In case you missed it…

Sharon Rossie

Free speech:

Recently, Harry Reid and 19 of his closest friends in the United States Senate launched a coordinated attack on free-market policy groups. Unfortunately, the sorry display of Soviet-style political intimidation from these senators is just the tip of the iceberg. The IRS, attorneys general and even the DOJ also have a record of harassing, intimidating and bullying anyone who dares to challenge their stranglehold on power. (Read more)

 

Government waste:

Over $1.7 million has been paid to dead federal workers, according to the Social Security Administration’s inspector General. According to the audit, the agency failed to crosscheck beneficiaries’ deaths with the Office of Personnel Management, leading to the deceased receiving benefits for an average of seven years after their death. (Read more)

 

Labor market:

A new analysis by the Nevada Policy Research Institute questions the extent to which the drop in nominal unemployment truly signals an economic recovery. In fact, a key factor behind any apparent reduction in the state’s unemployment rate appears to be a mass migration out of the state’s labor force. Most disturbing, according to some businesses, is the extent to which the quality of the labor force has also deteriorated over recent years. (Read more)

 

Public sector growth:

As far as employment is concerned, the government sector continues to grow, while the private sector continues to struggle. Government employees in the United States now outnumber the total number of manufacturing employees, by almost 10 million positions. (Read more)

 

Taxation:

Apple is in trouble with the European Union, which insists the company owes the Irish government back taxes. The only problem, however, is that Ireland’s government disagrees. The EU has repeatedly blasted Ireland for its low corporate tax rate, saying “tax competition” is bad for other member nations — but the EU is now taking things a step further by aggressively arguing that a sovereign nation’s own coffers are “wrong” about a company’s tax bill. (Read more)