InsiderOnline - Policy Ideas for Advancing Liberty

Blog Archive 2013

InsiderOnline Blog

To Do: Help Fix Your Government

• If you have had difficulty obtaining tax-exempt status for a non-profit organization, let the House Ways and Means Committee know by filling out the form at www.waysandmeans.house.gov/irsinvestigati More...

Scandal Update

Here’s what we learned this week about the Internal Revenue Service and its treatment of conservative groups applying for non-profit status: • The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration wa More...

Here’s One Election Outcome Changed by Voter Fraud

The Left keeps saying voter fraud has never changed the outcome of an election; it’s past time to stop saying that. Hans von Spakovsky notes a recent item from the news: On Monday, John C. Moretin More...

Dodd-Frank v. ObamaCare

The Dodd-Frank financial reform, by capping bank interchange fees and putting limits on overdraft fees, appears to have pushed some low-income folks out of the market for banking accounts. And being “ More...

The Hidden Cost of Government

You know how much you pay in taxes, but do you know how much you pay because of government regulation? Not only do you never see a regulatory bill from the government, Congress never even votes to rai More...

Through the Ringer

Catherine Engelbrecht’s experience at the hands of five different government agencies is one of the more Kafkaesque stories of bureaucratic hassle we’ve heard in awhile. Engelbrecht is the founder of More...

Welcome to the Machine

Even if we never get good answers out of the Internal Revenue Service, the source of the abuse is plain enough. As Doug Bandow explains, a government that does social engineering is a government that More...

Disclosure v. First Amendment

Last week, we learned that the Internal Revenue Service asked conservative groups seeking non-profit status to disclose, among other things, their donors as well as lists of participants in their prog More...

The Insider Magazine

But What
Kind of
Federalism?

Policy Studies

Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index

Source: American Legislative Exchange Council

In this 6th edition of Rich States, Poor States, Dr. Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Jonathan Williams highlight the policies throughout the 50 states that have led some states to economic prosperity and others to prolonged real economic recovery. The aut More...

Arizona Charter Schools: A Vision for the Next 20 Years

Source: Goldwater Institute

Arizona must hold charter schools accountable for student achievement and financial integrity. Charters that are consistently low performing or fail to meet certain achievement levels or manage finances properly can be closed. And with every charter school tha More...

Withdrawing U.S. Forces from Europe Weakens America

Source: The Heritage Foundation

The U.S. military presence in Europe deters American adversaries, strengthens allies, and protects American interests. The basing and support cost of the almost 50,000 U.S. troops in Germany cost $4 billion last year. That is less than 1 percent of the overall More...

Farmers and Property Rights: Conservation Compliance Should Not Be Connected to Crop Insurance

Source: The Heritage Foundation

As the House and Senate move forward with their farm bills, they should make significant reforms to crop insurance, including setting caps on the premium subsidies that farmers can receive and reducing the percentage of premium subsidies currently paid for by More...

Exorcizing Excise Taxes: Bringing Transparency to Hidden Taxes

Source: John Locke Foundation

A larger annual appropriation to the savings and reserves account would allow state budgets to use those funds during a budget shortfall rather than raising excise taxes. Excise taxes have not been shown to alter behavior significantly, so the increasing of ex More...

Summary Archives

Conservative Calendar

Topics