ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Matthew Dickerson

For most of America’s history, national defense was the largest part of the federal budget. This is no longer the case as “autopilot” spending now consumes a majority of tax dollars and an unsustainably growing share of the economy. More disturbingly, a single aspect of autopilot spending – interest on the national debt –exceeded defense spending in fiscal year 2024.

2 weeks ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch

As part of the annual spending process, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees consider adjustments to thousands of spending accounts. The most important input comes from members of Congress, such as through the request portal for the House of Representatives. Most of the requests that appropriators receive are to increase spending, with much less input identifying low-priority federal activities to cut or eliminate. Given the perilous state of federal finances this is unsustainable.

3 weeks ago | epicforamerica.org | David Ditch |Matthew Dickerson

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has published a new report, The Long-Term Budget Outlook: 2025 to 2055. Using a “baseline” that assumes federal spending broadly follows trends while tax policy follows statute – a practice biased in favor of spending – CBO makes projections regarding key budgetary benchmarks. The picture it paints about America’s future is nothing short of bleak.