Must-Reads for May 11

Crain's Chicago Business: Political payback at issue in Cullerton's tax-disclosure bill?

Under the Cullerton measure, S.B. 282, publicly traded corporations for the first time would have to tell the public — and not only the Illinois Department of Revenue — how much they earned in the state, got in tax credits and ended up paying in income taxes.

Wall Street Journal: Stimulus spending keeps failing

The weak economic recovery in the U.S. and the even weaker performance in much of Europe have renewed calls for ending budget austerity and returning to larger fiscal deficits. Curiously, this plea for more fiscal expansion fails to offer any proof that Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries that chose more budget stimulus have performed better than those that opted for more austerity.

Peoria Journal Star: Local officials hope to learn lessons from Dixon theft

A theft case in Dixon involving an astonishingly large amount of taxpayer money has some local officials, including one Peoria city councilman, wanting to make sure it cannot happen here.

Must-Reads for May 10

Bloomberg Businessweek: Why France has so many 49-employee companies

Here’s a curious fact about the French economy: The country has 2.4 times as many companies with 49 employees as with 50. What difference does one employee make? Plenty, according to the French labor code.

Washington Post: Taxing jobs out of existence

An axiom of scarcity is understood by people not warped by working for the federal government, which can print money when it wearies of borrowing it. The axiom is: A unit of something — time, energy, money — spent on this cannot be spent on that.

Free Beacon: Meet the left-wing ALECs

Liberal watchdogs have propagated the myth that ALEC stands alone as a drafter of model legislation. However, there are myriad groups that craft model legislation for states.

Must-Reads for May 9

Wall Street Journal: Arthur Brooks - America and the Value of 'Earned Success'

All surveys show that most Americans still embrace our free enterprise system—today. The crucial test is whether the country is willing to support the hard work and policy reforms that will sustain it.

Chicago Tribune: Emanuel to state lawmakers on pension costs - 'Day of reckoning has arrived'

Emanuel called for a pause on cost-of-living increases for 10 years to allow pension systems "to catch its breath." He wants city employees to increase their contributions 1 percent each year for five years and to allow employees to be offered a choice of retirement plans.

National Review: Europe's failed 'austerity'

It should come as no surprise that all those new taxes, combined with a lack of spending restraint, has threatened to throw Europe back into a double-dip recession. Is it any wonder that French, Greek, and British voters were anxious to “throw the bums out”?

Washington Times: Desperately avoiding Obamanomics

Since Obamanomics was unleashed - increased taxes, increased regulations, wildly increased spending and weak-dollar monetary policy - a million fewer jobs exist in America, median household income has dropped nearly 10 percent, housing prices have hit an almost 10-year low, gas prices have doubled, a record number of Americans are on food stamps, and the federal debt races toward $16 trillion (around $140,000 per taxpayer).

Must-Reads for May 8

Chicago Tribune: Fix pensions now, not 'later'

Illinois lawmakers, decades of reckless decisions by you and your predecessors let the pension monster break out of your control. Everyone can see that it has turned on you. The only responsible thing you can do is tame it.

Human Events: Raising the capital gains tax will not lead to 'fairness' but only slam U.S. job creation

Whether the President wants more jobs, economic growth, or just more government revenue, he should cut the capital gains tax rate. Forcing the unemployed unnecessarily to continue without jobs can hardly be called “fairness.”

Must-Reads for May 7

The Foundry: A better life for Julia

Rather than President Obama's vision of cradle-to-grave government dependence, conservatives want an empowered Julia with personal liberty and economic opportunity.

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Senate passes ban on scandal-plagued scholarship program

The Illinois Senate overwhelmingly approved the elimination of a century-old legislative scholarship program that has come under federal investigation and long been abused by politicians who passed out the tuition waivers to relatives and the offspring of cronies and campaign contributors.

Townhall: 'The defining issue of our time?'  Hardly

Incentives and rewards are powerful motivators of work and risk-taking; and the greater the potential rewards, the more an economy will achieve. A Bill Gates or Steve Jobs or Sam Walton is far more likely to flourish in a nation where people can become millionaires and billionaires -- and to enrich all of us in the process of enriching themselves.