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August 2, 2024
Democrats’ Automatic Stimulus Proposals Undermine the Administration’s “Strongest Economy” Claims
Today’s US jobs report finds the nation’s unemployment rate increased to 4.3 percent in July. According to a measure often cited by liberal policymakers, that suggests the US has entered…
July 17, 2024
Key Takeaways from a New Report on Potential Unemployment Insurance Reforms
…policy recommendations,” but instead “is intended to provide policymakers, advocates, and the media with a range of thoughts” on the broad range of UI reform topics the task force reviewed. I…
May 29, 2024
Liberals Should Decide Whether Being a Homemaker Is Demeaning or Worthy of Huge New Government Benefits
…a mother.” Many liberals seemed horrified—and apparently unaware that liberal lawmakers have long promoted homemaking over paid employment. In response to Butker’s remarks, Change.org circulated an online petition that suggested his comments “reinforce harmful…
April 29, 2024
New “Scorecard” Report Promotes Better Use of Data to Prevent Unemployment Fraud
…blocks, policymakers can’t know if state UI systems are prepared for future shocks—and whether providing expanding federal assistance will, as lawmakers intend, reach citizens in need or instead be siphoned…
April 26, 2024
Washington, District of Benefit Cliffs
As the welfare state expands while policymakers struggle to contain its costs, one unintended result is the creation of significant benefit cliffs. A little-noticed September 2023 report authored by Elias Ilin and Alvaro Sanchez…
February 29, 2024
Recalling Pandemic Lessons on “Self-Certifying” Eligibility
…But policymakers should be on guard that this seemingly innocuous expansion in self-certification for minor workforce programs is not used to someday justify reviving the same policy for far costlier…
December 1, 2023
Making the Child Tax Credit “Fully Refundable” Converts It into Welfare Checks
…According to press reports, policymakers are apparently negotiating a possible year-end tax package that would temporarily expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and revive certain business tax breaks….The CTC expansion reportedly includes full…
October 31, 2023
Lawmakers Continue Trying to Revive Pandemic-Style Benefits
…[is] it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” Lawmakers applied Rahm’s rule liberally during the pandemic, providing record stimulus checks, massively expanding unemployment benefits, and far…
October 12, 2023
Now the Administration Is Legislating on Welfare, Too
…treads much of the same legislative ground as recent congressional reauthorization proposals. That should trouble members of Congress in both parties who value their institutional role as lawmakers—not administration regulation-followers….
September 1, 2023
Despite Staggering Improper Payments, New Labor Department Report Calls for Reviving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
…history of abuse. Policymakers knew PUA was prone to abuse from almost the moment it was created in March 2020. An April 2020 DOL Inspector General (IG) report found that, under the…