Must-Reads for August 10

NCPA: Another failure in the making

Even if the Feds are able to set up exchanges in all the states that have refused, they will be in for a rude awakening when they discover the ACA prohibited federal exchanges from offering the same premium subsidies available to state exchanges.

Reason: Another IRS attempt to rewrite another unworkable part of ObamaCare?

It now looks as if about half of U.S. states will not set up their own exchanges, leaving the federal government to step in.

Fiscal Times: Quarterly earnings: when great isn’t good enough

Obviously, year-over-year earnings growth of less than 1 percent last quarter, as surprising as it may be, is still nothing to crow about – it marks the lowest increase since the third quarter of 2009, just after the official end of the recession. 

Must-Reads for August 9

Washington Post: A Golden State train wreck

California’s voters evidently understand that Washington’s $3.3 billion is spending for the purpose of committing Sacramento to much greater spending: Polls show that 59 percent would now reject the project they authorized.

Bloomberg: Blink! U.S. debt just grew by $11 trillion

The U.S. fiscal gap, calculated (by us) using the Congressional Budget Office’s realistic long-term budget forecast -- the Alternative Fiscal Scenario -- is now $222 trillion.

National Review: ‘Keep that pay raise, I can’t afford it’

In many cases, economists have calculated, welfare recipients who enter the work force or receive pay raises lose a dollar or more of benefits for each additional dollar they earn. The system makes fools of those who work hard.

Must-Reads for August 8

Forbes: Federal spending: killing the economy with government stimulus

Washington is awash in government "stimulus," without effect. Only productive private investment will spark economic revival.

The Wall Street Journal: The Romney Hood fairy tale

The same crowd that has been howling that the rich don't pay their fair share of taxes now touts a study concluding that cutting taxes will only benefit the rich. Well, which is it?

Daily Herald Editorial: A road map to transparency

"Only when our government leaders emphasize the importance of transparency in all they do will taxpayers truly benefit."

Must-Reads for August 7

Washington Examiner: Take me down to the parasite city

D.C.'s boomtimes show that "a Keynesian response to an economic crisis really can make a difference," Leonhardt insists. Yes, and if everyone got more than their fair share of the fixed pie of federal boodle, then all the municipalities could be above average.

The Wall Street Journal: Obama and 'earning your success'

According to the U.S. government, welfare reform helped to move 4.7 million Americans from welfare dependency to self-sufficiency within three years of enactment. The overall federal welfare caseload declined by 54% between 1996 and 2004.

Real Clear Politics: Generation squeezed

Younger voters seem clueless about advancing their economic interests.

Must-Reads for August 6

Southern Illinoisian: Illinois is driving out a legitimate industry

Each year an awkwardly worded bill is introduced to limit the manufacture, sale and possession of these types of guns in the state. The measure would essentially shutter a $250 million industry in Illinois and send hundreds of skilled workers to the unemployment line.

Quite simply, government taxing people more who work and then giving more money to people who don't work is a surefire recipe for less work, less output and more unemployment.

While President Barack Obama will continue to argue that the tax hikes aim at billionaires and millionaires who aren’t doing their "fair share," more and more voters will learn that it’s a far broader proposition.

The Blaze: 70 facts about our economy Obama probably doesn't want you to see

More than 30% of unemployed Americans have been out of work for more than a year. In 2007, that number was 10%.

The Wall Street Journal: RomneyCare 2.0

Beacon Hill "reformed" health care four years before Capitol Hill, and ever since it has reliably predicted the national trend—on surging costs, price controls, physician shortages and so much else. So Boston's latest adventure deserves particular scrutiny, since odds are its methods are coming soon to a hospital near you.