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May 6, 2025
What DOGE Flagged as Unemployment Fraud Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg—Most of Which Will Never Be Recovered
…projected in fraud involving pandemic unemployment benefits. It gets worse. A recent Department of Labor (DOL) Inspector General report leaves little doubt that nearly all of these losses, which veteran lawmakers have called “the greatest theft of tax dollars in US…
December 3, 2024
Avoiding an Unemployment Loan Bailout
Taxpayers in most states may have dodged a billion-dollar bullet on election day. That is, if the outcome had been different, liberal lawmakers would have been uniquely positioned to bail…
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…