Government Spending
No government has ever spent its way to prosperity. Our proposals help governments be fiscally responsible so citizens can be prosperous.
As Arizona debates the merits of a proposed plan to expand Medicaid, we should consider whether it’s even legal. As currently written, the plan is unconstitutional. That’s because it gives sweeping power to the Director of AHCCCS (Arizona’s Medicaid program) to make law, a job the state’s constitution says must be left to the legislature.
Click Here to Download "Ten Reasons to Decline Medicaid Expansion in Arizona"
Two years ago, when the Legislature considered reining in handouts to the solar industry by the Arizona Corporation Commission, the hearing room was packed with lobbyists opposing the move. Solar subsidies, they argued, were the cornerstone of the state’s job creation program.
(Kevin Mooney, The American Spectator)
You may be wondering what the “sequester,” or cuts in federal funding due to a Congressional budget impasse, will mean for Arizona schools. The estimated reductions in federal money to Arizona schools could amount to $17.7 million, but before we stock up on canned goods and head for the hills, let’s put in perspective what $17.7 million represents.
In a recent unanimous decision, the Arizona Court of Appeals held that school districts can't spend bond money on unapproved purposes when voters authorized that money for specific projects. This decision protects the state constitutionally-guaranteed rights of taxpayers and ensures that governments can't renege on their bond agreements with the voters.
Listening to the Obama Administration’s recent claims about how the sequester is going to affect the Department of Health and Human Services, you might be tempted to think that this sequester threatens your personal health. Warnings from the administration assert that the looming sequestration cuts to the agency will do everything from setting medical science back a generation, to leaving Americans at risk of consuming tainted food, to blocking access to vaccinations, cancer screenings, and HIV tests.
(By Fernanda Santos, New York Times)
In the battle to get the Medicaid expansion being championed by Gov. Jan Brewer approved by the state’s legislators, her closest advisers are hanging their hopes on the number eight. That is how many of the 17 Republicans in the State Senate they believe they can get on their side.
With a population of 14,500 and a location south of Yuma, until recently I had never even heard of Somerton, Arizona. Yet, this tiny town serves as one of the best examples of what financial transparency by the government ought to look like.
The automatic spending cuts that have been enacted at the federal level – the “sequester” – have generated concern and outrage in some quarters. Breathless press releases from the White House and trade association groups that may receive slightly less federal money than they did last year have permeated the media reporting.