During the recession and subsequent recovery, the general move on taxes in the states has been in a distinctly negative direction. That is, faced with budget deficits, states have reacted by raising taxes. This past July, for example, the National Conference of State Legislatures reported: “The impact of the severe economic recession that began in [...]
The General Assembly’s redistricting committee recently released proposed maps outlining Colorado’s new congressional boundaries. The maps offered by the Democrats and Republican members of the committee are as different as night and day. The Republican maps start from the fact Colorado has the same number of congressional districts in 2011 as we did in 2001. [...]
Long-range budget projections are always packed with uncertainty. Changes in the underlying economic assumptions, eventual economic realities and shifts in policy making give such estimates limited value. Some value can be found, however, in terms of determining the general direction current budget policies are pointed and where they could take federal spending, revenues, deficits and [...]
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” The words of Eleanor Roosevelt undoubtedly sound familiar to the instincts of many Americans who’ve persevered against the economic challenges of the last three years, but perhaps none more so than women entrepreneurs. Roosevelt also wrote, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience [...]
I recently joined two other state senators in sending a letter to Mark Udall and Michael Bennet. We urged the U.S. senators from Colorado to support a provision included in a U.S. House-passed funding resolution that would block the blatant obstructionism of oil shale research and development originating from the desk of Interior Secretary Ken [...]
A battle is under way between labor unions and lawmakers in various states. Union members have protested, and legislators aligned with the labor union movement have even gone so far as to not show up for work to stop legislation from moving ahead. The issues? Basically, there are two. First is the role that public-sector [...]
With President Barack Obama’s call for the small business community to focus on innovation and creativity to enhance U.S. competitiveness in the world economy, it’s time for entrepreneurs and small business owners to take up the challenge. Startup America is an initiative aimed at strengthening access for entrepreneurs and firms with high-growth potential to a [...]
A dramatic shift in rhetoric emanating from the Barack Obama White House occurred after the November elections. Before November, anti-business talk and policies reigned. Since the election, President Obama has worked to shift the administration’s tone towards business. As evident by the president’s budget proposal, though, political talk turns out, once again, to be quite [...]
There are people out there who thought that once ObamaCare was signed into law last March, the debate was over. Thankfully, that’s not been the case. With big changes at the ballot box in November, debate and action regarding the new health care law has been rekindled. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal [...]
If the announcement is more than mere rhetoric, it would amount to a dramatic policy conversion. During its first two years, the Obama White House ranked among the most aggressive regulators in decades — since the 1970s, perhaps since the 1930s. But on Jan,18, President Barack Obama ordered federal agencies to review regulations to see [...]
