In case you missed it…
Taxes and fiscal:
It has been more than three years since the IRS admitted to harassing conservative non-profits ahead of the 2012 presidential election — and now we finally know how many organizations were actually targeted. A staggering 466 organizations were singled out by IRS officials for extra scrutiny because of their political orientation, according to a report filed by the tax agency itself. Keep in mind, when the story first broke, the IRS officially claimed no such harassment had taken place. (Read more)
Energy policy:
Green-energy mandates, officially known as “Renewable Portfolio Standards,” are laws that require a certain percentage of a state’s energy production to be from renewable sources, such as wind or solar. While there are some marginal economic benefits to greater reliance on green energy, these benefits are overshadowed by the substantially more expensive cost of production. In 2016 these mandates will reduce Nevada’s economic growth by $1.7 billion, and reduce the state’s employment growth by 11,000 jobs. (Read more. And learn how to RSVP for NPRI’s June 15th energy policy luncheon by clicking here.)
Pension reform:
It’s bad enough that taxpayers are on the hook for trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities, thanks to overly-generous public employee retirement pensions — but now we might be on the hook for private sector pensions as well. Lawmakers are working to pass legislation that would “protect” the health and pension benefits of a private sector union, the United Mine Workers of America. And by “protect,” of course, they mean “bailout.” (Read more)
Collective bargaining:
Teacher unions are not designed to protect students, taxpayers or parents. But don’t take our word for it: Albert Shanker, the longtime president of the United Federation of Teachers union, infamously explained that “when school children start paying union dues, that’s when [we’ll] start representing the interests of school children.” (Read more)
Media bias:
Tech giant Google is allegedly manipulating its online search engine to give favorable treatment to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. While there doesn’t seem to be any direct connection between the tech giant and the Clinton campaign, an in-depth study shows that Google alters search results to hide terms and articles that might be damaging to the presidential hopeful. (Read more)